Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer says President Donald Trump would be going back on his word to her if he pardoned two men who are serving prison sentences for leading a 2020 plot to kidnap her.

Whitmer, a Democrat, told Michigan Public Radio on Thursday that Trump asked her about a month ago how she would feel if he pardoned the two men.

I said, I think it would be the wrong decision, Whitmer recounted. I would oppose it and he said, OK, Ill drop it.

Whitmer, a possible 2028 presidential candidate, recounted the conversation one day after Trump said he was considering a pardon for the men, saying, I will take a look at it. It's been brought to my attention.

The Republican president said he followed the men's trial and it looked to me like somewhat of a railroad job. He said the men were drinking and I think they said stupid things.

RELATED STORY | Trump considers pardons for men convicted in plot to kidnap, kill Whitmer

The U.S. Justice Departments new pardon attorney also said this month he would take a hard look at pardoning Barry Croft Jr. and Adam Fox.

Croft, 49, and Fox, 42, were portrayed as leaders of the kidnapping scheme. They were convicted of conspiracy in federal court in Grand Rapids, Michigan, in 2022. Croft, a trucker from Delaware, was also found guilty of a weapons charge.

Croft was sentenced to nearly 20 years in prison, while Fox, a Grand Rapids man, got a 16-year term. They are being held at a prison in Colorado the most secure in the federal system.

Whitmer later told an audience following a speech at the Detroit Regional Chamber Mackinac Policy Conference that she plans to talk to Trump again about the pardoning matter.

We have an ongoing dialogue now ... very different from the first term, she said about Trump and turned to smile at the audience.

A spokesperson said the White House cannot confirm nor deny any upcoming actions.

The White House does not comment on the Presidents private meetings, and any speculation about future pardons is just thatspeculation," principal deputy press secretary Harrison Fields said in a statement.

Whitmer and Trump clashed publicly during his first term, with Trump referring to her as that woman from Michigan. She has blamed Trump for the political anger that motivated the plot to kidnap her right before the 2020 presidential election.

RELATED STORY | Trump offers rare praise of Michigan Gov. Whitmer during White House visit

Whitmer also hinted Thursday at anger over the possibility of pardons, saying she was disappointed to hear the news he was considering it.

No one should hesitate to condemn political violence, she said, noting the arson attack on Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiros residence and the assassination attempt on Donald Trump last year.

Whitmer has faced scrutiny from some Democrats for taking a more collaborative approach to the Trump administration in his second term.

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, a Democrat who has criticized Whitmer for working with and appearing with Trump, said releasing the convicted men is no laughing matter.

The reward you get for cozying up to Trump is him threatening to pardon the terrorists who plotted to kidnap and murder you, she said on social media.

Whitmer's collaboration with Trump has come with several awkward moments for her this year, including when she was unexpectedly in the Oval Office during a press conference as Trump ordered the Justice Department to investigate two former members of his previous administration who had publicly criticized him.

RELATED STORY | Gov. Gretchen Whitmer risks backlash from Democrats as she hugs Trump in Michigan

Their new dynamic also led to some wins for her administration, including securing new jets at a military air base in Michigan and a commitment from Trump to fund a project to protect Lake Michigan from invasive carp.

Many U.S. corporations this year stopped supporting Pride events that celebrate LGBTQ+ culture and rights, causing hundreds of thousands of dollars in budget shortfalls ahead of the summer festivities and raising questions about corporate Americas commitment to the cause.

The moves come as President Donald Trump has shown antipathy for trans protections and has attempted to roll back some LGBTQ+ friendly federal policies. Experts also note that a growing slice of the public has grown tired of companies taking a stance on social and political issues.

San Francisco Pride, the nonprofit that produces one of the countrys largest and best-known LGBTQ+ celebrations, is facing a $200,000 budget gap after corporate donors dropped out. In Kansas City, Missouri, KC Pride lost about $200,000 roughly half its annual budget.

Heritage of Pride, the umbrella organization behind NYC Pride and other LGBTQ+ events in New York City, is fundraising to narrow a $750,000 budget gap after companies withdrew.

Meanwhile, Budweiser brewer Anheuser-Busch ended its sponsorship of PrideFest in St. Louis, Missouri, its home base, after 30 years, leaving organizers with a $150,000 budget shortfall.

In response, many Pride organizations have canceled some dance parties, reduced the number of stages, hired less pricey headliners and no longer give volunteers free food or T-shirts.

But the core celebrations will go on. In San Francisco, this years Pride theme is Queer Joy is Resistance. In New York, it's Rise Up: Pride in Protest, and, in Boston, it's Here to Stay!

If you come to Pride this year, thats a revolutionary act, said Suzanne Ford, executive director of San Francisco Pride. You are sending a message to those in Washington that, here in San Francisco, we still have the same values that weve always had you can love who you love here. Were not going to retreat from that.

Following media coverage of their retreat, some companies changed course but asked that their names not be affiliated with the events, the event organizers said.

Corporations rethink Pride sponsorships

San Francisco Pride earlier this year lost the support of five major corporate donors, including Comcast, Anheuser-Busch and Diageo, the beverage giant that makes Guinness beer and Smirnoff vodka.

RELATED STORY | Salt Lake City adopts new flags to circumvent Utah's ban on pride flags

With everything were facing from the Trump administration, to lose five of your partners within a couple of weeks, it felt like we were being abandoned, Ford said.

After the withdrawals drew attention, some corporations said they would donate but only anonymously, Ford said, declining to identify those companies. As of this week, neither Comcast, Anheuser-Busch nor Diageo appeared on the organizations website as sponsors of the June 29 festivities. It was unclear if they donated.

Anheuser-Busch and Diageo didnt reply to emails from The Associated Press seeking comment. A spokesperson for Comcast also declined to comment but said some of its companies are sponsoring Silicon Valley Pride and Oakland Pride.

NYC Pride spokesperson Chris Piedmont said about 20% of its corporate sponsors either dropped their support or scaled back, including New York-based PepsiCo and Nissan.

Kyle Bazemore, Nissan North America's director of corporate communications, said the decision comes as the automaker reviews all of its marketing expenses to lower costs. PepsiCo did not return an email seeking comment.

Piedmont said NYC Pride has also received anonymous corporate funding and that he appreciates the unpublicized support.

Writing a check to a nonprofit and supporting a nonprofit with no strings attached is stepping up to the plate, Piedmont said.

Companies retreat from brand activism

The shift reflects how corporations are adjusting to a changing cultural landscape that began during the pandemic and accelerated with Trump's second term, experts said.

Companies are resourceful, they are clever at identifying trends and studying their environment and their customers needs, but those needs change and corporations adjust, said Amir Grinstein, a marketing professor at Northeastern University.

Corporations' presence in rainbow-filled Pride parades, concerts and dance parties became more ubiquitous after the landmark 2015 Supreme Court ruling that legalized same-sex marriage nationwide, as companies splashed their names on parade floats, rainbow flags and bright plastic bracelets.

So-called brand activism reached its peak between 2016 to 2022, a period of social upheaval around the pandemic, police brutality and transgender rights, Grinstein said.

