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

Both sides sharpened their rhetoric as they dug in, with U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth again promising the most intense strikes yet, while Iran's leaders ruled out talks and threatened U.S. President Donald Trump.

Iran launched new attacks against Israel and Gulf Arab countries, while Israel carried out airstrikes on Iran and Lebanon, where it is battling Hezbollah militants.

Residents of Tehran said they had experienced some of the war's heaviest strikes, with electricity cut to neighborhoods. A woman said she saw a residential building get hit. She and others reached by The Associated Press spoke on condition of anonymity to prevent reprisals. Tens of thousands of Iranians have sought shelter in the countryside.

The United Arab Emirates reported two more deaths as nine drones struck the country, and nearly three dozen other drones and missiles were intercepted. Firefighters battled a blaze after an Iranian drone strike in the industrial city of Ruwais, home to petrochemical plants, officials said. No injuries were reported there.

Israel says Iran is using cluster munitions. What to know about the weapons

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Israel says Iran has been firing cluster munitions throughout their 10-day war — adding a complicated and deadly challenge to Israel’s already-stretched air defenses.

The warheads burst open at high altitudes, scattering dozens of smaller bomblets across a wide area. The smaller bombs, which at night can resemble orange fireballs, are difficult to intercept and have proven lethal.

Normally restrictive about releasing information on Iranian hits and damage, Israeli authorities in recent days have sought to educate the public about their dangers, which can persist as unexploded bombs on the ground even after civilians leave shelters. At least three people have been killed, including two at a construction site in central Israel on Tuesday.

Over 120 countries have signed an international convention banning the use of cluster munitions, although Israel, the United States and Iran are among the nations that have not joined the treaty. The weapon has been used for decades in conflicts around the world, including by Israel when it fought the Iran-allied Lebanese militant group Hezbollah in 2006.

Here’s what to know about cluster munitions:

US stocks hold steadier as Wall Street waits for the next signal on how long war with Iran may last

NEW YORK (AP) — The U.S. stock market held steadier Tuesday as Wall Street waited for the next signal on when the war with Iran may end.

The S&P 500 dipped 0.2%, a day after its latest wild swings caused by extreme moves in the oil market. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 34 points, or 0.1%, and the Nasdaq composite edged higher by less than 0.1%.

Oil prices, meanwhile, remained sharply below their peaks 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.

The price for a barrel of Brent crude, the international standard, settled at $87.80. That’s down 11.3% from its settlement price the day before, but much of that drop happened on Monday before the U.S. stock market finished trading. That’s why it did not give much of a boost to U.S. stocks Tuesday.

Oil prices plunged Monday afternoon from a high of nearly $120 per barrel, its most expensive level since 2022, after President Donald Trump told CBS News he thinks “the war is very complete, pretty much.” That raised hopes that the war may end relatively soon, which could allow oil to flow freely again from the Middle East to customers around the world.

Georgia voters are choosing a successor to Marjorie Taylor Greene in US House

ATLANTA (AP) — Months after Marjorie Taylor Greene resigned from Congress after a falling-out with President Donald Trump, voters in her Georgia district are voting for her successor in a special election Tuesday.

With top candidates including Republicans Clay Fuller and Colton Moore and Democrat Shawn Harris, this round of voting could be only the first step in an elections marathon in northwest Georgia’s 14th Congressional District.

Fuller, a district attorney endorsed by Trump, is hoping to avoid an April 7 runoff, which would be necessary if no candidate wins a majority of votes in the district that stretches across 10 counties from suburban Atlanta to the Tennessee state line.

“We need to win this thing on March 10 and send an America First warrior to fight for President Trump,” Fuller told a crowd in Rome, Georgia, on Feb. 19 before a speech by Trump.

But with 12 Republicans, three Democrats, a Libertarian and an independent running in the all-party special election, that may be difficult, even after five Republicans withdrew.

Pope announces resignation of US bishop accused of embezzling $270K from California parish

EL CAJON, Calif. (AP) — The bishop of a small Chaldean Catholic community in the San Diego area has resigned amid charges that he embezzled $270,000 from his parish, Pope Leo XIV announced Tuesday.

Bishop Emanuel Shaleta pleaded not guilty on Monday to 16 felony charges, including money laundering, during a hearing attended by many of his supporters. The hearing followed his Thursday arrest at San Diego International Airport as he was trying to leave the country, according to the San Diego County Sheriff's Office.

Shaleta, 69, is accused of embezzling from the St. Peter Chaldean Catholic Cathedral in El Cajon, east of San Diego.

Last August, someone from Shaleta’s church provided a statement and documentation “showing potential embezzlement from the church,” the sheriff's office said in a news release.

