AP News in Brief at 11:04 p.m. EDT

Trump signs order to pay TSA employees after Congress fails to agree on DHS funding

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Friday signed a promised executive action that will pay Transportation Security Administration employees after a bid to end the shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security abruptly fell apart in Congress.

Trump signed the action with an eye toward easing long security lines at many of the nation’s top airports.

“America’s air travel system has reached its breaking point,” Trump said in the memo authorizing the payments. He added, “I have determined that these circumstances constitute an emergency situation compromising the Nation’s security.”

Trump said his administration would use “funds that have a reasonable and logical nexus to TSA operations” for the payments. In a statement Friday, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said TSA workers “should begin seeing paychecks as early as Monday.”

While Trump’s action could help ease the plight of air travelers, it does little to resolve the DHS shutdown that has jammed airports and imposed financial hardship on thousands of federal workers.

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Israel hits Iranian nuke facilities and Tehran strikes base in Saudi Arabia, wounding US troops

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Israel struck Iran’s nuclear facilities hours after threatening to “escalate and expand” its campaign against Tehran on Friday. Iran vowed to retaliate and struck a base in Saudi Arabia, wounding U.S. service members and damaging planes.

A month into the war, however, there appeared to be a breakthrough as Tehran agreed to allow humanitarian aid and agricultural shipments through the Strait of Hormuz, accepting a request from the U.N. Ali Bahreini, the country’s ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, said Iran agreed to “facilitate and expedite” such movement.

The vital waterway usually handles a fifth of the world’s oil shipments and nearly a third of the world’s fertilizer trade. While markets and governments have largely focused on blocked supplies of oil and natural gas, the restriction of fertilizer ingredients and trade threatens farming and food security around the world.

“This measure reflects Iran’s continued commitment to supporting humanitarian efforts and ensuring that essential aid reaches those in need without delay,” Bahreini said on the social platform X. The U.N. earlier announced a task force to address the ripple effects that the war has had on aid delivery.

The Iranian attack on Prince Sultan Air Base wounded at least 10 American troops, according to two U.S. officials familiar with the situation. Two of them were seriously hurt, according to one of the officials. Both of the officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive military matters. Several refueling aircraft were damaged.

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Wall Street drops again to close its 5th straight losing week and its worst since the Iran war

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks deepened their drops Friday as Wall Street finished off a fifth straight losing week, its longest such streak in nearly four years.

The S&P 500 fell 1.7% to close its worst week since the war with Iran began. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 793 points, or 1.7%, and fell more than 10% from its record set last month, while the Nasdaq composite sank 2.1%.

The losses were a break from Wall Street’s pattern this week, where the U.S. stock market flip-flopped from gains to losses each day as hopes rose and fell about a possible end to the war.

Moments after the U.S. stock market finished trading on Thursday, President Donald Trump offered more potential for optimism. He extended a self-imposed deadline to “obliterate” Iran’s power plants to April 6 if it doesn’t fully allow oil tankers to exit the Persian Gulf through the Strait of Hormuz to the open ocean.

Oil prices eased immediately afterward in a sign of hope that some normalcy may return to the strait. It was similar to the relief that swept markets Monday, when oil prices slid 10% after Trump announced the first delay to his deadline for clearing the Strait of Hormuz.

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Frustrated travelers hear a new message from airports: Don’t get here so early

Maybe Dad was right about getting to the airport early. But it turns out there’s still such a thing as TOO early.

Travelers panicked by scenes of never-ending lines at U.S. airport security checkpoints and frustrating tales of missed flights over the past few weeks are now showing up way before their departures. Some airports where the wait times have been manageable say those early birds are only adding to the misery — and in some cases causing other passengers to get to their gate too late.

In Ohio, John Glenn International Airport in Columbus is warning passengers against arriving hours in advance, even creating a chart showing when to show up: “90 minutes before departure is all you need.”

The airport says those premature arrivers — reacting to the funding standoff on Capitol Hill that’s creating crowded security checkpoints — are making things worse by creating bottlenecks during peak times.

“Arriving too early can actually create longer lines right when we open,” the airport said in a social media post Thursday. “Spacing out arrival times helps keep things moving smoothly for everyone.”

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Vance holds first meeting of a new anti-fraud task force targeting benefit programs

WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President JD Vance on Friday held the inaugural meeting of a new anti-fraud task force he’s leading as the Trump administration seeks to show it’s cracking down on potential misuse of social programs.

Vance, speaking Friday before the task force held a closed-door meeting, said that the federal government, for decades, had not taken the issue of fraud seriously and that it needed to be tackled with “a whole-government approach.”

“This is not just the theft of the American people’s money,” Vance said. “It is also the theft of critical services that the American people rely on.”

President Donald Trump, a Republican, has made a crackdown on fraud a central part of his domestic agenda as voters have expressed concern about affordability ahead of November’s midterm elections. That effort comes after allegations of fraud involving day care centers run by Somali residents in Minneapolis prompted a massive immigration crackdown in the Midwestern city, resulting in widespread protests.

Vance cited some of the Minnesota allegations on Friday. Last month, he held a news conference to announce a temporary halt of some Medicaid funding until the state took actions that federal officials said would address their concerns.

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Older and younger conservatives at CPAC are split over Trump’s war in Iran

GRAPEVINE, Texas (AP) — A generational divide over the Iran war surfaced Thursday between older attendees and their political heirs at this year’s Conservative Political Action Conference, as the group’s leaders pleaded for unity in a challenging midterm election year for Republicans.

