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

Oil prices later fell, and the U.S. stock market closed higher, amid hope that the war with Iran may not last that long as world leaders discussed options. U.S. President Donald Trump indicated to a group of lawmakers at his golf club near Miami that the conflict may end soon.

“We took a little excursion” to the Middle East “to get rid of some evil. And, I think you’ll see it’s going to be a short-term excursion," Trump said.

The war has choked off major supplies of oil and gas to world markets, led foreigners to flee from business hubs and prompted millions to seek shelter as bombs hit sites including military bases, government buildings, oil and water installations, hotels and at least one school.

Khamenei, a secretive 56-year-old cleric, is only the third supreme leader in the history of the Islamic Republic. He has close ties to the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, which has been firing missiles and drones at Israel and Gulf Arab states since his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who had ruled since 1989, was killed during the war’s opening salvo.

Here are the Iran war's biggest unknowns, from Tehran's new leader to oil prices

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — How long will the Iran war last? What do all sides want to achieve? And how high will oil prices go? Big questions remain as fighting enters week two.

Israel and the United States keep pounding Iran. And Iran keeps carrying out retaliatory attacks against Israel, U.S. military assets in the Middle East and its Arab neighbors.

Here's what we know about the war, and don't.

The U.S. and Israel attacked Iran on Feb. 28, and there is no sign of the fighting ending soon. Iran’s president has said mediation was underway, although he didn't give details.

Iran's new supreme leader is the son of the previous one and seen as more hard-line, with close ties to the Revolutionary Guard, the nation’s most powerful armed force. Mojtaba Khamenei worked closely with his father, who was killed in the war’s opening strikes along with the younger Khamenei’s wife. He has not been seen or heard publicly in his new role, making it difficult to know whether he has interest in talks or in defiance.

US stocks erase a big early loss and rise after oil prices whip from nearly $120 back below $90

NEW YORK (AP) — The U.S. stock market careened through a manic Monday, going from a steep early loss to a solid gain as worries turned into hope that the war with Iran may not last that long. Oil prices whipped from nearly $120 per barrel, their highest since 2022, back below $90.

The S&P 500 dropped as much as 1.5% in the morning before flipping to a gain of 0.8%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average clawed back a plunge of nearly 900 points to rise 239 points, or 0.5%, while the Nasdaq composite climbed 1.4%.

They’re the latest hour-to-hour swings to pummel financial markets because of the uncertainty about just how high oil prices will go and how long they will stay there because of disruptions to the energy industry in the Middle East. Markets made their remarkable reversals during the last hour of Wall Street’s trading after President Donald Trump told CBS News that he thinks “the war is very complete, pretty much.”

That calmed worries that had built earlier in the morning, when the price for a barrel of Brent crude, the international standard, briefly touched $119.50. It hadn’t been that expensive since the summer of 2022 after Russia invaded Ukraine.

If oil prices stay very high for very long, households’ budgets already stretched by high inflation could break under the pressure. Companies, meanwhile, would see their own bills jump for fuel and to stock items on their store shelves or in their data warehouses. It all raises the possibility of a worst-case scenario for the global economy, “stagflation,” where growth stagnates and inflation remains high.

Men who brought explosives to NYC protest cited Islamic State as inspiration, complaint says

NEW YORK (AP) — Two men who brought explosives to a far-right protest outside New York City's mayoral mansion said they were inspired by the Islamic State extremist group, according to a court complaint.

Emir Balat, 18, and Ibrahim Kayumi, 19, were being held without bail after a court appearance Monday on charges that include attempting to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization and using a weapon of mass destruction. Their lawyers didn't argue for bail but could do so later.

The homemade devices, which did not explode, were hurled Saturday during raucous counterprotests against an anti-Islam demonstration led by Jake Lang, a far-right activist and critic of New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani, a Democrat and the first Muslim to hold the office.

“Balat and Kayumi sought to incite fear and mass suffering through this alleged attempted terror attack in the backyard of an elected city official,” James Barnacle, who runs the FBI's New York office, said at a news conference after the brief court session.

The defendants said nothing in court, but Kayumi smirked and looked over at Balat as the judge read part of the complaint alleging they acted in support of the Islamic State group. Balat stared ahead at the defense table.

Alexander brothers are convicted of sex trafficking in case that shocked real estate world

NEW YORK (AP) — Three brothers, including two of the nation’s most successful luxury real estate brokers, were convicted of sex trafficking charges Monday after a five-week trial over accusations that they used drugs and force to rape scores of women they had dazzled with their wealth and opulent lifestyle.

The verdict came after 11 women testified they were sexually assaulted by one or more of the brothers: twins Oren and Alon Alexander, 38, and Tal Alexander, 39.

The women described attacks that occurred after they were invited to vacation locales including the Hamptons, a Caribbean cruise and a ski trip in Aspen, Colorado. More than 60 women say they were raped by one or more of the brothers, according to prosecutors.

Defense lawyers suggested the accusers had faulty memories or were hoping to cash in on the brothers’ fortunes. The brothers, their lawyers conceded, were womanizers. But they insisted any sex was consensual.

The jury began deliberating Thursday.

Justice Department and Live Nation reach settlement over illegal monopoly case

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department touted a tentative settlement of its antitrust lawsuit against Ticketmaster and parent company Live Nation Entertainment on Monday as a victory for consumers that would end an illegal monopoly over live events in America, but over two dozen states planned to keep fighting the companies in court.

