AP News in Brief at 12:04 a.m. EDT

Trump said the meeting between the Israeli and Lebanese ambassadors to the United States, the second in the past week, went “very well,” but during an Oval Office gathering he acknowledged that “they do have Hezbollah to think about.” The Iranian-backed group has opposed the talks, and since the initial ceasefire went into effect last Friday, there have been multiple violations by both sides.

Despite that, these were the first direct diplomatic talks in decades between Israel and Lebanon and represented a major step for neighboring countries that officially have been at war since Israel’s inception in 1948. The initial 10-day ceasefire had been due to expire Monday.

“The United States is going to work with Lebanon in order to help it protect itself from Hezbollah,” Trump said in a social media post. He added later in the Oval Office that he expects to meet in Washington with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Lebanese President Joseph Aoun in the next couple of weeks.

Trump told reporters, while surrounded by the ambassadors as well as Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, that Israel has a right to defend itself “if they’re shot at, and they will.”

Trump orders US military to 'shoot and kill' Iranian small boats choking Strait of Hormuz

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — President Donald Trump has ordered the U.S. military to “shoot and kill” small Iranian boats that deploy mines in the Strait of Hormuz, announcing the move Thursday a day after Iran again displayed its ability to thwart traffic through the channel.

Trump also announced that a ceasefire in Lebanon would be extended by three weeks.

His post on social media about the small boats came shortly after the U.S. military seized another tanker associated with the smuggling of Iranian oil, ratcheting up a standoff with Tehran over the strait through which 20% of all crude oil and natural gas traded passed during peacetime.

“I have ordered the United States Navy to shoot and kill any boat, small boats though they may be ... putting mines in the waters of the Strait of Hormuz,” Trump posted, adding that U.S. minesweepers "are clearing the Strait right now.”

“I am hereby ordering that activity to continue, but at a tripled up level!” he added.

US soldier charged with using classified intel to win $400K Polymarket bet on Maduro raid

WASHINGTON (AP) — A U.S. special forces soldier involved in the military operation to capture Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has been charged with using classified information about the mission to win more than $400,000 in an online betting market, federal officials announced Thursday.

Gannon Ken Van Dyke was part of the operation to capture Maduro in January and used his access to classified information to make money on the prediction market site Polymarket, the federal prosecutor’s office in New York said.

He has been charged by the Justice Department with unlawful use of confidential government information for personal gain, theft of nonpublic government information, commodities fraud, wire fraud and making an unlawful monetary transaction. He could face years in prison.

Van Dyke, 38, was involved in the planning and execution of capturing Maduro for about a month beginning Dec. 8, 2025, according to the federal prosecutor’s office. Even though he signed nondisclosure agreements promising to not divulge “any classified or sensitive information” related to the operations, prosecutors say the Army soldier used this information to make a series of bets related to Maduro being out of power by Jan. 31, 2026.

“This involved a U.S. soldier who allegedly took advantage of his position to profit off of a righteous military operation,” FBI Director Kash Patel said in a post to social media.

Trump unveils deal with Regeneron to lower drug prices as part of most-favored-nation initiative

President Donald Trump on Thursday announced a deal with drugmaker Regeneron to lower the cost of its pharmaceutical products as part of the White House's signature drug pricing initiative.

The deal involves Regeneron lowering the prices of all its current and future drugs on Medicaid, according to Trump. It also involves selling a cholesterol drug called Praluent for $225 on the White House's discounted drug website TrumpRx, according to the agreement first outlined by NOTUS and confirmed in a White House fact sheet.

The deal comes as the Trump administration has been touting efforts to provide economic relief ahead of November's midterm elections, with Americans saying high costs for health care, gas, groceries and other basic needs are straining their budgets.

It's one of many so-called most-favored-nation deals the Trump administration has made with drug companies to bring U.S. pharmaceutical prices to the same level as other developed nations. Last July, Trump publicly sent letters to executives at 17 major pharmaceutical companies about the issue. Regeneron is the final one of those companies to strike a deal with his administration.

Speaking at the White House on Thursday to announce the deal, Trump touted the discounts on drugs and said, “It should be front page news.” He said voters in this November's midterm elections should reward his party because of the agreements with drugmakers.

What to know about a federal order reclassifying medical marijuana as a less dangerous drug

President Donald Trump's administration has reclassified medical marijuana, which is already licensed in most states, as a less dangerous drug.

The order signed Thursday by the nation’s acting attorney general is a first step toward broader federal acceptance of one of the nation's most commonly used drugs.

The action could facilitate new research on medicinal uses and make the marijuana industry more profitable. But it does not legalize marijuana under federal law.

Here are some things to know about the issue:

Possessing marijuana is a federal crime punishable by fines and prison time. Selling or cultivating marijuana is a more serious offense, punishable by prison sentences of five years to life, depending on the quantity of the drug. That will not change under the new Department of Justice order.

