Dan Schwartzman

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saying Thursday that the negotiations will be focused on disarming Hezbollah.

Lebanese officials have said they want a temporary ceasefire before talks would start.

That's according to mediators.

Netanyahu, though, said Thursday that there is no ceasefire in Lebanon, but Israel would limit attacks after Netanyahu was asked by President Trump to scale back his assault as not to damage talks between the U.S.

and Iran.

That's according to people familiar with the matter.

President Trump has promised his staff that he will give top administration officials pardons before he leaves office.

That's according to a report in The Wall Street Journal.

The report goes on to say that Trump has been heard vowing mass pardons.

To date, Trump has pardoned around 1,600 people just in this term.

Several Asian countries, including India and the Philippines, are pushing the U.S.

Treasury Department to renew a sanctions waiver allowing them to purchase Russian crude.

The current waiver is set to expire on April 11th.

The waivers have prompted criticism from European allies who want to limit financial benefits to Russian President Vladimir Putin in a bid to end the war in Ukraine.

The consumer price index rose 0.9 percent from February, the most in nearly four years, in large part due to the sharp increase in gas prices tied to the conflict in the Middle East.

Bond traders held on to wagers that the Fed will lower interest rates once this year on the data showing inflation quickened in March.

Interest rate swaps show traders pricing in a roughly one in four chance of a quarter point rate cut this year, slightly lower than before the data.

Meanwhile, U.S.

consumer sentiment fell to a record low due to increasing worries about mounting inflation caused by the Iran war.

Consumers expect prices to rise at an annual rate of 4.8% over the next year and see costs rising at an annual rate of 3.4% over the next 5 to 10 years.