JERUSALEM (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump’s plan for a “Golden Dome” to protect the United States from long-range missiles was at least partly inspired by Israel’s multitiered missile defenses.

Trump announced the $175 billion concept in the Oval Office on Tuesday, saying it would put U.S. weapons in space for the first time and be would be “fully operational” by the end of his term in early 2029, though a U.S. official familiar with the program said it could take longer.

Israel’s multilayered defenses, often collectively referred to as the “Iron Dome,” have played a key role in defending it from rocket and missile fire from Iran and allied militant groups in the conflict unleashed by Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 terrorist attack.

FILE – Israeli Iron Dome air defense system fires to intercept a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip, in Ashkelon, Israel, on Oct. 20, 2023. (AP Photo/Avi Roccah, File)

The sophisticated system, developed over decades with considerable U.S. support, is capable of detecting incoming fire and deploying only if the projectile is headed toward a population center or sensitive military or civilian infrastructure. Israeli leaders say the system isn’t 100% guaranteed, but credit it with preventing serious damage and countless casualties.

Here’s a closer look at Israel’s multilayered air-defense system:

The Arrow

This system developed with the U.S. is designed to intercept long-range missiles. The Arrow, which operates outside the atmosphere, has been used to intercept long-range missiles launched by Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen and by Iran itself during two direct exchanges of fire last year.

David’s Sling

Also developed with the U.S., David’s Sling is meant to intercept medium-range missiles, such as those possessed by Lebanon’s Hezbollah militant group. It was deployed on multiple occasions throughout the war with Hezbollah, which ended with a ceasefire last year.

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Iron Dome

This system, developed by Israel with U.S. backing, specializes in shooting down short-range rockets. It has intercepted thousands of rockets since it was activated early last decade — including volleys launched by Hamas and Hezbollah. Israel says it has a success rate of over 90%.

Iron Beam

Israel is developing a new system to intercept incoming threats with laser technology. Israel has said this system will be a game changer because it would be much cheaper to operate than existing systems. According to Israeli media reports, the cost of a single Iron Dome interception is about $50,000, while the other systems can run more than $2 million per missile. Iron Beam interceptions, by contrast, would cost a few dollars apiece, according to Israeli officials — but the system is not yet operational.

By OLIVIA DIAZ, Associated Press/Report for America

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — U.S. Rep. Gerald “Gerry” Connolly, an outspoken Democrat who sought key reforms in the federal government while bringing transformational development to his populous Virginia district, died Wednesday. He was 75.

Connolly, who most recently held a prominent position as the ranking member of the House Oversight Committee, served in Congress for more than 16 years.

He died at home in the company of family members, his family said in a statement. Connolly announced in 2024 that he had esophageal cancer and said a few months later that he planned to retire from Congress. His death leaves House Republicans with a 220-212 majority.

The spirited and at times bullheaded Fairfax Democrat became known for his voluble nature and willingness to engage in spirited debates. In one hearing, he accused Republicans of engaging in a witch hunt against the IRS, asking a witness if they ever read Arthur Miller’s “The Crucible.”

FILE – Ranking member Rep. Gerald Connolly, D-Va., speaks during a committee on House Administration Oversight Subcommittee and House Committee on Oversight and Accountability Cybersecurity, Information Technology, and Government Innovation Subcommittee joint hearing, April 19, 2023, on Capitol Hill in Washington. Connolly, a Democratic congressman and fixture of Virginia politics, has died at age 75. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, File)

“I am heartbroken over the loss of my dear friend,” said Democratic Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia. “To me, he exemplified the very best of public service.” He said Connolly “met every challenge with tenacity and purpose, including his final battle with cancer, which he faced with courage, grace, and quiet dignity.”

A fixture of Virginia politics for three decades, Connolly was first elected to the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors in 1995. On the county board, he steered the transition of northern Virginia’s Tysons Corner from a traffic-heavy mall area to a downtown business hub.

In 2003, Connolly was elected board chairman, and he continued pushing for transportation investment that had been debated among officials for decades. Connolly sought billions in state and federal dollars to develop the regional rail system’s Silver Line connecting the national capital region to Tysons Corner.

Connolly’s dream was realized with the Silver Line’s opening in 2014, and eight years later, the rail line was extended an extra 11 miles (18 kilometers) to reach Dulles International Airport.

