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started today at Vantor.com. It's Friday, the 16th of January. Welcome to the PDB afternoon bulletin. I'm Mike Baker,

your eyes and ears on the world stage. All right, let's get briefed. First up, the U.S. moves a carrier strike group toward the Middle East, signaling that while

rhetoric with Iran may be cooling, Washington is keeping military options open.

Later in the show, the Gaza ceasefire enters phase two, at least on paper.

President Trump backs a new transitional governing plan,

but serious questions, of course, remain about whether Hamas will ever agree to disarm.

And, of course, phase two success depends on Hamas disarming. But first, today's afternoon

spotlight. We briefly mentioned this development in this morning's PDB, but it does

deserve a closer look. The U.S. is moving a carrier strike group toward the Middle East, a clear

signal that while rhetoric between Washington and Tehran may be cooling, at least supposedly,

President Trump is keeping his options open and maintaining military pressure.

A carrier strike group, of course, is one of the most powerful and flexible military tools the

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