Lindsey Graham, key ally of Donald Trump, dies after sudden illness aged 71

Republican served in Senate since 2003 and was sharp Trump critic before becoming one of his most loyal backers

Lindsey Graham, a longtime US senator and key ally of Donald Trump, has died from a sudden illness, his office said on Sunday. He had just turned 71.

Graham’s abrupt death will send shock waves through Washington and the Republican party. He had served in the Senate since 2003, representing South Carolina, and was running for re-election in November.

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National guard pilots return to duty after 4 July low-level beach flyover in South Carolina

Helicopter pilots were suspended from duty after a low-level stunt over beachgoers during holiday aviation show

Eight South Carolina national guard helicopter pilots have been returned to flying duties following a suspension over a low-flying sweep over beachgoers as part of a Fourth of July event honoring service members.

“Effective immediately, the suspension of all involved South Carolina pilots has been lifted,” the Pentagon spokesperson, Sean Parnell, wrote on Friday morning on social media. “Carry on Patriots.”

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Death by firing squad: archaic method on the rise in US as Idaho opens new execution chamber

Supporters of the method say it’s foolproof – but forensic experts say it can be ‘excruciating’ amid allegations it’s been intentionally botched

The tangled path of US capital punishment takes a new turn on Wednesday as Idaho becomes the first state to adopt the firing squad as its primary form of execution, embracing the brutal killing technique even as concerns grow that it can inflict excruciating pain and suffering.

The state’s department of corrections (IDOC) says it has met its deadline, set by the legislature, to have its death chamber at a maximum security prison south of Boise retrofitted and open for business by 1 July. It has spent more than $1m in the venture, including $24,000 on a rack of AR-style, .308-caliber, scoped rifles that will be wielded by volunteer marksmen.

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Mamdani-backed candidates sweep Democratic primaries in New York City

JFK’s grandson Jack Schlossberg fails to advance in election to replace Jerry Nadler in Manhattan district

Zohran Mamdani’s growing influence over the Democratic party was on show in New York City on Tuesday as three congressional candidates endorsed by New York’s democratic socialist mayor won closely watched primaries, while voters in Maryland, Utah and South Carolina cast ballots in primaries and runoffs.

Brad Lander, the former New York City comptroller who also ran for mayor last year before endorsing Mamdani, won his race comfortably, defeating the Democratic representative Dan Goldman.

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Admiral fired in Hegseth purge wins Democratic primary in South Carolina

Nancy Lacore will spearhead effort to flip Republican House seat in November’s midterm elections

A three-star navy rear-admiral fired by Pete Hegseth last year in the defense secretary’s purge of senior US military officials has won the Democratic primary in a closely watched congressional race.

Nancy Lacore secured the party’s nomination for the US House of Representatives in South Carolina’s first congressional district on Tuesday after defeating Mac Deford, a US Coast Guard veteran, in a runoff.

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Gullah Geechee people set out to keep their family land. Unclear titles and surging taxes are pushing them out

Property disputes, predatory developers and surging sea levels are putting the historic Black community at risk

On Arthur Champen’s half-acre property in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, a thicket of southern live oaks, palmettos and pine trees muffle the roar of cars on nearby highway 278. His haint blue house, lightened by the sun, sits on stilts to protect it from flooding that comes with the high tide. During the spring, it is common for the marshland adjacent to his land to turn into a muddy soup. “Other than the cars,” Champen, 81, said, “you hear how peaceful it is?”

About a decade ago, Champen’s family nearly lost the grassy marshland next door that their family bought several generations ago.

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South Carolina bar shooting leaves four people dead and 20 injured, officials say

Mass shooting occurred early on Sunday at Willie’s Bar and Grill on idyllic St Helena island

A mass shooting at a crowded bar on an idyllic South Carolina island has left four people dead and at least 20 injured, officials say.

The shooting occurred early Sunday at Willie’s Bar and Grill on St Helena island, officials said. A large crowd was at the scene when sheriff’s deputies arrived and found several people suffering from gunshot wounds.

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New Jersey declares state of emergency as nor’easter approaches

Airports post delays and cancellations in advance of anticipated coastal flooding and strong winds

A nor’easter churned its way up the east coast on Sunday, with New Jersey declaring a state of emergency and some airports posting delays and cancellations in advance of anticipated coastal flooding and strong winds, as another storm system struck farther south with heavy rain and flooding.

“The greatest effects are going to be the coastal flooding potential, especially for areas from north-eastern North Carolina northward to much of the New Jersey coast,” said meteorologist Bob Oravec with the National Weather Service in College Park, Maryland.

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Tropical Storm Imelda forming and expected to become hurricane

Forecast track could take storm, which caused disruption in Bahamas and Cuba, away from US east coast

Tropical Storm Imelda formed on Sunday and was expected to become a hurricane on a forecast track that could take it away from the US east coast in the coming days. The storm was causing disruption in the Bahamas and Cuba on Sunday, and a tropical storm watch was posted in parts of Florida.

Meanwhile, Hurricane Humberto weakened very slightly but remained a strong category 4 storm in the Atlantic, threatening Bermuda.

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Tropical Storm Imelda forming and expected to become hurricane

Forecast track could take storm, which caused disruption in Bahamas and Cuba, away from US east coast

Tropical Storm Imelda formed on Sunday and was expected to become a hurricane on a forecast track that could take it away from the US east coast in the coming days. The storm was causing disruption in the Bahamas and Cuba on Sunday, and a tropical storm watch was posted in parts of Florida.

