Sen. Darline Graham drew scrutiny in a South Carolina GOP Senate runoff debate after saying she was “not that informed on national security” when asked about Taiwan and the South China Sea. She and Rep. Ralph Norman will face off in the Aug. 25 runoff for the Republican nomination.
News Mash
Trump said he expects to meet Kim Jong Un this year, though neither the White House nor Pyongyang has confirmed plans. His comments followed a reduction in U.S. participation in joint military drills with South Korea.
President Trump said he will nominate White House health policy aide Dr. Heidi Overton to lead the FDA. If confirmed, she would take over amid disputes over vaccines, abortion medication, vaping policy and food safety.
Israel has issued tenders for 1,234 homes in the E1 area of the occupied West Bank, reviving a settlement plan long condemned internationally. Palestinians and Israeli rights groups say the project would sever the West Bank and isolate East Jerusalem.
Israel’s military has acknowledged for the first time that its troops fired at the car carrying five-year-old Hind Rajab before she was found dead with six relatives in Gaza. The IDF said it has opened a criminal investigation into her killing and into the deaths of 15 Palestinians, including medics, in Rafah in 2025.
The Treasury Department said it will at least double government debt buybacks, sending long-term Treasury yields lower after a sharp selloff. Analysts said the move may ease pressure in the short term but does not resolve concerns over deficits, inflation and Federal Reserve policy.
Moderna and Merck said an experimental personalized mRNA vaccine combined with Keytruda helped keep high-risk melanoma from returning or spreading in a late-stage trial. The companies have not yet published the full data and plan to present it at a medical meeting and share it with regulators.
German prosecutors say a Ukrainian scuba diver arrested in Croatia helped plant explosives on the Nord Stream pipelines in 2022. He is the second Ukrainian suspect detained in the German investigation into the blasts near Bornholm.