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

Two Iranian drones hit near Dubai International Airport, home to the long-haul carrier Emirates and the world’s busiest for international travel. Four people were wounded but flights continued, the Dubai Media Office said.

Iran's joint military command announced it would start targeting banks and financial institutions in the Middle East, a threat that would put at risk particularly Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates, which is home to many international financial institutions, as well as Saudi Arabia and the island kingdom of Bahrain.

Earlier, a projectile hit a container ship off the coast of Oman in the Strait of Hormuz, setting it ablaze and forcing most of the crew to abandon the vessel, the British military said. Kuwait said its defenses downed eight Iranian drones and Saudi Arabia said it intercepted five drones heading toward the kingdom’s Shaybah oil field.

Iran has effectively stopped cargo traffic in the narrow strait through which about a fifth of all oil is shipped from the Persian Gulf toward the Indian Ocean. It has also targeted oil fields and refineries in Gulf Arab nations, aiming at generating enough global economic pain to pressure the United States and Israel to end their strikes.

Analysis: Iran war becomes a contest of who can take the most pain

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The war on Iran, for all its complexity and global effects, boils down to a single question: Who can take the pain the longest?

A surge in oil prices points to what may be Iran’s most effective weapon and the United States’ biggest vulnerability in continuing the campaign: Damaging the world economy. A sharp rise in gas prices has rattled consumers and financial markets, and international travel and shipping have been severely disrupted.

U.S. President Donald Trump appears aware of the danger. As oil jumped to nearly $120 a barrel on Monday, the highest since 2022, he suggested the war would be “short-term.” That helped reassure markets and the price eased to around $90 — even as Trump, nearly in the same breath, vowed to keep up the war and the punishment on Iran.

On the other side, Iran has to endure a near-constant stream of American and Israeli airstrikes it can’t defend against. So far, the Islamic Republic has been able to keep its leadership and military cohesive and in control. The Iranian public, which already rose up against its theocracy in nationwide protests in January, still boils in anger but have stayed home as they try to survive the heavy bombardment. Security forces have been on the street every day to ensure no anti-government demonstrations form.

The pressure is on U.S. allies as well. Gulf Arab states, while still not combatants in the war, face seemingly unending and occasionally fatal Iranian fire targeting oil fields, cities and critical water works. And Israel, while boasting of inflicting heavy damage on Iran’s missile program and other military targets, continues to be targeted by increasingly sophisticated Iranian missiles that send a buckshot-like bouquet of high explosives raining down on its cities. Frequent air-raid sirens have disrupted daily life, closed schools and workplaces and created a tense atmosphere across the region.

World shares are mixed as investors watch for release of oil reserves and crude heads higher

BANGKOK (AP) — World shares were mixed on Wednesday as the rally of the past two days faded and oil prices resumed climbing with no end to the war with Iran in sight.

Oil prices have remained sharply below their peaks near $120 a barrel hit on Monday. Such spikes have been rocking financial markets worldwide because of worries that the war could block the global flow of oil and natural gas for a long time.

Early Wednesday, the price for a barrel of Brent crude, the international standard, had jumped 2.6% to $90.11. U.S. benchmark crude oil was up 3.2% at $86.08 per barrel.

The future for the S&P 500 was flat and that for the Dow Jones Industrial Average edged 0.1% lower.

In Germany, the DAX slipped 1.6% to 23,600.11, while the CAC 40 in Paris fell 1% to 7,980.45. Britain's FTSE 100 also shed 1%, to 10,307.63.

A bus fire that killed 6 people could have been set deliberately, Swiss police say

GENEVA (AP) — Police are investigating whether a bus fire in a town west of the Swiss capital that killed at least six people was started deliberately.

Police spokesperson Frédéric Papaux of Fribourg canton, or region, said an unspecified “voluntary act” could have caused the fire Tuesday evening in the town of Kerzers, about 25 kilometers (15 miles) west of Bern.

Five people were also injured in the fire, which for locals echoed a New Year’s Eve fire in the Swiss ski resort of Crans-Montana that killed 41 young people.

Christa Bielmann, representing the Fribourg police, told Swiss broadcaster SRF: “There is information circulating that a person poured flammable liquid over themselves on the bus and that this caused the fire. But this is part of the ongoing investigation and is being clarified.”

“It shocks and saddens me that once again people have lost their lives in a serious fire in Switzerland,” Swiss President Guy Parmelin wrote on X on Tuesday night. “The circumstances are being investigated. I offer my condolences to the families of those who died in Kerzers. And my thoughts are with the injured and the rescue workers.”

Lebanon's latest conflict brings rare public backlash against Hezbollah as war flares again

BEIRUT (AP) — The Lebanese mother of two had just awakened to prepare the pre-dawn meal before another day of fasting during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan when Israeli warplanes began attacking southern Lebanon in retaliation for rockets and drones launched by Hezbollah.

The family quickly packed up and headed toward Beirut, seeking safety from another deadly war between Israel and Hezbollah. With tens of thousands of others fleeing on that March 2 day, the usually one-hour trip from the southern city of Nabatiyeh took 15 hours.

“I am against giving pretexts to Israel,” said the 45-year-old woman, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals from the Hezbollah supporters she lives among.

“I am totally against Hezbollah’s decision to start with the first strike,” said the woman, who is now living with her husband, their 17- and 12-year-old children, and her mother-in-law inside a school turned into a shelter in the Lebanese capital.

As Hezbollah enters a new round of fighting with Israel just 15 months after the last Israel-Hezbollah war ended with a November 2024 U.S.-brokered ceasefire, the Iran-backed militant group and political party is facing increasing grassroots discontent within its base and problems with the Lebanese authorities.