But research has since found a growing number of American consumers don't want companies taking positions on such topics, said Barbara Kahn, a marketing professor at the University of Pennsylvanias Wharton School.

There have always been people who said, I dont want my toothpaste to have an opinion, I just want to use my toothpaste, but the tide has shifted, and research shows there are more people that feel that way now," Kahn said.

Pride organizers keep their distance from some corporations

Meanwhile, Republican-led states have been passing legislation to curtail diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives and LGBTQ+ rights, especially the ability of transgender young people to participate in sports or receive gender-affirming care.

Trump signed executive orders on his first day in office that rolled back protections for transgender people and terminated federal DEIprograms.

Some companies followed suit by eliminating their DEI goals, prompting Pride organizations to sever ties.

San Francisco's organizers cut ties with Meta after the parent company of Facebook and Instagram terminated its DEI goals and content moderation policies.

RELATED STORY | Gender-affirming hormone therapy reduces depression in transgender adults

Twin Cities Pride ended its relationship with Target over the Minneapolis-based retailer's curtailing of its DEI initiatives following a backlash from conservatives and the White House. The company's retreat from DEI policies led to a counter-boycott by civil rights advocates.

Target announced in May that sales fell more than expected in the first quarter due to customer boycotts, tariffs and other economic factors. The company now offers only some Pride products at a few stores and online.

Still, Rick Gomez, Target's chief commercial officer, told reporters in May that it's important to celebrate Heritage Months, which highlight different groups from Latinos to Asian Americans to the LGBTQ+ community.

"They drive sales growth for us, he said.

Asking the community for financial support

First-time donations from individuals, foundations and local businesses have increased following corporate America's retreat.

In Minneapolis, a crowdfunding campaign by Twin Cities Pride to fill a $50,000 funding gap raised more than $89,000.

In San Francisco, two local foundations donated $55,000 combined.

This isnt the first year that theres been an inflammatory climate around Pride, said James Moran, a spokesperson for KC Pride, in Kansas City, Missouri. We know that our community is looking for spaces that are meant for us, where we can celebrate but also process whats going on and build our own support networks."

Californias high school track-and-field state finals will award one extra medal Saturday in events where a transgender athlete places in the top three, a rule change that may be the first of its kind nationally by a high school sports governing body.

The new California Interscholastic Federation policy was written in response to the success of high school junior AB Hernandez, a trans student who competes in the girls' high jump, long jump and triple jump. She led in all three events after the preliminaries on Friday. The CIF said earlier this week it would let an additional student compete and medal in the events where Hernandez qualified.

The two-day championship kicked off in the sweltering heat at high school near Fresno. The atmosphere was relatively quiet on Friday despite critics including parents, conservative activists and President Donald Trump calling for Hernandez to be barred from girls' competition leading up to the meet.

There was some pushback Friday. A group of fewer than 10 people gathered outside the stadium ahead of the meet to protest Hernandez's participation. Some of them wore Save Girls Sports T-shirts. At one point as Hernandez was attempting a high jump, someone in the stands yelled an insult. An aircraft circled above the stadium for more than an hour during the events, carrying a banner that read, No Boys in Girls Sports!

The rest of the night ran smoothly for Hernandez, who finished the triple jump with a mark close to 41 feet, nearly 10 inches ahead of her closest competitor, San Francisco Bay Area junior Kira Gant Hatcher.

Hernandez also led in the long jump with a mark close to 20 feet to advance to the final. She advanced in the high jump, clearing 5 feet, 5 inches with ease.

She did not address the press.

California at center of national debate

The CIF rule change reflects efforts to find a middle ground in the debate over trans girls participation in youth sports.

The CIF values all of our student-athletes and we will continue to uphold our mission of providing students with the opportunity to belong, connect, and compete while complying with California law, the group said in a statement after announcing its rule change.

A recent AP-NORC poll found that about 7 in 10 U.S. adults think transgender female athletes should not be allowed to participate in girls and womens sports at the high school, college or professional level. That view was shared by about 9 in 10 Republicans and roughly half of Democrats.

The federation announced the rule change after Trump threatened this week to pull federal funding from California unless it bars trans female athletes from competing on girls' teams. The CIF said it decided on the change before then.

The U.S. Department of Justice also said it would investigate the state federation and the district that includes Hernandezs high school to determine whether they violated federal sex discrimination law by allowing trans girls to compete in girls' sports.

Some California Republicans also weighed in, with several state lawmakers attending a news conference to criticize the federation for keeping Hernandez in the competition and a Republican gubernatorial candidate planning to attend Saturday's finals.

California law allows trans students to compete on sex-segregated sports teams consistent with their gender identity.

The federation said the rule would open the field to more biological female athletes. One expert said the change may itself be discriminatory because it creates an extra spot for biological female athletes but not for other trans athletes.

The federation did not specify how they define biological female or how they would verify whether a competitor meets that definition.

Hernandez told the publication Capital & Main earlier this month that she couldnt worry about critics.

Im still a child, youre an adult, and for you to act like a child shows how you are as a person, she said.

Another student breaks a record

Californias state championship stands out from that of other states because of the number of competitors athletes face to qualify. The state had the second-largest number of students participating in outdoor track and field in the nation during the 2023-2024 school year, behind Texas, according to a survey by the National Federation of State High School Associations.

Olympians Marion Jones and Tara Davis-Woodhall previously set state championship records in the long jump in 1993 and 2017, respectively, both surpassing 22 feet (6.7 meters).

The boys' 100-meter dash heats were also a highlight Friday. Junior Jaden Jefferson of De La Salle High School in Concord finished in 10.01 seconds, about .2 seconds faster than a meet record set in 2023. Jefferson's time won't count as a record unless he can replicate his results in the final.

The Supreme Court on Friday again cleared the way for the Trump administration to strip temporary legal protections from hundreds of thousands of immigrants, pushing the total number of people who could be newly exposed to deportation to nearly 1 million.

The justices lifted a lower-court order that kept humanitarian parole protections in place for more than 500,000 migrants from four countries: Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela. The court has also allowed the administration to revoke temporary legal status from about 350,000 Venezuelan migrants in another case.

Republican President Donald Trump promised on the campaign trail to deport millions of people, and in office has sought to dismantle Biden administration polices that created ways for migrants to live legally in the U.S.

Trump amplified false rumors that Haitian immigrants in Ohio with legal status under the humanitarian parole program were abducting and eating pets during his only debate with President Joe Biden, according to court documents.

His administration filed an emergency appeal to the Supreme Court after a federal judge in Boston blocked the administrations push to end the program.

Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson wrote in dissent that the effect of the courts order is to have the lives of half a million migrants unravel all around us before the courts decide their legal claims. Justice Sonia Sotomayor joined the dissent.

Israel has accepted a new U.S. proposal for a temporary ceasefire with Hamas, the White House said Thursday.

U.S. President Donald Trump's special envoy, Steve Witkoff, expressed optimism earlier this week about brokering an agreement to halt the Israel-Hamas war and return more of the hostages captured in the attack that ignited it.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters that Israel backed and supported the new proposal.