As the extension opened in 2022, Connolly said: “Doing big things is difficult — the world is filled with naysayers.”

Connolly’s local government experience launched his congressional career. He was elected in 2008 after flipping an open Republican-held seat by nearly 42,000 votes. In his victory speech, Connolly said he would use his position to ensure the federal bureaucracy is “a responsive, accountable instrument for the people we serve.”

“If we insist the government must work for all of our citizens again, we cannot fail,” Connolly said.

Connolly got his first taste of Congress while working as a staffer for the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations in the 1980s. Decades later, Connolly became a member of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.

He also served as a member of the House Oversight Committee and led Democrats on subcommittees on government innovation and information technology.

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Connolly cosponsored the 2010 Telework Enhancement Act, which requires federal agencies to allow a portion of their employees to telework at least one day a week. In 2014, he cosponsored another bill that reformed federal IT management and has since saved the government billions of dollars, according to the Government Accountability Office.

He also closely followed the financial burden of the slowing U.S. Postal Service, becoming a prominent voice accusing President Donald Trump and former Postmaster General Louis DeJoy of seeking to winnow the postal service to suppress mail-in ballots during the 2020 presidential election.

Connolly reached a new milestone late last year as he was chosen ranking member of the House Oversight Committee. He defeated Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez for the position. The victory came shortly after Connolly announced late last year that he had been diagnosed with esophageal cancer and would undergo chemotherapy and immunotherapy.

As ranking member, Connolly called on inspectors general to investigate the Department of Government Efficiency. He and other Democrats also introduced a pair of resolutions demanding the Trump administration turn over documents and information about billionaire adviser Elon Musk’s potential conflicts of interest and the firings of federal workers.

He said in late April that after “grueling treatments,” he learned that the cancer had returned and that he decided to step down from his post on the committee and would not seek reelection.

“With no rancor and a full heart, I move into this final chapter full of pride in what we’ve accomplished together over 30 years,” he said.

Olivia Diaz is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.

By LINDSEY BAHR, Associated Press

Agathe is celibate by choice. The 30-something hero of filmmaker Laura Piani’s feature debut “Jane Austen Wrecked My Life,” played by the luminous Camille Rutherford, hasn’t so much been ruined by Austen as she has been made acutely aware of her own limitations in both romance and literature.

Neither she nor anyone else is good enough to make any big moves for. So, she sticks to the routine. She works at the legendary Parisian bookstore Shakespeare and Co., and bikes home, where she lives with her sister and young nephew. Sometimes she goes out to dinner. For what it’s worth, Agathe also happens to epitomize French girl chic with her Breton stripes, red pout and effortlessly disheveled hair. There should be Instagram accounts devoted to her navy hooded parka.

Life isn’t bad, it’s just not moving forward. And whatever is going to get her out of this self-imposed rut is going to be something special — she’s read too many great books to accept anything less.

Standards are great and all, but really, of course, it’s Agathe who has to get out of her own way. And she does, one night, in a sake-induced daze in which she dreams up the first couple of chapters of a romance. Her best friend Félix (Pablo Pauly) gives her the push she needs and secretly submits the pages to a Jane Austen writers residency, where she’s accepted and invited to spend a few weeks.

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Before she gets on the ferry (a hurdle in and of itself), Félix, a known serial dater and “breadcrumber,” kisses her. It’s the kind of development, a platonic friendship turned complicated, that’s enough to properly distract an already reluctant writer with an impostor complex. When she arrives, there’s another handsome distraction awaiting her: Oliver (Charlie Anson), a British literature professor and Austen’s “great great great great nephew” who thinks that the “Pride and Prejudice” author is overrated. Agathe doesn’t know he also speaks French until after she’s complained about his arrogance to her sister within his earshot.

It’s a classic kind of setup, not exactly Mr. Darcy, but not not that either. Shared lodgings, even at a rather large, idyllic English estate, only ratchet up the will-they-won’t-they tension as they see each other everywhere: walks in the woods, breakfast, after-dinner readings. And it’s not without its slightly more cliche hijinks, like Agathe stripping down to nothing and opening a door to what she believes is the bathroom. It’s not.