Trump-backed Fuller and Democrat Harris move to Georgia runoff to succeed Marjorie Taylor Greene

ROME, Ga. (AP) — Democrat Shawn Harris and Republican Clay Fuller advanced to a runoff for Marjorie Taylor Greene’s former U.S. House seat in Georgia after no candidate won a majority in Tuesday’s special election.

President Donald Trump in February endorsed Fuller, a district attorney who prosecutes crimes in four counties, to succeed Greene in Georgia’s 14th Congressional District. Greene, once among Trump's most ardent supporters, resigned in January after a falling out with the president.

Trump's endorsement didn't boost Fuller to a majority of the vote in a 14-candidate field that included nine Republicans, three Democrats, a Libertarian and an independent. But Fuller said he was confident he could bring Republicans together to beat Harris on April 7.

“I think the Republican Party is going to unite around us because they know that the Democrat is too dangerous,” he said Tuesday night. “We can't have a Democrat representing Georgia 14. That would be a tragedy for our community, a tragedy for Georgia 14 and a tragedy for the MAGA movement.”

Trump congratulated Fuller for “getting such a high percentage of the vote” with so many other Republicans in the race.

UK will publish files about the appointment of Epstein friend Mandelson to ambassador post

LONDON (AP) — The British government said it would publish files related to the appointment of Peter Mandelson as ambassador to the U.S. on Wednesday, as police investigate potential misconduct stemming from the ex-diplomat’s ties to the late Jeffrey Epstein.

Lawmakers have forced Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s government to disclose thousands of files about the decision to name Mandelson to the key diplomatic post at the start of U.S. President Donald Trump’s second term, despite a past friendship with the convicted sex offender.

The government has said the files will show that Mandelson misled officials about the extent of the relationship.

Mandelson, 72, a former Cabinet minister, ambassador and elder statesman of the governing Labour Party, was arrested Feb. 23 at his London home on suspicion of misconduct in public office. He has been released without bail conditions as the police investigation continues.

He has previously denied wrongdoing and hasn’t been charged. He does not face allegations of sexual misconduct.

Severe storms whip up tornadoes in Illinois and Indiana, leveling homes

Major storms that whipped up tornadoes in parts of Illinois and Indiana on Tuesday leveled homes, downed trees and power lines, and overwhelmed a 911 center south of Chicago with emergency calls, according to officials.

“Please do not come here. Do not try to help right now,” Newton County Sheriff Shannon Cothran said in a video update in front of what looked to be a destroyed home in the small northwestern Indiana community of Lake Village.

Multiple homes in the community were destroyed in an apparent tornado, and Indiana State Police Cpl. Eric Rot said people had been injured. He wasn't able to provide an exact number or their conditions.

Severe storms dumping rain and hail in parts of the Midwest were threatening to bring intense tornadoes, damaging winds and very large hail from the southern Plains to the southern Great Lakes, according to the National Weather Service. States from Oklahoma to Michigan were under tornado watches.

Several tornadoes formed across northeastern Illinois and northwestern Indiana, but the exact number won’t be available until officials conduct damage surveys, said Andrew Lyons, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service Storm Prediction Center.

Trump has one prescription for midterms. House Republicans have another

DORAL, Fla. (AP) — President Donald Trump insisted he had the answer for Republicans anxious about losing their congressional majority this year: build on an already strict national voter identification law to ban mail ballots and restrict transgender rights.

“It'll guarantee the midterms,” he told Republicans gathered in the ballroom of his golf course just outside Miami on Monday. “If you don't get it, big trouble.”

Less than 24 hours later, House Republican leaders highlighted their priorities. And the voting bill, which Trump has rebranded from the SAVE Act to the SAVE America Act, wasn't high on the list.

Rep. Lisa McClain of Michigan, the House GOP conference chair, spoke of tax cuts for families, energy independence and the so-called Trump accounts for newborns as she described “real results for real people.” House Majority Leader Steve Scalise of Louisiana said his colleagues were working with Trump to “make life more affordable for working families.” Rep. Tom Emmer of Minnesota, the House majority whip, recounted “win after win” as he proclaimed “working families are keeping more of their hard-earned money in their pockets.”

As House Republicans close out their annual ideas conference on Wednesday, an election year disconnect is emerging.

Trump to visit Ohio and Kentucky to downplay war's effect on economy and target a top GOP antagonist

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump plans to visit Ohio and Kentucky on Wednesday to argue that his policies can steady an economy facing shock waves from the war on Iran and to try and defeat one of the few congressional Republicans who has dared to defy him.

In Cincinnati, the president is touring Thermo Fisher Scientific, a pharmaceutical company. There, he'll tout efforts to lower prescription drug prices, a key part of his attempts to show his administration is focused on making the cost of living more affordable for many Americans ahead of November's midterm elections.

After that, Trump will visit a logistics packing facility in nearby Hebron, Kentucky, part of the district of Rep. Thomas Massie. Trump is backing a primary challenger to Massie.

The trip presents an early test of Trump's ability to cleanse his party of those who oppose him, but also to try and stay on an economic message increasingly strained by the military action launched by the U.S. and Israel against Iran. He’ll be “talking about the economy, which is, of course, the utmost importance to him,” said White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt.

Polls showed that Americans were increasingly wary of Trump's handling of the economy even before the conflict with Iran began, and fighting there has derailed Trump’s messaging, as the low gas prices he once bragged about are now surging and stocks that had set record highs have slipped.