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What recent events escalated tensions in the Strait of Hormuz?
Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Windsor Johnston. Iran attacked at least three ships near the Strait of Hormuz just hours after President Trump said he would extend a ceasefire for an indefinite period of time. NPR's Jackie Northam reports tensions are once again increasing in the waterway, which carries 20% of the world's crude oil.
Iran says its Revolutionary Guard Corps opened fire from a gunboat on three commercial vessels as they were about to transit the Strait of Hormuz. One of them sustained heavy damage. Two of the vessels were moved into Iranian waters. It's unclear what will happen with them.
The escalating tension follows President Trump's ceasefire extension in the hopes that negotiations between the two sides will resume. But Tehran says a ceasefire is meaningless unless the U.S. blockade in the Strait of Hormuz is lifted. The U.S. has prevented dozens of ships from accessing Iranian ports. Iran sees the blockade as an act of war. Jackie Northam, NPR News.
President Trump is falsely claiming yesterday's election in Virginia was rigged. Voters approved a redistricting measure aimed at countering maps favoring congressional Republicans. NPR's Deepa Shivaram reports the closely decided vote could lead to more Democratic-leaning districts ahead of the midterms.
Trump posted on social media blaming the results of the election on mail-in ballots, which he claims, without any evidence, tilted the results of the election. Trump has often framed mail-in ballots as a fraudulent part of the election process and claims that the U.S. is the only country that uses mail ballots, neither of which is true.
Trump accused the language of the Virginia referendum of being, quote, deceptive. He said he is, quote, an extraordinarily brilliant person, and even he did not understand the referendum. The president suggested that the courts could get involved in the results of the election. Virginia's Supreme Court was already set to consider challenges to the redistricting efforts.
Deepa Shivaram, NPR News, the White House.
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. testified during back-to-back hearings on Capitol Hill today. Republican Senator Bill Cassidy, a physician, questioned Kennedy about the independence of the next director of the CDC. Cassidy pressed Kennedy on whether a new director would be able to make decisions free from political influence.
Will the new director, whoever she is, have the right to make decisions independently of those political appointees and or replace them or otherwise reassign them so they cannot continue to actively undermine trust in immunizations? Your characterization of the political appointees is wrong. And the CDC director has that power.
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