WASHINGTON (AP) ' A U.S. intelligence assessment completed shortly before the United States and Israel launched a war in Iran had determined that American military intervention was not likely to lead to regime change in the Islamic Republic, according to two people familiar with the finding.

The National Intelligence Councils assessment in February concluded that neither limited airstrikes nor a larger, prolonged military campaign would be likely to result in a new government taking over in Iran, even if the current leadership was killed, according to the two people, who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe the classified report.

The determination undercuts the administrations assertion that it can complete its objectives in Iran relatively quickly, perhaps in a matter of weeks. The administration has asserted that it was not seeking regime change in Iran, even as President Donald Trump considers whom he would like to see lead the country.

The intelligence assessment concluded that no one powerful or unified opposition coalition was poised to take over in Iran if the leadership was killed, according to the people familiar with the report. It determined that Irans establishment would attempt to preserve continuity of power if Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed, the people said.

In line with the assessments findings, Irans leading clerics on Sunday chose a new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, to succeed his father, who was killed in the wars opening salvo. The son is believed to hold views that are even more hardline than his father, and his selection is a strong sign of resistance from Irans leadership and an indication the government wont step aside quickly.

The details of the assessment were reported earlier by The Washington Post and The New York Times.

Trump and other top administration leaders have given different justifications for the strikes that began on Feb. 28, saying they were necessary to set back Irans nuclear weapons program or to preempt an Iranian ballistic missile attack. While Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has said the war is not aimed at regime change, Trump has said its something he wants to see.

A message seeking comment from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence was not immediately returned Monday. Director Tulsi Gabbard fired the councils acting chairperson last year after the release of a declassified NIC memo that contradicted statements the Trump administration has used to justify deporting Venezuelan immigrants.

Trump, dating back to his first term, has been deeply skeptical of the U.S. intelligence community and has frequently dismissed its findings as politically motivated or part of a 'deep state' effort to undermine his presidency.

Associated Press writers Aamer Madhani in Doral, Florida, and David Klepper in Washington contributed to this report.

TALLINN, Estonia (AP) ' Belarusian journalist Pavel Dabravolski was convicted Monday of treason and sentenced to nine years in a maximum-security prison, activists said, the fifth media worker to be jailed in two weeks in a relentless government crackdown on freedom of the press.

Dabravolski, who has reported for international and domestic news outlets and won numerous prizes for his work, was found guilty during a closed-door trial at Minsk City Court, according to the Belarusian Association of Journalists. The 36-year-old most recently worked for BelaPAN, which the Belarusian authorities have designated as extremist.

President Alexander Lukashenko, who has ruled Belarus for over three decades, has stayed in power through a relentless crackdown on dissent.

Massive protests broke out following the 2020 elections, which were widely denounced as fraudulent. More than 65,000 people were arrested and thousands were beaten. In the wake of the protests, hundreds of independent media outlets and nongovernmental organizations were shut down and outlawed.

Exiled opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya said Dabravolski was being targeted by 'trumped-up charges.'

'Dabravolskis only ‘crime was doing his job and covering the 2020 protests after the stolen elections,' she said. 'We see that the conveyor belt of repression inside Belarus continues unabated.'

Activists have reported a sharp increase in government pressure on Belarus media workers.

'Repression is escalating and Dabravolskis sentence shows that the authorities are increasing pressure on journalists in a country that already has the worst freedom of speech in Europe,' Andrei Bastunets, the head of the journalists association, told The Associated Press.

The group says that 28 journalists are imprisoned in Belarus.

'It contradicts the idea that the human rights situation in Belarus has allegedly improved due to the release of prominent political prisoners,' Bastunets said.

Under Lukashenko, Belarus has faced years of Western isolation and sanctions for repression and for allowing Moscow to use its territory during its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. He has recently sought to improve relations with the West by releasing hundreds of political prisoners.

Many more remain behind bars, however, with human rights organization Viasna estimating that there are 1,140 political prisoners.

Also on Monday, Belarus main security agency, the KGB, designated four independent publishing houses that publish books in the Belarusian language as 'extremist' without any explanation.

Lukashenko has made Russian an official language, alongside Belarusian, which like Russian uses the Cyrillic alphabet and is hardly heard spoken on the streets of Minsk and other large cities anymore. Official business is conducted in Russian, which dominates the majority of the media. Lukashenko speaks only Russian, and government officials often dont use their native tongue.

