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

Israel and Lebanon have technically been at war since Israel was established in 1948, and Netanyahu later stressed that there was no ceasefire between them. In a video statement, he said Israel will keep striking Hezbollah until security is restored in northern Israel.

There was no immediate response from Lebanon. But Israel-Lebanon negotiations were expected to begin next week at the State Department in Washington, according to a U.S. official and a person familiar with the plans, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the delicacy of the matter.

The prospect of talks appeared to bolster the tentative ceasefire in the Iran war that has staggered under the weight of Israel’s bombardment of Beirut, Tehran’s continued chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz and uncertainty over whether talks can find common ground.

However later Thursday, U.S. President Donald Trump appeared to cast doubt on the effectiveness of the ceasefire, writing on his social media platform: “Iran is doing a very poor job, dishonorable some would say, of allowing Oil to go through the Strait of Hormuz.”

What to know about the ongoing war between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon

BEIRUT (AP) — In the hours after the U.S. and Iran announced a tentative ceasefire, Israel dramatically escalated its attacks in Lebanon against the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah.

The burst of strikes in central Beirut and other parts of the country killed more than 300 people and wounded 1,150 others, according to health officials.

The Israeli military said that it had targeted sites affiliated with the Hezbollah militant group and announced that it had killed an aide to the group's leader, Naim Kassem. But the strikes, which hit densely packed residential and commercial districts at rush hour, also killed more than 100 women, children and older people, according to health officials.

Hezbollah retaliated to the heavy strikes — which prompted an international outcry — by launching missiles into Israel, though no serious casualties have been reported.

The latest war between Israel and Hezbollah erupted after the U.S. and Israeli launched airstrikes against Iran on Feb. 28. Since the ceasefire announced by the U.S. and Iran earlier this week, a heated debate has ensued over whether it applies to the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah. Iran says it does, while the U.S. and Israel say it doesn't.

Melania Trump delivers statement at the White House denying knowledge of Jeffrey Epstein's crimes

WASHINGTON (AP) — First lady Melania Trump is denying ties to Jeffrey Epstein and knowledge of his sex crimes, saying Thursday that the “stories are completely false” and calling accusations that she was somehow involved “smears about me.”

Reading an extraordinary statement at the White House, Melania Trump said she and her attorneys were fighting back against “unfound and baseless lies” in regards to her connections to the late financier, a convicted sex offender who leveraged connections to the rich, powerful and famous to recruit his victims and cover up his crimes.

“The lies linking me with the disgraceful Jeffrey Epstein need to end today,” she said. “The individuals lying about me are devoid of ethical standards, humility and respect. I do not object to their ignorance, but rather I reject their mean-spirited attempts to defame my reputation.”

The seemingly out-of-the-blue message came as her husband, President Donald Trump, and his administration had finally seemed to move past more than a year of controversy surrounding Epstein, especially as the Iran war had become all-consuming in Washington.

The first lady’s comments almost assuredly will serve to push the story back into the political spotlight even as the president urged the public and media to move on from the case.

Travelers face higher costs and fewer flight options as jet fuel prices swing

A new reality is setting in for travelers worldwide: rising fares and fees, fewer flight options and difficult decisions about whether a trip is worth the cost.

The culprit is volatile oil and jet fuel prices, which have spiked sharply since the war in the Middle East began and fighting near the Strait of Hormuz created a chokepoint for global oil supplies.

“Volatility is the real story here,” said Shye Gilad, a former airline captain who now teaches at Georgetown University's business school. “Right now, the airlines are trying to make bets on what they think will happen in the future."

Airlines are responding cautiously, trimming schedules and adjusting prices in ways that experts say will ripple unevenly across the market but ultimately affect nearly every type of traveler.

Budget airlines and the customers who rely on them are likely to feel the pinch first and most acutely, experts say, but even travelers in premium cabins won’t escape the higher prices and less convenient schedules.

US stocks rise and oil prices trim their gains on hopes for the ceasefire with Iran

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks rose Thursday, even though oil prices did too, as financial markets moved more modestly a day after surging on optimism about a ceasefire in the war with Iran.

The morning began with moderate losses for Wall Street following drops for Asian and European stocks. But the S&P 500 erased its dip and finished with a 0.6% gain after Israel’s prime minister authorized direct negotiations with Lebanon. That eased worries that the two-week ceasefire announced late Tuesday may already be in trouble because of Israel’s bombardment of Lebanon.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 275 points, or 0.6%, and the Nasdaq composite climbed 0.8% after both indexes likewise recovered from early losses.

Crude oil prices pared some of their gains, but they nevertheless remained higher for the day on uncertainty about when oil tankers can start fully flowing through the Strait of Hormuz. The narrow waterway has been at the center of President Donald Trump’s demands of Iran, and blockages there have kept oil and natural gas stuck in the Persian Gulf and away from customers worldwide.

The price for a barrel of benchmark U.S. crude rose 3.7% to settle at $97.87 after briefly nearing $103 in the morning. Brent crude, the international standard, added 1.2% to $95.92 per barrel.