Hamas officials gave the Israeli-approved draft a cool response, but said they wanted to study the proposal more closely before giving a formal answer.

RELATED STORY | Israel's Netanyahu says Hamas Gaza leader Mohammed Sinwar has been killed

The Zionist response, in essence, means perpetuating the occupation and continuing the killing and famine, Bassem Naim, a top Hamas official, told The Associated Press. He said it does not respond to any of our peoples demands, foremost among which is stopping the war and famine.

Nonetheless, he said the group would study the proposal with all national responsibility.

Hamas had previously said it had agreed with Witkoff on a general framework of an agreement that would lead to a lasting ceasefire, a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, an influx of aid, and a transfer of power from the militant group to a politically independent committee of Palestinians.

Here's what's known about the emerging negotiations that aim to bring about an extended truce in the war in exchange for hostages that remain in captivity:

What do Israel and Hamas want?

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has refused to end the war until all the hostages are released and Hamas is either destroyed or disarmed and sent into exile. He has said Israel will control Gaza indefinitely and facilitate what he refers to as the voluntary emigration of much of its population.

Palestinians and most of the international community have rejected plans to resettle Gazas population, a move experts say would likely violate international law.

Hamas has said it will only release the remaining hostages its only bargaining chip in return for more Palestinian prisoners, a lasting ceasefire and a full Israeli withdrawal. It has offered to give up power to a committee of politically independent Palestinians that could oversee reconstruction.

RELATED STORY | 1 killed, 48 wounded when crowd was fired upon at chaotic Gaza aid site

Hamas is still holding 58 hostages. Around a third are believed to be alive, though many fear they are in grave danger the longer the war goes on. Thousands of Palestinians have been killed since Israel renewed its airstrikes and ground operations after ending a ceasefire in March.

The dispute over whether there should be a temporary ceasefire to release more hostages as Israel has called for or a permanent one as Hamas wants has bedeviled talks brokered by the U.S., Egypt and Qatar for more than a year and a half, and there's no indication it has been resolved.

What is the latest ceasefire proposal?

Witkoff has not publicized his latest proposal, but a Hamas official and an Egyptian official independently confirmed some of the details. They spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive talks.

They say it calls for a 60-day pause in fighting, guarantees of serious negotiations leading to a long-term truce and assurances that Israel will not resume hostilities after the release of hostages, as it did in March. Israeli forces would pull back to the positions they held during the ceasefire that Israel ended that month.

Hamas would release 10 living hostages and a number of bodies during the 60-day pause in exchange for more than 1,100 Palestinians imprisoned by Israel, including 100 serving long sentences after being convicted of deadly attacks.

Each day, hundreds of trucks carrying food and humanitarian aid would be allowed to enter Gaza, where experts say a nearly three-month Israeli blockade slightly eased in recent days has pushed the population to the brink of famine.

Why is it so hard to end the war?

Hamas-led militants stormed southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting 251 hostages. More than half the hostages have been released in ceasefires or other deals. Israel has rescued eight and recovered dozens of bodies.

Israel's ensuing military campaign has killed over 54,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not say how many of the dead were civilians or combatants.

The offensive has destroyed vast areas of Gaza and displaced around 90% of its population of roughly 2 million Palestinians, with hundreds of thousands living in squalid tent camps and unused schools.

Hamas has been vastly depleted militarily and lost nearly all of its top leaders in Gaza. It most likely fears that releasing all the hostages without securing a permanent ceasefire would allow Israel to launch an even more devastating campaign to ultimately destroy the group.

Israel fears that a lasting ceasefire and withdrawal now would leave Hamas with significant influence in Gaza, even if it surrenders formal power. With time, Hamas might be able to rebuild its military might and eventually launch more Oct. 7-style attacks.

Netanyahu also faces political constraints: His far-right coalition partners have threatened to bring down his government if he ends the war too soon. That would leave him more vulnerable to prosecution on longstanding corruption charges and to investigations into the failures surrounding the Oct. 7 attack.

A broader resolution to the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict appears more distant than ever.

The Palestinians are weak and divided, and Israel's current government the most nationalist and religious in its history is opposed to Palestinian demands for a state in Gaza, the West Bank and east Jerusalem, territories Israel occupied in the 1967 Mideast war.

The last serious peace talks broke down more than 15 years ago.

Arkansas authorities are looking at whether a job in the prison kitchen played a role in the weekend escape of a convicted former police chief known as the Devil in the Ozarks.

Grant Hardin, 56, was housed in a maximum-security wing of the medium-security Calico Rock prison, where he also held a job in the kitchen, Arkansas Department of Corrections spokesperson Rand Champion said Thursday. Authorities have said Hardin escaped Sunday by donning an outfit designed to look like a law enforcement uniform.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT | Former police chief, serving murder and rape sentences, escapes from Arkansas prison

His job assignment was in the kitchen, so just looking to see if that played a part in it as well, Champion told The Associated Press.

The kitchen is divided into two shifts of about 25 workers each, according to a 2021 accreditation report that involved an extensive review of the prison. In the kitchen, tools and utensils were stored on shadow boards with proper controls for sign out/in of all tools, the report states. A check of the inventory control sheets found them to be accurate and up to date.

The kitchen is in one of 16 buildings on over 700 acres of prison land. The sprawling grounds include a garden, two greenhouses, and extensive pasture lands where a herd of more than 100 horses is raised and trained by staff and inmates.

Hardin, the former police chief in the small town of Gateway near the Arkansas-Missouri border, was serving lengthy sentences for murder and rape. He was the subject of the TV documentary Devil in the Ozarks.

A prison expert said corrections officials are likely investigating whether the kitchen job gave Hardin access to other parts of the prison or to tools in the kitchen that could have helped him, including fashioning the makeshift uniform.

Bryce Peterson, a criminal justice expert at security-based research organization CNA, said prison escapes are usually a combination of motivation and opportunity.

You wouldn't immediately think of a kitchen as a source of a bunch of escape tools, Peterson said. But these people are really smart and what they're thinking about day in and day out is how they can escape if that's what their motivation is.

Local, state and federal law enforcement are continuing their search for Hardin, and the FBI announced Thursday it was offering a reward of up to $10,000 for information leading to his arrest. Champion said officials remained confident that Hardin was in the north-central Arkansas area.

Officials have said there are plenty of hideouts in the Ozark Mountains area, from caves to campsites.

Authorities on Thursday continued to stop cars at a checkpoint near Calico Rock, and fliers featuring photos of Hardin could be seen in local store windows.

Elsewhere Thursday, a sheriff's office in southern Missouri said it had received a report of a sighting of someone resembling Hardin's description in the Moody/Bakersfield area, less than an hour's drive north of Calico Rock.

Deputies with the Howell County Sheriff's Office responded but were unable to locate anyone though agents were continuing to canvass the area, the agency said in a Facebook post.

At this time, we have no information indicating with any degree of certainty this suspicious person was the escapee or that he is even in the state of Missouri, the post said.

Champion said Arkansas authorities were aware of the tip and were looking into it.

The department late Wednesday said search teams also responded to Faulkner County in the central Arkansas area after receiving a tip.

