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Chapter 1: What recent military actions have occurred in the Strait of Hormuz?
Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Dan Roman. Two U.S. Navy warships began removing Iranian mines from the Iranian-block Strait of Hormuz, according to U.S. Central Command. NPR's Franco Ordonez reports.
Two U.S. Navy guided missile destroyers passed through the Strait of Hormuz today. Now, this would mark the first transit of American warships since the start of the war, you know, which began six weeks ago. The U.S. says this is the start of a process of reopening the strait to commercial shipping.
And again, it comes as American and Iranian teams are meeting in Pakistan for peace talks led by the vice president, Vance. You know, they kicked off this morning between the U.S., Iran and Pakistan, which, of course, is serving as host and intermediary for the talks.
Additionally, the U.S. plans to deploy underwater drones to assist in the clearance effort in the coming days. Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky publicly confirmed that Ukrainian teams sent to several Gulf countries have helped take down Iranian attack drones. NPR's Joanna Kasisis reports from Kyiv.
Zelenskyy said he had seen video footage from the Gulf of Ukrainian weapons taking down Iranian Shahed drones, which have struck several sites, including U.S. bases in the Middle East, over the last month. He did not say in which Gulf countries the Ukrainian team shot down these drones. citing security reasons.
In the last couple of weeks, Zelensky has visited the region and signed defense deals with Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates. Russia has been using Shahid drones to strike Ukrainian cities nearly every night, so Ukraine has developed ways to destroy them. This includes electronic jamming, as well as small, cheap interceptor drones that blow up Shahids.
Joanna Kekises, NPR News, Kyiv.
Democratic leaders are calling for Congressman Eric Smallwell to end his bid for the governor of California, following allegations made by a former staffer that he sexually assaulted her. NPR has not independently verified the allegations. NPR's Elena Moore reports.
Smallwell is denying the sexual assault allegations, saying in a video posted online Friday that they were absolutely false. But he also said this.
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Chapter 2: How is Ukraine responding to Iranian drone threats?
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