Viasna activists say that independent book publishers have been facing increased pressure lately, with authorities targeting them with raids and detentions. At least 10 people have been arrested in the last month as part of that campaign, Viasna said.

The shooting was reported around 1:15 p.m. Sunday on the 9500 block of Heather Road, just west of Beverly Hills, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.

According to the LAPD, which did not identify Rihanna as the home’s resident, officers responded to an assault with a deadly weapon/shots fired call and met the person who made the call.

After obtaining suspect information, the woman was located, taken into custody and a weapon was recovered, police said.

The LAPD identified her as Ivanna Lisette Ortiz, who was booked on suspicion of attempted murder with bail set at $10.225 million.

LAPD Capt. Mike Bland told reporters at the scene the weapon was an AR-15-style rifle.

The suspect was allegedly driving a white Tesla when she stopped across the street from the house Rihanna shares with rapper A$AP Rocky and their three children and opened fire.

Ortiz was arrested in the parking lot of the Sherman Oaks Galleria about 30 minutes after the gunfire was reported.

Helicopter footage after the shooting showed what appeared to be bullet holes in a gate, as well as the front of the home blocked by yellow crime-scene tape attached to an LAPD SUV.

Rihanna was home at the time of the shooting, according to news reports, but it was unclear if anyone else was in the residence.

There were no reports of injuries.

The LAPD’s Robbery Homicide Division is investigating the shooting.

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) ' The Iran war has put at risk some of the worlds most critical oil and gas infrastructure ' the pipelines, refineries, and shipping terminals that keep energy flowing from the countries around the Persian Gulf to the global economy.

Strikes by Iranian drones have disrupted operations, while risk of Iranian strikes has effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz, the conduit for some 20% of the worlds oil and liquefied natural gas. Oil fields in countries including Iraq have cut back output as storage fills up. Qatar, a major supplier of liquefied natural gas, has shut down its exports as well.

'A lot of very critical energy infrastructure has been either forced to shut down because of direct damage from drones and missiles,' said Torbjorn Soltvedt, principal Middle East analyst at risk intelligence company Verisk Maplecroft, 'or because production is effectively being shut in as a result of shipping grinding to a halt. Were already starting to see some of the global ramifications of that.'

All that has sent prices soaring, raising the cost of everything that needs fuel: flying, running factories, transporting goods, and farming. International benchmark Brent crude has risen from $72.97 the day before the war started to almost $103 on Monday.

Here is the key infrastructure thats at risk and why its important.

Ras Laffan liquefied natural gas terminal, Qatar

The terminal was shut down by state-owned QatarEnergy following a drone strike, dealing a shock to global gas markets since Qatar produces 20% of the worlds liquefied natural gas (LNG). The company is citing force majeure ' in other words, that its unable to supply its contracted customers due to circumstances beyond its control.

Ras Laffan, the largest LNG export facility in the world according to the companys website, draws gas from the worlds largest single gas field and chills it until it is liquid for loading on tankers that take it to customers, primarily in Asia. Gas purchasers in Europe will also feel the pinch as competition gets fiercer for available cargoes.

Ras Tanura port and refinery, Saudi Arabia

Located on the Persian Gulf northeast of Dammam, this is Saudi Aramcos largest refinery and a port capable of accommodating large tankers. It was temporarily shut down after a drone impact caused a fire.

East-West pipeline, Saudi Arabia

Saudi Aramco operates this pipeline from the Aqaiq oil processing center near the Persian Gulf to the Yanbu port on the Red Sea, avoiding the Hormuz chokepoint.

Fujairah oil terminal, United Arab Emirates

A key terminal for very large oil tankers on the Gulf of Oman, it is important because it enables Abu Dhabi to export a significant share of its oil without sending it through the Strait of Hormuz. It has been reported as disrupted by the fighting by Rystad Energy data and analytical firm. The port company did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment about its status.

'Irans targeting of oil storage in Fujairah isnt a coincidence; its attacking one of the potential reroutings of oil thats been trapped in the Persian Gulf,' analyst Soltvedt said.

Kharg Island, Iran

A tanker terminal that has handled almost all of Irans roughly 1.6 million barrels per day of prewar crude exports, most of it going to China. Iran reportedly accelerated shipments in the days before the war started. Its operational status is unclear.

