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(18 May 2025)

RESTRICTION SUMMARY:

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Vatican City - 18 May 2025

1. Mid of Pope Leo XIV taking first popemobile ride through St. Peter's Square

2. Pope taking first popemobile ride amid crowd in St. Peter's Square

3. Close of Pope taking popemobile ride

4. Mid of Pope taking popemobile ride

5. Various of the Pope taking popemobile ride in Via della Conciliazione

6. Various of the Pope taking popemobile ride amid crowd in St. Peter's Square

STORYLINE:

Pope Leo XIV has taken his first popemobile ride through St. Peter’s Square ahead of installation, waving from the back of the open-back truck to the crowd waving flags and cheering “Viva il Papa!”

The bells of St. Peter’s Basilica tolled as Leo waved on Sunday from the back of the truck that looped slowly through the square.

The crowd cheered and plenty of Peruvian, American and Holy See flags mixed in with flags of other nations and banners.

Later Sunday, Leo, history’s first American pope, is being installed in a formal ceremony attended by presidents, patriarchs and princes.

AP video by Silvia Stellacci, Paolo Santalucia and Trisha Thomas

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(18 May 2025)

RESTRICTION SUMMARY:

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Mogoșoaia, Romania - 18 May 2025

1. AUR party leader George SImion casting ballot

2. SOUNDBITE (Romanian) George Simion, AUR party leader, presidential candidate:

“I voted against injustice done to Romanian people, against inequities and humiliation that our sisters and brothers endured both here and abroad.”

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Fagaras, Romania - 18 May 2025

3. Nicusor Dan and his wife exiting polling station

4. SOUNDBITE (English) Nicusor Dan, presidential candidate:

“It's not my first campaign and I never make predictions before the election, so the Romanians will decide."

5. Dan leaving

STORYLINE:

Presidential candidates in Romania are casting ballots Sunday in a tense presidential runoff between a hard-right nationalist and a pro-Western centrist, in a high-stakes election rerun that could determine the geopolitical direction of the European Union and NATO member country.

Sunday’s race between frontrunner George Simion, the 38-year-old leader of the hard-right Alliance for the Unity of Romanians, or AUR, and incumbent Bucharest Mayor Nicusor Dan comes months after the cancelation of the previous election plunged Romania into its worst political crisis in decades.

As he exited a polling station, Dan said “the Romanians will decide. There is a good hope for structural change but it depend on what happens today ”

Voting at approximately the same time near Bucharest, AUR party leader, George Simion said “I voted against injustice dine to Romanian people, against inequities and humiliation that our sisters and brothers endured with here and abroad."

Local polls opened at 7.00 a.m. local time (0400GMT) and will close at 9.00 p.m. (1800GMT). Romanians abroad have been able to vote since Friday at polling stations set up in other countries, and more than half a million have already cast ballots.

AP Video and production by Nick Dumitrache

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(18 May 2025)

RESTRICTION SUMMARY:

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Lisbon, Portugal - 18 May 2025

1. Various of polls opening and people voting

STORYLINE:

Voters in Portugal returned to the polls Sunday for a third general election in three years, as the country’s increasingly fragmented political landscape defies efforts to unite behind policies on pressing national issues such as immigration, housing and the cost of living.

Hopes that the ballot might end the worst spell of political instability in decades for the European Union country of 10.6 million people could be dashed, however. Polls suggest the election is poised to deliver yet another minority government, leaving the Portuguese back where they started.

For the past 50 years two parties have dominated politics in Portugal, with the center-right Social Democrats and the center-left Socialist Party alternating in power. They are likely to come out on top in this ballot, too.

But public frustration with their record in government has fueled the growth of new alternatives in recent years. That has denied the bigger parties enough seats in Parliament to snare a majority needed to ensure they serve a full four-year term.

A center-right minority government headed by the Social Democrats in partnership with the smaller Popular Party lost a confidence vote in parliament in March after less than a year in power, as opposition lawmakers teamed up against it. That triggered an early election, which had been due only in 2028.

Polls have suggested that the partnership, called Democratic Alliance, again has a small lead over the Socialists but likely not enough to secure 116 seats in the 230-seat National Assembly, Portugal’s parliament.

Voting began at 8 a.m. (0700 GMT) and ends at 8 p.m. (1900 GMT), when exit polls can be published. Most official results are expected by midnight (2300 GMT).

