U.S. President Donald Trump said Russia and Ukraine had carried out a “major” prisoner swap, lauding the move as a sign of progress as his efforts to broker an agreement to end the war have faltered.

“Congratulations to both sides on this negotiation,” Trump said in a Truth Social post on Friday, adding that the swap will go into ...Read more

DETROIT — A band of alleged mail thieves stole $63 million worth of checks from the U.S. Postal Service and sold them on the black market, federal prosecutors said Friday.

Federal court records describe an inside job from October 2022 through December 2023 that involved four people, including a popular Metro Detroit rapper and two U.S. Postal...Read more

Another suspect has been arrested in connection with a massive New Orleans jailbreak involving 10 inmates, who pulled off their daring escape earlier this week by slipping out a hole carved behind a prison toilet.

Connie Weeden is accused of helping the fugitives, specifically Jermaine Donald, one of five escapees who remained at large as of ...Read more

Larry Saltzman has blood cancer. He’s also a retired doctor, so he knows getting COVID-19 could be dangerous for him — his underlying illness puts him at high risk of serious complications and death. To avoid getting sick, he stays away from large gatherings, and he’s comforted knowing healthy people who get boosters protect him by ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — The murder heard around the world marks its fifth anniversary Sunday.

On May 25, 2020, Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin put his knee on the neck of George Floyd and held it there for nearly 90 seconds. The incident was filmed by 17-year-old Darnella Frazier and went viral. Chauvin was eventually found guilty of second-...Read more

President Donald Trump’s signature budget legislation would punish 14 states that offer health coverage to people in the U.S. without authorization.

The states, most of them Democratic-led, provide insurance to some low-income immigrants — often children — regardless of their legal status. Advocates argue the policy is both humane and ...Read more

Iran said it’s “time to decide” ahead of Friday’s nuclear talks with the U.S., with the main sticking point being whether Tehran will be able to continue enriching uranium.

The first four rounds of talks, mediated by Oman, have broadly gone well, according to both U.S. and Iranian officials. But Iran insists that any deal must enable it...Read more

NEW YORK — After the first week of Sean “Diddy” Combs’ federal trial was full of graphic and shocking testimony from Casandra “Cassie” Ventura, the second week saw prosecutors call several witnesses who backed up her accounts.

Combs, 55, has pleaded not guilty to sex trafficking and racketeering charges. The feds are attempting to ...Read more

South Korean presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung saw his lead in the election campaign narrow sharply in the latest opinion poll released Friday as the conservative ruling party’s Kim Moon-soo made up ground after their first TV debate.

The opposition Democratic Party nominee Lee had the backing of about 45% in a Gallup Korea poll conducted ...Read more

PASADENA, Calif. — A crew of 10, many sporting bright orange National Day Laborer Organizing Network T-shirts, funneled out of a Mexican restaurant on the edge of the Eaton burn scar.

Four months — to the day — after winds smashed a tree into a car next to NDLON’s Pasadena Community Job Center and soot blanketed the neighborhood, a ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA -- Pamela Albright walked into Temple University Hospital in Philadelphia shortly before 1 p.m. on April 29, keeping her appointment for presurgery testing.

At the registration area she was directed to a check-in cubicle, where a worker asked her a series of questions, all of them routine, Albright said, until this one:

“Are you...Read more

Since President Donald Trump released his 2026 budget blueprint in early May, calling for $163 billion in federal spending cuts, much of the attention has focused on his slashing of foreign aid and boosting of border security. But the proposal also holds important clues — amid some mixed messages — about the administration’s approach to ...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — Several nonprofits are competing to redevelop the “People’s Way,” a defunct Speedway gas station that serves as the protest headquarters of George Floyd Square.

Whoever is chosen will exert tremendous influence over the direction of the entire fractious intersection, which is still viewed worldwide as a barometer of how ...Read more

DETROIT — Supporters of ranked choice voting — a system that would overhaul how elections are won and lost in Michigan — are hoping to gather petition signatures in the coming months and put a proposal on the ballot to amend the state Constitution in November 2026.

Pat Zabawa, executive director of the group Rank MI Vote, told The Detroit...Read more

Mauricio Claver-Carone, the Cuba and Venezuela hard-liner tapped as special envoy for Latin America, will leave his position by the end of May, leaving Secretary of State Marco Rubio with some policy wins but without an important ally to navigate the Trump administration.

As a former Western Hemisphere director at the National Security Council ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles City Council signed off on a $14-billion spending plan for 2025-26 on Thursday, scaling back Mayor Karen Bass’ public safety initiatives as they attempted to spare 1,000 city workers from layoffs.

Faced with a nearly $1-billion budget shortfall, the council voted 12 to 3 for a plan that would cut funding for ...Read more

SPRINGFIELD — Illinois lawmakers advanced a measure that would eliminate mandatory road testing for drivers under 87 and allow people to report close relatives they believe are no longer capable of driving safely.

The bill, championed by Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias, sailed through the Senate on Thursday by a 57-0 vote after passing ...Read more