Leviathan natural gas field, Israel

Israels Energy Ministry directed operator Chevron to shut down the field, located 130 kilometers (80 miles) off the shores of Haifa, due to the security situation. Its the largest natural gas reservoir in the Mediterranean and is a key supplier to Egypt. A shutdown during Israels 12-day war with Iran in June led Egypt to curtail gas supplies to industries including fertilizer producers.

Southern Iraqi oil fields

Iraq has suspended output of 1.5 million barrels per day at key fields at Rumaila and West Qurna due to dwindling storage. The Rumaila field is a so-called supergiant, meaning it holds more than a billion barrels in reserves.

Rystad Energy reports Iraq and other Gulf countries are running out of space to put the oil, meaning other fields may shut down. That could bring interruption since once shut down, oil and gas wells may need weeks or months to resume.

Even if the Strait of Hormuz reopens in a few days, 'its going to take time to restart production in some of these fields. Its not a switch that can be turned on and off,' said Soltvedt. 'Its the same for Qatar in terms of their LNG facility. It will probably take weeks to get some of the facilities up and running again.'

Al Basra Oil Terminal, Iraq

This artificial island located 50 kilometers (30 miles) from shore in the Persian Gulf exports oil worth 80% of Iraqis annual GDP from the countrys oil fields.

Bapco refinery, Bahrain

The Sitra Island refinery is the backbone of Bahrains oil sector, processing supply from Bahraini fields and delivered from Saudi Arabia via pipeline. A missile strike halted operations and disrupted jet fuel, diesel and other supplies.

Iran has named a son of its late supreme leader as his successor. U.S. President Donald Trump already had expressed disdain for Mojtaba Khamenei, calling him 'unacceptable.' The Islamic Republics war strategy now has a new commander, and the powerful paramilitary Revolutionary Guard has pledged allegiance.

Oil prices shot above $100 a barrel. Both sides in the war struck new targets over the weekend, including civilian ones. Bahrain accused Iran of hitting one of the desalination plants that are crucial for drinking water in Gulf countries. Israel struck oil depots in Tehran, sending up thick smoke and causing environmental alerts.

The U.S. announced another soldiers death. Saudi Arabia announced the first deaths there. Anger grew in Arab countries over Irans launching of hundreds of missiles and drones around the region. The Israeli militarys chief of staff warned that the war 'will take a long time.'

Heres where things stand as the war enters its 10th day.

Iran

Irans announcement of a new supreme leader came after the countrys remaining leadership appeared to show a rift. President Masoud Pezeshkian apologized for attacks on neighboring countries, but hard-liners criticized that and said the war strategy would continue.

The new supreme leader had not been seen or heard from publicly since the war began. He has not made a statement in his new role. The younger Khamenei inherits both the war and domestic unrest after Iran earlier this year cracked down on some of its largest protests in half a century.

Iran did not publicly update its death toll over the weekend from the over 1,200 previously reported. More Iranians fled the country.

Israel

Israel attacked both Iran and the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militant group in neighboring Lebanon, where authorities say over a half-million people have been displaced and over 300 killed.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed 'many surprises' in the next phase of the war. Israel said it destroyed the headquarters of the Revolutionary Guard Air Force, which operated the ballistic missile command, and struck ballistic missile launchers and missile production facilities.

Eleven people have died in Israel since the war began. Multiple alerts continued to sound per day across Israel about incoming projectiles, almost all of them intercepted.

United States

The U.S. military warned Iranians to stay indoors, asserting that Iran was launching attacks from densely populated areas. Evidence mounted indicating that the U.S. was behind the deadly strike on a girls school in Iran on the first day of the war, but Trump suggested Iran was to blame.

Trump also attended the return of the remains of U.S. soldiers killed in the war. Seven have been killed.

Families of U.S. detainees in Iran worried their loved ones are at risk.

The U.S. military did not give an update over the weekend on the number of missiles and drones that Iran has fired in recent days, after saying the rate had gone down sharply. Experts said its possible that Iran is holding back some missiles in reserve.

Middle East

The head of the Arab League called Irans war strategy 'reckless' as Gulf and other nations reported intercepting Iranian missiles and drones in areas of their countries with no U.S. military presence.

No country other than the U.S. and Israel has said it is attacking Iran. Some countries in the region host U.S. military facilities or troops. Iran has urged countries not to allow the U.S. to attack it from their territories. A missile hit a helicopter landing pad in the U.S. Embassy complex in Iraq.

More deaths were reported. Saudi Arabia said a falling military projectile killed two people from Bangladesh. Kuwait said two border guards were killed, and the United Arab Emirates reported a driver killed.