The negotiations leading up to the agreement drew criticism from the judge who would have to approve any deal as soon as a government lawyer revealed it in Manhattan federal court, where testimony began last week before a jury at an antitrust trial. Throughout the day, various state attorneys general issued statements criticizing the agreement.

A “term sheet” spelling out details of the pact said Live Nation had agreed to let venues reach deals that would let a certain portion of tickets be sold by entities other than Ticketmaster. It also would let up to 50% of all tickets to be sold through any ticketing marketplace at amphitheaters that Live Nation owns, operates or controls.

The term sheet also called for Ticketmaster to cap its service fees at those amphitheaters at 15% and to divest ownership or control of 13 amphitheaters, including venues in Milwaukee, Cincinnati, Syracuse, New York, and Austin, Texas. It said Live Nation will create a $280 million settlement fund to settle claims or pay civil penalties to states.

The settlement includes an eight-year extension of the company’s consent decree with the Justice Department, enabling continuing oversight.

AI company Anthropic sues Trump administration seeking to undo 'supply chain risk' designation

Artificial intelligence company Anthropic is suing to stop the Trump administration from enforcing what it calls an “unlawful campaign of retaliation” over its refusal to allow unrestricted military use of its technology.

Anthropic asked federal courts on Monday to reverse the Pentagon’s decision last week to designate the artificial intelligence company a “ supply chain risk.” The company also seeks to undo President Donald Trump's order directing federal employees to stop using its AI chatbot Claude.

The legal challenge intensifies an unusually public dispute over how AI can be used in warfare and mass surveillance — one that has also dragged in Anthropic's tech industry rivals, particularly ChatGPT maker OpenAI, which made its own deal to work with the Pentagon just hours after the government punished Anthropic for its stance.

Anthropic filed two separate lawsuits Monday, one in California federal court and another in the federal appeals court in Washington, D.C., each challenging different aspects of the government's actions against the San Francisco-based company.

“These actions are unprecedented and unlawful," Anthropic's lawsuit says. "The Constitution does not allow the government to wield its enormous power to punish a company for its protected speech. No federal statute authorizes the actions taken here. Anthropic turns to the judiciary as a last resort to vindicate its rights and halt the Executive’s unlawful campaign of retaliation.”

Multiple gunshots fired near Rihanna’s LA home and a woman is taken into custody

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Los Angeles police took a woman into custody after she fired gunshots outside Rihanna 's gated home, according to authorities and news reports on Monday.

No one was injured, police said. It wasn't immediately clear whether the singer was at home when the shooting happened Sunday afternoon.

Police received a call about shots fired around 1:15 p.m. in the Beverly Hills area, Officer Charles Miller said Monday. A 35-year-old woman was later taken into custody and investigators recovered a weapon, according to a police statement. The suspect has been booked on suspicion of attempted murder and is in jail on $10 million bail. The district attorney had not yet announced charges.

Miller did not say who lived in the home. Multiple local news outlets reported that it belongs to Rihanna. Public records show the property is owned by a trust run by Evan Jehle, who is a member of the advisory board for Rihanna's Clara Lionel Foundation.

Emails seeking comment were left with Rihanna's publicist and manager.

Australia grants asylum to 5 members of the Iranian women's soccer team, official says

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Australia has granted asylum to five members of the Iranian women’s soccer team who were visiting the country for a tournament when the Iran war began, Australia’s Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said Tuesday.

The women were transported from their hotel in Gold Coast, Australia “to a safe location” by Australian federal police officers in the early hours of Tuesday morning local time. There, they met with Burke and the processing of their humanitarian visas was finalized, the minister told reporters in Brisbane hours later.

“I say to the other members of the team the same opportunity is there,” Burke said. “Australia has taken the Iranian women’s soccer team into our hearts.”

Local news outlets reported that the squad numbered about 20 women. Burke didn't detail what threats the players faced if they returned to Iran, but the asylum bids followed urging by Iranian groups in Australia and by U.S. President Donald Trump for the Australian government to offer help to the woman.

The Iranian team arrived in Australia for the Women’s Asian Cup last month, before the Iran war began. The team was knocked out of the tournament over the weekend and was facing the prospect of returning to a country under bombardment. Iran’s head coach Marziyeh Jafari on Sunday said the players “want to come back to Iran as soon as we can,” according to Australia’s national news agency, AAP.

Man who helped recruit players into a sprawling NCAA basketball point-shaving scheme pleads guilty

One of the so-called fixers in a sprawling betting scheme that allegedly raked in millions of dollars off of big bets on rigged NCAA basketball games pleaded guilty Monday.

Jalen Smith appeared in federal court in Philadelphia and pleaded guilty to wire fraud and bribery charges, becoming the first of 26 people charged in the scheme to formally do so. It came a week before the start of March Madness, in which bettors will wager billions legally — and illegally — on the 68 college basketball teams in the tournament.

Smith, of Charlotte, North Carolina, trained and developed local basketball players for professional scouting combines and used those connections with players when he became part of the scheme, according to prosecutors.

Charges against Smith and 25 others were unsealed in January. Besides the fixers who recruited players and placed bets, the charges targeted 17 former college basketball players and four other players who were active with their college teams this season.

More than a dozen players tried to fix games as recently as last season and some helped recruit other players, federal prosecutors said.