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(18 May 2025)

RESTRICTON SUMMARY:

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Vatican City - 18 May 2025

1. Wide of St. Peter’s Basilica with faithful walking towards piazza

2. Various of police checking faithful as they pass barrier

3. SOUNDBITE (English) Kalen Hill, visitor from the US:

++PART OVERLAID BY PREVIOUS SHOT++

“I would say all the Americans are emotional about it. Having an American Pope is not something we ever thought would happen. It's kind of been the inside thing that they don’t typically elect Americans to do that, so it is really exciting for us to be here.”

4. Various of people waiting behind barriers

5. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Salvatore Del Rio, visitor from Mexico:

++PART OVERLAID BY SHOT 6++

“I am here so early so that I can enter into the Mass for Pope Leo. I am very emotional, very happy because this is the mass in which the Pope inaugurates his ministry and his pastoral activities."

6. Various of police checking faithful as they pass barrier

7. Various of faithful walking past police

STORYLINE:

Thousands of people lined up at dawn at the perimeter of the Vatican waiting to be the first to pass through security checks and get a spot at the investiture mass for Pope Leo XIV.

Nuns saying the rosary rubbed shoulders with Americans waving the stars and stripes, eager to be a witness as the first Pope born in the United States took on the ornaments of his office, the pallium and the fisherman’s ring, as he becomes the 267th successor of St. Peter.

U.S. Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost of the United States was elected Pope in a surprising fast conclave that concluded on May 8th after four rounds of balloting.

Officials expect 250,000 faithful to attend his investiture Mass and over hundred delegations from all over the world, including the U.S. Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Kings and Queens from Spain, Monaco and the Netherlands were also expected.

AP video by Isaia Montelione, produced by Trisha Thomas

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(18 May 2025)

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ASSOCIATED PRESS

Mogosoaia - 18 May 2025

1. Wide of polling station outside Bucharest

2. People casting ballot

3. Voting stamp

4. SOUNDBITE (Romanian) Cristian, Pensioner:

“I want everything to change, I want these (politicians) gone so I don't hear of them no more, I want the regime to change overall, 35 years is enough, look where they led us to."

5. EU and Romanian flags on polling station

6. SOUNDBITE (Romanian) Cristian, Pensioner:

“It's going to be difficult and it'll take time, nothing will happen tomorrow, but we hope.. hope is all that's left, we hope everything will change… or at least to start changing, like I said, I don t expect everything to change in a day."

7. People voting

8. SOUNDBITE (Romanian) Tesa Andreescu, Voter:

“I went to vote all my life and I had hopes but very little was done of all I would have liked, I'm disappointed but we need to move forward."

9. People voting

10. Urn

11. People voting

STORYLINE:

Romanians are casting ballots Sunday in a tense presidential runoff between a hard-right nationalist and a pro-Western centrist, in a high-stakes election rerun that could determine the geopolitical direction of the European Union and NATO member country.

Sunday’s race between frontrunner George Simion, the 38-year-old leader of the hard-right Alliance for the Unity of Romanians, or AUR, and incumbent Bucharest Mayor Nicusor Dan comes months after the cancelation of the previous election plunged Romania into its worst political crisis in decades.

Local polls opened at 7.00 a.m. local time (0400GMT) and will close at 9.00 p.m. (1800GMT). Romanians abroad have been able to vote since Friday at polling stations set up in other countries, and more than half a million have already cast ballots.

Romania’s political landscape was upended last year when a top court voided the previous election after the far-right outsider Calin Georgescu topped first-round polls, following allegations of electoral violations and Russian interference, which Moscow denied.

Years of endemic corruption and growing anger toward Romania’s political establishment have fueled a surge in support for anti-establishment and hard-right figures, reflecting a broader pattern across Europe. Both Simion and Dan have made their political careers railing against Romania’s old political class.

Most recent local surveys indicate the runoff will be tight, after earlier ones showed Simion holding a lead over Dan, a 55-year-old mathematician who rose to prominence as a civic activist fighting against illegal real estate projects.

Dan founded the reformist Save Romania Union party in 2016 but later left, and is running independently on a pro-EU ticket, reaffirming Western ties, support for Ukraine, and fiscal reform.

