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Ten prisoners escaped a New Orleans jail early Friday after breaking through a wall behind a toilet, law enforcement said, slipping away without being detected until hours later.A manhunt is underway in the tourist hub, the southern state of Louisiana’s largest city, for nine fugitives who police say “are considered to be armed and dangerous.” One inmate is back in custody after being found hiding under a car in a tourist area Friday morning.Shortly after midnight (0500 GMT), the inmates broke through a wall behind a toilet, worked their way through the jail, then jumped over an enclosure wall, escaping the facility undetected until 8:30 am. That’s when a headcount revealed they were gone.At first, law enforcement erroneously said 11 inmates had escaped, but the number was later revised to 10.Media reports said some of the men are accused of murder, and circulated a photograph of the inside of a cell after the escape. The photo showed a rectangular hole leading out of a cell, the wall above it scrawled with obscene graffiti that says “we innocent,” “we out” and “to (sic) easy.”

Donald Trump labeled former FBI director James Comey a “dirty cop” Friday over a social media post that the US president deemed a veiled call for assassination and which prompted a Secret Service probe.Comey made a now-deleted post on Instagram the previous day that showed an image of “86 47” spelled out in sea shells, with “86” being slang for kill and Trump the 47th president.”He knew exactly what that meant,” Trump said in an interview with Fox News broadcast on Friday. “That meant assassination, and it says it loud and clear. Now, he wasn’t very competent, but he was competent enough to know what that meant.””He’s calling for the assassination of the president,” Trump said, branding Comey “a dirty cop.”Comey said Thursday on Instagram that he posted “a picture of some shells I saw today on a beach walk, which I assumed were a political message.””I didn’t realize some folks associate those numbers with violence. It never occurred to me but I oppose violence of any kind so I took the post down,” he said.Trump administration officials were unconvinced, with Department of Homeland Security chief Kristi Noem saying DHS and the US Secret Service — which is charged with protecting the president — were investigating and “will respond appropriately.”FBI Director Kash Patel meanwhile said the law enforcement agency was “in communication with the Secret Service” and that it would “provide all necessary support.”And Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard said Comey had “issued a call to action to murder the president of the United States,” adding: “We fully support the Secret Service investigation into Comey’s threat on President Trump’s life.”On Friday, US media reported Comey was questioned by the Secret Service over his post.Trump was wounded in the ear during an assassination attempt at a campaign rally last July in Butler, Pennsylvania, and has faced other threats.Comey and Trump have a contentious history, with the president firing him in 2017 as the FBI chief was leading a probe into whether Trump’s aides colluded with Moscow to sway the presidential vote the previous year.Democrats suspected Trump was seeking to hamper that investigation, but the president said his decision was motivated strictly by Comey’s mishandling of a high-stakes probe into the emails of his presidential rival, Hillary Clinton.

US President Donald Trump lashed out Friday at the Supreme Court after it blocked his bid to resume deportations of alleged Venezuelan gang members, saying the justices are “not allowing me to do what I was elected to do.”Trump’s berating of the high court, in a post on Truth Social, came after it dealt another setback to his attempt to swiftly expel alleged Tren de Aragua (TdA) gang members using an obscure wartime law, the 1798 Alien Enemies Act (AEA).Trump has been at loggerheads with the judiciary ever since he returned to the White House, venting his fury at numerous court rulings at various levels that have frozen his executive orders on multiple issues.In a 7-2 decision, the conservative-majority Supreme Court, which includes three justices nominated by Trump, blocked his bid to use the AEA to carry out further deportations of TdA members, saying they were not being given enough time to legally contest their removal.Trump, who campaigned for the White House on a pledge to deport millions of undocumented migrants, said the Supreme Court decision means the government will have to go through a “long, protracted, and expensive Legal Process” to expel “murderers, drug dealers (and) gang members.””The Supreme Court of the United States is not allowing me to do what I was elected to do,” he said. “This is a bad and dangerous day for America!”Trump invoked the AEA, which was last used to round up Japanese-Americans during World War II, in March to deport a first group of alleged TdA members to a notorious prison in El Salvador without due process.Attorneys for several of the deported Venezuelans have said their clients were not gang members, had committed no crimes and were targeted largely on the basis of their tattoos.The Supreme Court intervened on April 19 to temporarily block further deportations of undocumented Venezuelan migrants, saying they must be afforded due process.In Friday’s unsigned order, the court paused plans to deport another group of detainees held in Texas, saying they were not being given enough time to mount a meaningful legal challenge to their expulsion.”Notice roughly 24 hours before removal, devoid of information about how to exercise due process rights to contest that removal, surely does not pass muster,” the justices said.Conservative justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito dissented. Trump thanked them in his Truth Social post for “attempting to protect our Country.”