Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Rylan Barton.
American officials say the Navy helped two U.S. flagged commercial ships pass through
“the Strait of Hormuz today, and PR's Greg Myri reports.”
The U.S. military central command said Navy destroyers transit at the Strait of Hormuz, enter actively assisting an effort to restore commercial shipping.
As a first step, the U.S. forces helped two U.S. flagged merchant ships make it through
the Strait. President Trump said Sunday the U.S. would support ships trapped in the Gulf, but did not specify what action the U.S. would take. However, the Iranian state media, quoted a top military official, is saying that Iran would target oil tankers and other commercial ships that do not coordinate with Iran before passing
through the Strait. The dueling U.S. and Iranian blockades have effectively shut down the Strait. Greg Myri, NPR News, Washington. Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis has signed a new congressional map that could help the GOP pick up four more seats in Congress.
Democrats and advocacy groups have sued to block it.
“It's part of President Trump's nationwide push for Republican-led states to draw new GOP-friendly”
maps ahead of this year's midterm elections.
Democratic-led states have been countering with their own maps. The Supreme Court has put a one-week hold to a ruling that banned the abortion-pilt myth of pristone from being prescribed through telehealth. Last week, a lower court said the bill must be prescribed only in-person, reversing a Biden era rule that allowed it to be prescribed online or over the phone and sent through
the mail. That sent providers scrambling as NPR Selina Simmons' Duffin reports. Two drug makers appealed to the Supreme Court right away to put a hold on this ruling. They argued that it unleashed regulatory chaos, but there were two days of limbo where we heard nothing from the Supreme Court.
Doctors and pharmacists and patients who were expecting to use telemedicine Miffapristone
over the weekend were left scrambling.
When it comes to pregnancies, of course, days and hours matter. NPR Selina Simmons' Duffin reporting, a new bill in Congress aims to stop companies from profiting off of military disability payments and PR's Kaylee Fox Shannon reports. It's a notoriously difficult process for veterans to claim disability benefits with the VA. Beyond profits, help that's to do it for free, but a massive industry has emerged that charges
huge fees. Former Marine and Rika Miranda Cardinis got a bill for $12,000. "There's a don't be haunting me for snow. I said, and I don't feel that it's right for me to pay you what you're claiming that I need the pay."
A new bipartisan bill in Congress aims to stop these companies from using Robo Dialers to flood the VA benefits hotline. That's after an NPR investigation found that so-called "claim sharks" use vet's personal information to access VA systems, often, without their knowledge. Kaylee Fox Shannon and PR News in Washington.
And you're listening to NPR News. FEMA has begun offering new jobs to disaster workers whose contracts were not renewed in January. The move reverses a controversial decision that led to a lawsuit by labor unions, scientific groups and local governments, the decision follows months of uncertainty over the future of FEMA's disaster workers who make up roughly half the agency's workforce.
Instructors at a University of Wisconsin are using a new augmented reality tool to let livestock producers see the world through a cow's eyes as harvest public media's hope current reports. Cow's have a much wider field of vision than humans, and it takes longer for their eyes to adjust to changes in light, like going from a dark trailer to a bright barnyard. Farmers and staff at meet plants can see these differences firsthand through the new augmented
reality tool at the University of Wisconsin River Falls.
“Program Manager Ashland Kirk says "understanding a cow's perspective is essential to creating”
a low stress environment." "You're trying to imagine how they would experience it, but you don't know unless you see it like they would." The tool was created by a German software company, and it could help major food companies respond to growing consumer attention on animal welfare.
For NPR News, I'm Hope Kerwin in River Falls, Wisconsin. The man who helped create the Roomba vacuum is now betting that you might one day replace your beloved dog or cat with a plush robot that follows you around your home and adapts to your daily habits. The four-legged prototype of the artificial pet is called a familiar.
It's about the size of a bulldog with dough-like eyes and touch-sensitive fake fur. You're listening to NPR News from Washington. When Congress eliminated funding for a public media last year, we saw a groundswell of support for NPR. America bears from planet money, and it is not too late to be part of this movement.
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