Firefighter heard ‘stop, stop’ before LaGuardia jet crash, but didn’t know who it was for, NTSB says

NEW YORK (AP) — A firefighter whose truck collided with an Air Canada Express jet last month on a runway at New York's LaGuardia Airport, killing both pilots, heard an air traffic controller warn “stop, stop, stop” but didn't know who it was for, federal investigators said Thursday.

Just seconds earlier, the controller had cleared the fire truck to cross the runway, but the truck started moving while warning lights that act as a stop sign for crossing traffic were still lit, the National Transportation Safety Board said in a preliminary report on the March 22 crash.

Because the truck lacked a transponder, a surface monitoring system in the control tower was unable to reliably determine its position, “did not predict a potential conflict” with the landing plane and did not generate an audio or visual alert, the report said, pointing to a series of failures that contributed to the crash.

“There were so many opportunities where this accident could have been prevented,” aviation safety expert Jeff Guzzetti said after reviewing the report.

In addition to the control tower and truck driver, he said the report suggests the pilots had a chance to recognize the danger and pull up. But, he said, they may have been too dialed into landing.

Exchange of gunfire inside Mall of Louisiana leaves 1 person dead and 5 wounded

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — An exchange of gunfire at a food court inside a Louisiana mall on Thursday killed one person and wounded five others and sent workers and shoppers scrambling for safety, police and witnesses said.

Authorities described the shooting inside the Mall of Louisiana in Baton Rouge as a confrontation between two groups of people and not a random attack. Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill said some innocent bystanders were struck by gunfire.

Police Chief TJ Morse said five people were in custody, and there was no ongoing threat to the public.

“This was a disagreement, a fight, between two different groups of people that we are still trying to unravel, and unfortunately innocent victims got caught in the crossfire," Morse said in a news conference.

Three high school seniors from Ascension Episcopal School were among the victims of the shooting, according to a Facebook post from Lafayette Parish President Monique Blanco Boulet.

What a combined Paramount-Warner would mean

NEW YORK (AP) — HBO Max, “Harry Potter” and CNN may soon find themselves under a new roof: Paramount.

That’s because shareholders of Warner Bros. Discovery approved an $81 billion sale of the company on Thursday. Including debt, the proposed buyout valued at nearly $111 billion based on Warner’s current outstanding shares.

While the deal still faces regulatory review, the megamerger would vastly reshape Hollywood and the wider media landscape, further consolidating power in an industry already run by just a handful of major players. Paramount itself was acquired by Skydance just last year.

Here's what a Paramount-Warner combo could mean for streaming, movies, news and more.

Paramount Skydance would own both Paramount+ and, with the sale approved by shareholders Thursday, Warner's HBO Max. Company executives have said that they would combine these streamers into one platform.

Trump considers a taxpayer takeover of Spirit Airlines and would aim to resell carrier

NEW YORK (AP) — President Donald Trump said Thursday that he was weighing a taxpayer-funded takeover of Spirit Airlines with the intent of reselling the struggling budget carrier after oil prices drop.

The president confirmed his continued interest in offering Spirit a financial lifeline after a lawyer told a U.S. Bankruptcy Court that the airline was in advanced talks with the U.S. government on a financing deal that would allow Spirit to emerge from Chapter 11 protection.

“They have some good aircraft and good assets, and when the prices of oil goes down, we’ll sell it for a profit,” Trump said, speaking at an unrelated Oval Office event. “I’d love to be able to save those jobs. I’d love to be able to save an airline.”

Trump stoked speculation of a deal to save Spirit on Tuesday when he encouraged a buyer to rescue the airline and suggested the federal government could help keep it afloat.

The White House has attempted to blame Spirit’s predicament on the Biden administration, which in 2023 sued to stop JetBlue Airways from buying Spirit for $3.8 billion. A little more than a year before Trump replaced Joe Biden as president, a federal judge in Dallas blocked a proposed Spirit-JetBlue merger, saying it would drive up airfares for passengers.

QB Fernando Mendoza, edge rusher David Bailey, running back Jeremiyah Love go 1-2-3 in the NFL draft

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Fernando Mendoza’s journey from overlooked two-star recruit to the top of the NFL draft is complete after the Las Vegas Raiders took him with the first pick on Thursday night.

Turning the Raiders into a contender is the next challenge for the Heisman Trophy winner who led Indiana to its first national championship.

The 22-year-old quarterback wasn’t in the Steel City for the festivities, choosing instead to celebrate with family and friends at home in Miami.

Mendoza flashed a big smile after Commissioner Roger Goodell announced his name, put a Raiders cap on and began hugging his family while seated on the couch, saving the warmest embrace for his mother.

He’ll be heading to Las Vegas on Friday to begin an NFL career that may have seemed improbable when few colleges were interested in him coming out of high school.