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Russia and Ukraine began a major prisoner swap Friday that was agreed at their first direct talks in more than three years, a Ukrainian military source said. President Donald Trump said the prisoner exchange had already been completed but Kyiv and Moscow did not confirm this and the military source said the swap was still under way. Russia and Ukraine …

Germany has this week deployed a permanent military brigade beyond its borders for the first time since the end of World War II. The historic unit dispatched to the capital of Lithuania, Vilnius, was inaugurated Thursday by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who said during a military ceremony in the city that “the security of our Baltic allies is also our …

Louisiana State Police arrested a 59-year-old woman for allegedly helping 10 inmates break out of Orleans Parish Jail last week, the third woman arrested in connection with assisting the escape. Connie Weeden, a 59-year-old from Slidell, was arrested and charged with one count of being an accessory after the fact for allegedly “assisting the fugitives” in the May 16 incident, …

On television debate shows and inside group chats, the question has been asked repeatedly since Wednesday night: Where did the Indiana Pacers’ 17-point rally in the fourth quarter to steal Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals from the Knicks rank among the NBA’s all-time playoff comebacks? More telling about Indiana and its historic postseason, however, is that perhaps the …

SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea has begun a full-scale investigation into the accident that occurred during the launch of a warship this week, state media KCNA reported Friday. Pyongyang has said the incident on Wednesday was caused by a loss of balance while the vessel was being launched, and that sections of the bottom of the warship were crushed. …

COLLEGE PARK, Md. — Kermit the Frog knows it’s not easy being green — or graduating from college and entering the real world, especially during a time of economic uncertainty and political turmoil. Members of the University of Maryland’s class of 2025 received their diplomas Thursday evening with sage advice from the amphibious Muppet ringing in their ears. “As you …

As the Trump administration pushes for deep cuts in federal health agencies, Robert F Kennedy Jr. has produced a 72-page summary on the environmental toxins, chemicals and ultraprocessed foods he said are causing an “existential crisis” in the United States. In an interview Thursday afternoon with Tom Llamas, senior national correspondent for NBC News and upcoming anchor of “Nightly News,” …

“The president is attending it in his personal time. It is not a White House dinner. It’s not taking place here at the White House,” said Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary. But event organizers did not market it as a personal event. The dinner’s website says: “President Donald J. Trump is Known as the ‘Crypto President!’ At this …

Columbia University student Mahmoud Khalil should be protected from deportation, which could put his life at risk, his attorneys argued Thursday. Ahead of a critical court hearing before an immigration judge in Louisiana that focused on whether Khalil was entitled to relief from deportation, including through asylum, Khalil met and held his newborn son for the first time. The Trump …

A jury on Thursday convicted a woman who sneaked onto a flight from New York to Paris without a boarding pass by slipping past security and airline gate agents at John F. Kennedy International Airport last year. The short trial of Svetlana Dali concluded with a guilty finding on a stowaway charge by jurors in federal court in Brooklyn. Jury …