Champion did not immediately know how many other inmates were housed in the prisons maximum-security wing.

Hardin's assignment to the prison, formally known as the North Central Unit, has drawn questions from legislators in the area and family members of the former chief's victims.

Hardin received culinary training at some point during his incarceration, said Cheryl Tillman, whose brother James Appleton was shot to death by Hardin in 2017.

Tillman said she was aware that Hardin had been working in the kitchen at the Calico Rock prison and questioned why he would be allowed to do so.

It sounds like to me that he was given free range down there, she said this week during an interview.

Now that hes free, it makes it uneasy for all of us, the whole family, she said.

At least 11 people were taken to hospitals after a shooting Sunday night in a South Carolina beach town, authorities said.

Horry County Police did not give the conditions of anyone hurt or detail how they were injured in the incident, which happened about 9:30 p.m. in Little River.

Investigators were getting reports of more people arriving at the hospital in private vehicles, Horry County Police said on social media.

About 90 minutes after the shooting, police called it an isolated incident and said there is no risk to the community. They did not release any information on possible suspects or what led to the shooting.

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The shooting happened around a boat dock near the Intracoastal Waterway.

Video from the scene showed dozens of police cars and ambulances rushing in and out of the area.

A North Myrtle Beach police officer responding to the shooting accidentally shot himself in the leg at a marina about 3 miles (5 kilometers) away and is in the hospital in stable condition, North Myrtle Beach spokeswoman Lauren Jessie said.

Little River is about 20 miles northeast of Myrtle Beach.

President Donald Trump said Sunday that the U.S. will delay implementation of a 50% tariff on goods from the European Union from June 1 until July 9 to buy time for negotiations with the bloc.

That agreement came after a call Sunday with Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, who had told Trump that she wants to get down to serious negotiations, according to the U.S. presidents retelling.

RELATED STORY | Trump threatens 25% tariff on Apple iPhones, 50% import tax on European Union

I told anybody that would listen, they have to do that, Trump told reporters on Sunday in Morristown, New Jersey, as he prepared to return to Washington. Von der Leyen, Trump said, vowed to rapidly get together and see if we can work something out.

In a social media post Friday, Trump had threatened to impose the 50% tariff on EU goods, complaining that the 27-member bloc had been very difficult to deal with on trade and that negotiations were going nowhere. Those tariffs would have kicked in starting June 1.

But the call with von der Leyen appeared to smooth over tensions, at least for now.

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I agreed to the extension July 9, 2025 It was my privilege to do so, Trump said on Truth Social shortly after he spoke with reporters on Sunday evening.

For her part, von der Leyen said the EU and the U.S. share the worlds most consequential and close trade relationship.

Europe is ready to advance talks swiftly and decisively, she said. To reach a good deal, we would need the time until July 9.

Pope Leo XIV declared himself a Roman on Sunday as he completed the final ceremonial steps cementing his role as the bishop of Rome.

The first American pope formally took possession of the St. John Lateran Basilica, which is Rome's cathedral and seat of the diocese, with an evening Mass attended by Roman priests and faithful.

In his homily, Leo said he wanted to listen to them in order to learn, understand and decide things together.

RELATED STORY | Pope Leo XIV marks new beginning with American and global outlook

One of the many titles that Leo assumed when he was elected May 8 was bishop of Rome. Given his responsibilities running the 1.4-billion strong universal Catholic Church, popes delegate the day-to-day governance of running of the diocese of Roman to a vicar.

Sunday's ceremonies at the St. John Lateran and a stop at St. Mary Major basilicas follow Leos visit last week to the St. Paul Outside the Walls basilica. Together with St. Peters Basilica in the Vatican, the four papal basilicas are the most important basilicas in the West.

Rome's Mayor Roberto Gualtieri welcomed Leo first at the steps to City Hall, noting that his May 8 election fell during a Holy Year, an event occurring every 25 years to invite pilgrims to Rome. The city underwent two years of traffic-clogging public works projects to prepare and expects to welcome upwards of 30 million people in 2025.

Leo said he felt the serious but passionate responsibility to serve all Romans during the Holy Year and beyond.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT | Scripps News special report: Pope Leo XIV elected as the first American pope

Wearing his formal papal garb, Leo recalled the words he had uttered from the loggia of St. Peters Basilica on the night of his election. The Augustinian pope quoted St. Augustine in saying: With you I am Christian, and for you, bishop.

By special title, today I can say that for you and with you I am Roman! he said.

The former Robert Prevost replaced Pope Francis, the first Latin American pope. Francis died April 21 and is buried at St. Mary Major, near a beloved icon of the Madonna.

Israeli strikes over the past 24 hours killed at least 38 people in Gaza, including a mother and her two children sheltering in a tent, local health officials said Sunday, with no data available for a second straight day from now-inaccessible hospitals in the north.

Further details also emerged of the local doctor who lost nine of her 10 children in an Israeli strike on Friday.

Gaza's Health Ministry said 3,785 people have been killed in the territory since Israel ended a ceasefire and renewed its offensive in March, vowing to destroy Hamas and return the 58 hostages it still holds from the Oct. 7, 2023, attack that triggered the war.

Israel also blocked the import of all food, medicine and fuel for 2 1/2 months before letting a trickle of aid enter last week, after experts' warnings of famine and pressure from some of Israel's top allies. Israel has been pursuing a new plan to tightly control all aid to Gaza, which the United Nations has rejected.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT | Israel believes it has killed Hamas leader Mohammed Sinwar, Netanyahu says

Israel also says it plans to seize full control of Gaza and facilitate what it describes as the voluntary migration of much of its population of over 2 million Palestinians, a plan rejected by Palestinians and much of the international community. Experts say it would likely violate international law.

The new strike on the tent housing displaced people that killed the mother and children occurred in the central city of Deir al-Balah, according to al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital. A strike in the Jabaliya area of northern Gaza killed at least five, including two women and a child, according to Gaza's Health Ministry.

Only one of pediatrician Alaa al-Najjar's 10 children survived the Israeli strike on their home Friday near the southern city of Khan Younis. Both the 11-year-old and al-Najjars husband, also a doctor, were badly hurt.

The charred remains of the other children were brought to the morgue in a single body bag, said a fellow pediatrician at Nasser Hospital, Alaa al-Zayan.

The home was struck minutes after Hamdi al-Najjar had driven his wife to the hospital. His brother Ismail al-Najjar, was first to arrive at the scene.

They were innocent children," the brother said, with the youngest 7 months old. "And my brother has no business with (Palestinian) factions.

Israel on Saturday said the claim regarding harm to uninvolved civilians is under review. It says it tries to avoid harming civilians and blames Hamas for their deaths because it operates in densely populated areas. There was no immediate comment from the military on the latest strikes.

Hamas-led militants killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, in the Oct. 7 attack and abducted 251 people. Around a third of the remaining hostages are believed to be alive, after most of the rest were released in ceasefire agreements or other deals.

Israel's 19-month offensive has killed over 53,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, which says women and children make up most of the dead. It does not provide figures for the number of civilians or combatants killed.

