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(24 May 2025)

RESTRICTION SUMMARY:

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Southern Israel - 24 May 2025

1. Longshot of view into Gaza with explosion followed by rising plume of black smoke

STORYLINE:

An explosion was seen inside the Gaza Strip as night fell on Saturday as Israel's offensive inside the territory continued.

The bodies of 79 people killed by Israeli airstrikes had been brought to hospitals in the space of 24 hours, Gaza 's Health Ministry said Saturday.

That toll does not include hospitals in the battered north which the ministry said were now inaccessible.

An Israeli military statement said the air force had struck over 100 targets throughout Gaza over the past day.

The Health Ministry said the new deaths brought the war's toll to 53,901 since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on Israel that sparked the 19 months of fighting.

The ministry said 3,747 people have been killed in Gaza since Israel resumed the war on March 18.

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(24 May 2025)

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Cannes - 24 May 2025

1. Wide of Jafar Panahi walking by

2. Wide of Óliver Laxe walking by with Bi Gan right behind him

3. Wide of Joachim Trier being congratulated by Alice Rochwacher

4. Tilt up from Camera d'Or award to Hasan Hadi

5. SOUNDBITE (English) Hasan Hadi, director:

"It is very exciting. It's overwhelming."

Reporter: "It is the first Iraqi film to be selected in Cannes and now you bring an award."

Hadi: "It's a national achievement, accomplishment I would say."

Reporter: Were you surprised?"

Hadi: "Very"

6. Medium of Akinola Davies Jr., director:

7. SOUNDBITE (English) Akinola Davies Jr., director:

"It's just really overwhelming, you know, I just can't thank the crew and the cast enough. I can't thank the festival and the audiences enough. Everyone who's come up to me during the festival just to say really kind words really means a lot."

8. Medium of Bi Gan

9. SOUNDBITE (Mandarin) Bi Gan, director:

"I'm hoping that it will be a conversation simple, around the art, and fluid."

10. Wide of Mascha Schilinski talking to reporter

11. SOUNDBITE (English) Mascha Schilinski, director:

"That's so wonderful. So, so great. Women worked so hard on this project and that we can show this now here to the world and yeah, it's just amazing."

12. Wide of Elle Fanning

13. Wide of Renate Reinsve and Stellan Skarsgard walking by

14. Wide of Hafsia Herzi walking by

STORYLINE:

Hasan Hadi, Mascha Schilinski and Akinola Davies Jr. were some the winners at Cannes sharing their reaction on Saturday evening.

Both Hasan Hadi who won the Camera d'Or for "The President's Cake" and Akinola Davies Jr. who won a special mention for "In The Shadow of my Father" said the wins were overwhelming.

"I just can't thank the crew and the cast enough. I can't thank the festival and the audiences enough. Everyone who's come up to me during the festival just to say really kind words really means a lot," said Davies Jr.

German director Mascha Schilinski who won the Jury Prize for her film "The Sound of Falling" (ex-aequo with "Sirat") said the trophy was wonderful.

"So, so great. Women worked so hard on this project and that we can show this now here to the world and yeah, it's just amazing."

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(24 May 2025)

RESTRICTION SUMMARY:

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Undisclosed location, Ukraine - 24 May 2025

1. Newly returned Ukrainian prisoners of war walking by, being handed envelopes

2. Various of returned POWs walking by

3. Maryna Bondarenko asking returned POWs for information about her husband Viktor, UPSOUND (Ukrainian)

Bondarenko: “Can I leave my phone number? I have this, call me back, please."

Man: "He's definitely alive, yes."

4. Bondarenko crying and hugging woman, UPSOUND (Ukrainian) man speaking to Bondarenko behind camera: "Look, you can contact the 'Mothers Shield' to reach him and contact him. He sends you his video, you send him yours. It's no problem at all. I think you will contact him within a week.”

