MR GRADY'S DAILY BLOG: AMERICAS NEWS

BREAKING Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, freed in swap with Taliban after five years of captivity, returns to the U.S.

After being held in Germany following being recovered in deal that freed five Guantanamo Bay captors, Bergdahl arrived in San Antonio early Friday.

Basketball legend Michael Jordan now worth $1 BILLION, according to latest Forbes estimate

Forbes Magazine estimated Thursday that Jordan’s equity as owner of the NBA’s Charlotte Hornets is $416 million and his net worth outside of the team to be $600 million.

'GIRLS WERE SCREAMING OVER THERE': Florida accountant kept hookers as sex slaves in well-to-do pad: cops

A Florida accountant kept hookers prisoner in his upper middle class home for months, pimping them out, raping them and plying them with cocaine, authorities said.

'Y'ALL ARE CRAZY, TOO': Mom of boy, 6, stabbed to death in Brooklyn outraged anyone would defend killer

It was time to clear away the garbage. The angry mom whose son was murdered by a Brooklyn butcher with a steak knife began Thursday at the corner of Stanley and Schenck Aves.

EXCLUSIVE Bomb-sniffing MTA police dog Mac named after NYPD cop killed in Iraq War

MTA Officer Anthony Ferrara has named his new bomb-detection dog Mac, after James McNaughton, an NYPD transit police officer and U.S. Army reservist shot by a sniper on Aug. 2, 2005.

'Game of Thrones' star needs vacation after latest role

EXCLUSIVE Low-wage Port Authority airport workers will be getting raises next month

Thousands of low-wage contract workers at LaGuardia, Kennedy, and Newark airports will see long- awaited raises next month, the Daily News has learned.

Drunken driver in California gets life sentence after driving 2 MILES with body on hood

A drunken California substance abuse counselor who smashed her car into a pedestrian and drove two miles with the man’s body on her windshield will spend 55 years to life in prison for killing Philip Moreno.

Shocking violence contiues in India as 5 women raped in 36 hours, while one victim was brutalized by gang of cops

Outrage in Asian subcontinent continues as women are subjected to more brutality just weeks after two impoverished girls were found sexually assaulted and murdered.

Ohio man arrested for having sex with inflatable raft for third time in three years — 'He's always had a fascination for plastic'

Edwin Tobergta, 35, was taken into custody Wednesday after he was seen having simulated sex with a raft along a public road in Hamilton, Ohio, WKRC reported.

Slimmed-down Christie 'backs it up' on 'Tonight' - VIDEO

Felon stabbed to death just ONE HOUR after California jurors mistakenly release him

A California jury accidentally signed a "not guilty" form and let a career criminal go free hours before he was stabbed to death.

PHOTOS Tenn. woman fights domestic violence by posting photos of her battered face

She has had surgery and a metal plate implanted in her face where her eye socket disintegrated under blows delivered by her former boyfriend, says Angela Brower of Memphis.

College staffer in Japan arrested after allegedly stealing hundreds of school girl uniforms to wear

Koichi Hirose, who was arrested Wednesday in Mihama, reportedly admitted to stealing approximately 600 gym suits and cheerleading and volleyball uniforms so he could wear it himself.

Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, who was exchanged for five Taliban militants, is set to return to the U.S. on Friday

Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl is set to return to the United States on Friday.

MY FALCON ANKLE! Harrison Ford hurt on 'Star Wars' set

California teacher arrested for having ‘multiple sex encounters’ with female student, starting when she was 15

Rebecca Eileen Diebolt, 35, was collared Wednesday, a week after the victim told police she had “multiple sex encounters” with the language arts teacher — including trysts in her classroom.

Ex-wife’s no-jail plea deal on the rocks after she’s arrested for allegedly talking about hiring a hitman

Amy Goldenberg, 43, was arrested in New Jersey for the hitman talk in April, which jeopardizes the no-jail deal she struck with Manhattan authorities last July.

Raissman: To MSG Network crew, Knicks coach Derek Fisher talks great game

Following his first appearance as Knicks coach, the microscopic analysis covered a lot of psychological ground. It failed to answer an important question: Was this Derek Fisher’s coming out party or an audition for a broadcasting gig?

County clerks could be prosecuted for sham gay marriages in Wisconsin: state attorney general

The Wisconsin attorney general threatened Thursday that county clerks could be prosecuted for “taking the law into their own hands” and issuing same-sex marriage licenses, which he said are sham marriages not legal in the state.

