"Ly, from NPR News, I'm Lakshmi Singh.
President Trump arrives back in the U.S. in the coming hours from a state visit to China.
“It's not clear if he's secured any firm agreements on matters of trade, the war in Iran,”
or Taiwan, a self-governed island, China claims as its own, but is closely allied with United States.
On Air Force One, Trump said he would think about whether to advance an $11 billion
military arms package now for Taiwan. Ukraine and Russia carried out a prisoner of war exchange as the first phase of an agreement on a larger exchange. NPR has hung up Palamadenko reports from Kiev that 205 Ukrainians have returned home. Ukrainian Umbudsman-Metrol Benets emphasized that these exchanges unique in that 95% of those
return today, rock captured in 2022. He posted a video showing the defenders wiping away tears and calling their families. 1,494 days in captivity and tomorrow is my mom's birthday. I'm incredibly happy, says one of them. Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky and the Ukrainian Umbudsman expressed their gratitude
“to the United States and the United Arab Emirates for their mediation and assistance.”
Zelensky said in the statement that this is the first stage of a much larger exchange
involving 1,000 Ukrainians and 1,000 Russians. Hanna Palamadenko and Pernews, Kiev. Harvey Weinstein's latest sex crimes trial ended this afternoon with Hungary. It was the second time in a year a New York jury was unable to reach a verdict on the same charge.
The mistrial came on the third day of deliberations, and PR's Chloe Weiner has details. For a third time, a New York jury was asked to decide whether the former Hollywood mogul raped former aspiring actress Jessica Mann in 2013. Weinstein was first convicted of raping man in 2020. But that verdict was later overturned, then a second trial last year ended in a mistrial.
This retrial began in April, but on the third day of deliberations, jurors said they were unable to reach a unanimous decision.
“Weinstein, now 74, has been in jail or prison since 2020.”
He awaits sentencing for a separate charge in New York, and was also convicted of rape and sexual assault in California in 2022. He's appealing that conviction. Chloe Weiner and Pernews, New York. Today, caps in end of an era at the Federal Reserve.
This was Jerome Powell's last day as Fed Chair, after eight years in the post. He succeeded by Kevin Wars. He was confirmed this week by the Senate. He also says he will continue serving on the governing board to help safeguard the central banks independence.
From Washington, this is NPR News. Hundreds of thousands of New York City area commuters may face weekday scramble to find alternative modes of transportation. If there's a strike on the Long Island Railroad, that is a busiest commuter railroad in the country, local media report negotiators are still talking.
Union officials representing locomotive engineers, signal men, and other train workers face a 1201 AM Saturday deadline to reach a labor contract agreement with transit officials. If not, unionized workers could strike or be locked out. President Trump has announced his plan, massive sculpture garden will be located along the Potomac River in Washington, DC.
Pierre's Mandelito Badaque reports a waterfront area still needs approval. In 2020, during his first term in office, Trump signed an executive order to create what he called the National Garden of American Heroes. A vast outdoor park that will feature the statues of the greatest Americans to ever live. That includes life-size statues ranging from George Washington to Whitney Houston to Kobe
Bryant. Trump had hoped to complete the garden by this July 4th to mark the country's 250th birthday. President Biden later scrapped the plans, but Trump reinstated them when he returned to office.
Last summer, Congress committed $40 million to it, though critics say it will cost much
more than that. The president has now posted on social media that the garden would be located in West Potomac Park, a national park between the river and the national mall. Mandelito Badaque, NPR News. The Dows closed down 537 points.
It's NPR News. From Spider-Man to a new Steven Spielberg movie, we know that TV and movies you'll want to watch this summer. I'm excited about this film. I just know suspense, intrigue aliens, and I'm like, "All right, Spielberg, I'm in."
Check out the summer guide from Pop Culture Happy Hour, listen on the NPR app, or wherever you get podcasts.