The presidential role carries a five-year term and significant decision-making powers in national security and foreign policy. The winner of Sunday's race will be charged with appointing a new prime minister, after Marcel Ciolacu stepped down following the failure of his coalition’s candidate to advance to the runoff.

After coming fourth in last year’s canceled race, Simion backed Georgescu who was banned in March from standing in the redo. Simion then surged to frontrunner in the May 4 first-round after becoming the standard-bearer for the hard right.

The AUR party he leads says it stands for “family, nation, faith, and freedom” and rose to prominence in a 2020 parliamentary election. It has since grown to become the second-largest party in the Romanian legislature.

AP video by Nick Dumitrache

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(18 May 2025)

RESTRICTION SUMMARY:

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Basel, Switzerland - 18 May 2025

1. JJ, Austria's winner of Eurovision Song Contest 2025, posing for photos

2. JJ singing

3. SOUNDBITE (English) JJ, Austria's winner of Eurovision Song Contest 2025:

"That was insane. We were on the split screen and I was like, "Okay, just a hundred points to win." And then they said 100 plus. And I was like, "Ah." And I was literally screaming and crying and definitely going to be hoarse tomorrow but who cares."

4. Wide of news conference

5. SOUNDBITE (English) JJ, Austria's winner of Eurovision Song Contest 2025:

"Be true to yourself. Stay true to yourself, and take everything with ease. You know, if you put yourself under too much pressure, you will be scared to fail. It's fine to fail. That's part of life."

6. Various of JJ posing for photos

STORYLINE:

Classically trained Austrian singer JJ won the 69th Eurovision Song Contest in Switzerland on Saturday with “Wasted Love,” a song that combines operatic, multi-octave vocals with a techno twist.

JJ, whose full name is Johannes Pietsch, was Austria’s third Eurovision winner, and the first since bearded drag queen Conchita Wurst in 2014.

The 24-year-old countertenor, who sings at the Vienna State Opera, has called Wurst a mentor.

At a post-victory news conference, JJ said that he was honored to be the first Eurovision champion with Filipino heritage, as well as a proudly queer winner.

Witty, composed and articulate throughout the promotion and contest, JJ revealed how he’d handled the pressure despite being such a young winner.

“If you put yourself under too much pressure, you will be scared to fail. It's fine to fail. That's part of life.”

AP Video by Kwiyeon Ha, Hilary Fox

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(18 May 2025)

RESTRICTIONS SUMMARY:

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Southern Israel looking into Gaza Strip - 18 May 2025

1. Explosion heard followed by smoke seen in Gaza from southern Israel

2. Various of smoke in Gaza seen from southern Israel

3. Explosion followed by smoke

4. More of smoke

STORYLINE:

Smoke was seen rising and explosions heard in the Gaza Strip on Sunday morning as Israel continued its offensive on the enclave.

Israeli strikes across the Gaza Strip killed at least 66 people overnight and into Sunday, hospitals and medics in the battered enclave said.

The Israeli military had no immediate comment.

The Nasser hospital in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis said it received the bodies of 20 people who were killed in multiple overnight airstrikes that hit houses and tents sheltering displaced families in the Muwasi area.

In northern Gaza, at least 36 people were killed in multiple strikes, according to first responders from the health ministry and the civil defense.

The dead included nine people from a single family who were killed when an airstrike hit their house in the built-up Jabaliya refugee camp, according to the health ministry’s emergency services.

Another strike hit the house of the Berawi family, also in Jabaliya, killing 10 people including seven children and a woman, according to the civil defense, which operates under the Hamas-run government. Among the dead were two parents and their three children and a father and his four children, it said.

In central Gaza, at least 10 people were killed in two separate strikes, according to the Al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital in the town of Deir al-Balah. One strike in the Zweida town killed seven people, including two children and four women. The second hit an apartment in Deir al-Balah, killing two parents and their child, the hospital said.

AP video by Alon Bernstein

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(18 May 2025)

RESTRICTIONS SUMMARY:

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Mogosia - 18 May 2025

1. AUR party leader George SImion casting ballot

2. SOUNDBITE (Romanian) George Simion, AUR party leader, presidential candidate:

“I voted against injustice done to Romanian people, against inequities and humiliation that our sisters and brothers endured both here and abroad, I voted against the abuse and poverty, against those who disregard us all but also I voted for our future that needs to be decided by the Romanians only, for Romanians and for Romania, so help us God.”