Foreign residents and workers have made up most of the reported deaths in the Gulf. Over a dozen people have been killed there in all.

Globally

The U.S. sought to assure Americans that surging fuel prices are a short-term problem. Russia is profiting from the surge.

Many travelers and pilgrims remain stranded in the Middle East. The U.S. State Department said over 32,000 Americans have left the region since the war began.

Nervousness remained around some of the worlds busiest air hubs. Passengers waiting for flights at Dubai International Airport were ushered into train tunnels after several blasts were heard. Kuwait said fuel tanks at Kuwait International Airport were targeted by drones.

More states are becoming involved. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said his country will send experts to advise the U.S. and Middle Eastern allies on repelling Iranian drone attacks next week.

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) ' Ohio State President Walter 'Ted' Carter Jr. resigned on Monday after disclosing 'an inappropriate relationship' with a woman seeking public resources for her private business.

Carter, 66, said in a statement that he had resigned voluntarily after informing the universitys board of trustees of his error. He did not elaborate on the nature of the relationship and said he was leaving with his wife, Lynda.

'For personal reasons, I have made the difficult decision to resign from my role as president of The Ohio State University,' he said. 'I disclosed to the board of trustees that I made a mistake in allowing inappropriate access to Ohio State leadership.'

Ohio State is the nations sixth-largest university, with more than 60,000 students, over 600,000 living alumni and a highly ranked football team and medical center. Carter oversaw a fiscal year 2026 budget totaling $11.5 billion in revenues and $10.9 billion in expenditures.

The university brought Carter on board in 2023 from the University of Nebraska system. He is also a former superintendent of the U.S. Naval Academy and holds the national record for carrier-arrested landings with over 2,000 mishap-free touchdowns.

He filled a vacancy at Ohio State left by the mid-contract resignation of President Kristina Johnson, which went largely unexplained. The engineer and former undersecretary of the U.S. Department of Energy had been chancellor of New Yorks public university system before she joined the Buckeyes as president in 2020.

LAS VEGAS (AP) ' When his parents were about his age, they bought their first home. But for 27-year-old Brian Torres Suazo, that milestone feels like a distant dream, despite a secure job with union wages and down payment assistance.

Torres Suazo expects to continue sharing an apartment with roommates for the foreseeable future, kept on the sidelines of homeownership by stubbornly high costs, even in cities once known for their affordability, such as his native Las Vegas.

Hes not alone. In a restless electorate frustrated by high prices, the cost of housing stands out. Democrats are pushing to channel this anger into support for their quest to chip away at Republicans unified control of Washington, maintaining their focus on economic concerns even when war with Iran dominates the news.

Their path cuts through Nevada, a perennial swing state won by Republican Donald Trump in the 2024 presidential election and now home to closely contested U.S. House races.

'I would be paying more ' a lot more ' in mortgage than I am for rent right now,' said Torres Suazo, a food runner on the Las Vegas Strip. Sometimes he feels like politicians arent listening to people like him. 'Itd be nice if more people that knew what its like to work for a living could be in those rooms to make decisions,' he added.

Housing affordability isnt just a coastal concern

In all directions from the Strip, tract homes with sharp-angled roofs and earthy paint schemes sprout from the desert by the dozen. Streets to nowhere snake through the dirt, ready for future homes. Wooden signs dot roadsides advertising homes from the $300,000s for a townhome to over $1 million for big houses in the most desirable suburban neighborhoods.

Housing costs have long been a potent political issue in pricey metropolitan areas like New York and San Francisco, but now the issue is popping up virtually everywhere.

During the coronavirus pandemic, white-collar workers newly empowered to work remotely cashed out their equity in high-priced cities and bid up prices across Sun Belt cities like Las Vegas, Phoenix, Dallas, and Charlotte, North Carolina. At the same time, near-zero interest rates drove a wave of refinancing that gave existing homeowners mortgage payments that now seem impossibly low.

Almost 40 million people visited Las Vegas last year, and gamblers wagered $14 billion at Clark County casinos, according to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority. The steady flow of people and cash attracts dreamers and strivers with the promise of a good job and an affordable home.

The population of Clark County, which includes Las Vegas, grew 17% to 2.4 million between 2014 and 2024. The country as a whole grew 6% over that period.

'If you ask locals who grew up here, some of them feel that housing is out of reach for them,' said Las Vegas real estate agent Tony Clifford. 'You talk to somebody from out of state ' Northwest, West, California ' were still so cheap compared to them.'

