POW Freed: The only American prisoner of war held by the Taliban in Afghanistan was freed yesterday in trade for five members of the Taliban held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl of Hailey, Id. was captured five years ago under circumstances that have never been fully explained. He was described as being in good condition when he was handed over to American Special Operation troops just over the Pakistan border into Afghanistan.

Appearing with the president at the White House, Bergdahl’s father said his son had difficulty speaking English after his exchange. Defense Secy. Chuck Hagel said today the US pressed for the trade in recent days out of concern for Bergdahl’s health, but didn’t say what the problem might be.

The US has had talks with the Taliban, but little has come of it, so this prisoner swap is seen as encouraging. President Obama said, “We do hope that having succeeded in this narrow but important step, it will create the possibility of expanding the dialogue to other issues.” Some Republican members of Congress claimed the administration broke the law by not consulting before making the prisoner swap.

The five Taliban traded for Bergdahl have been linked to attacks that killed American soldiers and to the murders of thousands of Shiites in Afghanistan.

Nation: Six climbers including two guides are missing and presumed dead on Washington’s Mt. Rainier. A helicopter spotted camping and climbing gear at 9,000 feet, and detected a beacon signal, but no people. Rangers suspect the climbers fell into a 3,000-foot ravine. The party that set out Monday was due back Friday, and was last heard from Wednesday evening. The 14,000-foot Rainier is a magnet for climbers, but can be fatally dangerous.

>A co-owner of Philadelphia’s major newspapers was one of seven people who died last night in the crash of a private jet in Bedford, Mass. Lewis Katz, 72, who was killed, and his partner Gerry Lenfest, had just won an $88 million auction of the Philadelphia Inquirer and The Philadelphia Daily News.

The jet went off the runway into a wooded area and burst into flames. The identity of the other people on board the jet has not been revealed.

Face Time: The NY Times reports that the National Security Agency is collecting huge numbers of facial images from emails, texts, and videoconferences for scanning by facial recognition technology. They capture about 55,000 faces a day. The images can be used to find intelligence and terror targets all over the world.

World: A Frenchman named Mehdi Nemmouche has been arrested in Marseilles for the fatal shootings of three people May 24 at the Jewish Museum in Brussels. The French prosecutor said Nemmouche was found with weapons and clothing that matched pictures of the Brussels shooter. Authorities said Nemmouche had spent a year in Syria in the company of jihadist groups.

Lord Stanley: The Chicago Blackhawks are at home tonight against the Los Angeles Kings in the final match to decide who goes to the Stanley Cup finals against the NY Rangers. The Kings fumbled a 3-1 lead and are now tied 3-3.

Fiiiiiiiiiiixed!!!!: As soccer teams around the world prepare to head to Brazil for the World Cup,The NY Times reports that an investigation found match-fixing in soccer games leading up to the last Cup. The report includes an account of a South African referee depositing $100,000 cash in a bank before presiding over a match in which he made suspiciously bad calls. The report says big time soccer was infiltrated by an international match-rigging syndicate to make money off betting. The World Cup is played every four years and is the most popular sports event on earth.

Donald Sterling: With an “e”. We know. We just don’t always spell it that way.

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