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

Trump says Iran war could be over soon, but oil disruption would trigger harsher US strikes

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump said Monday that the war against Iran could be short-lived, but he left open the possibility of an escalation in fighting if global oil supplies are disrupted by the Islamic Republic, which chose a new hard-line supreme leader.

Oil prices briefly shot to their highest level since 2022 a day after Iran selected Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei to succeed his late father as Iran’s supreme leader. Investors saw it as a signal that Iran was digging in 10 days into the war launched by the United States and Israel.

But prices later fell and U.S. stocks rose on hopes that the war with Iran may not last much longer.

“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 told Republican lawmakers at his golf club near Miami.

Hours later, Trump posted on social media: “If Iran does anything that stops the flow of Oil within the Strait of Hormuz, they will be hit by the United States of America TWENTY TIMES HARDER than they have been hit thus far.”

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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.

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How the Iran war and surging oil prices are affecting consumers at the gas pump and beyond

NEW YORK (AP) — As the price of crude oil surpassed $110 a barrel Monday, reaching heights not seen since 2022, consumers were feeling the effects of the Iran war and its damage to worldwide energy production.

Gasoline prices are climbing, and many people will find some of the most immediate economic pain at the pump.

But you don’t have to drive a car to be affected. Nearly all goods — including food — that are bought and sold must travel from where they’re produced. Those costs will climb with higher gasoline, diesel and jet fuel prices.

And the spike in oil prices will likely be a big factor for U.S. inflation. As the war continues, some experts say the price of, well, everything could be affected.

“The longer this lasts, the more significant the shock would be,” said Gregory Daco, chief economist at consulting firm EY-Parthenon.

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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.

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Alexander brothers are convicted of sex trafficking in case that shocked the 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 Monday after a five-week trial over accusations that they drugged and raped scores of women they had dazzled with their wealth and opulent lifestyle.

The verdict came after 11 women testified in Manhattan federal court they were sexually assaulted by one or more of the brothers: twins Oren and Alon Alexander, 38, and Tal Alexander, 39. All three shook their heads as the jury foreperson said “guilty” 19 straight times, a powerful reckoning that could put them behind bars for the rest of their lives.

Tal Alexander dropped his head into his crossed arms. Their stunned parents sat in the gallery behind them. Alon Alexander’s wife shielded her face with her hand and appeared to fight back tears.

Judge Valerie E. Caproni set sentencing for Aug. 6. The brothers, jailed since their 2024 arrests, will appeal the verdict, their lawyers said.

“We believe in our clients’ innocence and we’re not going to stop fighting until we prevail, and we believe that we will one day prevail,” defense lawyer Marc Agnifilo said outside the courthouse.

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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 an antitrust trial began last week. 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.

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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.”

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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.

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Australia grants asylum to 5 members of the Iranian women’s soccer team

GOLD COAST, Australia (AP) — Australia 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, a government minister said Tuesday.

The announcement followed days of urging by Iranian groups in Australia and by U.S. President Donald Trump for the Australian government to help the women, who had not spoken publicly about a wish to claim asylum. The team drew widespread speculation and news coverage in Australia when players didn’t sing the Iranian anthem before their first match.

Early Tuesday, Australian federal police officers transported five of the women from their hotel in Gold Coast, Australia, “to a safe location” after they made asylum requests. There, they met with Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke and the processing of their humanitarian visas was finalized, the minister told reporters in Brisbane hours later.

“I don’t want to begin to imagine how difficult that decision is for each of the individual women, but certainly last night it was joy, it was relief,” said Burke, who posted photos to social media of the women smiling and clapping as he signed documents. “People were very excited about embarking on a life in Australia.”

The women granted asylum were happy for their names and pictures to be published, he said. Burke added that the players wanted to make clear that they were “not political activists.”

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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.

The charges against Smith and 25 others were unsealed in January. Smith’s lawyer, Rocco Cipparone, said in an interview that Smith pleaded guilty to get the matter behind him, serve whatever sentence he’ll be given and “move forward in his life in a positive direction.”

Smith had begun talking to prosecutors about a guilty plea well before he was formally charged, and the possibility that others in the case might plead guilty didn’t have any impact on his decision making, Cipparone said.