Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Libby Casey.
The sister of the late Senator Lindsey Graham will finish his term in the U.S. Senate. Darlene Graham was appointed this afternoon by South Carolina's governor. She will fill the seat until January. Lindsey Graham died at the age of 71 Saturday following a brief and sudden illness according to a statement released by his office.
In accepting the interim post, Darlene Graham called it a privilege to finish some of her brother's work.
“I think this is what Lindsey would have wanted and I plan to honor him in this way.”
Now to Lindsey, I miss you more than I can even put into words, but I'm going to do this. I got it. Lindsey Graham helped raise Darlene, who was nine years his junior after their parents died when she was a child.
President Trump and South Carolina's other Senator Republican Tim Scott had thrown their support behind Darlene Graham. The seat is up for election this year. Lindsey Graham had been campaigning for a fifth term. There will now be a special primary election in August to replace him on the ballot.
Darlene Graham did not say if she intends to run for a full Senate term. The federal government is running a bigger deficit this year than it did last. NPR's Scott Horsey reports on the latest redding tally from the Treasury Department. Federal tax collections are up this year, but federal spending is growing even faster.
“Nine months into the fiscal year, the government's more than $1.3 trillion in the red.”
Just paying interest on the government's accumulated debt has cost more than a trillion dollars in the last nine months. That's more than the government spends on almost any other single program with the exception of social security. Tariff Revenue is declined since the Supreme Court struck down the President's most sweeping
import taxes. The administration's working to impose new tariffs in the meantime, the latest
report from the Treasury Department shows the government has paid more than $80 billion
in refunds for tariffs that were collected illegally. Scott Horsey and Pianu is Washington. The Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool is being drained again, as NPR's Rachel Treesman reports, the Trump administration is using the same companies that repaired it months ago. The reflecting pool was already drained once this spring when it was resurfaced a color
that President Trump called American flag blue, but shortly after it was refilled in early June, algae blooms turn the water a murky green. Around the same time, pieces of that blue lining started to peel off, which the Trump administration blames on vandalism. It was waiting to repair the pool until after the 4th of July fireworks, but has not provided
a timeline. Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgham told CNN last week it would use the same company as before, because, quote, "they did a fantastic job. Rachel Treesman and PR news." Stocks fell today after a new escalation in U.S. Iran tensions and arrives in oil prices
as fueling inflation concerns. This is NPR News in Washington. European countries and Japan have agreed to contribute about $1 billion to a new fund to help free-build water and health systems in Gaza, and PR's Emily Fang reports. Much of Gaza's buildings are destroyed and the United Nations says about 70% of Gaza's
or about 1.7 million people are internally displaced to many living in makeshift tense. Rebuilding has been slowed down by ongoing Israeli strikes and, because Israel restricts what can go into Gaza, including heavy machinery and construction materials.
The UN has requested $2.8 billion to address critical needs only in Gaza.
Meanwhile, delegations from Qatar, Turkey, Hamas, and the U.S. led board of peace are in their second date as meetings in Egypt. They're trying to hash out some of the more contentious points of an Israel Hamas peace plan, including mechanisms for Hamas to disarm. Emily Fang and PR News, Tel Aviv.
Much of the U.S. has another round of swell during heat in store this week, the National Weather Service predicts that more than 90 temperature records across the U.S. will be tied or broken through Wednesday. Most of those will be overnight heat records, health experts say overnight temperatures that fail to cool down are even more dangerous than when daytime temperatures sore.
The European Union move closer today to restricting children from accessing social media, especially EU panel recommended barring access for kids under 13, unless they're supervised by a parent or teacher, it also recommended that teens should only be able to access social media platforms that have safety features. This is NPR News in Washington.
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