AP News in Brief at 6:04 a.m. EDT

But it was unclear Wednesday when the deal would start, what it included and whether it could lead to a durable peace as the sides presented vastly different visions of the terms.

Hours after the announcement, the United Arab Emirates reported Wednesday afternoon that its air defenses were firing at an incoming Iranian missile barrage. Kuwait's military said its forces were responding to an “extensive wave” of drone attacks.

Much about the deal remained unknown.

Iran said the deal would allow it to formalize its new practice of charging ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz, but the terms were not clear, nor was whether ships would feel safe using the crucial transit lane for oil. It also was unclear whether any other country agreed to this condition.

How Trump went from threatening Iran's annihilation to agreeing to a two-week ceasefire with Tehran

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump over the course of a day went from threatening Iran with “annihilation” to proclaiming that the battered Islamic Republic's leadership had presented a “workable” plan that led him to agree to a 14-day ceasefire that he expects to pave the way to end the nearly six-week-old war.

The dramatic shift in tenor came as intermediaries, led by Pakistan, worked feverishly to head off a further escalation of the conflict. Even China — Iran's biggest trading partner and the United States' most significant economic competitor — quietly pulled strings to find a pathway toward a ceasefire, according to two officials briefed on the matter who were not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity.

“The reason for doing so is that we have already met and exceeded all Military objectives, and are very far along with a definitive Agreement concerning Longterm PEACE with Iran, and PEACE in the Middle East,” Trump declared in a social media post announcing the temporary ceasefire, about 90 minutes before his deadline for Tehran to open the critical Strait of Hormuz or see its power plants and other critical infrastructure obliterated.

The president is set to meet at the White House on Wednesday with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte. The emerging ceasefire and plan to reopen the strait is expected to be at the center of talks.

As the deadline neared, Democratic lawmakers decried Trump's threat to wipe away an entire civilization as “a moral failure" and Pope Leo XIV warned strikes against civilian infrastructure would violate international law, calling the president’s comments “truly unacceptable.”

Global markets jump and oil prices decline as Iran ceasefire agreement reached

TOKYO (AP) — Global shares surged in Wednesday trading, as oil prices plunged after the U.S. and Iran agreed to a two-week ceasefire that includes the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.

France's CAC 40 added nearly 4.0% to 8,223.91 in early trading, while the German DAX edged up 4.7% to 23,996.26. Britain's FTSE 100 gained 2.3% to 10,582.86. U.S. shares were set to drift higher with Dow futures up 2.3% at 47,891.00. S&P 500 futures rose 2.5% to 6,824.00.

In Asia, Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 gained 5.4% to finish at 56,308.42. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 jumped 2.6% to 8,951.80. South Korea’s Kospi soared 6.9% to 5,872.34. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng surged 3.1% to 25,893.02, while the Shanghai Composite added 2.7% to 3,995.00.

Benchmark U.S. crude sank $16.47 to $96.48 a barrel. Brent crude, the international standard dropped $13.79 to $95.48 a barrel. Natural gas futures declined 5%.

The drops reversed some of the rise in oil prices, following the start of the war, which had effectively blocked passage through the strait that's a crucial route for global supplies.

American journalist Shelly Kittleson has been released week after kidnapping in Iraq, Rubio says

BAGHDAD (AP) — American journalist Shelly Kittleson, who was kidnapped from a Baghdad streetcorner last week, was released Tuesday, U.S. and Iraqi officials said.

The development came after the powerful Iran-backed Iraqi militia Kataib Hezbollah said in a statement that it had decided to free Kittleson, who was abducted on March 31. Its condition was that Kittleson must “leave the country immediately” upon her release.

Two officials within the militia, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment publicly, told The Associated Press that in exchange for freeing Kittleson, several members of the group who had previously been detained by Iraqi authorities would be released.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed Kittleson's release in a statement early Wednesday. He said on X, “We are relieved that this American is now freed and are working to support her safe departure from Iraq.”

Rubio thanked Iraqi authorities, as well as the FBI and U.S. Defense Department and other U.S. agencies for their work toward securing Kittleson’s release.

Trump-endorsed Republican Clay Fuller wins Marjorie Taylor Greene’s former House seat in Georgia

RINGGOLD, Ga. (AP) — Republican Clay Fuller on Tuesday won Marjorie Taylor Greene’s former U.S. House seat in Georgia, turning back a Democratic challenge with the help of President Donald Trump’s endorsement despite uneasiness over the war in Iran.

In a deep red district that Greene won by 29 points and Trump carried by almost 37 points two years ago, Fuller was on track to prevail by about 12 points with almost all votes counted. The result added to a string of special elections where Democrats performed better than expected, a track record that the party hopes will create momentum toward November's midterm elections when control of Congress hangs in the balance.

In another election held Tuesday, a Democratic-backed candidate for the Wisconsin Supreme Court won by double-digit margins, growing the liberal majority there.

Fuller insisted that his victory over Democratic candidate Shawn Harris in Georgia was a testimony to Trump's staying power.

“They couldn’t beat Donald Trump and they never will,” he told supporters in Ringgold, near the border with Tennessee. “And I will be on Capitol Hill as a warrior to have his back each and every day.”

Rep. Eric Swalwell vows to push back on ICE in bid for California governor

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California Rep. Eric Swalwell on Tuesday promised to aggressively push back on federal immigration officers if elected governor, vowing to make them ineligible for state jobs and take away their driver's licenses if they refuse to unmask while on duty.