- ‘More notice’ -The justices also noted that a Salvadoran man had been deported to El Salvador “in error” along with the alleged TdA members in March and the Trump administration has claimed “it is unable to provide for (his) return.”The justices stressed they were not deciding whether Trump could legally use the AEA to deport undocumented migrants, and they ordered a lower court to “expeditiously” examine the question.”To be clear, we decide today only that the detainees are entitled to more notice than was given,” they said.”We did not on April 19 — and do not now — address the underlying merits of the parties’ claims regarding the legality of removals under the AEA.”We recognize the significance of the Government’s national security interests as well as the necessity that such interests be pursued in a manner consistent with the Constitution,” they said.Three federal district court judges have ruled that Trump’s use of the Alien Enemies Act to carry out deportations was unconstitutional while one, a Trump appointee, said it was permissible.In invoking the AEA, Trump said TdA was engaged in “hostile actions” and “threatening an invasion or predatory incursion against the territory of the United States.”Since taking office, Trump has sent troops to the Mexican border, imposed tariffs on Mexico and Canada for allegedly not doing enough to stop illegal crossings, and designated gangs like TdA and MS-13 as terrorist groups.

The United States lost its last triple-A credit rating from a major agency on Friday as Moody’s announced a downgrade, citing rising levels of government debt and dealing a blow to Donald Trump’s narrative of economic strength and prosperity.The downgrade to Aa1 from Aaa adds to the bad news for the US president, coming on the same day his flagship spending bill failed to pass a key vote in Congress due to opposition from several Republican fiscal hawks.Explaining its decision, the ratings agency noted “the increase over more than a decade in government debt and interest payment ratios to levels that are significantly higher than similarly rated sovereigns.” In its decision, Moody’s warned that it expects federal deficits to widen to almost nine percent of economic output by 2035, up from 6.4 percent last year, “driven mainly by increased interest payments on debt, rising entitlement spending, and relatively low revenue generation.”As a result, it expects the federal debt burden to increase to “about” 134 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by 2035, compared to 98 percent last year.Moody’s decision to downgrade the United States from its top credit rating mirrors similar decisions from the two other major US ratings agencies, S&P and Fitch.S&P was the first to cut its rating for the United States back in 2011, during Barack Obama’s first term in office, citing its concerns that a debt management plan “would be necessary to stabilize the government’s medium-term debt dynamics.”Twelve years later, Fitch followed suit, warning of “a steady deterioration in standards of governance over the last 20 years, including on fiscal and debt matters.”Moody’s echoed its peers in its decision Friday, noting in a statement that “successive US administrations and Congress have failed to agree on measures to reverse the trend of large annual fiscal deficits and growing interest costs.””We do not believe that material multi-year reductions in mandatory spending and deficits will result from current fiscal proposals under consideration,” it added, flagging that it expected larger deficits to continue over the next decade. “The US’ fiscal performance is likely to deteriorate relative to its own past and compared to other highly-rated sovereigns,” Moody’s said. The Moody’s decision comes amid a tough fight in Congress to pass Trump’s much-touted “big, beautiful” spending bill, which aims to revamp and renew a roughly $5 trillion extension of his 2017 tax relief, paid for at least partially through deep cuts to the Medicaid health insurance program that covers more than 70 million low-income people.On Friday, the agency also changed its outlook from “negative” to “stable,” noting that despite the United States’ poor record tackling rising government debt levels, the country “retains exceptional credit strengths such as the size, resilience and dynamism of its economy and the role of the US dollar as global reserve currency.”