Home prices and mortgage rates have ticked down from historic highs in much of the country, and real estate agents say Las Vegas is now considered a buyers market. Houses are staying on the market longer, and more sellers are accepting discounted offers or offering concessions, such as covering closing costs. But monthly mortgage payments are still much higher than they were before the pandemic.

In Las Vegas, resale home prices rose 53% between December 2019 and the same month last year, according to the Case-Shiller index. The index tracks homes that have previously sold, excluding new construction, which makes up more than a quarter of the Las Vegas market.

In Las Vegas, the median home sale price rose 65% between the first quarter of 2020 and the same period last year, reaching $393,000, according to Federal Reserve data. It ticked down to $379,000 during the fourth quarter last year.

Nationally, 30-year mortgage rates followed a similar trend, bottoming out at 2.65% nationally in 2021 before peaking in 2023 at nearly 8%. Theyve settled around 6% this quarter.

Still, even with rates and prices stabilizing, they remain higher than they were before the pandemic. The median resale house at the prevailing interest rates with 20% down would cost $2,300 per month in December 2025, double the figure from December 2019.

Big investors are buying up houses

Large investors own about 11% of single-family home rentals in Las Vegas, according to the Hamilton Project at the Brookings Institution, compared with about 3% nationally.

Theyre increasingly becoming bipartisan targets as they buy and rent out single-family homes, though economists generally discount the benefits of constraining them. Trump and Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford, the leading Democratic candidate for governor, are both among a growing cadre of officials calling for limits on corporate homeownership.

'People live in homes, not corporations,' Trump said in a social media post in January, calling for Congress to ban large institutional investors from buying houses. Hes also pressured the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates and proposed extending mortgage terms to 50 years, privatizing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and allowing homebuyers to tap retirement or Education Savings Accounts for a down payment.

Fords housing plan, released last month, also calls for banning algorithmic pricing of rents, tackling regulatory barriers that block or slow new construction and seeking to unlock federal land for homebuilding. The federal government owns 84% of the land in Nevada.

Nevadas Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo, who is one of the most vulnerable incumbent state leaders in the country, has tried to address the problem, announcing last month that his administration has approved $64 million to boost a dozen housing development projects, mostly in the Las Vegas and Reno areas, along with assistance for homebuyers.

The midterms may hinge on affordability

Democrats are making affordability the central plank of their pitch to voters in November, arguing that Trump has failed in his campaign promise to bring prices back down despite Republican control of Congress. They believe anxiety over the cost of living has been a major factor in their victories in a series of off-year elections, including the races for governor of New Jersey and Virginia as well as special elections down the ballot.

Many Americans say Trump is focusing on the wrong priorities, according to multiple surveys, including a January AP-NORC poll, and they largely think Trump is neglecting the issue of costs at home.

Trump was reelected in large part because of economic concerns, but recent polling shows that the bulk of Americans arent seeing benefits from his policies yet, and most dont think hes paying enough attention to the issue.

A large share of registered voters see the economy as one of the top issues facing the country, and a recent New York Times poll found that about half of registered voters say Trumps policies have made life for most Americans 'less affordable.'

The issue will remain salient in November even as the Iran war raises interest in foreign policy, said Democratic strategist Paul Begala, one of the architects of Bill Clintons 1992 strategy that emphasized domestic economic concerns during a time of global upheaval from the first Gulf War and the fall of the Soviet Union.

'Trumps refusal to raise the minimum wage, and his willingness to raise the cost of health care, electricity, hamburger, and now gas, is a two-edged sword that will cut down a large number of congressional Republicans,' Begala said.

Housing is a thorny political issue. Rooted homeowners like high prices that inflate their net worth, at least on paper, a reality that Trump has nodded to repeatedly this year, assuring homeowners he wants to keep their values high.

But those prices become handcuffs if they want to move on but are priced out of the bigger homes or better neighborhoods theyre eying.

Michele Niemeyer feels trapped in the condo she bought for more than $500,000 just off the Strip. The homeowners association fee just went up to $686 a month, straining her budget, and the value of her unit has plummeted. But the neighborhoods that were in her budget when she bought the condo are now out of reach.

'I want to move,' Niemeyer said. 'I just dont know where.'