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Fagaras - 18 May 2025

3. Nicusor Dan and his wife exiting polling station

4. SOUNDBITE (English) Nicusor Dan, presidential candidate:

“It s not my first campaign and I never make predictions before the (result).. the Romanians will decide. (journalist question) There is a good hope for structural change but it depend on what happens today."

5. Dan leaving

STORYLINE:

Presidential candidates are casting ballots Sunday in a tense presidential runoff between a hard-right nationalist and a pro-Western centrist, in a high-stakes election rerun that could determine the geopolitical direction of the European Union and NATO member country.

Sunday’s race between frontrunner George Simion, the 38-year-old leader of the hard-right Alliance for the Unity of Romanians, or AUR, and incumbent Bucharest Mayor Nicusor Dan comes months after the cancelation of the previous election plunged Romania into its worst political crisis in decades.

As he exited a polling station, Dan said “the Romanians will decide. There is a good hope for structural change but it depend on what happens today ”

Voting at approximately the same time near Bucharest, AUR party leader, George Simion said: “I voted against injustice dine to Romanian people, against inequities and humiliation that our sisters and brothers endured with here and abroad

Local polls opened at 7.00 a.m. local time (0400GMT) and will close at 9.00 p.m. (1800GMT). Romanians abroad have been able to vote since Friday at polling stations set up in other countries, and more than half a million have already cast ballots.

Romania’s political landscape was upended last year when a top court voided the previous election after the far-right outsider Calin Georgescu topped first-round polls, following allegations of electoral violations and Russian interference, which Moscow denied.

Years of endemic corruption and growing anger toward Romania’s political establishment have fuelled a surge in support for anti-establishment and hard-right figures, reflecting a broader pattern across Europe. Both Simion and Dan have made their political careers railing against Romania’s old political class.

Most recent local surveys indicate the runoff will be tight, after earlier ones showed Simion holding a lead over Dan, a 55-year-old mathematician who rose to prominence as a civic activist fighting against illegal real estate projects.

Dan founded the reformist Save Romania Union party in 2016 but later left, and is running independently on a pro-EU ticket, reaffirming Western ties, support for Ukraine, and fiscal reform.

The presidential role carries a five-year term and significant decision-making powers in national security and foreign policy. The winner of Sunday's race will be charged with appointing a new prime minister, after Marcel Ciolacu stepped down following the failure of his coalition’s candidate to advance to the runoff.

AP video by Nick Dumitrache

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(18 May 2025)

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RESTRICTIONS SUMMARY:

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Fagaras - 18 May 2025

1. Various of incumbent Bucharest Mayor Nicusor Dan arriving and casting ballot

STORYLINE:

Incumbent Bucharest Mayor Nicusor Dan cast his ballot Sunday in a tense presidential runoff between a hard-right nationalist and a pro-Western centrist, in a high-stakes election rerun that could determine the geopolitical direction of the European Union and NATO member country.

Sunday’s race between frontrunner George Simion, the 38-year-old leader of the hard-right Alliance for the Unity of Romanians, or AUR, and incumbent Bucharest Mayor Nicusor Dan comes months after the cancelation of the previous election plunged Romania into its worst political crisis in decades.

Local polls opened at 7.00 a.m. local time (0400GMT) and will close at 9.00 p.m. (1800GMT). Romanians abroad have been able to vote since Friday at polling stations set up in other countries, and more than half a million have already cast ballots.

Romania’s political landscape was upended last year when a top court voided the previous election after the far-right outsider Calin Georgescu topped first-round polls, following allegations of electoral violations and Russian interference, which Moscow denied.

Years of endemic corruption and growing anger toward Romania’s political establishment have fuelled a surge in support for anti-establishment and hard-right figures, reflecting a broader pattern across Europe. Both Simion and Dan have made their political careers railing against Romania’s old political class.

Most recent local surveys indicate the runoff will be tight, after earlier ones showed Simion holding a lead over Dan, a 55-year-old mathematician who rose to prominence as a civic activist fighting against illegal real estate projects.

Dan founded the reformist Save Romania Union party in 2016 but later left, and is running independently on a pro-EU ticket, reaffirming Western ties, support for Ukraine, and fiscal reform.