The offensive has destroyed vast areas of Gaza and displaced around 90% of the territory's population, often multiple times.

A missile from the Houthis

Separately, Israel's military said it intercepted a missile fired by Yemen's Houthi rebels on Sunday. It triggered air raid sirens in Jerusalem and other areas. There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage.

The Iran-backed Houthis have launched repeated missile attacks targeting Israel as well as international shipping in the Red Sea, portraying it as a response to Israels military campaign in Gaza. Most of the targeted ships had no relation to Israel or the conflict.

The United States halted a punishing bombing campaign against the Houthis earlier this month, saying the rebels had pledged to stop attacking ships. That informal ceasefire did not include attacks on Israel.

The U.S. military spent more than $6 billion over the past three years to recruit and retain service members, in what has been a growing campaign to counter enlistment shortfalls.

The financial incentives to reenlist in the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines increased dramatically from 2022 through last year, with the Navy vastly outspending the others, according to funding totals provided by the services. The overall amount of recruiting bonuses also rose steadily, fueled by significant jumps in spending by the Army and Marine Corps.

The military services have routinely poured money into recruiting and retention bonuses over the years. But the totals spiked as Pentagon leaders tried to reverse falling enlistment numbers, particularly as COVID-19 restrictions locked down public events, fairs and school visits that recruiters relied on to meet with young people.

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Coupled with an array of new programs, an increased number of recruiters and adjustments to enlistment requirements, the additional incentives have helped the services bounce back from the shortfalls. All but the Navy met their recruiting targets last year and all are expected to do so this year.

President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth repeatedly point to Trumps election as a reason for the recruiting rebound. But the enlistment increases began long before last November, and officials have tied them more directly to the widespread overhauls that the services have done, including the increased financial incentives.

The Army, the military's largest service, spent more on recruiting bonuses in 2022 and 2024 than the other services. But it was significantly outspent by the Navy in 2023, when the sea service was struggling to overcome a large enlistment shortfall.

As a result, even though the Navy is a smaller service, it spent more overall in the three years than the Army did.

The Navy also has spent considerably more than the others to entice sailors to reenlist, doling out retention bonuses to roughly 70,000 service members for each of the past three years. That total is more than double the number of troops the Army gave retention bonuses to each year, even though the Army is a much larger service.

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Navy is dedicated to retaining our most capable sailors; retention is a critical component of achieving our end-strength goals, Adm. James Kilby, the vice chief of naval operations, told a Senate Armed Services subcommittee in March.

He said reenlistment for enlisted sailors remains healthy but officers are a challenge in specific jobs, including aviation, explosive ordnance disposal, surface and submarine warfare, health professionals and naval special operations. He added that the Navy has struggled to fill all of its at-sea jobs and is using financial incentives as one way to combat the problem.

The Army has seen the greatest recruiting struggles over the past decade, and by using a range of new programs and policies has had one of the largest comebacks. The Navy has had the most trouble more recently, and took a number of steps to expand those eligible for service and spend more in bonuses.

While the Army spends hundreds of millions each year to recruit troops, it also has relied on an array of new programs and policies to woo young people. A key driver of the Army's rebound has been its decision to create the Future Soldier Prep Course, at Fort Jackson, South Carolina, in August 2022.

That program gives lower-performing recruits up to 90 days of academic or fitness instruction to help them meet military standards and move on to basic training. It has resulted in thousands of enlistments.

The Air Force increased its spending on recruiting bonuses in 2023 as it also struggled to overcome shortfalls, but lowered the amount the following year. The payments were for jobs including munitions systems, aircraft maintenance and security forces. The Space Force does not currently authorize enlistment bonuses.

The Marine Corps and the tiny Space Force have consistently hit their recruiting goals, although the Marines had to dig deep into their pool of delayed entry candidates in 2022 to meet their target. The Corps, which is much smaller than the Army and Air Force, spends the least on bonuses and tends to spread the amount among a larger number of service members.

Maj. Jacoby Getty, a Marine spokesman, said the spike in retention bonuses from $126 million in 2023 to $201 million in 2024 was because Marines were allowed to reenlist a year early for the first time. More than 7,000 Marines got bonuses as a result, a jump of nearly 2,200 over the previous year.

When asked about bonuses in 2023, Gen. Eric Smith, the Marine commandant, famously told a naval conference that your bonus is you get to call yourself a Marine.

Thats your bonus, right?" he said. "Theres no dollar amount that goes with that.

The services tailor their recruiting and retention money to bolster harder-to-fill jobs, including cyber, intelligence and special operations forces. The Army and Marine Corps also use the money to woo troops to some combat, armor and artillery jobs.

Russia and Ukraine swapped hundreds more prisoners on Sunday, the third and last part of a major exchange that reflected a rare moment of cooperation in otherwise failed efforts to reach a ceasefire in the more than three years of war.

Hours earlier, the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, and other regions came under a massive Russian drone-and-missile attack that killed at least 12 people and injured dozens. Ukrainian officials described it as the largest aerial assault since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Russia's Defense Ministry said each side brought home 303 more soldiers, after each released a total of 307 combatants and civilians on Saturday, and 390 on Friday the biggest swap of the war.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed the exchange, saying on X on Sunday that 303 Ukrainian defenders are home." He noted that the troops returning to Ukraine were members of the Armed Forces, the National Guard, the State Border Guard Service, and the State Special Transport Service.

In talks held in Istanbul earlier this month the first time the two sides met face to face for peace talks Kyiv and Moscow agreed to swap 1,000 prisoners of war and civilian detainees each. The exchange has been the only tangible outcome from the talks.

The largest aerial attack of the war

The scale of the onslaught was stunning Russia hit Ukraine with 367 drones and missiles, the largest single aerial attack of the war, according to Yuriy Ihnat, a spokesperson for Ukraine's Air Force.

In all, Russia used 69 missiles of various types and 298 drones, including Iranian-designed Shahed drones, he told The Associated Press.

There was no immediate comment from Moscow on the strikes.

For Kyiv, the day was particularly somber as the city observed Kyiv Day, a national holiday that falls on the last Sunday in May, commemorating its founding in the 5th century,

Zelenskyy said Russian missiles and drones hit more than 30 cities and villages, and urged Western partners to ramp up sanctions on Russia a longstanding demand of the Ukrainian leader but one that despite warnings to Moscow by the United States and Europe has not materialized in ways to deter Russia.

These were deliberate strikes on ordinary cities," Zelenskyy wrote on X, adding that Sundays targets included Kyiv, Zhytomyr, Khmelnytskyi, Ternopil, Chernihiv, Sumy, Odesa, Poltava, Dnipro, Mykolaiv, Kharkiv and Cherkasy regions.

America's silence, the silence of others in the world, only encourages" Russian President Vladimir Putin, he said. Without truly strong pressure on the Russian leadership, this brutality cannot be stopped. Sanctions will certainly help."

Russias Defense Ministry meanwhile said its air defenses shot down 110 Ukrainian drones overnight.