Casandra Ventura, the ex-girlfriend of music mogul Sean Combs, on Friday finished four grueling days on the witness stand in his sex trafficking trial, testifying in graphic, deeply personal terms about years of abuse including rape.Combs is facing federal charges of sex trafficking and leading an illegal sex ring that enforced its power with crimes including arson, kidnapping and bribery — and Ventura’s testimony is core to the prosecution’s case.Ventura — the singer known as Cassie, who is heavily pregnant with her third child — told jurors that Combs raped, beat and forced her into degrading, drug-fueled sex parties dubbed “freak-offs” throughout their decade-plus relationship.In the final stretch of her testimony in a Manhattan courtroom, Ventura faced a blitz of questions over a $20 million settlement she received from Combs in a separate civil case prior to the start of criminal proceedings. She said she was also set to receive $10 million in another settlement with the Intercontinental Hotel, where Combs assaulted her in a 2016 incident caught on camera that was aired in open court.Ventura remained largely composed throughout the week but broke down near the end of her testimony.”I’d give that money back if I never had to do freak-offs,” she said through tears in an emotional crescendo, referring to the marathon sex parties with male escorts she says Combs systematically subjected her to.”I would have had agency and autonomy. I wouldn’t have had to work so hard to get it back,” she said.She said Combs’s treatment of her made her feel “worthless.”The defense sought to tarnish her credibility with painstaking readings of years-old text messages between the couple, emphasizing that she stayed with Combs despite the alleged abuse, and pointing to times when she had acted violently.”I will kill you,” Ventura was heard saying in an audio recording to a man she believed had a video of a freak-off.Defense lawyer Anna Estevao highlighted tender text exchanges, and implied drug addiction had played a key role in Combs’s rage.Ventura insisted there was subtext to many of the suggestive or keen messages she sent to Combs over the years, and that she often felt pressured into freak-offs with the music industry heavyweight, especially as she was signed to his label.”I worried for my safety. I worried for my career. But I also was in love with him, so I worried that he wouldn’t want to be with me” if she didn’t comply with his demands, she said.- ‘Extremely challenging’ -Ventura’s lawyer Douglas Wigdor read a statement on her behalf, after she wearily left the courtroom holding her belly.”This week has been extremely challenging, but also remarkably empowering and healing,” she said.She said she hoped her testimony would help other abuse survivors and asked for privacy as she prepares to give birth.”I am glad to put this chapter of my life to rest,” she said.In a separate statement, also read by Wigdor, Ventura’s husband Alex Fine praised her “strength and bravery” while adding he felt “profound anger” as he sat in court “in front of a person who tried to break her.”Combs initially introduced Fine and Ventura, who already have two children together, it was stated in court.- Many weeks to come -Combs, 55, made hundreds of millions in the music, fashion, media and liquor industries and is often credited with helping to bring hip-hop into the mainstream.But the rap producer and global superstar once famous for his lavish parties now appears visibly aged after months in prison.He has pleaded not guilty to all charges but faces life in prison if convicted.The defense contends that while Ventura’s relationship with Combs was complicated and included domestic abuse, it did not amount to sex trafficking.Late in the day, prosecutors began questioning Dawn Richard — a singer who found fame on MTV’s reality show “Making the Band,” which Combs produced. Richard previously filed a separate civil suit against Combs alleging sexual assault and battery.She told jurors Friday she witnessed Combs attempt to hit Ventura over the head with a skillet.Proceedings are expected to continue into the summer.

