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Chapter 1: What recent military actions are taking place in the Strait of Hormuz?
Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Corva Coleman. The U.S. military is about to start blockading the Strait of Hormuz. President Trump announced the blockade after peace talks between the U.S. and Iran failed to reach an agreement over the weekend.
French President Emmanuel Macron says his country and Britain are organizing a conference to help find ways to restore navigation through the strait. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer says the U.K. will not join President Trump's blockade of the Strait. And Piers Fatima al-Kassab reports Starmer says his focus is on keeping the waterway open.
After President Trump said the U.K.
Chapter 2: How is the U.K. responding to President Trump's blockade?
and a couple of other countries are sending minesweepers to the Strait of Hormuz, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Britain will not be supporting the U.S. 's blockade. Speaking to BBC Radio, he said he would not go into operational matters, but that the UK's efforts would be aimed at reopening the strait.
All of the marshalling, diplomatically, politically, and capability, we do have minesweeping capability, that's all focused, from our point of view, on getting the straits fully open.
He said that was the only way to get energy bills down for people in the UK, who he said were paying the price of the war in Iran. Fatima al-Kassab, NPR News, London.
President Trump has launched an extraordinary verbal attack on Pope Leo. Writing online, Trump said that Leo was weak on crime and terrible on foreign policy. Trump also told reporters he wasn't a fan of the pontiff. Pope Leo has arrived in Algeria for the start of a 10-day trip to Africa.
The pope said he was not afraid of the Trump administration or about speaking the message of the Christian gospel.
I do not look at my role as being a political politician. Don't want to get into a debate with him. I don't think that the message of the gospel is meant to be abused in the way that some people are doing.
Trump wrote the only reason Leo became pope was because Leo is an American. Trump said if he hadn't won the presidency, Leo would never have become pope. Tax returns are due this Wednesday. NPR's Stephen Passaha reports you're likely to get a bigger refund this year due to last year's tax cuts.
So far, the average refund is about 11% higher than this time last year, about $350 more according to data from the IRS. Michael Pierce with Oxford Economics expects that average will go up. That's because higher income filers typically procrastinate on filing and seem to be benefiting more from the new tax changes.
But our forecast is that the average refund will end up being something like 20% bigger this time around, so something like $3,800 per household. While the deadline to file is Wednesday, you can request an extension and move the deadline until October 15th. But you should still pay any taxes you think you'll owe Wednesday to avoid having to pay penalties. Stephen Basaha, NPR News.
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