AP Top News at 11:59 p.m. EDT

Ksenia Karelina, a dual US-Russian national released by Moscow in prisoner swap, arrives in US

WASHINGTON (AP) — A Russian-American woman freed by Moscow arrived back in the United States late Thursday as part of a prisoner swap completed as the two countries aim to repair ties. A plane carrying Ksenia Karelina landed around 11 p.m. EDT at Joint Base Andrews, where she was greeted by her fiancé. Morgan Ortagus, President Donald Trump’s deputy special envoy to the Middle East, presented her with a bouquet. She was released earlier in the day in exchange for a Russian-German man who’d been jailed in the U.S. on smuggling charges. Karelina was arrested in the Ural Mountains city of Yekaterinburg in February 2024 and convicted of treason on charges stemming from a donation of about $52 to a charity aiding Ukraine.

NYC sightseeing helicopter plunges into river, killing 6, including family of Spanish tourists

NEW YORK (AP) — A New York City sightseeing helicopter broke apart in midair Thursday and crashed upside-down into the Hudson River, killing the pilot and a family of five Spanish tourists in the latest U.S. aviation disaster, officials said. The victims included Siemens executive Agustin Escobar, his wife, Mercè Camprubí Montal, a global manager at an energy technology company, and three children, in addition to the pilot, a person briefed on the investigation told The Associated Press. The person could not discuss details of the investigation publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity. Photos posted on the helicopter company’s website showed the couple and their children smiling as they boarded just before the flight took off.

Asian shares sink, with Japan’s Nikkei down 5.6% as China-US trade war escalates

BANGKOK (AP) — Asian shares sank Friday after U.S. stocks gave up much of their historic gains from the day before. The deepening worries over President Donald Trump’s trade war initially helped pull Japan’s Nikkei 225 share index down 5.6%. By mid-morning in Tokyo, it was down 4.2% at 33,148.45. The yen surged against the U.S. dollar, which also lost value against the euro. One dollar bought 143.64 Japanese yen, down from about 146 yen a day earlier. The euro rose to $1.1306 from $1.1195. South Korea’s Kospi fell 1.3% to 2,413.16, while in Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 shed 1.2% to 7,619.70.

Supreme Court says Trump administration must work to bring back mistakenly deported Maryland man

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Thursday said the Trump administration must work to bring back a Maryland man who was mistakenly deported to prison in El Salvador, rejecting the administration’s emergency appeal. The court acted in the case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran citizen who had an immigration court order preventing his deportation to his native country over fears he would face persecution from local gangs. U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis had ordered Abrego Garcia, now being held in a notorious Salvadoran prison, returned to the United States by midnight Monday. “The order properly requires the Government to ‘facilitate’ Abrego Garcia’s release from custody in El Salvador and to ensure that his case is handled as it would have been had he not been improperly sent to El Salvador,” the court said in an unsigned order with no noted dissents.

Social Security lists thousands of living immigrants as dead to prompt them to leave, AP sources say

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration has moved to classify more than 6,000 living immigrants as dead, canceling their Social Security numbers and effectively wiping out their ability to work or receive benefits in an effort to get them to leave the country, according to two people familiar with the situation. The move will make it much harder for those affected to use banks or other basic services where Social Security numbers are required. It’s part of a broader effort by President Donald Trump to crack down on immigrants who were allowed to enter and remain temporarily in the United States under programs instituted by his predecessor, Joe Biden.

Judge allows requirement that everyone in the US illegally must register to move forward

WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge on Thursday allowed the Trump administration to move forward with a requirement that everyone in the U.S. illegally must register with the federal government and carry documentation, in a move that could have far-reaching repercussions for immigrants across the country. Judge Trevor Neil McFadden — a Trump appointee — sided with the administration, which had argued that officials were simply enforcing a requirement that already existed for everyone who is in the country but isn’t an American citizen. McFadden’s ruling didn’t go into the substance of those arguments but rested largely on the technical issue of whether the groups pushing to stop the requirement had standing to pursue their claims.

Burials begin as the search ends for victims in the Dominican nightclub collapse that killed 221

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic (AP) — A merengue icon, a baseball star and others killed when a cement roof collapsed at a popular nightclub in the Dominican Republic were buried Thursday, as authorities called off the search for bodies with the death toll at 221. Mourners clad in black and white streamed into Santo Domingo’s National Theater, where the body of singer Rubby Pérez lay inside a closed coffin. Pérez had been performing on stage at the packed Jet Set club early Tuesday when dust began falling from the ceiling and, seconds later, the roof caved. President Luis Abinader and first lady Raquel Arbaje arrived at the theater and stood beside Pérez’s coffin for several minutes.

Justin Rose steals the Masters show and builds 3-shot lead over Scottie Scheffler

AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) — Justin Rose did more than just match his best score at the Masters. With a round that was nearly nine shots better than the field Thursday, the 44-year-old Rose managed to steal the spotlight from the Masters dominance of Scottie Scheffler and the endless quest of Rory McIlroy to complete the career Grand Slam. Rose felt his 7-under 65 had the potential to be something special. And even with a bogey on the final hole, it was every bit of that. He opened with three straight birdies. He ran off three in a row around the turn.

Cannes Film Festival sets lineup with Ari Aster, Wes Anderson and, yes, Spike Lee

PARIS (AP) — New films from Wes Anderson, Ari Aster, and Richard Linklater will compete for the Palme d’Or at the 78th Cannes Film Festival, organizers announced Thursday. Coming off a 2024 edition that produced the Academy Award best-picture winner “Anora,” as well as a number of Oscar contenders in “Emilia Pérez,” “The Substance” and “The Apprentice,” the French film festival responded with a 2025 lineup full of big-name auteurs. Thierry Frémaux, Cannes’ artistic director, announced the selections in a news conference in Paris with festival president Iris Knobloch. Asked if he was under pressure after producing so many Oscars contenders last year, Frémaux said the festival organizers feel like an athlete putting his title back on the line.

Israel releases 10 Palestinians detained from Gaza. They say they suffered abuse

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Ten Palestinians detained from Gaza by Israeli troops were freed and returned to the territory on Thursday, saying they had suffered constant abuse while imprisoned. Israel has detained thousands of Palestinians since it launched its military campaign in Gaza in retaliation for Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel. It has done periodic releases of detainees throughout the war, though this was the first since it restarted the war in mid-March, breaking a ceasefire with the militant Hamas group. The 10 men, all dressed in grey sweatpants and shirts, were brought by bus to a hospital in the central Gaza town of Deir al-Balah, where they were welcomed by family members.