The younger sister of Stephen Hubbard, the U.S. citizen freed after spending more than four years in a Russian prison, said her brother didn’t realize he was being released until he was taken onto a plane and saw an American flag. Patricia Hubbard Fox said her brother has been ‘relief laughing’ since he was freed and is still in disbelief. President Trump said he had asked Russian President Vladimir Putin to free Hubbard, a 74-year-old retired teacher. Hubbard was accused of fighting for Ukraine following Russia’s invasion in 2022. He was sentenced in 2024 to nearly seven years in prison.
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Russia has released an American who was jailed for over four years on charges of fighting as a mercenary in Ukraine. U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff announced the release Wednesday during a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in St. Petersburg. Stephen Hubbard, from Michigan, was sentenced in 2024 to nearly seven years in prison. Prosecutors said he fought with the Ukrainian military after Russia sent troops into Ukraine in February 2022. The U.S. government under President Joe Biden's administration designated Hubbard as wrongfully detained. The release comes as President Donald Trump advances policies that aid Putin, including waiving sanctions on Russia.
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The Supreme Court has rejected a Trump administration appeal seeking to immediately enforce medical care restrictions for transgender people in federal prison. The decision leaves in place lower court orders requiring prison officials to continue providing treatments like hormone therapy. The administration had asked to enforce for now a policy halting surgeries, hormones, and social accommodations. It was adopted after an executive order from President Donald Trump. Attorneys for transgender inmates said the policy violated their rights and amounted to cruel and unusual punishment. The Trump administration argued that treatments raised security concerns and “could no longer be justified.”
DENVER (AP) — The younger sister of Stephen Hubbard, the American freed Wednesday after spending more than four years in a Russian prison, sai…
Florida has carried out its 18th execution of the year under Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis’ aggressive use of the death penalty in his final term. Seventy-seven-year-old William Reaves was pronounced dead Tuesday evening after a lethal injection at Florida State Prison near Starke. He was convicted of first-degree murder in the 1986 shooting death of Indian River County Deputy Richard Raczkoski. Reaves was Florida’s eighth prisoner over age 70 to be executed this year in the nation's busiest death chamber. Last year, Florida set a state record with 19 executions for a single year. It's set to tie that mark if another execution is carried out next month as scheduled.
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Paris and Lyon have imposed fresh curfews in parts of their city centers after the first quiet night since France’s most destructive rioting in years. The government is preparing a massive police deployment for protests planned for Saturday and will deploy soldiers to guard sensitive sites, freeing up police officers for crowd control. Police arrested a suspect in an arson attack that charred a historic city hall in central France. Footage of the attack was shared by U.S. Vice President JD Vance and President Donald Trump. Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin said 149 people had been jailed nationwide.
FILE - This February 2017 photo provided by his lawyers shows Khalid Shaikh Mohammad in Guantanamo Bay prison in Cuba. (Courtesy Derek Poteet via AP)
FILE - This Monday, Dec. 8, 2008 courtroom drawing by artist Janet Hamlin and reviewed by the U.S. military, shows Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, center, and co-defendant Walid Bin Attash, left, attending a pre-trial session at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, Cuba. (AP Photo/Janet Hamlin, Pool, File)
FILE - A Lexington, Miss., police cruiser is parked outside their facility near the town square, Monday, Aug. 15, 2022. The Lexington police department unconstitutionally jailed people for unpaid fines without first assessing whether they could afford to pay them, the U.S. Department of Justice said Thursday, Feb. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis, File)
Sean “Diddy” Combs has been moved to a federal prison in Pennsylvania after reports that the hip-hop mogul was living the high life and was injured in a fight at his New Jersey lockup. That's according to a person familiar with the matter, who spoke to The Associated Press on Friday. The person said the federal Bureau of Prisons is transferring the 56-year-old Combs from FCI Fort Dix to FCI Allenwood Low, a low-security facility south of Williamsport. The person was not authorized to speak publicly and did so on condition of anonymity. Last month, NBC News reported that Combs had been using a contraband cellphone and drinking Hennessy while in prison.