5. SOUNDBITE (Ukrainian) Maryna Bondarenko, wife of missing Ukrainian serviceman:

“It was very difficult for me. It was difficult for his father. Last time he (Viktor) saw his youngest child was when he was nine months old. I constantly showed the child pictures of his dad. He saw his dad only in the photos. And he kept saying 'Dad, Dad, Dad'. And today was a very great day for me, a big day. We really hope for his return, that they will bring him back as soon as possible. I will go to every exchange. I will always wait to meet him. My bunny.”

6. Bondarenko speaking to returned POW, UPSOUND (Ukrainian) "No, I didn’t see this one. This one is definitely there. He’s fine, he’s alive and well."

7. Various of returned POWs boarding bus

8. Returned POWs speaking to woman, smoking

STORYLINE:

Hundreds more Ukrainian prisoners of war were returned home on Saturday on the second day of a major exchange with Russia.

Each side released 307 serviceman, a day after the first 390 were freed by both countries, according to statements from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the Russian Defense Ministry.

Maryna Bondarenko's husband Viktor, who has been missing since March 2022, wasn't among the returnees.

But one of the released prisoners was able to tell Bondarenko her partner was alive and may still get to see his children again.

"Today was a very great day for me, a big day. We really hope for his return, that they will bring him back as soon as possible," she said.

But for those returning to Ukraine and not being reunited with their loved ones it was bittersweet, some only able to take solace in providing information to members of the waiting crowd.

The prisoner swap on Saturday was the second phase of a complicated deal involving the exchange of 1,000 prisoners from each side.

However, the exchange — the latest of dozens of swaps since the war began and the biggest involving Ukrainian civilians so far — did not herald a halt in the fighting.

A large-scale Russian drone and missile attack on Kyiv left at least 15 people injured.

Battles also 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.

AP video shot by Alex Babenko

Production by Yehor Konovalov

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(24 May 2025)

RESTRICTION SUMMARY:

++ADDS AP VIDEO CREDIT++

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Undisclosed location, Ukraine - 24 May 2025

1. Wide of family members hugging soldier

2. Wide of little boy running to soldier's arms

3. Various of soldier hugging his family

4. UPSOUND (Ukrainian) Dmytro Havrilenko, released soldier:

(Reporter speaking to released soldier: "How long were you held captive?")

Havrilenko: "Seventeen months, captured near Marinka."

(Reporter: "How are you feeling now?")

Havrilenko: "Very bad, to be honest, it was a tough seventeen months. But everything is fine."

5. Mid of soldier speaking to people searching for their relatives among released POWs

6. Various of soldiers speaking to people

7. SOUNDBITE (Ukrainian) Name not given, released Ukrainian soldier:

"Yes, I'm very happy to be back. I didn't even know I would return. We waited and waited. Every day, I prayed that all of our guys and I myself would be able to return home."

8. Close of crowd showing photos of missing soldiers to released POWs

9. Various of people standing with photos and banners

10. Close of woman crying

11. Various of people holding signs and photos

STORYLINE:

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.

Ukraine's 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.

One of the released Ukrainian soldiers Dmytro Havrilenko had an emotional reunion with his family upon arrival.

"It was a tough seventeen months, but everything is fine now," he told reporters.

Further releases expected over the weekend are set to make the swap the largest in more than three years of conflict.

AP video by Alex Babenko

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(24 May 2025)

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Cannes, France - 24 May 2025

1. Mid of Akinola Davies Jr.

2. Wide of "Sirât" director Óliver Laxe with Santiago Fillol, Andrea Queralt and Jade Oukid

3. Mid of "Sirât" director Óliver Laxe

4. Wide of "It Was Just An Accident" cast members Philippe Martin, Vahid Mobasseri, Hadis Pakbaten, Majid Panahi, Director Jafar Panahi, Maryam Afshari, Delnaz Najafi and Ebrahim Azizi

5. Wide of red carpet

6. Mid, pan "It Was Just An Accident" filmmaker Jafar Panahi with cast, pull out to wide

7. Mid of "Sound of Falling" filmmaker Mascha Schilinski, pan to cast including Hanna Heckt, Laeni Geiseler and Susanne Wuest

