U.S./World

WASHINGTON — The United States and Russia completed their biggest prisoner swap in post-Soviet history on Thursday, with Moscow releasing journalist Evan Gershkovich and fellow American Paul Whelan, along with dissidents including Vladimir Kara-Murza, in a multinational deal that set two dozen people free. Gershkovich, Whelan and Alsu Kurmasheva, a...

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. — SpaceX shot up three Falcon 9 rockets from three launch pads last weekend once the Federal Aviation Administration gave its grounded rocket the OK to return to flight. Now it’s set to go another round. First up was a Falcon 9 launch of 23 more...

CARACAS, Venezuela — A half dozen masked assailants ransacked the headquarters of Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado in the latest escalation of violence against opponents of Nicolás Maduro following the country’s disputed presidential election. The raid occurred at around 3 a.m., Machado’s party said, adding that the assailants broke...

ARNOLD, Mo. — A Missouri police dog died when the air conditioner failed in the patrol vehicle he had been left in, police said. Vader, a 4-year-old K-9 for the Arnold Police Department in suburban St. Louis, died Wednesday. Temperatures this week have been in the 90s, with high humidity....

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. and Russia on Thursday completed their largest prisoner swap in post-Soviet history, a deal involving 24 people, many months of negotiations and concessions from other European countries who released Russians in their custody as part of the exchange. Here are some things to know: Who...

WASHINGTON — U.S. hiring decelerated sharply last month in the face of high interest rates as employers added a weak 114,000 jobs. Friday’s Labor Department report showed a drop from the 179,000 jobs created in June. Forecasters had expected to see 175,000 jobs in July. The unemployment rate rose to...

PHOENIX — Mexican farm worker Avelino Vazquez Navarro didn’t have air conditioning in the motor home where he died last month in Washington state as temperatures surged into the triple digits. For the last dozen years, the 61-year-old spent much of the year working near Pasco, Washington, sending money to...

Gov. Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency for much of the state, excluding South Florida, ahead of a disturbance that might strengthen into a tropical depression. Forecasters are warning to expect heavy rain and floods even if the storm fails to form into a depression. DeSantis signed an executive...

ANKARA, Turkey — Turkey’s communications authority blocked access to the social media platform Instagram on Friday, the latest instance of a clampdown on websites in the country. The Information and Communication Technologies Authority, which regulates the internet, announced the decision early Friday but did not provide a reason. Yeni Safak...

TALLINN, Estonia — One spent over 5½ years behind bars in Russia while other, higher-profile detainees were released ahead of him. Another was jailed for only a few months. They include journalists, veteran political activists and those simply opposed to the war in Ukraine. The youngest is 19, the oldest...

New federal protections for transgender students at U.S. schools and colleges took effect Thursday with muted impact because judges have temporarily blocked enforcement in 25 states and hundreds of individual colleges and schools across the country. The regulation also adds protections for pregnant students and students who are parents, and...

NEW YORK — Two months after his felony conviction, Donald Trump still isn’t allowed to say everything he wants about his historic hush money criminal case. After a New York appeals court upheld his gag order on Thursday, he won’t be for a while. The state’s mid-level appellate court denied...

CLARKSBURG, W.Va. — An inmate was sentenced to more than four years Thursday for his role in the 2018 fatal bludgeoning of notorious Boston gangster James “Whitey” Bulger in a troubled West Virginia federal prison. Massachusetts gangster Paul J. DeCologero was sentenced in federal court after pleading guilty to an...

BEIRUT — Hezbollah’s leader warned Thursday that the conflict with Israel has entered a “new phase,” as he addressed mourners at the funeral of a commander from the group who was killed by an Israeli airstrike this week in Beirut. Meanwhile in Tehran, Iran’s supreme leader prayed over the body...

LONDON — British police said Thursday they have charged a 17-year-old with murder over a stabbing attack that left three little girls dead and several more in critical condition. The charges came as the traumatized town of Southport cleaned up after a bout of far-right violence, and agitators fired up...

GENEVA — The U.N. human rights office issued a report Wednesday saying Palestinians detained by Israeli authorities since the Oct. 7 attacks faced waterboarding, sleep deprivation, electric shocks, the release of dogs, and other forms of torture and mistreatment. The report said Israel’s prison service held more than 9,400 “security...

BANGUI, Central African Republic — African health officials said mpox cases have spiked by 160% so far this year, warning the risk of further spread is high given the lack of effective treatments or vaccines on the continent. The Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in a report...

WAYANAD, India — Hopes of finding more than 180 missing people alive waned as rescue workers searched through mud and debris for a third day Thursday after landslides set off by torrential rains killed at least 194 people in southern India. The rescue work was challenging in a forested, hilly...

The U.S. Department of Transportation is proposing a new rule that would ban airlines from charging parents more to sit with their young children. Under the proposal, released Thursday, U.S. and foreign carriers would be required to seat children 13 or younger next to their parent or accompanying adult for...

SAN DIEGO — A three-day human trafficking sting targeting people attending the San Diego Comic-Con Convention last week resulted in 14 arrests and the recovery of 10 potential trafficking victims — including a 16-year-old girl, authorities said. The undercover operation, launched by agencies as part of the San Diego Human...

WASHINGTON — Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, accused as the mastermind of al-Qaida’s Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States, has agreed to plead guilty, the Defense Department said Wednesday. The development points to a long-delayed resolution in an attack that killed thousands and altered the course of the United States...

PARIS — As a gay youth growing up in central France, Hugo Bardin never felt he lived in a world that represented who he was — a world in which he had a place. And that is why Bardin, who performs as the drag queen Paloma, felt it was meaningful...