NPR News: 07-12-2026 9AM EDT

Senator Lindsey Graham died last night from a brief and sudden illness, two days after his 71st birthday and one day after he was in Ukraine meeting with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The South Carolina Republican was a four-term senator. Zelenskyy wrote on social media that Ukraine had lost a powerful advocate and called Graham a true defender of freedom. Graham had visited Ukraine ten times since Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, and on Friday he told reporters in Kyiv that the White House was ready to support new sanctions, saying, “We have a magic moment in time here. In the coming months, if we do this right, we can end this war.”

U.S. strikes Iran after Strait of Hormuz attack

The United States struck more than a hundred targets in Iran early today, according to U.S. Central Command. The strikes hit missile and drone launch sites, ammunition dumps, and communication equipment. Central Command said the attacks were meant to degrade Iran’s ability to attack civilian mariners and commercial vessels moving through the Strait of Hormuz. The U.S. action followed an Iranian strike on a container ship in the strait that set the vessel on fire and forced its crew to abandon ship.