8. Mid of "The Little Sister" filmmaker Hafsia Herzi

9. Wide of Hafsia Herzi and Naomi Denamur, Julie Billy, Ji-Min Park, Gioia Farisano and Vanessa Ciszewski

10. Wide of jury led by Julliette Binoche (Halle Berry, Carlos Reygadas, Dieudo Hamadi, Payal Kapadia, Juliette Binoche, Alba Rohrwacher, Hong Sang-soo, Leïla Slimani and Jeremy Strong)

11. Pan of jury members Halle Berry, Carlos Reygadas, Dieudo Hamadi, Payal Kapadia, Jury President Juliette Binoche, Jury Members Alba Rohrwacher, Hong Sang-soo, Leïla Slimani and Jeremy Strong

12. Close of Jeremy Strong and Alba Rohrwacher

13. Close of Halle Berry and Juliette Binoche

14. Various of jury at top of Palais steps

STORYLINE:

Awards contenders arrived for the closing of the 78th Cannes Film festival on Saturday.

"Sirât" director Óliver Laxe, "The Little Sister" director Hafsia Herzi, and "It Was Just An Accident" filmmaker Jafar Panahi are among those in the running for the Palme d'Or - the festival's top prize.

The winner will be decided by the jury, headed by Juliette Binoche.

Binoche was joined on the red carpet by fellow jury members Halle Berry, Carlos Reygadas, Dieudo Hamadi, Payal Kapadia, Juliette Binoche, Alba Rohrwacher, Hong Sang-soo, Leïla Slimani and Jeremy Strong

The Palme d'Or will be awarded to one of the 22 films in competition.

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(24 May 2025)

RESTRICTION SUMMARY:

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Gaza City, Gaza Strip - 23 May 2025

1. Various of girl holding empty pot and sitting on the ground waiting for food

2. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Um Imad Afifi, displaced Palestinian from Beit Hanoun:

"Life has become so difficult for us, to this extent: we have become people carrying pots and running after charities. We used to sit in our homes, honored, a person in his home, no one feels hungry, his walls cover him. What is this life? Our life is difficult."

3. Various of people pushing to get their pots to charity workers to fill with food

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Gaza City, Gaza Strip - 14 May 2025

4. Various of children with empty pots waiting for food

5. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Nihad Abu Koosh, charity worker displaced from Rafah:

"We say that they want to eat, the people want to eat. They are not asking for a future, now only food, just for food to be available to them every day, daily sustenance, if they have lentils now at lunch, at night there are none, they will wait until the next day, until they come to the charity to take lentils, that is if they can. We are workers here in the charity, about 10 to 15 workers. We depend on the charity. We return to our homes with food like other people, each one to his family. Today and yesterday we have no food. I am a worker in the charity. I returned without anything because I fed people. In the end, I am like the remaining thousand who did not eat and I will go to my family and children today without food."

6. Various of charity's worker filling pots with lentils

STORYLINE:

War-weary Palestinains - mostly women and children - gathered Friday outside a charity kitchen that distributes hot meals to displaced families in Gaza City.

Carrying empty pots and plastic containers, they crowded around charity workers in the hopes of receiving a share of hot food.

“We don’t have any other option," said Um Imad Afifi, who was displaced from the northern town of Beit Hanoun.

She said that many people didn’t receive meals because food at the kitchen, known as Tekiya, was not sufficient for the number of people in need.

The war has left most of Gaza’s population of over 2 million dependent on humanitarian aid. International hunger experts warned that Gaza is on the brink of famine.

Israel faces mounting international criticism for its offensive and pressure to let aid into Gaza amid a humanitarian crisis.

Gaza has been under an Israeli blockade for nearly three months, with experts warning that many of its 2 million residents are at high risk of famine.

Even the United States, a staunch ally, has voiced concerns over the hunger crisis.