World leaders have tried and failed to curb climate change by appealing to nations to act for the common good. Now, the Iran war and its costly energy crunch have some experts wondering if selfishness and nationalism may be a more likely way to save the planet, by boosting support for homegrown renewables over imported fossil fuels.

Bombed refineries, disrupted shipping channels for oil and liquefied natural gas and skyrocketing fuel prices should point even the most reluctant leaders to a cleaner fossil free future, hope some experts.

But others are dismissive, noting the same speculation emerged, and then quickly flopped, as recently as Russias invasion of Ukraine. That prompted some European nations to replace gas with even dirtier coal.

'Just wishful thinking,' said Stanford University climate scientist Rob Jackson, who tracks global emissions of carbon dioxide.

The head of the United Nations will argue otherwise on Monday.

'The turmoil we are witnessing today in the Middle East makes it evident that we are facing a global energy system largely tied to fossil fuels ' where supply is concentrated in a few regions and every conflict risks sending shock waves through the global economy,' U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres said in an email to The Associated Press. 'In past oil shocks, countries had little choice but to absorb the pain. Now they have an exit ramp.

'Homegrown renewable energy has never been cheaper, more accessible, or more scalable,' Guterres said. 'The resources of the clean energy era cannot be blockaded or weaponized.'

Going alone versus together

Annual U.N. climate conferences aimed at global cooperation have accomplished little. The most recent meeting in Brazil, known as COP30, ended with a statement that didnt even mention the words 'fossil fuels,' much less include a timeline to reduce their use. Guterres said then that he 'cannot pretend that COP30 has delivered everything that is needed.' Under President Donald Trump, whose attack on Iran has sparked new energy concerns, the U.S. didnt even participate in the Brazil meeting.

Even though renewable energy use and new installations are soaring globally, outpacing fossil fuel growth, the world continues to increase its fossil fuel use every year with emissions of heat-trapping carbon dioxide and methane rising to new highs year after. Thats driving atmospheric warming that increases costly and deadly extreme weather, including dangerous heat, around the world.

'The bottom line is that for at least another five years and maybe longer, emissions reduction will in fact be dealt with largely unilaterally,' said Michael Oppenheimer, a Princeton climate and international affairs professor. 'If countries see the Israel-U.S.-Iran war as a further reason to head for the exits on fossil fuels by loosening domestic opposition to the necessary policies, that will be accomplished unilaterally at the domestic level.'

A moment of opportunity may be here

Caroline Baxter, director of the Converging Risks Lab at the Council on Strategic Risks in Washington, said there has already been a 'dramatic slowdown' in the movement of fossil fuels to various ports due to the conflict. And for countries like Japan or South Korea that depend on tankers arriving in their ports to deliver energy, this is a really big deal, she said.

Baxter said she 'wouldnt be surprised' if some shift to green energy because of the conflict, if only because renewable energy offers more stability than fossil fuels do.

'I think there is an opportunity, rightly or wrongly, for countries to really turn inward and try to power themselves in a way that cuts off their dependence on other nations for that source,' said Baxter, who was U.S. deputy assistant secretary of defense for force education and training from 2021 to 2024 under the Biden administration.

Baxter said if shes right and if 'everyone does it in their backyard,' it will limit future climate change 'without the thorny diplomatic negotiations and the glad-handing and the machinations behind closed doors' of international climate conferences.

The war will lead to more solar panels and heat pumps installed in coming months, said energy analyst Ana Maria Jaller-Makarewicz, of IEEFA Europe.

A reality check from Ukraine: ‘Exactly the wrong lesson

More skeptical analysts point to the Russian invasion of Ukraine a few years ago, which put a massive kink in Europes natural gas supply, yet didnt change the worlds fossil fuel dependence. Politicians often pivot to other fossil fuels to address war-oriented energy insecurity, such as coal, which releases even higher amounts of heat-trapping gases.

'We have seen this at the European level where actors post-2022 slowly wanted to move away from the energy transition which is exactly the wrong lesson,' said war studies lecturer Pauline Heinrichs at Kings College in the United Kingdom.

Just as Europe did then, many countries, like China and India ' already the worlds No. 1 and No. 3 carbon-emitting countries ' could turn to more coal use, said Ohio Universitys Geoff Dabelko, an expert on climate and conflict, and University of St. Andrews Neta Crawford, author of 'The Pentagon, Climate Change, and War: Charting the Rise and Fall of U.S. Military Emissions.'

War and militaries pollute the air

Whatever happens with nations energy choices, the war itself will spike emissions.

