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Why this matters:

• The high-profile indictment comes as bipartisan lawmakers are considering legislation to ban prediction markets from allowing bets on war, assassinations or terrorist attacks.  
  
  

• Van Dyke 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. A telephone number listed for Van Dyke in public records was not in service. There was not yet an attorney listed for him in court documents.

RELATED COVERAGE ➤

• Trump threats against Iran are a boon for prediction markets, including some backed by his son

POLITICS

‘Two ways of calculating’: Trump defends his mathematically impossible calculations on drug prices

During a Thursday event announcing a deal with drugmaker Regeneron to lower the cost of its pharmaceutical products, Trump defended his past claims that prices on prescription medications had been cut by well over 100% — something that is mathematically impossible without manufacturers dropping prices to zero and then presumably paying consumers to use their product. Read more.

Why this matters:

• It was one of several times Trump used his own — but incorrect — math during the drug pricing event. He claimed the 7 1/2-week-and-still-going Iran war actually fell within the four- to six-week timeline he predicted early on. The president also brought up the crowd size for his 2017 inauguration — a subject that led onetime top Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway to unwittingly make the phrase “alternative facts” famous.

RELATED COVERAGE ➤

• Details of Trump’s drug prices deal with Regeneron
  
  
• FACT FOCUS: RFK Jr. misleads on Medicaid cuts
  
  
• Reclassifying marijuana as a less dangerous drug might only be the first step for Trump 
  
  
• Trump’s ‘gold card’ visa starting at $1 million granted to just 1 person so far, White House says
  
  
• Republican proposes giving Democratic-leaning part of Virginia back to DC after redistricting vote
  
  
• Trump considers a taxpayer takeover of Spirit Airlines and would aim to resell carrier 
  
  
• Civil rights groups condemn Southern Poverty Law Center’s indictment and prepare for legal fights
  
  
• Trump administration vows crackdown on Chinese companies ‘exploiting’ AI models made in US 
  
  
• Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool gets a blue coating as Trump tackles renovation project

WORLD NEWS

Trump says Israel and Lebanon agree to extend ceasefire by 3 weeks

President Donald Trump said Israel and Lebanon have agreed to extend a ceasefire between Israel and the Hezbollah militant group by three weeks after talks at the White House on Thursday. The initial 10-day ceasefire had been due to expire Monday. Read more.

Why this matters:

• These were the first direct diplomatic talks in decades between Israel and Lebanon, which have officially been at war since 1948. Trump said the meeting between the Israeli and Lebanese ambassadors to the United States 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.