President Donald Trump proclaimed a decisive break with decades of US interventionism during his Middle East tour, promising a new American foreign policy based instead on his beloved art of the deal.Trump vowed during his swing through Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates that there would be no more “lectures on how to live”, saying the region had achieved a “modern miracle the Arabian way.”In an extraordinary rupture with his predecessors, Trump then lambasted what he called the “neo-cons” that oversaw bloody US military interventions in the region and beyond.”In the end, the so-called nation builders wrecked far more nations than they built,” Trump told an investment forum in Riyadh, the first stop on his tour of the Gulf.”Far too many American presidents have been afflicted with the notion that it’s our job to look into the souls of foreign leaders and use US policy to dispense justice for their sins.”Trump did not name them but the targets were clear. His Democratic predecessor Joe Biden tried to tie US support to the promotion of human rights and the maintenance of the international order. And Republican George W. Bush in the early 2000s launched wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.- ‘Consequential shift’ -“Trump’s Riyadh speech marked a clear and consequential shift in US policy toward the Middle East,” said Sina Toossi, from the Center for International Policy. “By rejecting the legacy of military intervention and nation-building, he signaled a move toward realism and restraint. This shift resonates deeply in a region exhausted by war and foreign meddling.”But for Trump, that also means ignoring democracy and human rights issues and embracing the leaders of oil-rich monarchies with often autocratic tendencies.His Saudi host, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, was for example found by US intelligence to have ordered the gruesome murder in 2018 of dissident writer Jamal Khashoggi. But there was no mention of that in Riyadh.Instead, Trump preached the same brand of gold-plated, transactional politics that he does at home.Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates showed him the money, signing a host of huge business and investment deals with the United States during his trip.In return they got the glitz of Trump’s first major foreign trip and praise as being examples of what the region could become.Conversely, Trump’s visit also shook one of the longest-standing pillars of US policy in the Middle East — its support for Israel.The US president not only bypassed Israel on the trip but appeared to sideline Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on key issues including Iran’s nuclear program, Israel’s war in Gaza, and Yemen’s Huthi rebels.This showed mounting tensions behind the scenes, particularly on Iran, with Israel far keener than Trump on a military option.- ‘American power’ -But Trump’s deal-making approach to foreign policy could soon have its limits tested.He has shown willingness to seek a deal with Iran over its nuclear program — saying that Tehran’s case “I have never believed in having permanent enemies.”But at the same time Trump has threatened military action against Iran if it does not reach an accord.Trump also left the Middle East with no progress towards a deal to end the war in Gaza despite his pledges to end the conflict — although he made a rare reference to the fact that people were now “starving” in the besieged enclave.Further afield, Trump tried to coax Russia’s Vladimir Putin to talks in Istanbul during his trip to discuss an end to Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, but his efforts came to nothing.Trump’s “peace through strength” doctrine also has its contradictions. On a visit to a huge US air base in Qatar he said that “my priority is to end conflicts, not start them.” But then he immediately added: “I will never hesitate to wield American power if it’s necessary to defend the United States of America or our partners.”

The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is considering taking part in a reality TV show in which immigrants would compete for American citizenship, the department confirmed on Friday.Asked about the reported idea, DHS responded with a statement that said the pitch “has not received approval or rejection by staff,” and that “each proposal undergoes a thorough vetting process prior to denial or approval.””We need to revive patriotism and civic duty in this country, and we’re happy to review out-of-the-box pitches,” Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin said in the statement.The Wall Street Journal reported that the proposed show — which was pitched by a Canadian American named Rob Worsoff — would see contestants face off to prove they are the most American.”This isn’t ‘The Hunger Games’ for immigrants,” the newspaper quoted Worsoff as saying — a reference to a dystopian novel and subsequent movie about children forced to kill each other in a televised competition for survival.”This is not, ‘Hey, if you lose, we are shipping you out on a boat out of the country,'” he said.The Journal reviewed a 36-page slide deck from Worsoff’s team about the proposed program, which would see contestants compete in one-hour episodes.This could include a gold rush competition to see who can retrieve the most precious metal from a mine, or one in which contestants would work in teams to assemble the chassis of a Model T car, according to the newspaper.The show would start with an arrival at Ellis Island — the traditional entrance point for immigrants to the United States — and would see one contestant eliminated per episode.The news comes as former reality show star President Donald Trump’s administration has moved to end temporary protected status (TPS) for various groups of immigrants it had shielded them from deportation.Federal law permits the government to grant TPS to foreign citizens who cannot safely return home because of war, natural disasters or other “extraordinary” conditions.Since taking office, Trump has sought to strip TPS protections from citizens of countries including Afghanistan, Haiti and Venezuela as part of his broader crackdown on immigration.That crackdown — led by DHS — has included immigration raids, arrests and deportations.

