U.S. forces are pressing ahead with an effort to guide commercial ships through the Strait of Hormuz. So far only two ships, both of them American-flagged merchant vessels, are known to have passed through. Central Command said its effort to establish a safety corridor involves guided-missile destroyers, more than 100 aircraft and 15,000 service members. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said U.S. forces prefer a peaceful effort to “guide” the more than 22,500 mariners stuck on more than 1,550 vessels out of the Persian Gulf. But they're ready if needs change. Iran denounced the move as a ceasefire violation. Hegseth said the ceasefire remains in effect.

The Washington Post won the Pulitzer Prize for public service for scrutinizing the Trump administration’s sweeping, choppy cuts and changes to federal agencies. The Associated Press won the 2026 Pulitzer Prize for international reporting for an investigation into mass surveillance tools and their impact in China. Reuters won the award Monday for reporting on U.S. President Donald Trump’s use of executive power. Spanning three years, thousands of pages of documents and numerous interviews, the AP project found that American companies help lay the foundations of the Chinese government’s system for monitoring and policing its citizens.  Reuters’ work looked at how Trump has used the federal government to expand presidential authority and to try to punish his foes.

Minnesota Star Tribune wins Pulitzer Prize for breaking news reporting for coverage of shooting at back-to-school Mass.

The ceasefire in the Iran war faces its most critical moment yet as the United States begins efforts to open the Strait of Hormuz. On Monday, the U.S. launched "Project Freedom" to guide ships through the strait, calling it a humanitarian effort. Iran views this as a violation of the ceasefire. The U.S. says two U.S.-flagged ships have safely transited, but Iran warns that any foreign military force in the strait will be targeted. Already, the United Arab Emirates says it has come under attack for the first time since the early April ceasefire, and a British military monitor says two cargo vessels are ablaze.

There's long been debate over the intentions of America's founders about the role of religion. That's been turbocharged with the approaching 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence on July 4. Some Christian activists are redoubling claims that the U.S. had a Christian founding. But scholars note there's no established religion in the Constitution and some of the most influential founders weren't Christian. But most also weren't deists or anti-religious skeptics. The founders believed in prayer and that God was helping the revolutionary cause. Scholars say they created a sort of free market in which American religion has thrived to this day.

There’s long been debate over the intentions of America’s founders about the role of religion. That’s been turbocharged with the approaching 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence on July Fourth. Some Christian activists are redoubling claims that the United States had a Christian founding. But scholars note that there’s no established religion in the Constitution and some of the most influential founders weren't Christian. But most of them also weren’t deists or anti-religious skeptics. The founders believed in prayer and that God was helping the revolutionary cause. Scholars say they created a sort of free market in which American religion has thrived to this day.