“They think they’re invincible. They’re not,” Swalwell told a large crowd at a town hall in Sacramento, the state capital. He didn't specify how he'd advance those policies, which would likely face legal challenges.

The event kicked off a series of campaign functions he's planned around the state with less than a month to go until mail-in ballots go out to voters ahead of the June 2 primary. Swalwell, a Democrat, is among a crowded field of candidates jostling for advantage in a race in which a small margin could decide who advances to the November general election. The two highest vote-getters advance regardless of party, and Democrats are worried about a possible lock-out if no clear front-runner emerges.

Speaking to a friendly crowd, Swalwell painted himself as a “battle-tested” fighter in Congress against President Donald Trump. He served as House manager for Trump’s second impeachment trial and said he wants to abolish Immigration and Customs Enforcement and has supported taking away the agency's funding. Los Angeles was the target of one of the administration's first large-scale immigration sweeps last summer and the first place where it deployed the National Guard. The position comes after Swalwell faced accusations by some of his Democratic rivals for not taking a strong enough stance against the agency.

Positioning himself as a labor-friendly and progressive candidate, Swalwell said he wants to address ongoing state budget gaps with a new corporate tax and use state funding to pay for health care for low-income people, including immigrants. He also said he supports letting state employees work remotely, a contentious issue in Sacramento.

Eight states, three time zones and a ton of history: Take a trip down Route 66 as it turns 100

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — If you’ve ever planned to motor west and take the highway that’s the best, this might be time: Route 66 turns 100 this year.

The Mother Road, as author John Steinbeck dubbed it, has evolved over the years from an escape for poor farmers fleeing the devastating dust storms of the 1930s to perhaps the quintessential American road trip that’s still delivering kicks.

Although there have been faster and more direct routes between the nation’s second- and third-largest cities for some time, Route 66’s neon still burns brightly and its vintage signs beckon travelers to restored motor lodges, classic diners and roadside attractions.

Each stop turns the wheels of the imagination, leaving travelers to contemplate what life was like for the people and communities that have made the road hum over the years.

Chicago has long been one of the country’s economic engines, with access to international waters and railroads that linked all corners of the country. In the 1920s, Oklahoma businessman Cyrus Avery, known as the Father of Route 66, knew it wouldn’t be long before automobiles would dominate the transportation landscape, and the Windy City would be the perfect place to start the journey he envisioned.

Decorated Australian veteran remains behind bars on Afghan war crime charges

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Australia’s most decorated living veteran, Ben Roberts-Smith, did not apply for bail when the war crime murder charges against him were listed in a Sydney court Wednesday.

Roberts-Smith was awarded both the Victoria Cross and Medal of Gallantry for his service in Afghanistan and is only the second Australian veteran of the Afghanistan campaign to be charged with a war crime.

The charges follow a military report released in 2020 that found evidence that elite Australian Special Air Service and commando regiment troops unlawfully killed 39 Afghan prisoners, farmers and other noncombatants. Around 40,000 Australian military personnel served in Afghanistan between 2001 and 2021, of whom 41 were killed.

The allegations against Roberts-Smith relate to the deaths of five Afghan people who died in 2009 and 2012 while he served in Afghanistan as an elite SAS corporal. Police allege he either shot his victims or ordered a subordinate to shoot them in Uruzgan province where Australia's forces were based.

Police said he had been charged Tuesday with five counts of war crime murder. But the charges laid in court Wednesday were two counts of war crime murder and three counts of aiding or abetting a war crime murder. All charges carry the same potential maximum sentence of life in prison.

North Korea fires missiles toward sea after ridiculing South's hopes for better ties

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea fired multiple short-range ballistic missiles toward the sea Wednesday in its second launch event in two days, South Korea’s military said, hours after a senior North Korean official released crude insults against Seoul’s hopes for warmer relations.

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said several missiles lifted off from North Korea’s eastern coastal Wonsan area on Wednesday morning and flew about 240 kilometers (150 miles) each in a direction toward the North’s eastern waters. It said an additional North Korean ballistic missile fired later Wednesday traveled more than 700 kilometers (435 miles) off the North's east coast.

South Korea's military said it maintains a readiness to repel any provocations by North Korea under a solid military alliance with the United States. It earlier said it detected the launch of an unidentified projectile from North Korea’s capital region Tuesday.

South Korean media reported the projectile, also likely a ballistic missile, disappeared from South Korean military radars after displaying an abnormal development in the initial launch stage. This indicated the launch ended in failure, according to the reports.

The back-to-back launches came after North Korea made it clear that it has no intentions of improving ties with South Korea, whose liberal government has steadfastly expressed its hopes to restore long-dormant dialogue.

Rex Heuermann to plead guilty in the Gilgo Beach killings, ending long search for a serial killer

A Long Island architect accused in a string of long-unsolved slayings known as the Gilgo Beach killings is expected to plead guilty on Wednesday, closing a case that bedeviled investigators, agonized victims’ relatives and tantalized a true-crime obsessed public for years.

Rex Heuermann, 62, is charged with murdering seven women, many of them sex workers, over a 17-year span. A guilty plea would put him in prison for the rest of his life.

His decision to plead guilty was confirmed by three people familiar with it. They spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity because the plea has yet to be entered in court. Heuermann will be sentenced at a later date.

Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney has scheduled a news conference for Wednesday afternoon, following a morning court hearing. He will be joined by members of victims’ families and of the Gilgo Beach Homicide Investigation Task Force, which cracked the case with the help of clues that included DNA lifted from a discarded pizza crust.

A message seeking comment was left for Heuermann’s lawyer, Michael Brown.