Meanwhile, Hurricane Humberto weakened very slightly but remained a strong category 4 storm in the Atlantic, threatening Bermuda.

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Three dead in Arizona flooding as the Carolinas brace for possible hurricane

Flooding overwhelms town of Globe as North Carolina governor declares an emergency ahead of storm

At least three people died and others were believed missing after flooding in a rural community in Arizona, officials said on Saturday.

Meanwhile, in South Carolina, crews spent Saturday making preparations for an unnamed weather system that is forecast to approach that state’s coast as a hurricane early next week.

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Delta Air Lines sued over man’s use of lost iPad to record explicit videos

A South Carolina family had forgotten the device on a trip and later found the clips uploaded to their cloud account

A Delta Air Lines employee stole a computer tablet left behind on a plane by a South Carolina child, then used it to record sexually explicit videos of himself – which saved to cloud storage and were discovered by the minor’s parents, a recent federal lawsuit alleges.

The child’s parents, Tory and Brooke Brewer, sued Delta in US district court in Charleston on 16 July, saying their family is owed damages for negligence, intentional infliction of emotional distress and harassment, among other causes.

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Eastern US swelters from heatwave as high temperatures affect half of country

Heat and humidity are stretching east from the Mississippi River valley, and some areas could see heat indices of 120F

The eastern half of the US is facing a significant heatwave, with more than 185 million people under warnings due to intense and widespread heat conditions on Monday.

The south-east is likely to endure the most dangerous temperatures as the extreme heat spread across the region on Monday, spanning from the Carolinas through Florida. In these areas, heat index values (how hot it feels once humidity is accounted for) are forecast to range between 105 and 113F (40.5 to 45C).

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Project 2025’s Paul Dans will challenge Lindsey Graham in South Carolina Republican primary

Dans, one of the main forces behind the conservative blueprint, joins primary that will serve as a litmus test for Trump’s Maga coalition

Paul Dans, one of the main forces behind the conservative blueprint Project 2025, will run against Lindsey Graham in the South Carolina Republican primary next year.

News outlets reported Monday that Dans will join a crowded field of Republican contenders looking to unseat the senator. Dans is planning a formal announcement for Wednesday in Charleston.

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Republican Nancy Mace says she likes to watch videos of Ice detaining people

Congresswoman says she ‘can think of nothing more American’ than Ice dragging people out of court

Republican congresswoman Nancy Mace has claimed she cruises the web for videos of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) agents dragging people into custody, saying she “can think of nothing more American”.

“I have to tell you – one of my favorite things to watch on YouTube these days are … court hearings where illegals are in court and Ice shows up to drag them out of court and deport them,” the South Carolina representative said during an appearance on Sunday on Fox Report Weekend.

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Former baseball player dies saving family from drowning in South Carolina

Chase Childers, 38, ‘displayed extraordinary courage’ in saving swimmers in distress, family says

A family in Dallas, Georgia, is grieving after their patriarch – a former pro baseball player turned police officer – died saving five others from drowning while they all recently vacationed, as authorities and an online page in his honor tell it.

Chase Childers, 38, “displayed extraordinary courage and selflessness … ultimately paying the highest sacrifice with his life” in front of his wife Nataley and their three children, said a GoFundMe page launched to support his family. “His bravery, kindness and love will always be remembered.”

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Supreme court paves way for South Carolina and other states to defund Planned Parenthood

Decision could embolden red states in US to block clinics that provide abortions from receiving Medicaid funds

The US supreme court has paved the way for South Carolina to kick Planned Parenthood out of its Medicaid program over its status as an abortion provider, a decision that could embolden red states across the country to effectively “defund” the reproductive healthcare organization.

The case, Medina v Planned Parenthood South Atlantic, centers around a 2018 executive order from South Carolina’s governor, Henry McMaster, that blocked clinics that provide abortions from receiving Medicaid reimbursements. “Payment of taxpayer funds to abortion clinics, for any purpose, results in the subsidy of abortion and the denial of the right to life,” McMaster said at the time, even though the reimbursements could not be used for abortions. Abortions are also now banned in South Carolina after six weeks of pregnancy.

More details soon

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Man died of ‘blunt force injuries’ at US zoo after suspected kangaroo fight

South Carolina officials investigating death of Eric Slate, 52, and conditions of the petting zoo owned by his brother

Officials in South Carolina are investigating the death of a man who was believed to have been killed while fighting a kangaroo in an enclosure at a children’s petting zoo.

Eric Slate, 52, died of “multiple blunt [force] injuries”, according to Tamara Willard, the chief deputy coroner of Horry county, as reported by WPDE News.

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Mikal Mahdi killed by firing squad as South Carolina pushes execution spree

Mahdi, who killed an officer in 2004, endured torture in his childhood and argued he was denied a fair trial

A prison firing squad in South Carolina executed Mikal Mahdi on Friday, the second recent death row killing in the state by authorized gunfire.

Mahdi, 42, was shot dead by corrections employees inside the execution chamber, where authorities have carried out a rapid spree of killings as South Carolina aggressively revives capital punishment.

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Wildfires rage on in North and South Carolina as more firefighters arrive

Hundreds of people asked to leave their homes amid states of emergency and out-of-state responders battling blazes

Wildfires continued to rage in North and South Carolina on Thursday, leading to states of emergency and evacuations as firefighters deployed from other parts of the US to help bring the blazes under control.

In North Carolina, progress was being made in containing two of the largest wildfires burning in the mountains, but officials warned that fire danger remained from dry and windy conditions.

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