Another 'sleepless night'

Sounds of explosions boomed throughout the night in Kyiv and the surrounding area as Ukrainian air defense persisted for hours in efforts to shoot down Russian drones and missiles. At least four people were killed and 16 were injured in the capital itself, according to the security service.

A difficult Sunday morning in Ukraine after a sleepless night, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said on X, adding that the assault lasted all night.

Fires broke out in homes and businesses, set off by falling drone debris.

In Zhytomyr region, west of Kyiv, the emergency service said three children were killed, aged 8, 12 and 17. Twelve people were injured in the attacks, it said. At least four people were killed in the Khmelnytskyi region, in western Ukraine. One man was killed in Mykolaiv region, in southern Ukraine.

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said a student dormitory in Holosiivskyi district was hit by a drone and one of the buildings walls was on fire. In Dniprovskyi district, a private house was destroyed and in Shevchenkivskyi district, windows in a residential building were smashed.

The scale of Russia's use of aerial weapons aside, the attacks over the past 48 hours have been among the most intense strikes on Ukraine since the February 2022 invasion.

A village engulfed in smoke and rubble

In Markhalivka, just outside Kyiv where several village homes were burned down, the Fedorenkos watched their ruined home in tears.

The street looks like Bakhmut, like Mariupol, its just terrible, says 76-year-old Liubov Fedorenko, comparing their village to some of Ukraine's most devastated cities. She told the AP she was grateful her daughter and grandchildren hadn't joined them for the weekend.

I was trying to persuade my daughter to come to us," Fedorenko said, adding that she told her daughter, After all, you live on the eighth floor in Kyiv, and here its the ground floor.'

"She said, No, mum, Im not coming. And thank God she didnt come, because the rocket hit (the house) on the side where the childrens rooms were, Fedorenko said.

Ivan Fedorenko, 80, said he regrets letting their two dogs into the house when the air raid siren went off. They burned to death, he said. "I want to bury them, but Im not allowed yet.

Despite POW swaps, no letup in the war

The POW exchange was the latest of scores of swaps since the war began but also the biggest involving Ukrainian civilians.

Still, it has not halted the fighting. Battles have continued along the roughly 1,000-kilometer (620-mile) front line, where tens of thousands of soldiers have been killed, and neither country has relented in its deep strikes.

Russias Defense Ministry quoted Yaroslav Yakimkin of the North group of Russian forces as saying Sunday that Ukrainian troops have been pushed back from the border in the Kursk region, which Putin visited days ago.

The troops continue to advance forward every day, Yakimkin said, adding that Russians forces have taken Marine and Loknya in Ukraines northeastern Sumy region, which borders Kursk, over the past week, and were advancing in the Kharkiv region around the largely destroyed town of Vovchansk.

A federal judge ordered the Trump administration late Friday to facilitate the return of a Guatemalan man it deported to Mexico in spite of his fears of being harmed there.

The man, who is gay, was protected from being returned to his home country under a U.S. immigration judge's order at the time. But the U.S. put him on a bus and sent him to Mexico instead, a removal that U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy found likely lacked any semblance of due process.

Mexico has since returned him to Guatemala, where he is in hiding, according to court documents. An earlier court proceeding determined that the man, identified by the initials O.C.G., risked persecution or torture if returned to Guatemala, but he also feared returning to Mexico. He presented evidence of being raped and held for ransom there while seeking asylum in the U.S.

No one has ever suggested that O.C.G. poses any sort of security threat," Murphy wrote. In general, this case presents no special facts or legal circumstances, only the banal horror of a man being wrongfully loaded onto a bus and sent back to a country where he was allegedly just raped and kidnapped.

A message seeking comment was left with the Department of Homeland Security.

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Murphy's order adds to a string of findings by federal courts against recent Trump administration deportations. Those have included other deportations to third countries and the erroneous deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, an El Salvadoran who had lived in Maryland for roughly 14 years, working and raising a family.

The U.S. Supreme Court ordered the Trump administration to facilitate Abrego Garcia's return to the U.S. from a notorious Salvadoran prison, rejecting the White Houses claim that it couldnt retrieve him after mistakenly deporting him. Both the White House and the El Salvadoran president have said they are powerless to return him. The Trump administration has tried to invoke the state secrets privilege, arguing that releasing details in open courtor even to the judge in privateabout returning Abrego Garcia to the United States would jeopardize national security.

In his Friday ruling, Murphy nodded to the dispute over the verb facilitate in that case and others, saying that returning O.C.G. to the U.S. is not that complicated.

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The Court notes that facilitate in this context should carry less baggage than in several other notable cases, he wrote. O.C.G. is not held by any foreign government. Defendants have declined to make any argument that facilitating his return would be costly, burdensome, or otherwise impede the governments objectives.

People with darker skin still need to wear sunscreen for more reasons than one.

Too much ultraviolet exposure from the sun can lead to sunburn, dark spots and wrinkles, and increased risk of skin cancer.

The melanin in darker skin offers some extra protection from the sun, but dermatologists say that isnt enough on its own.

"Everyone needs sunscreen. But the reasons that one might be reaching for sunscreen may differ depending on your skin tone, said Dr. Jenna Lester, who founded the Skin of Color Clinic at the University of California, San Francisco.

Do darker-skinned people need sunscreen?

White people are overall more likely to get skin cancer compared to Black and Hispanic people. But Black and Hispanic people are less likely to survive the most dangerous kind of skin cancer called melanoma, according to the American Cancer Society.

Black patients more commonly get melanoma on their hands and feet places that are more shielded from the sun. Still, sunscreen is an additional protective layer that helps prevent a host of other problems including sunburns, hyperpigmentation after acne, rosacea and dark patches on the face.

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Dr. Oyetewa Asempa at Baylor College of Medicine often reminds her darker-skinned patients: All of the problems that youre coming to see me for are caused or worsened by the sun.

How much sunscreen do people of color need?

To stay safe in the sun, it's important to grab sunscreen with a sun protection factor or SPF of at least 30 and reapply every two hours. People headed for the pool or beach should put on sunscreen beforehand, remembering to reapply liberally and after getting out of the water.

Most people dont wear enough sunscreen when they apply, Lester said. Make sure to put two long fingers worth on the face and a hefty blob for the body.

Look for chemical-based sunscreens to avoid an ashy white cast. Two key ingredients in mineral-based products zinc oxide and titanium oxide are the culprits for that pesky discoloration on dark skin.

Tinted sunscreens contain pigments that block visible light from the sun, offering additional protection against dark spots. And wearing a hat or sun-protective clothing with an ultraviolet protection factor or UPF grading can provide an extra safety boost.

Whatever the sun protection routine, it's important to keep it up, Lester said. Some UV rays can climb right through car and house windows to cause sun damage even when indoors, making it even more important to take care of the skin while the sun shines.

It's about trying to make it a daily habit, she said. Consistency over intensity.

President Donald Trump is ordering a major overhaul of the National Security Council that will shrink its size, lead to the ouster of some political appointees, and return many career government employees back to their home agencies, according to two U.S. officials and one person familiar with the reorganization.

The number of staff at the NSC is expected to be significantly reduced, according to the officials, who requested anonymity to discuss the sensitive personnel matter.

