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How did protecting the safe passage of other countries' ships in the Red Sea become a job for the U.S. military? It goes back to an idea called Freedom of the Seas, an idea that started out as an abstract pipe dream in the early 1600s.

The U.S. government has been launching missiles at Houthi rebels. The Houthis claim they are taking physical action in solidarity with the Palestinians. The Biden administration has gone to great pains to say the strikes against the Houthis have nothing to do with the Israel-Gaza war.

Houthi militants have targeted ships in the Red Sea, a crucial global trade route. Vivian Nereim, the Gulf bureau chief for The Times, explains what cause is served by the Houthis' campaign.

Pentagon says Houthi rebels from Yemen attacked an American naval destroyer and three commercial ships in the Red Sea. Justice Department accuses former U.S. ambassador Victor Manuel Rocha of working as a "clandestine agent" on behalf of Cuba. South Africa marks the 10th anniversary of the death of Nelson Mandela.