A U.S. congressional delegation headed by Speaker of the House have visited Armenia, where a cease-fire has held for three days after an outburst of fighting with neighboring Azerbaijan.
The USS Antietam and USS Chancellorsville are conducting a routine transit, the U.S. 7th Fleet said. It comes at a time when tensions have kept the waterway particularly busy.
While Washington and Seoul describe their exercises as defensive, North Korea portrays them as invasion rehearsals and has used them to justify its nuclear weapons and missiles development.
Missteps and delays have hampered the U.S. effort to vaccinate people against monkeypox. Now state health officials and community members are trying to adapt to a controversial "dose sparing" plan.
The visit comes less than two weeks after U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan, which prompted days of threatening military exercises by China.
The ruling came nearly six months after Griner was detained. Russia has indicated that any potential deal or prisoner swap to secure her release would have to wait until after a verdict in her case.
Pelosi's trip has heightened U.S.-China tensions more than visits by other members of Congress because of her high-level position as leader of the House of Representatives.