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

Iran-backed Houthis claim first missile launch on Israel as war in the Mideast intensifies

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iranian-backed Houthi rebels claimed a missile launch toward Israel early Saturday, their first since the war in the Middle East started. The Israeli military said it intercepted the projectile.

The war, now marking its one-month anniversary, erupted after the United States and Israel attacked Iran, which retaliated with strikes against Israel and neighboring Gulf Arab states. The conflict has upended global air travel, disrupted oil exports and caused fuel prices to soar. Iran’s stranglehold on the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic waterway, has also exacerbated the economic fallout of the war.

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 more than a dozen U.S. service members and damaging planes.

Before Saturday’s attack, there appeared to be a breakthrough as Tehran agreed to allow humanitarian aid and agricultural shipments through the strait.

Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree, a military spokesman for the Houthis, claimed responsibility in a statement aired Saturday morning on the rebels’ Al-Masirah satellite television. He said the Houthis fired a barrage of ballistic missiles targeting what he described as “sensitive Israeli military sites” in southern Israel. The attack came hours after Saree signaled in a vague statement Friday that the rebels would join the war.

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The Latest: Iranian-backed Houthi rebels claim responsibility for missile attack on Israel

Iranian-backed Houthi rebels have claimed responsibility for a missile attack on Israel.

Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree, a military spokesman for the Houthis, issued a statement on Saturday on the rebel group’s Al-Masirah satellite television network.

Israel’s military had earlier said it had intercepted a missile.

The attack came after Saree signaled in a vague statement on Friday that the rebels would join the war that has shocked the region and rattled the global economy.

It is the first time Israel has faced fire from Yemen since the start of the conflict last month. Houthi attacks on vessels during the Israel-Hamas war upended shipping in the Red Sea.

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One month into the war, Iranians wrestle with lost livelihoods, bombs and worries of the future

CAIRO (AP) — Iranians were already reeling from a shattered economy and the mass killing of protesters when the first U.S. and Israeli bombs slammed into Tehran a month ago.

Now they are struggling to get by through a war with no end in sight, wrestling with lost livelihoods, damage to homes and the stress of explosions. Many wonder where it is leading — to the destruction of their homeland, the chaotic fall of the theocracy or its survival, wounded but more extreme.

“I think we’ve experienced everything bad possible,” said a 26-year-old designer in Tehran, “from the terrible atmosphere of January and the killings and arrests to the war.”

Daily explosions, near and far and unpredictable, shake and damage homes. Businesses are struggling. An unprecedented internet blackout since January has largely cut people off from the outside world and made communication within Iran more difficult.

The trauma of war comes on top of the shock from January, when hundreds of thousands across Iran marched in the biggest protests against the theocracy in decades — only to be met by security forces opening fire, killing thousands. Tens of thousands were detained, and arrests have continued.

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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 to 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. The House and Senate ended the week by passing vastly different bills, creating a new impasse as lawmakers leave Washington for a two-week recess.

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Minnesota serves as the flagship for nationwide ‘No Kings’ protests against Trump

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Organizers of Saturday’s “No Kings” rallies across the country are predicting that the protests against the actions of President Donald Trump and his administration could add up to one of the largest demonstrations in U.S. history, with Minnesota taking center stage.

Organizers say more than 3,100 events have been registered in all 50 states, with more than 9 million people expected to participate.

And they’ve designated the rally at the Minnesota Capitol in St. Paul as the national flagship event, in recognition of how the state where federal agents fatally shot two people who were monitoring Trump’s immigration crackdown became an epicenter of resistance.

Headlining that observance will be Bruce Springsteen, performing “Streets of Minneapolis,” which he wrote in response to the deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, and in tribute to the thousands of Minnesotans who took to the streets over the winter. Springsteen’s Land of Hope & Dreams American Tour, which has a “No Kings” theme, kicks off Tuesday in Minneapolis.

Minnesota organizers have told state officials they expect 100,000 people could converge on the Capitol grounds, where last June’s event drew an estimated 80,000 people.

