NPR News: 07-13-2026 12PM EDT

Speaker 10:00

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Lakshmi Singh· Host0:15

Live from NPR News, I'm Lakshmi Singh. Republican South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster is expected to soon announce who he's chosen to serve the rest of Senator Lindsey Graham's term through early January. Graham died unexpectedly Saturday night from what officials say was likely a tear in his aorta. He was seventy-one. President Trump posted on Truth Social this morning that he recommends McMaster pick Graham's sister, Darleen Graham Nordone, to serve as interim senator. Lindsey Graham adopted his younger sister after their parents both died. A special Republican primary will be held in August in South Carolina to select a candidate to then run for the seat permanently in November. As the US and Iran exchanged fire for a third straight weekend, President Trump was threatening to block Iran's ships from moving through a major oil shipping route, the Strait of Hormuz. NPR's Hadiel Al-Shalchi has the latest.

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In a post online, President Trump said that the US would be, quote, "reinstating a blockade on Iranian ships or customers from entering or leaving the Strait of Hormuz." He said that the US will now be known as, quote, "The Guardian of the Hormuz Strait." Trump said that other countries will be able to move through the waterway, but that the US would