Amid pressure, Israel started letting in aid. Israeli officials said Friday they let in more than 100 trucks of aid, including flour, food, medical equipment and drugs. The trucks came in through the Kerem Shalom crossing.

But U.N. agencies say the amount is woefully insufficient, compared with around 600 trucks a day that entered during a recent ceasefire and that are necessary to meet basic needs.

U.N. agencies say Israeli military restrictions and the breakdown of law and order in Gaza make it difficult to retrieve and distribute the aid. As a result, little of it has so far reached those in need.

AP Production by Wafaa Shurafa

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(24 May 2025)

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Cannes - 24 May 2025

1. Various of Jane Fonda

2. Various of Cate Blanchett

3. Cutaway photographers

4. Wide of Elle Fanning

5. Wide of Elle Fanning joining Stellan Skarsgard, Joachim Trier, Renate Reinsve and the rest of the "Sentimental Value" team

6. Wide of Daniel Auteuil

7. Wide of John C. Reilly and Alison Dickey

8. Cutaway photographers

9. Wide of Adam Lambert

10. Wide of Simone Ashley

11. Various of the "Two Prosecutors" team including director Sergei Loznitsa and actor Alexandr Kuznezov

12. Various of the "Young Mothers" team including directors Luc and Jean-Pierre

13. Pan from photographers to Rossy de Palma

14. Wide of the Camera d'or jury including Alice Rohrwacher

15. Various of the "Resurrection" team including director Bi Gan and actor Jackson Yee

16. Wide group including Camelia Jordana

STORYLINE:

Stars arrived for the closing of the 78th Cannes Film festival.

Cate Blanchett, Jane Fonda, Elle Fanning, John C. Reilly and Stellan Skarsgard were among the attendees.

The Palme d'Or will be awarded to one of the 22 films in competition.

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(24 May 2025)

RESTRICTION SUMMARY:

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Tel Aviv, Israel - 24 May 2025

1. Relatives gathering for photos before statements

2. Close of posters of hostages

3. SOUNDBITE (Hebrew) Gil Dickmann, cousin of slain hostage Carmel Gat:

"Netanyahu, you said that trickery would bring back the hostages. Your trickery is no longer working on us. We cannot allow you to appoint a hostage-sacrificer as head of the Shin Bet, who will turn it into a service for sacrificing hostages, who opposes deals and wants eternal war. Deals save hostages. Eternal war kills them."

4. Close of posters

5. SOUNDBITE (English) Zahiro Shahar Mor, nephew of slain hostage Avraham Munder:

"Netanyahu is dragging us deeper into disaster. Please, Mr. President, place the ‘Trump deal’ for ending the war and returning the hostages on the table. Only you can force Netanyahu to sign a deal to end the war and bring our kids home. The war in Gaza must end now, by signing a deal for the release and return of all hostages. We can and will deal with all other threats once they are safely returned home."

6. Relatives

STORYLINE:

Relatives of Israeli hostages held in Gaza demanded a ceasefire and a deal to immediately bring back all the captives as they made their weekly statements for the media in Tel Aviv.

Zahiro Shahar Mor, nephew of hostage Avraham Munder, accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of "dragging us deeper into disaster."

"Please, Mr. President, place the ‘Trump deal’ for ending the war and returning the hostages on the table," he said.

Earlier this week, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu said he was recalling his high-level negotiating team from the Qatari capital, Doha, after a week of ceasefire talks failed to bring results. A working team will remain.

Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said a “fundamental gap” remained between the two parties and that none of the proposals were able to bridge their differences.

Hamas said no real ceasefire talks have taken place since last week in Doha.

The group accused Netanyahu of “falsely portraying participation” and attempting to “mislead global public opinion” by keeping Israel’s delegation there without engaging in serious negotiations.

The war in Gaza began when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting 251 others.

Israel’s retaliatory offensive, which has destroyed large swaths of Gaza, has killed more than 53,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which doesn’t differentiate between civilians and combatants in its count.