The shakeup is just the latest shoe to drop at the NSC, which is being dramatically made over after the ouster early this month of Trump's national security adviser Mike Waltz, who in many ways had hewed to traditional Republican foreign policy.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio has been serving as national security adviser since the ouster of Waltz, who was nominated to serve as Trump's ambassador to the United Nations.

The move is expected to elevate the importance of the State Department and Pentagon in advising Trump on important foreign policy decisions. But, ultimately, Trump relies on his own instincts above all else when making decisions.

The NSC, created during the Truman administration, is an arm of the White House tasked with advising and assisting the president on national security and foreign policy and coordinating among various government agencies.

Trump was frustrated in his first term by political appointees and advisers who he felt gummed up his America First agenda.

There were roughly 395 people working at the NSC, including about 180 support staff, according to one official. About 90 to 95 of those being ousted are policy or subject matter experts seconded from other government agencies. They will be given an opportunity to return to their home agencies if they want.

Many of the political appointees will also be given positions elsewhere in the administration, the official said.

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The NSC has been in a continual state of tumult during the early going of Trumps second go-around in the White House.

Waltz was ousted weeks after Trump fired several NSC officials, just a day after the influential far-right activist Laura Loomer raised concerns directly to him about staff loyalty.

And the White House, days into the administration, sidelined about 160 NSC aides, sending them home while the administration reviewed staffing and tried to align it with Trumps agenda. The aides were career government employees, commonly referred to as detailees.

This latest shakeup amounts to a liquidation of NSC staffing with both career government detailees on assignment to the NSC being sent back to their home agencies and several political appointees being pushed out of their positions, according to the person familiar with the decision.

A White House official who spoke on the condition of anonymity confirmed that the overhaul, first reported by Axios, was underway but declined further comment.

Waltz during his short tenure heading the NSC came under searing criticism in March after revelations that he added journalist Jeffrey Goldberg to a private text chain on an encrypted messaging app that was used to discuss planning for a sensitive military operation against Houthi militants in Yemen.

Waltz has taken responsibility for building the text chain but has said he does not know how Goldberg ended up being included.

Loomer had encouraged Trump to purge aides who she believes are insufficiently loyal to the Make America Great Again" agenda.

She also complained to sympathetic administration officials that Waltz was too reliant on neocons shorthand for the more hawkish neoconservatives within the Republican Party as well as what she perceived as not-MAGA-enough types, the person said.

It wasnt just Loomer who viewed Waltz suspiciously. He was viewed with a measure of skepticism by some in the MAGA world who saw the former Army Green Beret and three-term congressman as too tied to Washington's foreign policy establishment.

On Russia, Waltz shared Trumps concerns about the high price tag of extensive U.S. military aid to Ukraine. But Waltz also advocated for further diplomatically isolating President Vladimir Putin a position that was out of step with Trump, who has viewed the Russian leader, at moments, with admiration for his cunning in dealings with Trumps predecessors.

His more hawkish rhetoric on Iran and China, including U.S. policy toward Taiwan, seemed increasingly out of step with Trump who setting aside belligerent rhetoric about taking over Greenland from Denmark has tilted more toward military restraint and diplomacy in facing some of the United States' most challenging issues with adversaries.

President Donald Trump said Friday that U.S. Steel will keep its headquarters in Pittsburgh as part of what he called a planned partnership that seemed to signal that hell approve a bid by Japan-based Nippon Steel to make a big investment in the iconic American steelmaker, if not buy it outright.

Still, Trump's statement left it vague as to whether he is approving Nippon Steel's bid after he vowed repeatedly to block the deal to prevent U.S. Steel from being foreign-owned.

More recently, Trump suggested that Nippon Steel would invest in U.S. Steel, not buy it. But investors seemed to take his statement as a sign that he's approving some sort of merger, sharply pushing up U.S. Steel's shares, and the companies issued approving statements.

Nippon Steel said the partnership is a game changer for U. S. Steel and all of its stakeholders, including the American steel industry, and the broader American manufacturing base. U.S. Steel said it will remain American, and we will grow bigger and stronger through a partnership.

Nippon Steel's nearly $15 billion bid to buy U.S. Steel was blocked by former President Joe Biden on his way out of office and, after Trump became president, subject to another national security review by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States.

In his statement Friday, Trump said that after much consideration and negotiation, US Steel will REMAIN in America, and keep its Headquarters in the Great City of Pittsburgh.

What Trump called a planned partnership will add $14 billion to the U.S. economy, he said, although it wasn't clear what the terms of the deal would be or who would control U.S. Steel under the arrangement. Neither company explained Friday how the partnership would be structured.

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Josh Spoores, the Pennsylvania-based head of steel Americas analysis for commodity researcher CRU, said that, from what hes seeing, this partnership is a green light for the acquisition.

Shares of U.S. Steel jumped 21% on the news, and continued rising in aftermarket trading.

Keeping U.S. Steel's headquarters had always been part of Nippon Steel's bid to buy it. To sweeten the deal, Nippon Steel had offered up a $2.7 billion commitment to upgrade U.S. Steel's two blast furnaces and pledged that it wouldn't import steel slabs that would compete with the facilities.

Nippon Steel also had pledged not to conduct layoffs or plant closings during the term of the existing labor agreement and to protect the best interests of U.S. Steel in trade matters.

U.S. Steel's CEO David Burritt warned last September that blocking Nippon Steel's bid would mean U.S. Steel would largely pivot away from investing in its two blast furnaces one just outside Pittsburgh and one in Gary, Indiana and it would raise serious questions about remaining headquartered in Pittsburgh.

U. S. Steel's board and stockholders approved Nippon Steel's bid last year. It has been opposed by the United Steelworkers union. The union had no immediate comment Friday.

As recently as December, Trump said he was "totally against the once great and powerful U.S. Steel being bought by a foreign company.

Then in February, Trump suggested that Nippon Steel wouldn't buy U.S. Steel, as it had planned, but that it would instead invest in U.S. Steel.

Last month, Trump ordered a new national security review of Nippon Steels proposed bid.

Russia and Ukraine began a major prisoner exchange Friday, swapping hundreds of soldiers and civilians in the first phase of an exchange that was a moment of cooperation in otherwise failed efforts to reach a ceasefire in the 3-year-old war.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the first phase of the exchange brought home 390 Ukrainians, including soldiers and civilians, with further releases expected over the weekend that will make it the largest swap of the war. Russia's Defense Ministry said it had received the same number from Ukraine.

Its very important to bring everyone home, Zelenskyy wrote on Telegram, thanking all who worked to secure their return and pledging to continue diplomatic efforts to make more exchanges possible.

Dozens of relatives of prisoners cheered and chanted Thank you! as buses carrying the freed captives arrived at a medical facility in Ukraine's Chernihiv region. The men, some with expressionless faces and others unable to contain their emotions, got off the buses wrapped in Ukrainian flags for joyful reunions.

Kyiv and Moscow agreed in Istanbul last week to the exchange of 1,000 prisoners from each side in their first direct peace talks since the early weeks of Russias 2022 invasion. That meeting lasted only two hours and brought no breakthrough in U.S.-led efforts efforts to stop the fighting.

