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What recent events have escalated tensions in the Middle East?
Live from NPR News in New York City, I'm Dua Halisa Kautel. Tensions are again escalating in the Middle East, as Israel says it struck military targets in western and central Iran early Monday morning local time. On Sunday morning, Iran fired ballistic missiles at Israel, the first such attack since a Middle East ceasefire was declared two months ago.
NPR's Greg Myrie reports this marks a major breach in what was already a shaky truce.
The Iranian missiles targeted northern Israel, where warning sirens rang out Sunday night. The Israeli military said shortly afterward it had shot down all the incoming missiles. Falling debris ignited brush fires, but no damage or injuries were reported. Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps said it targeted an Israeli air base outside the city of Haifa.
Iran warned earlier it might act due to ongoing Israeli attacks against Hezbollah. The Lebanese militant group closely allied with Iran. Israel's military spokesman said Iran had made a, quote, grave mistake. The latest fighting further complicates the already difficult effort to work out an end to the war in Iran. Greg Myhre, NPR News, Tel Aviv.
Voters in California cast their primary ballots this past Tuesday, but the results are still not in. NPR's Tamara Keith says a lot of Democrats waited until the last minute to turn in their ballots, and Republicans voted early, so the ballots counted first skewed far more Republican than those that are still being counted now.
California has this top two primary system, so candidates, regardless of party, run in the same primary system. In the governor's race, former Democratic congressman and HHS secretary Javier Becerra has secured a spot on the November ballot. We learned that. But the second spot is still up in the air. Former Fox News host Steve Hilton is currently in second place with ballots still being counted.
And Tom Steyer, the billionaire progressive populist, is in a close third. We're also waiting on results in the L.A. mayor's race and quite a few congressional contests.
NPR's senior political correspondent Tamara Keith. Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky met with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz in London. NPR's Polina Litvinova reports they discussed the situation on the battlefield and Europe's role in peace talks.
According to Zelensky, Russia has been losing more than 30,000 soldiers, including killed and wounded, for five months in a row. Russia is not winning on the battlefield, he wrote on social media. But Kyiv still needs allies' help to protect its skies from Russian ballistic missiles. Strengthening Ukrainian air defense was one of the main topics during the talks. Another one was diplomacy.
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