The presidential role carries a five-year term and significant decision-making powers in national security and foreign policy. The winner of Sunday's race will be charged with appointing a new prime minister, after Marcel Ciolacu stepped down following the failure of his coalition’s candidate to advance to the runoff.

After coming fourth in last year’s cancelled race, Simion backed Georgescu who was banned in March from standing in the redo. Simion then surged to frontrunner in the May 4 first-round after becoming the standard-bearer for the hard right.

Simion, who campaigned for reunification with neighboring Moldova, says he would focus on reforms: slashing red tape, reducing bureaucracy, and taxes. But he insists that his main goal is to restore democracy. “My platform is to return to democracy, to the will of the people,” he said.

The AUR party he leads says it stands for “family, nation, faith, and freedom” and rose to prominence in a 2020 parliamentary election. It has since grown to become the second-largest party in the Romanian legislature.

To his critics, Simion is a pro-Russian extremist who threatens Romania’s longstanding alliances in the EU and NATO. But in an AP interview, he rejected the accusations, saying Russia is his country’s biggest threat, and that he wants Romania to be treated as “equal partners” in Brussels.

In the first-round vote, Simion won a massive 61% of Romania’s large diaspora vote, with his calls to patriotism resonating with Romanians who moved abroad in search of better opportunities.

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(18 May 2025)

RESTRICTIONS SUMMARY:

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Fagaras - 18 May 2025

1. Various of incumbent Bucharest Mayor Nicusor Dan arriving and casting ballot

STORYLINE:

Incumbent Bucharest Mayor Nicusor Dan cast his ballot Sunday in a tense presidential runoff between a hard-right nationalist and a pro-Western centrist, in a high-stakes election rerun that could determine the geopolitical direction of the European Union and NATO member country.

Sunday’s race between frontrunner George Simion, the 38-year-old leader of the hard-right Alliance for the Unity of Romanians, or AUR, and incumbent Bucharest Mayor Nicusor Dan comes months after the cancelation of the previous election plunged Romania into its worst political crisis in decades.

Local polls opened at 7.00 a.m. local time (0400GMT) and will close at 9.00 p.m. (1800GMT). Romanians abroad have been able to vote since Friday at polling stations set up in other countries, and more than half a million have already cast ballots.

Romania’s political landscape was upended last year when a top court voided the previous election after the far-right outsider Calin Georgescu topped first-round polls, following allegations of electoral violations and Russian interference, which Moscow denied.

Years of endemic corruption and growing anger toward Romania’s political establishment have fuelled a surge in support for anti-establishment and hard-right figures, reflecting a broader pattern across Europe. Both Simion and Dan have made their political careers railing against Romania’s old political class.

Most recent local surveys indicate the runoff will be tight, after earlier ones showed Simion holding a lead over Dan, a 55-year-old mathematician who rose to prominence as a civic activist fighting against illegal real estate projects.

Dan founded the reformist Save Romania Union party in 2016 but later left, and is running independently on a pro-EU ticket, reaffirming Western ties, support for Ukraine, and fiscal reform.

The presidential role carries a five-year term and significant decision-making powers in national security and foreign policy. The winner of Sunday's race will be charged with appointing a new prime minister, after Marcel Ciolacu stepped down following the failure of his coalition’s candidate to advance to the runoff.

After coming fourth in last year’s cancelled race, Simion backed Georgescu who was banned in March from standing in the redo. Simion then surged to frontrunner in the May 4 first-round after becoming the standard-bearer for the hard right.

Simion, who campaigned for reunification with neighboring Moldova, says he would focus on reforms: slashing red tape, reducing bureaucracy, and taxes. But he insists that his main goal is to restore democracy. “My platform is to return to democracy, to the will of the people,” he said.

The AUR party he leads says it stands for “family, nation, faith, and freedom” and rose to prominence in a 2020 parliamentary election. It has since grown to become the second-largest party in the Romanian legislature.

To his critics, Simion is a pro-Russian extremist who threatens Romania’s longstanding alliances in the EU and NATO. But in an AP interview, he rejected the accusations, saying Russia is his country’s biggest threat, and that he wants Romania to be treated as “equal partners” in Brussels.

In the first-round vote, Simion won a massive 61% of Romania’s large diaspora vote, with his calls to patriotism resonating with Romanians who moved abroad in search of better opportunities.

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