Younger conservatives spoke of disappointment and even “betrayal” over President Donald Trump’s launch of strikes against Iran, saying in interviews with The Associated Press that the president’s actions run counter to his many pledges to oppose foreign entanglements.

Meanwhile, older conservatives were looking past Trump’s campaign criticism of military action to topple foreign regimes, arguing the war in Iran is a pragmatic act forced by threats to the United States.

The bright dividing line emerged in conversations with a dozen participants on either end of the age spectrum who gathered for the annual meeting of conservatives, being held outside Dallas. That split could reflect flagging enthusiasm for Trump among some younger voters, a potentially troubling sign for Republicans heading into midterm elections and for the conservative movement as it looks to build beyond Trump’s tenure.

“We did not want to see more wars. We wanted actual America-first policies, and Trump was very explicit about that,” said Benjamin Williams, a 25-year-old marketing specialist for Young Americans for Liberty. “It does feel like a betrayal, for sure.”

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Plot to firebomb Palestinian activist’s home disrupted by NYPD undercover operation, authorities say

NEW YORK (AP) — A man accused of planning to firebomb the home of a prominent Palestinian activist has been arrested following a weekslong undercover operation led by the New York City Police Department, officials said Friday.

The target of the plot was Nerdeen Kiswani, who frequently leads protests in New York against Israel and the war in Gaza through the organization Within Our Lifetime.

Kiswani, 31, said law enforcement officials informed her late Thursday that they had disrupted “a threat on my life that was about to take place.”

Federal authorities said they arrested Alexander Heifler on Thursday at his home in Hoboken, New Jersey, as he was assembling Molotov cocktails that he planned to throw at Kiswani’s home. For weeks, he had discussed the plot with an undercover NYPD detective who had infiltrated a group chat used by Heifler, according to a police department spokesperson.

An official who was briefed on the investigation said Heifler, 26, identified as a member of the JDL 613 Brotherhood, a New Jersey-based group founded in 2024 that describes its membership as “Jewish warriors” fighting back against rising antisemitism.

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Pro-Iranian group claims credit for hack of FBI Director Kash Patel’s personal account

WASHINGTON (AP) — A pro-Iranian hacking group claimed Friday to have hacked an account of FBI Director Kash Patel and posted online what appear to be years-old photographs of him, along with a work resume and other personal documents dating back more than a decade.

“Kash Patel, the current head of the FBI, who once saw his name displayed with pride on the agency’s headquarters, will now find his name among the list of successfully hacked victims,” said a message posted Friday from the group Handala.

The message was accompanied by a collection of photographs of Patel, including ones of him standing beside an antique sports car and another with a cigar in his mouth. The group also said that it was making available for download emails and other documents from Patel’s account. Many of the records appeared to relate to his personal travels and business from more than 10 years ago

“The FBI is aware of malicious actors targeting Director Patel’s personal email information, and we have taken all necessary steps to mitigate potential risks associated with this activity,” the FBI said in a statement. “The information in question is historical in nature and involves no government information.”

The FBI statement did not identify the hackers believed responsible for the breach, but it noted that the Trump administration is offering a reward of up to $10 million for information leading to the identification of members of the Handala hacking group — an entity it said “has frequently targeted U.S. government officials.”

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Savannah Guthrie to return to ‘Today’ show on April 6 after mother’s disappearance

Savannah Guthrie, who will return on April 6 as co-host of NBC’s “Today” show after a nearly two-month absence sparked by the disappearance of her 84-year-old mother, said in an interview that aired on Friday that “joy will be my protest.”

Guthrie, speaking with colleague Hoda Kotb, said that while it’s hard to imagine returning to a place of joy and lightness, she wants to try, even as she acknowledged she’s not sure she can do it or if she’ll belong anymore.

“I can’t come back and try to be something that I’m not. But I can’t not come back, because it’s my family,” Guthrie said. “I think it’s part of my purpose right now. I want to smile and when I do, it will be real and my joy will be my protest. My joy will be my answer. And being there is joyful and when it’s not, I’ll say so.”

Nancy Guthrie was reported missing from her Arizona home on Feb. 1. Authorities believe she was kidnapped, abducted or otherwise taken against her will. The FBI released surveillance videos of a masked man who was outside Guthrie’s front door in Tucson on the night she vanished. Authorities have not released new evidence publicly in weeks.

The Guthrie family has offered a $1 million reward for information leading to the recovery of their mother.

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He suddenly couldn’t speak in space. NASA astronaut says his medical scare remains a mystery

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — The astronaut who prompted NASA’s first medical evacuation earlier this year said Friday that doctors still don’t know why he suddenly fell sick at the International Space Station.

Four-time space flier Mike Fincke said he was eating dinner on Jan. 7 after prepping for a spacewalk the next day when it happened. He couldn’t talk and remembers no pain, but his anxious crewmates jumped into action after seeing him in distress and requested help from flight surgeons on the ground.

“It was completely out of the blue. It was just amazingly quick,” he said in an interview with The Associated Press from Houston’s Johnson Space Center.

Fincke, 59, a retired Air Force colonel, said the episode lasted roughly 20 minutes and he felt fine afterward. He said he still does. He never experienced anything like that before or since.

Doctors have ruled out a heart attack and Fincke said he wasn’t choking, but everything else is still on the table and could be related to his 549 days of weightlessness. He was 5 1/2 months into his latest space station stay when the problem struck like “a very, very fast lightning bolt.”