AP Top News at 7:54 a.m. EDT

Russia and Ukraine swap hundreds more prisoners, hours after a massive attack on Kyiv

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia and Ukraine exchanged hundreds more prisoners on Saturday as part of a major swap that amounted to a rare moment of cooperation in otherwise failed efforts to reach a ceasefire. The exchange came hours after Kyiv came under a large-scale Russian drone and missile attack that left at least 15 people injured. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Russia’s defense ministry said each side brought home 307 more soldiers on Saturday, a day after each released a total of 390 combatants and civilians. “We expect more to come tomorrow,” Zelenskyy said on his official Telegram channel. Russia’s defense ministry also said it expected the exchange to be continued, though it did not give details.

Music talent agent among dead after jet crashes into San Diego neighborhood

SAN DIEGO (AP) — A private jet carrying a music talent agent and five others hit a power line in foggy weather early Thursday and crashed into a San Diego neighborhood, slamming into a home and killing multiple people on the flight. With the home engulfed in flames and jet fuel rolling down the streets, half a dozen vehicles ignited while residents in the neighborhood of U.S. Navy-owned housing were shaken awake just before 4 a.m. by the thunderous crash and subsequent explosions. Out their windows, they saw a wall of fire. “I can’t quite put words to describe what the scene looks like, but with the jet fuel going down the street, and everything on fire all at once, it was pretty horrific to see,” San Diego Police Chief Scott Wahl said.

Trump is returning to West Point to speak at the US Military Academy’s graduation

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is delivering his first military commencement address since returning to office. The Republican president is set to speak to West Point’s graduating class on Saturday morning. Trump gave the commencement address at West Point in 2020, during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. The president urged the graduating cadets to “never forget” the soldiers who fought a war over slavery during his remarks, which came as the nation was reckoning with its history on race after the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Trump also paid tribute to the military academy’s history and its famed graduates, including Douglas MacArthur and Dwight D.

Trump says US Steel will keep HQ in Pittsburgh in a sign he’ll approve bid by Japan-based Nippon

WASHINGTON (AP) — 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 he’ll 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, and one union official suggested Friday that the federal government will have a role in the company’s management going forward.

As Pope Leo XIV faces scrutiny, victims of abusive Catholic group say he helped when others didn’t

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Leo XIV made plenty of enemies helping dismantle a powerful Catholic movement whose leaders physically, sexually, spiritually and psychologically abused members. As Leo’s past record of handling clergy sexual abuse cases comes under scrutiny, victims of the now-disgraced group are stepping up to defend his record. These survivors say that starting in 2018, when Robert Prevost was a bishop in Peru, he met with them. He took their claims seriously when others did not. He got the Vatican involved and worked concretely to provide financial reparations for the harm they had endured. They credit him with helping arrange the key 2022 meeting with Pope Francis that triggered a Vatican investigation into the group, known as the Sodalitium Christiane Vitae, that resulted in its suppression earlier this year.

San Diego plane crash is a devastating loss to the alternative rock music community

NEW YORK (AP) — The alternative music community is in mourning after a private jet hit a power line in foggy weather early Thursday and crashed into a San Diego neighborhood, killing multiple people on board. Among them was the groundbreaking music executive Dave Shapiro, a pillar of his music scene, and Daniel Williams, a former drummer for the popular Ohio metalcore band The Devil Wears Prada. Also killed were two employees of Shapiro’s Sound Talent Group agency: Kendall Fortner, 24, and Emma Huke, 25. Both Williams and Shapiro served as success stories for their respective rock music scenes — proof that these subcultural sounds had real mainstream appeal.

Israeli use of human shields in Gaza was systematic, soldiers and former detainees tell the AP

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — The only times the Palestinian man wasn’t bound or blindfolded, he said, was when he was used by Israeli soldiers as their human shield. Dressed in army fatigues with a camera fixed to his forehead, Ayman Abu Hamadan was forced into houses in the Gaza Strip to make sure they were clear of bombs and gunmen, he said. When one unit finished with him, he was passed to the next. “They beat me and told me: ‘You have no other option; do this or we’ll kill you,’” the 36-year-old told The Associated Press, describing the 2 1/2 weeks he was held last summer by the Israeli military in northern Gaza.

Cannes prepares to award the Palme d’Or, with Neon positioned to add to an unprecedented streak

Can Neon extend one of the most unprecedented streaks in movies? That’s one of the big questions heading into the presentation of the Palme d’Or on Saturday at the Cannes Film Festival. The past five winners in Cannes have all been released by the indie distributor, including last year’s victor and eventual best-picture Oscar winner, “Anora.” On Saturday, Neon could make it six in a row, adding to its Palmes for “Parasite,” “Titane,” “Triangle of Sadness,” “Anatomy of a Fall” and “Anora.” As far-fetched as that might sound, it might even be likely. Four of the most widely acclaimed film of the festival — Joachim Trier’s family drama “Sentimental Value,” Jafar Panahi’s revenge thriller “It Was Just an Accident,” Kleber Mendonça Filho’s political thriller “The Secret Agent” and Óliver Laxe’s desert road trip “Sirât” — will be distributed in the U.S.

See a penny, pick it up? In the future, probably not as often — and, some say, that matters

NEW YORK (AP) — Ask someone for their thoughts: Could it now cost you a nickel? If you want to call somebody stingy, would you say they’re a quarter-pincher? And if they spend money unwisely, are they now dime-wise but pound-foolish? OK, maybe those are some minor, small-stakes, dare we say penny-ante concerns in the wake of the U.S. Treasury confirming Thursday that it will stop making shiny new penny coins after the current production run is complete. But it is the end of an era in the United States. While there will still be over a billion already existing pennies in circulation, rattling around in jars, gathering dust under the sofa cushions and waiting to be picked up from sidewalks, no new cents will be joining their ranks for the first time in more than two centuries.

Trump threatens 50% tariffs on EU and 25% penalties on smart phones as his trade war intensifies

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Friday threatened a 50% tax on all imports from the European Union as well a 25% tariff on smartphones unless those products are made in America. The threats, delivered over social media, reflect Trump’s ability to disrupt the global economy with a burst of typing, as well as the reality that his tariffs have yet to produce the trade deals he is seeking or the return of domestic manufacturing he has promised voters. The Republican president said he wants to charge higher import taxes on goods from the EU, a longstanding US ally, than from China, a geopolitical rival that had its tariffs cut to 30% this month so Washington and Beijing could hold negotiations.