Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Kristen Wright.
Former Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says he's still recovering from a fall that led to a week's long hospitalization.
“As NPR's Claudia Grisales reports, it's the first update from the Kentucky Republican since persistent rumor surfaced about his well-being.”
McConnell said he was hospitalized for several weeks after falling from a post-polio condition and sustaining minor injuries. Later, developed pneumonia. The 84-year-old city was able to move from hospital care to a rehabilitation center recently to continue to build his strength until his doctors release him to return to work in the Senate. McConnell said he hopes that the return comes as soon as possible. And in the meantime, he is keeping in close touch with his legislative team and colleagues.
He set to finish out the remainder of his last term in office, which ends in January. Claudia, do you sell this? And beer news. longtime Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina died over the weekend. His office said in a statement he died Saturday night after a brief and sudden illness, preliminary findings from Washington's medical examiner showed the cause of death as a tear in his eorda.
Graham was elected to the Senate in 2002 after serving in the house.
It was a close ally of President Trump. Lindsey Graham was 71. Oil prices opened the week higher as a tax between the U.S. and Iran escalate in the Middle East. The Pentagon says U.S. forces launched a new wave of strikes. The BBC's Barbara Plet Usher has more.
The battle over control of the state of Hormuz has stalled movement towards ending the wider conflict. Iran pledged to open the state according to the terms of its interim deal with Washington. But it has been firing on commercial vessels. It says are using an unauthorized route. The U.S. military says its latest round of strikes has continued to degrade Iran's ability to attack international shipping.
And it insists that traffic is still able to flow through the straight.
Attempts by mediators to resolve the dispute at the weekend failed.
“And it's clear how important control of the straight is to Iran.”
More important than dozens of atomic bombs senior Iranian officials have said. A housing affordability bill is now law without President Trump's signature. Congress passed the bill with overwhelming bipartisan support last month. The president had backed it, but then changed his mind and said he wouldn't sign it. Unless lawmakers passed a strict voter ID bill.
Trump didn't veto the housing bill. He just didn't sign it. So it became law after 10 days. The legislation is supposed to make it easier to build affordable housing. The semi-final teams are set in the men's World Cup tournament.
The final four are Argentina, England, France and Spain. France and Spain will play tomorrow. An England will take on defending champion Argentina on Wednesday. This is NPR News.
“The World Cup has led to the strongest consumer spending in June over the last four years in the U.S.”
That's according to credit and debit card spending data from Bank of America. NPR Stephen Bassaha says online sales also led to a boost. Consumer spending rose 6.3% in June from a year earlier. Part of that is because online sales like Amazon's prime day were a month earlier than last year. And then there's the World Cup.
Spending at restaurants and bars was up especially in host cities. And even beyond these one-off events, the Bank of America Institute's senior economist, David Tensley, says consumers are firing on all cylinders. That's right. I mean, we've had good spending growth in the economy really since the start of the year. But that spending could slow down after the World Cup.
Part of that is because despite wage growth being strong, consumer spending is rising faster than people's earnings. Stephen Bassaha and PR News. A massive fire has killed at least 27 people in Thailand. The fire tore through a pub in Bangkok overnight.
Silence Prime Minister says a musician who was performing saw smoke was coming from a circuit breaker near the stage before the power went out. And he heard an explosion. Officials are looking into whether the pubs and emergency exits were blocked and trying to figure out what started the fire. Actor Sam Neal has died. Neal was known for his roles in Jurassic Park and the piano. As statement said he died today, it's Cindy.
Didn't mention a cause of death. The actor from New Zealand announced he had a rare form of lymphoma in 2023. Sam Neal was 78. I'm Christian Wright and this is NPR News from Washington. Support free. Every episode of it's been a minute.
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