Even before it began, reports showed that the worlds militaries are responsible for 5.5% of Earths heat-trapping emissions each year, more than any country except China, the United States and India.

Crawford, co-founder of the Costs of War project at Brown Universitys Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs, said fighter jets consuming vast quantities of fuel, releasing carbon dioxide and other pollutants, is just one example.

'The consequences of war on emissions will far exceed any incremental offset in emissions due to increased enthusiasm for a green transition,' she said.

Borenstein reported from Washington and McDermott from Providence, Rhode Island.

The Associated Press climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find APs standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

WASHINGTON (AP) ' As Congress responds to President Donald Trumps attack on Iran, lawmakers who served on the front lines of Iraq and Afghanistan are making their voices heard in a war debate that has taken on intensely personal meaning.

Many admit mixed feelings, taking satisfaction in seeing vengeance taken on the leadership of an Iranian regime that has targeted U.S. service members for decades, yet fearful that another generation of soldiers could soon face the same combat experiences that they did.

'Do I take gratification? You know theres the Marine side of me: Yeah, of course,' said Arizona Democratic Sen. Ruben Gallego, whose company suffered some of the heaviest losses on the U.S. side during the Iraq War. 'I know they killed a lot of American soldiers, American Marines. But do I also understand that I have a responsibility not to let my lust for revenge drive my country into another war?'

Experiences in the post 9/11 wars are also coloring the decisions of the Trump administration, given that top officials, including Vice President JD Vance and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, were once deployed to Iraq.

Gallego, like others on Capitol Hill, leaned heavily on his firsthand experience of fighting in the wars after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks as he assessed the Iran conflict. Lawmakers wore bracelets etched with the names of friends killed in battle, told stories of coming under attack from Iran-backed militant groups and reflected on their own life-changing injuries suffered during combat.

Veteran lawmakers are wary of war

While the initial votes on Iran saw Congress divide mostly along party lines, with Republicans backing Trumps actions and Democrats warning of an extended conflict, veterans in both parties share deep reservations about entering the conflict.

'As somebody who knows a lot of friends that didnt come home and a lot of Gold Star families, thats why the week before the attack, I was actually one of the ones that was talking about caution and why we needed to avoid at all costs getting into another long, drawn-out Middle Eastern war,' said Republican Rep. Eli Crane of Arizona, a former Navy SEAL who left college to enlist the week after the Sept. 11 attacks.

Crane said his concerns were partially assuaged by briefings from the Trump administration that indicated to him the president is not planning a drawn-out war. He voted against a war powers resolution that would have halted attacks on Iran unless Trump got congressional approval.

But Crane said wars are never straightforward. 'Ive been on military operations that did not go to plan many times, and so I understand the nature,' he said, adding that he was calling for the Trump administration to approach the conflict with 'humility and caution.'

Gallego and other Democrats worried that it was too late for that approach. They paid tribute to the six U.S. military members who were killed in a drone strike in Kuwait and worried that there could soon be more American casualties.

'War is dirty, and mistakes happen,' Gallego said. The longer the conflict drags on, he added, the more chance there will be for U.S. military members to be killed. He said he saw that in Iraq when friends would be killed by seemingly random shots from enemy combatants.

Still, many Republicans argued that it was necessary to attack Iran to stop a regime that for decades has helped train and arm militant groups throughout the Middle East. Republican Rep. Brian Mast, who chairs the House Foreign Affairs Committee, led the debate on the House floor against the war powers resolution.

Mast, who served as an Army bomb disposal expert, now uses prosthetic legs after receiving catastrophic injuries from an improvised explosive device in Afghanistan. 'Me especially, many of my other colleagues, no one wants to see our military go into combat or war,' he said.

Then he added, 'But Irans terror, which has caused the deaths of thousands of Americans, it has to stop.'

Trying to push soldiers to forefront of war debate

Important questions loom for Congress as the conflict with Iran unfolds and spreads to other parts of the Middle East. The price for the operation is already likely running into the billions of dollars, likely forcing the Trump administration to soon seek billions in funding from Congress. The outbreak of war has also scrambled global alliances and the future of U.S. foreign policy.

Shadowing it all is the potential of another drawn-out conflict. Lawmakers said they owe it to their fallen comrades to ensure that doesnt happen.

'To me, its to speak out. Its to say another generation should not go fight in an open-ended, ill-conceived regime change war in the Middle East,' said Democratic Rep. Pat Ryan, his hand moving to a bracelet etched with the names of friends who were killed during his two Army combat tours in Iraq.