Piani has constructed a rare gem in “Jane Austen Wrecked My Life,” which manages to be literary without being pretentious. Its title is cheekily hyperbolic but has some truth to it as well. Modern romances for Austen disciples are bound to disappoint but, in this environment, they can justify having a costumed ball. The event is a swoony, romantic affair where we get to see the love triangle play out in all its glorious awkwardness.

But while “Jane Austen Wrecked My Life” certainly qualifies as a romantic comedy, the question of whom she ends up with is kind of beside the point. Don’t worry, choices are made, but the way it plays out is both unexpected and gratifying — a clear-eyed portrait of why Agathe’s singledom is not the problem. There’s even a Frederick Wiseman cameo involved.

Ultimately, this is a movie about a woman taking a bet on herself for perhaps the first time ever. Her actualization is not going to come through a boyfriend, a job or a makeover, but by sitting down and finally putting pen to paper. It may not be a strict adaptation, but it has Jane Austen’s soul.

“Jane Austen Wrecked My Life,” a Sony Pictures Classics release in theaters Friday, is rated R by the Motion Picture Association for “some sexual content, nudity, language.” Running time: 94 minutes. Three stars out of four.

By ELAINE KURTENBACH and MATT OTT, Associated Press Business Writers

Wall Street was headed lower early Wednesday after a major U.S. retailer blamed its grim forecast on tariff concerns and oil prices rose on a media report that Israel may be planning an attack on Iranian nuclear facilities.

Futures for the S&P 500 were down 0.5% before bell and the Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 0.8%. Futures for the tech-heavy Nasdaq also fell 0.5%.

Target reported that sales fell more than expected in the first quarter and the retailer warned they’ll slip this year as consumers, worried about tariffs, pull back on spending.

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Target said it now expects a low-single digit decline in sales for 2025 and adjusted earnings per share to be anywhere from $7 to $9. When Target reported its fourth-quarter results in March, it forecast earnings per share for 2025 to be between $8.80 and $9.80 per share.

A growing number of companies have recently said tariffs and uncertainty about the economy are making it difficult to guess what the upcoming year will bring. Others, including Walmart, have said they’ll have to raise prices to offset the widespread import taxes imposed by President Donald Trump.

Markets in recent weeks have recovered much of their losses from earlier in the year as Trump has delayed or rolled back many of the stiff tariffs he’s imposed in an attempt to compel companies to move manufacturing back to the U.S. Investors are hopeful that Trump will lower his tariffs further after reaching trade deals with other countries.

On the winning side Wednesday was the hardware store chain Lowe’s, which hit Wall Street’s sales and profit targets and kept its forecast for the year unchanged.

Oil prices rose close to 1% after a CNN report cited unnamed intelligence officials saying Israel may be preparing for an attack on Iranian nuclear facilities. Oil prices tend to rise with conflicts that might disrupt oil supplies.

U.S. benchmark crude oil gained 50 cents to $62.53 per barrel, while Brent crude, the international standard, rose 48 cents to $65.86 per barrel.

In talks on the nuclear issue, Iranian officials have warned they could pursue a nuclear weapon with their stockpile of uranium enriched to near weapons-grade levels. U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly threatened to unleash airstrikes targeting Iran’s program if a deal isn’t reached.

Elsewhere, in Europe at midday, Germany’s DAX fell 0.2%, the CAC 40 in Paris declined 0.5% and Britain’s FTSE 100 was virtually unchanged.

In Asia, Tokyo’s benchmark Nikkei 225 fell 0.6% to 37,298.98. Gains have been limited by the continued worries over higher tariffs Trump has imposed on many U.S. trading partners since taking office. Earlier this week, Japanese officials said they were insisting all of his higher tariffs on imports from Japan be removed as part of talks with Washington.

Japan’s exports have slowed due to the tariffs, the government reported Wednesday. Exports to the U.S., Japan’s largest single trading partner, fell almost 2% year-on-year in April and the annual rate of growth in its global exports slowed to 2% from 4% in March, preliminary customs data showed.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng picked up 0.6% to 23,827.78, while the Shanghai Composite index edged 0.2% higher to 3,387.57.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 surged 0.5% to 8,386.00, while the Kospi in South Korea climbed 0.9%, to 2,625.58.

Taiwan’s Taiex advanced 1.3% and India’s Sensex gained 0.5%.

In currency trading, the U.S. dollar fell to 143.81 Japanese yen from 144.51 yen. The euro rose to $1.1320 from $1.1284.