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Pope Leo XIV visits Monaco to urge its people to use their faith and wealth for good

MONACO (AP) — Pope Leo XIV urged residents of the cosmopolitan Mediterranean principality of Monaco on Saturday to use their wealth, influence and Catholic faith for good, especially to uphold Catholic teaching on protecting the sanctity of life.

Leo made a one-day trip to the glitzy enclave, becoming the first pope to visit since Pope Paul III came in 1538. As a cannon boomed, Prince Albert and Princess Charlene met Leo at the Monaco heliport, just down the coast from the marina that is home to the megayachts of the rich and famous.

At the palace, members of the royal family stood in the courtyard waiting for Leo, the women dressed in black and with lace head coverings. Charlene wore white — a protocol privilege granted by the Vatican to Catholic royal sovereigns when meeting popes, known in diplomatic terms as “le privilège du blanc.”

In his opening greeting from the palace balcony, Leo urged Monaco to use its wealth, influence and “gift of smallness” for good.

It was important, he said, “especially at a historical moment when the display of power and the logic of oppression are harming the world and jeopardizing peace.”

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Nepal police arrest former prime minister and former home minister over September protest deaths

KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) — Police in Nepal arrested former Prime Minister Khadga Prasad Oli early Saturday over the deaths of dozens of people during violent protests in September that toppled the government and resulted in new elections.

Authorities arrested the powerful communist leader at his residence on the outskirts of the capital Kathmandu. They also arrested Ramesh Lekhak, the former home minister who has been accused of ordering authorities to fire on protesters.

Home Minister Sudan Gurung announced the arrests on social media.

“No one is above the law. We have taken former Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli and former home minister Ramesh Lekhak under control,” Gurung said. “This is not revenge against anyone, it is just the beginning of justice.”

An investigation by a commission set up by the government called for punishment of up to 10 years in prison for Oli, Lekhak and the chief of police at the time of the protests.

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The top moments from this year’s CPAC conference in Texas

GRAPEVINE, Texas (AP) — For the first time in nearly a decade, President Donald Trump did not attend one of the biggest annual meetings of conservatives. But even in his absence, the Conservative Political Action Conference revolved around him.

There were disagreements over his war with Iran, pride over his immigration crackdown and lots of encouragement to avoid infighting as the Republican Party faces a difficult midterm election.

It was a contrast with last year’s gathering, when conservatives were riding high after Trump’s return to office and Elon Musk waved a chain saw to symbolize his new role leading the Department of Government Efficiency.

Here’s a look at some of the key moments.

From the conference’s opening moments, speaker after speaker appealed for unity.

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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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One month into Iran war, some Trump objectives are unfulfilled as he looks to wind down the conflict

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has listed five objectives that the U.S. wants to achieve before ending its war with Iran. Now, one month into the conflict, he has suggested the U.S. may soon be “winding down” the operation, even though some of his key aims remain undefined or unfulfilled.

Trump last week outlined five goals for the massive air campaign. That’s up from four laid out by his staff since the war’s start on Feb. 28 (and up from the three generally enumerated by the Pentagon and Secretary of State Marco Rubio). Though the Trump administration has said its objectives are clear and unchanging, the list of priorities has expanded and shifted as the war has taken a toll on the global economy, tested alliances and raised unanswered questions about the planning for the conflict, its justification and its aftermath.

By most accounts, the strikes by the U.S. and Israel have significantly degraded Iran’s military capabilities and killed scores of senior leaders. But those tactical successes don’t necessarily translate to achieving all the president’s strategic aims.

Some of his objectives are difficult to achieve and if the U.S. walks away with unfinished aims and Iran’s paramilitary Islamic Revolutionary Guard in power, Trump could face political fallout at home and global repercussions about what was accomplished in his decision to launch a war of choice that upended the Middle East and roiled the global economy.

Trump and the White House have insisted the operation is going well and on track to meet its goals. “We are very close to meeting the core objectives of Operation Epic Fury, and this military mission continues unabated,” press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters this week, saying the operation was “ahead of schedule and performing exceptionally.”