AP video by Shlomo Mor

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(24 May 2025)

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Cannes, France - 24 May 2025

1. Wide pan right to left on Palais des Festivals

2. Wide pan of the unofficial photographers and fans section in front of the red carpet

3. Wide pan shot of photographers

4. Wide of guest posing on the red carpet

5. Wide pull out from photographers to red carpet

6. Wide of guests waiting in queue to get into the ceremony

7. Wide of guest posing on red carpet

8. Wide of guest posing, pull out to wide of the red carpet steps

STORYLINE:

Guests and fans alike were getting excited about the closing ceremony of the 78th Cannes Film Festival on Saturday.

After a 5-hour long power blackout that threatened to put a spoke in the wheels of the celebrations, the electricity was restored and so was people's excitement.

The Palme d’Or — the festival’s most prestigious prize — is set to be awarded, with top contenders including 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.”

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(24 May 2025)

RESTRICTION SUMMARY:

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Samobor, Croatia - 12 May 2025

1. Various of elderly women doing exercises led by 95-year-old fitness coach Djurdja Vukovic

2. SOUNDBITE (Croatian) Djurdja Vukovic, fitness coach

“For me, I found a haven here. When my mother was ill, and later when she died, that grief would have destroyed me if there hadn’t been this. Because it’s not just about physical exercise, it’s just as much about talking to people and mingling. There are invitations to go to the theater, there are book recommendations, for this author or that one. There’s a lot of talking, and also whatever you say here, it sort of stays here. Outside of very close friends, you can’t share your problems with anyone else, like you can here. So it works as an emotional outlet, which helped me a great deal in my private life.”

3. Various of exercise class

4. SOUNDBITE (Croatian) Snjezana Platonic, pensioner from Samobor

“A friend of mine told me there was this nice meetup every week where they do exercises that people of our age need. I was in my early 60s, and I decided to try it. I’m generally in good physical condition myself, but years are going by, things are getting serious. But since I tried it I kept going regularly, and I feel excellent doing it.”

5. Various of class

6. SOUNDBITE (Croatian) Bozica Birin, pensioner from Samobor

“I decided to do this because of health problems, that was my number one reason. But also, spending time together is also important. After our training we like to go have coffee, hang out together, we sometimes go on day trips together. So this kind of continues outside of the gym, and it allows us to have an active lifestyle.”

7. Wide of women in gym

STORYLINE:

Nestled in the rolling hills just west of Croatia’s capital is the town of Samobor.

Here, one woman has become somewhat of a local legend, leading a community gym.

At 95 years old, this is Djurdja Vukovic.

Twice a week, she guides elderly women through a mix of light aerobics, stretching and pilates - movements she’s honed herself over more than five decades.

A former pharmaceutical engineer, Vukovic’s passion for movement began in 1964.

Just five years later, she started coaching - at a time when women’s sports were gaining momentum, inspired by Croatian Olympic swimmer Djurdjica Bjedov’s historic 1968 gold.

She says she has made friendships that have endure beyond the gym.

"It’s not just about physical exercise, it’s just as much about talking to people and mingling,” she says.

For Vukovic, these sessions are more than fitness. They’re a lifeline, weaving together community, healing, and resilience.

The classes are small, but the impact is large.

For many here, it’s a space to care for their bodies, and their spirits.

Attendee Snjezana Platonic says, “since I tried it I kept going regularly, and I feel excellent doing it.”

Bozica Birin, another class attendee says, “I decided to do this because of health problems, that was my number one reason. But also, spending time together is also important."

Vukovic is a well-known face in Samobor, not only for her work in sport, but also as a humanitarian, having helped refugees during the Balkan wars in the 1990s.

Though she remains humble, her decades of dedication were recently honoured with a lifetime achievement award.

Now, at 95, she has no plans to slow down.

AP video by Sasa Kavic

Production by David Spaic-Kovacic

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