Russia has released a retired American teacher who had been imprisoned on charges of fighting as a mercenary in Ukraine, U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday after U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff met with Russian President Vladimir Putin to secure the release. Witkoff said Stephen Hubbard, a Michigan native, was freed during talks with Putin in St. Petersburg to negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine.
French authorities are planning a much heavier security presence to avoid a repeat of last weekend’s riots. Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu has promised a “massive” deployment of police forces. The government estimates that at least 3,000 businesses were damaged or looted. Authorities have reported 2,397 arrests, while 997 police officers, gendarmes, and firefighters were injured, seven of them seriously….