New York

EXCLUSIVE Rikers Island violence on the rise — nearly 20 inmates attacked, record number of stabbings

The violence behind bars on Rikers Island has reached deadly proportions, with nearly 20 inmates slashed in the last month — the bloodiest stretch in more than a decade, records show.

Timothy Cardinal Dolan pushing Gov. Cuomo to support education tax credits

Catholic bishops are taking their battle for education tax credits to the pulpit Sunday — and they hope Gov. Cuomo gets the message.

Feds set to clear feral cat colony out of Gateway National Recreation Area in Brooklyn

Caterwauling cat lovers claim the colony has been a part of Plum Beach on Brooklyn’s southeastern tip for more than a decade, but the feds say they are detrimental to the health of other wildlife.

LATEST FROM AROUND NEW YORK

Iconic Kentile Floors sign being dismantled — but letters will be saved

The owner of the Kentile Floors sign has confirmed he is dismantling the iconic Gowanus marker, but Ely Cohen has agreed to preserve the letters and donate them for preservation.

Residents of General Grant, Manhattanville Houses rip NYPD over recent gang sweep

Not everyone applauded last week’s police takedown of Harlem gang members, an operation that tightened the screws on the deadly rivalry between crews from the Manhattanville and Grant Houses.

Kim shows off bikini body while on honeymoon

Department of Homeland Security details aid being given to unaccompanied immigrant children

Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson says the government is giving humanitarian aid to immigrant children caught trying to cross the Southern border illegally without their parents.

Naked N.J. nursing home resident in wheelchair charged with assault of 92-year-old man

The motive isn’t clear, but for some reason a nursing home patient in suburban New Jersey wheeled his naked self into the room of a 92-year-old fellow resident and beat the man with a piece of his wheelchair.

'He virtually saved his mother's life': Heroic Delaware teen dives in front of mom when gunman opens fire

The 19-year-old college student had just come home to visit when a neighbor broke into Buckworth's apartment and started shooting.

Hairdresser known as 'Demon Barber' arrested for slashing man’s throat in Newcastle shop

A British hairdresser who proudly touts himself as The Demon Barber was arrested for slashing a man’s neck with a razor inside his Newcastle shop, police said.

TGIF! Check out this week's hottest celebrities

Israeli parents claim their son was filmed in gay pride video without their consent

The parents of a young Israeli boy are outraged, saying their son was featured in Eurovision’s star Dana International’s gay pride promo video without their consent.

Grave of New Hampshire businessman ransacked in search for ‘real will’: authorities

Three people, including a daughter, are accused of ransacking the grave of a New Hampshire businessman in search of his “real will,” only to find a pack of cigarettes in his hand.

FATAL ATTRACTION: South African man cuts out romantic rival’s heart, eats it with kitchen utensils

Mbuyiselo Manona was first stabbed by his partner's former lover, who'd come to visit the couple at their home in Cape Town, South Africa.

Firefighters remove dead hoarder from Calif. home taken over by cats

Firefighters had to crawl through an obstacle course of junk and feral cats to remove a dead hoarder from her front porch in California.

Sports

Lawrence: Carmelo talk not so hot for LeBron and Miami

Well, how do you like how Carmelo Anthony has finally made the NBA Finals? Of course he’s not really here, as everyone knows, because the Knicks are not anywhere close to the Finals. They haven’t played this deep into June since 1999.

Carmelo still plans to opt out, Heat eyeing Knicks All-Star

Carmelo Anthony hasn't wavered from his year-long intent to become a free agent on July 1st despite Phil Jackson's hopes to keep Anthony under contract through the 2014-15 season.

Bondy: Croatians aren’t the only ones protesting at World Cup

The World Cup opened Thursday with a shaky Brazil victory on the field and considerable chaos not far from it. There was no way to stage one without the other, really, unless organizers threw another $11 billion at this enthralling money pit.

Gola: Cleared in Clorox probe, Phil even at Open

It was time to have a little fun with the kid. British amateur Matthew Fitzpatrick had marked his ball on Pinehurst No. 2’s diabolical fifth green, using one of those big poker chips, which Bones Mackay, Phil Mickelson’s caddie, sarcastically called a “cheeseburger.”

GOOOOOAL! Watch the top ten World Cup strikes EVER

There is something about the World Cup that brings out the best in soccer: the legendary games, the career-defining performances and the wonder goals.