The Vatican said in its daily bulletin Tuesday that Leo had accepted Shaleta’s resignation under the code of canon law for Eastern Rite churches, which allows for the pope to agree if a bishop asks to step down. It also said Iraqi Cardinal Louis Sako retired as patriarch of the global Chaldean Catholic Church, saying he wishes to pursue “prayer, writing and simple service.” It's unclear if his retirement is connected to Shaleta's case.

Baltimore police officer wounded, gunman killed during midday burglary call

BALTIMORE (AP) — A police officer responding to a burglary call in Baltimore was shot in the leg Tuesday by a gunman who was killed by another officer, authorities said.

A woman jumped out of a window during the tense confrontation and another woman was held at gunpoint by the man before he was shot, Police Commissioner Richard Worley said.

“It was relatively quick because he was firing on our officers,” Worley said.

The officer with a leg wound was in stable condition at University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center. Dr. Thomas Scalea praised a “buddy” who applied a tourniquet at the scene.

“We’re just so thankful that the officer or any other folks in that neighborhood were not severely harmed,” Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott told reporters. “Our thoughts are with him and his family, and even the family of the deceased.”

What to know about the Alabama man granted clemency two days before his execution

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey on Tuesday granted clemency to a man on death row who was scheduled to be executed Thursday even though he did not personally kill anyone.

Ivey commuted Charles “Sonny” Burton's death sentence to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Burton, 75, was convicted of capital murder for the shooting death of Doug Battle during a 1991 robbery. Another man, Derrick DeBruce, shot Battle after Burton had left the building.

The shooting occurred Aug. 16, 1991, during a robbery at an AutoZone auto parts store in Talladega. Doug Battle, a 34-year-old Army veteran and father of four, was shot and killed after entering the store during the robbery.

Before they went inside, Burton said if anyone caused trouble in the store that he would “take care of it,” according to testimony.

As the robbery was ending, Battle entered the store. He threw his wallet down, got onto the floor and exchanged words with DeBruce. LaJuan McCants, who was 16 at the time, testified that Burton and others had left the store before DeBruce shot Battle in the back.

In a time of war with Iran, Americans unite in aggravation over sticker shock at the gas pump

DE SOTO, Iowa (AP) — Standing alongside his son’s Ford pickup truck at a central Iowa gas station off Interstate 80, Francisco Castillo was not happy.

He had voted for President Donald Trump in the last election. He believed Trump had strengthened the economy in his first term, and he wanted more of that.

“I thought that he was going to bring some of those things back,” said Castillo, a 43-year-old factory worker. And now? “He said he was going to bring gas down, but the war in Iran is now making everything worse.”

It seems a country divided on so many fronts is finding common ground in pain at the pump, where the cost of the Iran war is hitting Americans squarely in the wallet and aggravating people across the political spectrum.

For Castillo and many others filling their tanks on Monday at gas stations in Michigan, Pennsylvania, Florida, North Carolina and Iowa, it was a reminder that politicians’ promises aren’t going to pay the bills.

FDA finds little evidence that a drug touted by Trump can help people with autism

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday approved a generic medication for a rare brain disorder, while walking back statements by President Donald Trump and other administration officials that the drug showed great promise for people with autism.

The agency said it approved leucovorin for children and adults with a genetic condition that limits delivery of folate, a form of vitamin B, to the brain. FDA officials estimate the ultrarare condition impacts fewer than 1 in a million people in the U.S.

It's a major step back from comments made at a White House news conference in September, when Trump and FDA commissioner Marty Makary announced the drug was under review to benefit patients with autism, some of whom have a form of the vitamin brain deficiency.

“It might be 20, 40, 50% of kids with autism,” Makary said at the news conference.

But senior FDA officials told reporters Monday that their review was narrowed to focus on the strongest evidence, which only supported the drug’s use by patients with the rare mutation that impacts folate levels in the brain.

Woman faces first court appearance after shots were fired at Rihanna's house

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A Florida woman arrested on suspicion of firing gunshots at Rihanna's Los Angeles home while 10 people were inside is expected to make her first court appearance on Tuesday afternoon.

Prosecutors said they are reviewing a case presented by police and 35-year-old Ivanna Lisette Ortiz is expected to be arraigned later in the day. Charges have yet to be filed.

Ortiz was arrested and a weapon was recovered on Sunday afternoon after shots were fired outside the home in the Beverly Hills area, police said.

No one was hurt. But Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell told media gathered for a news conference on a different subject Tuesday that 10 people were at home at the time. He identified the house as Rihanna's, but he did not say whether she, her partner A$AP Rocky or their children were among those in the home.

McDonnell said investigators believe Ortiz drove to the area from Florida, but it's not clear when. Public records show her most recent address was in Orlando.