Dan Schwartzman

Round two of the Masters ongoing at Augusta National with Sam Burns and defending champion Rory McIlroy atop the leaderboard at 5-under.

Wyndham Clark is right behind at 4-under.

That's news when you want it with Bloomberg News Now.

I'm Dan Schwartzman, and this is Bloomberg.

News when you want it with Bloomberg News Now.

I'm Dan Schwartzman.

Israel and Lebanon will begin direct negotiations next week at the State Department in Washington.

With Israel represented by its ambassador to the U.S., Yechia Leiter, Lebanon will be represented by its ambassador to Washington, Nada Hamadet Mouawad.

That's according to Axios' Barak Ravid.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced direct talks would occur, saying, quote, In light of Lebanon's repeated calls to open direct negotiations with Israel, I instructed the cabinet yesterday to open direct negotiations with Lebanon as soon as possible.

Meanwhile, Israel continues its assault of Hezbollah, with Defense Minister Yisrael Katz saying over 200 Hezbollah militants were killed on Wednesday, with 1,400 Hezbollah militants killed since the start of operations.

Bloomberg's Tyler Kendall gives us more details on the ongoing situation with Lebanon.

That's Bloomberg's Tyler Kendall.

You can hear more of the conversation on the Bloomberg Balance of Power podcast.

The White House says the U.S.

will hold direct talks with Iran and Islamabad Pakistan starting on Saturday, with Vice President J.D.

Vance expected to lead the American delegation.

Both sides so far have appeared to have paused strikes across the region after President Trump's announcement of a truce after nearly six weeks of fighting.

The situation in the Strait of Hormuz is little changed, even as a handful of Chinese vessels lined up to exit the Gulf.

Iran said earlier that any ships wanting to pass through will need army approval.