Democrats grow bolder on talk about removing Trump from office after his Iran threats

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump’s threats to wipe out Iran, “a whole civilization,” ended the restraint that Democrats have mostly practiced when it comes to questions of removing him from office in his second term.

By the dozens, Democrats came out to say that Trump should no longer serve in the White House, either through the impeachment process or the 25th Amendment, which allows the vice president and the Cabinet to declare that a president is no longer able to perform the job.

While Trump eventually pulled back on his threat and agreed to a two-week ceasefire with Iran, the episode highlighted the growing demands for Democrats to oppose the Republican president in the strongest possible terms. Calls about Iran flooded into congressional offices, lawmakers said.

The breadth of the Democratic pushback underscored the gravity of Trump's apocalyptic threat to a country of more than 91 million people. It also served to raise the domestic political stakes for a conflict that is far from over. The Trump administration faces mounting calls to testify about the war and justify its demands for hundreds of billions of dollars in new military spending.

“We cannot excuse what the president said as a negotiating tactic," Rep. Sara Jacobs, a California Democrat told reporters at the Capitol Thursday.

Former NYPD officer gets 3 to 9 years in prison for throwing a cooler that caused fatal crash

NEW YORK (AP) — A former New York City police sergeant was sentenced Thursday to three to nine years in prison for tossing a picnic cooler full of ice and drinks at a fleeing suspect, who then crashed his motorized scooter and died.

Erik Duran, 38, was convicted of manslaughter in the 2023 death of 30-year-old Eric Duprey. The ex-sergeant said he was trying to protect other officers from the approaching scooter. He is the first former NYPD officer sentenced to prison for an on-duty death in at least two decades.

“I took this job to save lives. I felt terrible once I saw Eric Duprey crash," Duran told a Bronx judge, saying he “did everything he could” to attend to the man's injuries.

“I never wanted this to happen,” he added, apologizing to Duprey's family in Spanish as a court interpreter translated.

Duprey's mother, Gretchen Soto, wept as Duran spoke. Earlier, she told the court: "There are no words to express what I feel.”

Artemis II astronauts describe their lunar voyage as surreal and profound ahead of Earth return

HOUSTON (AP) — Drawing ever closer to Earth, the Artemis II astronauts tidied up their lunar cruiser for the upcoming “fireball” return and reflected on their historic journey around the moon, describing it as surreal and profound.

As the next-to-last day of their flight dawned Thursday, humanity's first lunar explorers in more than half a century were less than 150,000 miles (240,000 kilometers) from home with the odometer clicking down.

“We have to get back. There’s so much data that you’ve seen already, but all the good stuff is coming back with us. There are so many more pictures, so many more stories," said pilot Victor Glover, adding that "riding a fireball through the atmosphere is profound as well.”

Being cut off from all of humanity for nearly an hour while behind the moon was especially “surreal,” according to commander Reid Wiseman.

“There’s a lot that our brains have to process ... and it is a true gift," Wiseman said late Wednesday during the crew's first news conference since before liftoff.

Appeals court judges raise questions about severity of Sean 'Diddy' Combs' four-year prison sentence

NEW YORK (AP) — Federal appeals court judges questioned during oral arguments Thursday whether a roughly four-year prison term given to Sean “Diddy” Combs for the hip-hop mogul 's conviction on prostitution-related charges was too harsh.

The three-judge panel of the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan did not immediately rule after hearing two hours of arguments.

At the conclusion, Circuit Judge William J. Nardini called it an “exceptionally difficult case” that raises questions of first impression “not only for this court but for any federal court in the country.”

Throughout the arguments, judges questioned whether a judge improperly considered elements of acquitted charges to sentence Combs to what his lawyer, Alexandra Shapiro, said was the most prison time ever given someone convicted of the same charges with a similar criminal history.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Christy Slavik, arguing for the government, challenged Shapiro's claim, saying the four-year, two-month prison term given to Combs was below what federal sentencing guidelines called for and was in line with similar convictions in the 2nd Circuit.

AP study: MLB average salary hits a record $5.34M as the Mets lead spending again

NEW YORK (AP) — Major League Baseball's average salary rose 3.4% on opening day to a record $5.34 million, according to a study by The Associated Press, and the New York Mets topped spending at the season's start for the fourth straight year.

Mets outfielder Juan Soto is the highest-paid player for the second consecutive season at $61.9 million and was followed by New York Yankees outfielder Cody Bellinger at $42.5 million.

Philadelphia pitcher Zack Wheeler and Mets third baseman Bo Bichette tied for third at $42 million. Toronto first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. was fifth at $40.2 million, just ahead of Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge at $40 million.

The Mets' payroll of $352.2 million was just below the record $355.4 million they set in 2023 and up from $322.6 million last year. The Mets' total is more than five times that of Cleveland, the lowest-spending team at $62.3 million.

The two-time defending World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers were second at $316.6 million, down from $319.5 million last year. The Dodgers' total would be $395.2 million if deals for nine players with deferred money had not been discounted to present-day value. The Mets have deals with deferred money with just three players and their total would be $360 million without discounting.