Train engineers seeking higher pay went on strike Friday in New Jersey, triggering travel misery for New York-area commuters in America’s biggest metropolitan corridor.New Jersey’s first state-wide transit strike in decades began a minute after midnight when contract talks fell apart, so many people showed up at stations unaware that trains were not running.Commuters scrambled to find alternative ways to get across the Hudson River into New York and elsewhere, looking at much higher fares to go by Uber or Amtrak, a national rail system. A ticket to Manhattan with the latter can cost $98.Laura Pejo, 68, stood at a rail station in the city of Hoboken after finishing her work day and pondered a complex multi-stop bus trip to get home.”So it will take about three hours, when my usual commute is 35-40 minutes,” she told AFP.The strike is also bad news for people headed to MetLife Stadium in the town of East Rutherford for a Shakira concert Friday night and a series of Beyonce shows over the next two weeks. Now there is no train service to the arena.”I’m going to there early and then, depending on when the concert is over, I guess I’m going to have to schedule in advance an Uber and just hope I don’t pay more than I paid for the concert ticket,” said Matthew Samuels, 25.NJ Transit, the third-largest transit system in the United States, said 350,000 customers rely on its services each day. Members of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) union picketed outside rail stations.Many waved signs that accused NJ Transit executives of treating themselves to expensive perks while train drivers’ wages lagged behind those of colleagues in other areas of America.The union said it has been locked in a years-long dispute with NJ Transit, with its members going five years without a raise. The union is seeking new contracts for around 450 engineers with hourly wages matching those of the neighboring Long Island Rail Road.Contract negotiations are due to resume Sunday. – ‘We’ll get there’ -NJ Transit officials have said the wage hike requested by the union would end up costing the company and taxpayers millions.Governor Phil Murphy said the talks ended on a conciliatory note. “The fact that we’re not agreeing doesn’t mean that we’re throwing chairs at each other. To the contrary, we just are at an impasse,” he told a news conference Friday morning.NJ Transit CEO Kris Kolluri said the two sides are close to an agreement. “We are 95 percent there,” he told the news conference. “We’ll get there.”The transportation company expects the strike to predominantly affect daily commutes for about 70,000 New York-bound passengers, while also disrupting the travel of many thousands more along its extensive network. The last statewide transit strike occurred in 1983 and lasted 34 days.

Russia and Ukraine agreed a large-scale prisoner exchange, said they would trade ideas on a possible ceasefire and discussed a potential meeting between Volodymyr Zelensky and Vladimir Putin in their first direct talks in over three years on Friday.But coming out of the highly anticipated talks in Istanbul, which lasted just over 90 minutes, there were few signs of more significant progress toward ending the three-year war.Kyiv was seeking an “unconditional ceasefire” to pause a conflict that has destroyed large swathes of Ukraine and displaced millions of people.Moscow has consistently rebuffed those calls and the only concrete agreement appeared to be a deal to exchange 1,000 prisoners each.The two sides said they would “present their vision of a possible future ceasefire”, according to Russia’s top negotiator, Vladimir Medinsky.They did not agree any suspension of the fighting.”Overall, we are satisfied with the results and ready to continue contacts,” Medinsky said.Ukraine’s top negotiator, Defence Minister Rustem Umerov, said the “next step” would be a meeting between the two presidents. Russia said it took note of the request.”We understand that if we want to make progress, we need to have this meeting of leaders,” Ukrainian foreign ministry spokesman Georgiy Tykhy said later, praising the prisoner swap as a “great result”.- Zelensky says Putin ‘afraid’ -Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, who presided over the meeting, said the sides had “agreed in principle to meet again” and would present ceasefire ideas “in writing”.Fidan sat at the head of a table in front of Turkish, Russian and Ukrainian flags at Istanbul’s Dolmabahce Palace for the talks — with Russian and Ukrainian delegations facing each other, footage from the room showed.But progress on more fundamental issues appeared minimal.Tykhy said Russia had raised a number of “unacceptable demands”, with a source telling AFP that Russia had demanded Kyiv give up more territory — a strategy it said was designed to derail the negotiations.Nevertheless, the fact the meeting took place at all was a sign of movement, with both sides having come under steady pressure from Washington to open talks.Putin declined to travel to Turkey for the meeting, sending a second-tier team instead.Zelensky said Putin was “afraid” of meeting and accused Russia of not taking the talks “seriously”.At a