The Digital Free Press News Roundup delivers today's biggest headlines with concise summaries and source links. Holding everyone accountable. Informing, not manipulating.

Russia freed Stephen Hubbard, a 74-year-old retired Michigan teacher jailed since 2022 on charges of fighting for Ukraine, on Wednesday during U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff's visit to St. Petersburg. President Trump said he asked Putin for the release in a phone call last week and that "there was no 'swap' necessary."

President Donald Trump said Tuesday that he has asked Vladimir Putin "at length" to release Stephen Hubbard, a retired American teacher held in Russia since early in the Ukraine war. "It's time," Trump said, as ABC News reported, citing sources, that a deal to free several Americans is in its final stages. Nothing is final, officials cautioned.