Exchanges at the Belarus-Ukrainian border

The swap took place at the border with Belarus in northern Ukraine, according to a Ukrainian official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly.

The released Russians were taken to Belarus for medical treatment, the Russian Defense Ministry said.

The exchange, which would be the latest of dozens of swaps since the war began and the biggest involving Ukrainian civilians at one time, didn't herald any halt in fighting.

Battles continues along the roughly 1,000-kilometer (620-mile) front line, where tens of thousands of soldiers have been killed, and neither country has relented in its deep strikes.

Russia launched two ballistic missiles at infrastructure targets in the southern Ukrainian port of Odesa, killing two workers and injuring eight others, according to regional Gov. Oleh Kiper. It was the first recorded attack on the port since March 11.

Moscow's forces attacked settlements in Kherson region with artillery, mortars and drones throughout the day, killing three civilians and injuring 10, according to the Kherson Regional Prosecutors Office.

They also shelled Kostyantynivka with artillery, killing one civilian, said Serhii Horbunov, head of the citys military administration.

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Emotional reunions for some, but others must wait

As the freed men entered the medical facility, people holding signs and photos of their relatives shouted names or brigade numbers, seeking any news of a loved one. The returning men inspected the photos, and a serviceman said he shared a cell with one of those on the sea of portraits held out toward him.

Vanya! cried Nataliia Mosych, among the gathered relatives, My husband!

She hadnt seen her husband, Ivan, for almost two years, she said, beaming with joy.

It is an unbelievable feeling. I am still in shock, Mosych said after he came outside to great his family following registration procedures inside the facility. I am really glad and we were not forgotten, and we still mean something for Ukraine.

Many who were freed expressed shock and disbelief that they had been exchanged. Some had trouble remembering names and details of their lives before their capture.

One released POW joked in a video call with his girlfriend that he got a bit older in his three-year absence, and she replied he was as beautiful as ever.

Many relatives wept when it became clear their loved ones were not among those returning, and they hoped those who were released could at least offer some information about their husbands, brothers and sons.

Maybe my dad will come tomorrow, one small boy cried.

News of the prisoner release emerged when U.S. President Donald Trump said Russia and Ukraine had carried out a large exchange.

A major prisoners swap was just completed between Russia and Ukraine, Trump said on the Truth Social platform. He said it would go into effect shortly.

He added in the post that "this could lead to something big??? apparently referring to other diplomatic efforts to stop the fighting.

No new Russia-Ukraine talks are set

After the May 16 talks, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan called the prisoner swap a confidence-building measure and said the parties had agreed in principle to meet again.

But Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Friday that there has been no agreement yet on the venue for the next round of talks as diplomatic maneuvering continued.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Friday night that Moscow would give Ukraine a draft document outlining its conditions for a sustainable, long-term, comprehensive" peace agreement once the ongoing prisoner exchange had finished.

European leaders have accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of dragging his feet in peace efforts while he tries to press his larger armys battlefield initiative and capture more Ukrainian land.

The Istanbul meeting revealed both sides clearly remained far apart on key conditions for ending the fighting. One such condition for Ukraine, backed by its Western allies, is a temporary ceasefire as a first step toward a peaceful settlement.

The Kremlin has pushed back on a temporary halt to hostilities, and Putin has said any such truce must come with a freeze on Western arms supplies to Ukraine and an end to Ukraines mobilization drive.

A senior Ukrainian official said in Istanbul that Russia had introduced new, unacceptable demands to withdraw Ukrainian forces from huge swaths of territory. The official, who was not authorized to make official statements, spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity. The proposal had not been previously discussed, the official said.

Putin has long demanded as a key condition for a peace deal that Ukraine withdraw its troops from the four regions that Russia annexed in September 2022 but never fully controlled.

Zelenskyy has warned that if Russia continues to reject a ceasefire and make unrealistic demands, it will signal deliberate efforts to prolong the war a move that should bring tougher international sanctions.

Russias Defense Ministry said it had shot down 788 Ukrainian drones away from the battlefield between May 20-23.

Ukraines air force said Russia fired 175 Shahed and decoy drones, as well as a ballistic missile since late Thursday.

The Justice Department has reached a deal with Boeing that will allow the airplane giant to avoid criminal prosecution for allegedly misleading U.S. regulators about the 737 Max jetliner before two of the planes crashed and killed 346 people, according to court papers filed Friday.

Under the agreement in principle" that still needs to be finalized, Boeing would pay and invest more than $1.1 billion, including an additional $445 million for the crash victims families, the Justice Department said. In return, the department would dismiss the fraud charge in the criminal case against the aircraft manufacturer.

Ultimately, in applying the facts, the law, and Department policy, we are confident that this resolution is the most just outcome with practical benefits," a Justice Department spokesperson said in a statement.

"Nothing will diminish the victims losses, but this resolution holds Boeing financially accountable, provides finality and compensation for the families and makes an impact for the safety of future air travelers.

Many relatives of the passengers who died in the crashes, which took place off the coast of Indonesia and in Ethiopia less than five months apart in 2018 and 2019, have spent years pushing for a public trial, the prosecution of former company officials, and more severe financial punishment for Boeing.

Although the DOJ proposed a fine and financial restitution to the victims families, the families that I represent contend that it is more important for Boeing to be held accountable to the flying public, Paul Cassell, an attorney for many of the families in the long-running case, said in a statement earlier this week.

Boeing was accused of misleading the Federal Aviation Administration about aspects of the Max before the agency certified the plane for flight. Boeing did not tell airlines and pilots about a new software system, called MCAS, that could turn the planes nose down without input from pilots if a sensor detected that the plane might go into an aerodynamic stall.

The Max planes crashed after a faulty reading from the sensor pushed the nose down and pilots were unable to regain control. After the second crash, Max jets were grounded worldwide until the company redesigned MCAS to make it less powerful and to use signals from two sensors, not just one.

Boeing avoided prosecution in 2021 by reaching a $2.5 billion settlement with the Justice Department that included a previous $243.6 million fine.

A year ago, prosecutors said Boeing violated the terms of the 2021 agreement by failing to make promised changes to detect and prevent violations of federal anti-fraud laws. Boeing agreed last July to plead guilty to the felony fraud charge instead of enduring a potentially lengthy public trial.

But in December, U.S. District Judge Reed OConnor in Fort Worth rejected the plea deal. The judge said the diversity, inclusion and equity, or DEI, policies in the government and at Boeing could result in race being a factor in picking a monitor to oversee Boeings compliance with the agreement.

An assailant stabbed people at the central railway station in the German city of Hamburg on Friday, injuring 12 people six of them critically, authorities said.

A suspect in the attack was arrested, police said in a post on the social network X on Friday evening.

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Hamburg's fire service said that six people sustained life-threatening injuries, while another three were seriously injured and three had slight injuries, German news agency dpa reported.

Authorities didn't give any information on the suspect or details of the attack.

The station in downtown Hamburg, Germany's second-biggest city, is a major hub for local, regional and long-distance trains.