Others remembered how frustrated they became with Washington during their service, especially as soldiers tried to fight with insufficiently armored vehicles and not enough troops.

'I know what it was like to be on the very end of the receiving line of the decisions made in Washington,' said Democratic Rep. Jason Crow, who entered the Army as a private before being promoted to a captain and deployed to both Iraq and Afghanistan.

Crow said that front-line soldiers often suffered 'because people stopped asking tough questions. People stopped being held accountable. Congress stopped voting on it.'

Another veteran, Democratic Sen. Tammy Duckworth of Illinois, said that was one of the reasons she sought a congressional seat in the first place. As a Blackhawk helicopter pilot with the Illinois National Guard, Duckworth lost her legs when her helicopter was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade in Iraq.

'I ran for Congress so that when the drums of war started beating once again, Id be in a position to make sure that our elected officials fully considered the true cost of the war,' she said. 'Not just in dollars and cents but in human lives.'

NEW YORK (AP) ' Uber launched a feature Monday to allow both women riders and drivers across the U.S. to be matched with other women for trips, expanding a pilot program aimed at addressing concerns about the safety of its riding-hailing platform.

The new feature is being rolled out nationwide despite an ongoing class action lawsuit against the policy in California, filed by Uber drivers who argue that it is discriminatory against men. Rival ride-hailing company Lyft is also facing a discrimination lawsuit over a similar offering that it introduced nationwide in 2024.

The feature, announced in a blog post, allows women to request a female driver through an option on the app called 'Women Drivers.' Passengers can opt for another ride if the wait for a woman is too long, and they can also reserve a trip with a woman driver in advance. A third option allows female users to set a preference for a woman driver in their app settings, which would increase the chances of being matched with a female driver, though it would not guarantee it. Uber is also allowing its teen account users to request women drivers.

Ubers women drivers can set the apps preferences to request trips with female riders, and they can turn off that preference at anytime.

Uber, based in San Francisco, says about one-fifth of its drivers in the U.S. are women, thought the ratio varies by city.

Two California Uber drivers filed a class-action lawsuit against Uber in November, arguing that its Women Preferences feature violates Californias Unruh Act, which prohibits sex discrimination by business enterprises. The lawsuit charges that the feature gives its minority female drivers access to the entire pool of passengers, while leaving its majority male drivers to compete for a smaller pool of passengers. The lawsuit also argues that Ubers policy 'reinforces the gender stereotype that men are more dangerous than women.'

Uber filed a motion to compel arbitration in the case, citing an agreement the plaintiffs signed when joining the app as drivers. In the motion, Uber disputed that its new feature violates the Unruh Act, saying it 'serves a strong and recognized public policy interest in enhancing safety.'

'This feature is a common sense solution to a long-standing request from both women Drivers and Riders who told Uber they would feel more comfortable and safer if they could choose to ride with another woman,' the company said in the court filing.

Two Lyft drivers have filed a similar lawsuit against that company against its 'Women+Connect' feature, which allows women and nonbinary riders to match with drivers of the same identification.

Uber piloted the 'Women Preferences' feature in San Francisco, Los Angeles and Detroit last summer and expanded it to 26 U.S. cities in November. The company first launched a version of the feature in Saudi Arabia in 2019 following the countrys landmark law granting women the right to drive. It now offers similar options in 40 other countries, including Canada and Mexico.

Both Uber and Lyft have for years faced criticism over their safety records, including thousands of reports of sexual assaults from both passengers and drivers. In February, federal jury found Uber to be legally responsible in a 2023 case of sexual assault and the company was ordered to pay $8.5 million to an Arizona woman who said she was raped by one of its drivers.

Uber maintains that because its drivers are contractors and not employees, its not liable for their misconduct. But Uber says has taken multiple steps in efforts to improve safety, including teaming up with Lyft in 2021 to create a database of drivers ousted from their ride-hailing services for complaints over sexual assault and other crimes.

Uber says sexual assault reports have decreased over the years. According to reports from Uber, 5,981 incidents of sexual assault were reported in U.S. rides between 2017 and 2018 ' compared to 2,717 between 2021 and 2022 (the latest years with data available), which the platform says represented 0.0001% of total trips nationwide.

The Associated Press women in the workforce and state government coverage receives financial support from Pivotal Ventures. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find APs standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.