European summit in Albania, the Ukrainian leader urged a “strong reaction” from the world if the talks failed, including new sanctions.Both Moscow and Washington have also talked up the need for a meeting between Putin and US President Donald Trump on the conflict.The leaders of Ukraine, France, Germany, Britain and Poland held a phone call with Trump on Friday, Zelensky’s spokesperson said, without elaborating.French President Emmanuel Macron said European nations were coordinating with the United States on additional sanctions against Russia should Moscow continue to refuse an “unconditional ceasefire”.Trump has said “nothing’s going to happen” on the conflict until he meets Putin face-to-face although Macron suggested “telephone contacts” could take place in the first instance.- ‘Unacceptable demands’ -Ahead of the talks, Ukrainian officials in Istanbul held meetings with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Trump’s special envoy Keith Kellogg and the national security advisors of Britain, France and Germany.Rubio urged a “peaceful” end to the war and said “the killing needs to stop”, according to State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce.During the talks, a Ukrainian source told AFP that Russia was advancing hardline territorial demands.Moscow claims annexation of five Ukrainian regions — four since its 2022 invasion, and Crimea, which it annexed in 2014.”Russian representatives are putting forward unacceptable demands… such as for Ukraine to withdraw forces from large parts of Ukrainian territory it controls in order for a ceasefire to begin,” the source said.They accused Moscow of seeking to “throw non-starters” so the talks end “without any results”.Another source familiar with the talks said Russia had threatened to capture Ukraine’s Sumy and Kharkiv regions.Both regions border Russia and were invaded by Moscow’s army at the start of the conflict, though Russia has not previously made formal territorial claims over them.Russia has repeatedly said it will not discuss giving up any territory that its forces occupy.Putin last year called for Kyiv to withdraw from parts of the Donetsk, Lugansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions that it still controls.burs-cad/jc/rmb/phz/rlp

Republican fiscal hawks on Friday sunk a key vote on advancing the mega-bill that is the centerpiece of Donald Trump’s domestic agenda, in a significant setback for the US president’s tax and spending policies.Trump is pushing to usher into law his so-called “One Big, Beautiful Bill” pairing an extension of his first-term tax cuts with savings that will see millions of the poorest Americans lose their health care coverage.But a congressional Republican Party riven with divisions and competing in its rank-and-file has complicated the process, raising serious doubts that the sprawling package can pass a vote of the full House of Representatives next week.Despite a social media post by Trump calling holdouts in his party “grandstanders,” five conservatives in the Republican-led House Budget Committee joined Democrats on Friday to reject the legislation.”This bill falls profoundly short. It does not do what we say it does with respect to the deficit. We are writing checks we cannot cash and our children are going to pay the price,” said Texas conservative Chip Roy.  The panel was tasked with bundling together the 11 different bills Republicans have approved over recent weeks through their policy committees — typically a perfunctory, if necessary, step on the way to the House floor.The budget committee’s no vote is not the final word on the package, which will be reworked and sent back to the panel for more debate starting 10:00 pm on Sunday (0200 GMT Monday), and a fresh vote.But it laid bare disagreements that have so far proved intractable between the party’s coastal moderates and its right flank that could still spin the president’s agenda off the rails.The Energy and Commerce Committee has passed cuts totalling more than $880 billion over a decade from health care, mostly from the Medicaid insurance program that covers 70 million low-income Americans.The Congressional Budget Office found that the panel’s work would mean 8.6 million additional people losing health insurance — stoking concerns among Republican moderates. But conservatives are furious that the package does not go further in cutting spending — pointing specifically to work requirements for Medicaid entitlement that do not kick in until the end of Trump’s term. The so-called SALT Republicans — a faction demanding bigger deductions in state and local taxes — are also at loggerheads with the leadership. House Speaker Mike Johnson is expected to spend the weekend seeking compromise with his party’s rebels.But it will be a fraught balancing act, as any concession he makes to the debt hawks could cause a chain reaction of defections from the moderates.Republican senators meanwhile have made no secret of their intention to make major changes when the package reaches the upper chamber.”We’ve been talking with the House and there’s a lot of things we agree on… But there’ll be changes in a number of areas,” John Hoeven of North Dakota told NBC.