The unexpected passing of US Senator Lindsey Graham was announced on Sunday morning, setting off a significant shift in the race for his Senate seat in South Carolina. Among those considering a run is Nancy Mace.

Nancy Mace, a Congresswoman from South Carolina, had previously ended up last in the GOP primary for Governor back in June, where she managed to secure only 12 percent of the votes.

Despite this, there have been numerous reports circulating on Sunday suggesting that Mace is contemplating a political comeback.

South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster, who is unable to run for another term, will appoint an interim successor to Graham. This appointee must succeed in both a primary and a general election before taking on a full term as a US Senator.

Mace hinted at her possible return to politics by sharing a video clip from The Godfather: Part III, where actor Michael Corleone famously says, “Just when I thought I was out… they pull me back in…” However, her potential return to the political stage hasn’t been warmly welcomed by conservative circles.

President Donald Trump teased that he had someone in mind to succeed Graham when asked about the future of the seat on NBC’s Meet the Press earlier on Sunday, but declined to provide a name out of respect of his former primary foe turned friend, ally, and golf buddy.  

‘I have somebody that I think would be great. But I don’t want to say it now because, you know, it’s too soon with Lindsey,’ Trump told Meet the Press moderator Kirsten Welker.

‘I don’t want to even talk about anybody. But I do have somebody that I think is really good,’ Trump added.

Mace’s former Republican House colleague and convicted fraudster, George Santos, wrote sarcastically on X, ‘Do it! Please I need more s**t posting content.’

Conservative author and American Majority CEO Ned Ryun, son of former Kansas Congressman and Olympic runner Jim Ryun, noted on X that no one was pulling Mace into the race.

‘Rational people might think, I just got DEAD LAST in a 5 way statewide primary a few weeks ago. Maybe the people of SC don’t want me to represent them. Maybe I should hang it up,’ Ryun noted,  before adding that the outgoing representative was ‘apparently preparing herself for another walk of shame.’

Mace’s fellow House GOP colleague Joe Wilson, 78, the most senior Republican in the South Carolina congressional delegation, was another name floated as Graham’s replacement, but he has opted himself out.

Wilson’s political campaign account posted on X on Sunday morning that he had spoken to President Trump, when he let him know that his ‘goal is to remain in the House to keep his two-vote majority for the American people!!!’

Wilson’s adopted son, Alan, is likely to be the state’s next governor after beating current Lieutenant Governor Pamela Evette in the GOP runoff last month.

Evette herself could also be floated for the Senate posting, after garnering just over 30 percent of the vote in the runoff election for governor against Alan Wilson.

She was the top vote-getter in the state’s primary but was unable to coalesce support from the rest of her former primary field in the runoff. 

A list of potential Graham successors floated by Politics1 also included Congressman Ralph Norman, who also ran in the GOP gubernatorial primary, as well as former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley, who previously served as the state’s governor. 

Mace would bring significant baggage into the Senate race, aside from a poor performance in the June primary. 

She became a major thorn in Trump’s side during her push to release the Epstein files in the US House of Representatives during the last year. 

Mace has also been accused of being a difficult boss and of mistreating her own staff, and she was even filmed in a heated altercation with Charleston airport staff in her home state of South Carolina.

The office of Graham, who had represented South Carolina since 2002, announced in the early hours of Sunday that the senator had, ‘passed away from a brief and sudden illness.’

A 911 call for ‘cardiac arrest’ was placed from Graham’s residence around 8.30pm, but no official cause of death has been confirmed, according to multiple reports.

In a remarkable discovery, archaeologists have uncovered a sculpture from the Roman Empire, believed to be a “guardian spirit,” which lay hidden beneath an ancient military site in the English countryside for 1,600 years.

This well-preserved sandstone figure was recently discovered during an excavation of the barracks at Vindolanda, a site of a former Roman fortress located near Northumberland’s Hadrian’s Wall, as reported by Archaeology News.

Identified as a “Genius,” a protective spirit revered by the Romans, the sculpture was unearthed on June 16, having been shielded from the elements by a flagstone slab for over a millennium and a half. 

The reasons behind its concealment remain a mystery to archaeologists.

Dr. Andrew Birley, director of excavations, expressed the significance of this find to the BBC, stating, “As archaeologists, moments like these are incredibly rare, and we feel privileged to have uncovered and preserved such an important part of the site’s story.”

“It was almost as though Vindolanda itself had reached out to the team and quietly said: ‘We approve of what you are doing,’” Birley said.

Birley initially did not know who or what the sculpture was, but Hadrian’s Wall scholars identified it as a protective spirit called a Genius by the Romans.

The figure is holding in one hand a cornucopia overflowing with food – a symbol of prosperity, the report said.

On the other hand, it holds a dish for offerings, the BBC said.

The sculpture is believed to have been carved locally and is currently under a detailed examination before it can go on public display in the on-site museum in Hexham.

The Vindolanda Charitable Trust believes the mysterious figure could offer insight into the lives and religious beliefs of soldiers stationed at the fortress in the Fourth Century.

Recently released dispatch audio and images provide a sobering glimpse into the night US Senator Lindsey Graham unexpectedly passed away at age 71. The recordings detail the frantic attempts made to save his life.

As revealed by reports from CNN and The Wall Street Journal, emergency services were summoned to Graham’s residence on Saturday evening following a call about a ‘cardiac arrest’ situation.

Responders reached a residence located south of Washington, D.C., shortly before 8:30 p.m. This address, as noted in public records, is associated with Graham. There, the team administered CPR to an individual experiencing cardiac arrest, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Subsequently, officials communicated over the radio that a woman, identified later, was driving from Baltimore and informed dispatchers that the front door to the residence was open.

Contrary to her report, first responders found the door locked upon arrival. By 8:35 p.m., officials radioed in their decision to force entry into the unknown person’s home, according to the media outlet.

Nearly 15 minutes later, EMS reported that they were administering CPR and dispatchers sent a supervisor to assist the crew.

Graham’s name was not mentioned, and the patient in the 911 call was identified as 73 years old. 

Chilling photos obtained by TMZ showed paramedics desperately attempting to save the senator’s life.

Graham is seen on a gurney, being wheeled out of his home, as first responders surrounded him. 

The office of Graham, who has represented South Carolina since 2002, announced in the early hours of Sunday that the senator, ‘had passed away from a brief and sudden illness’ – just two days after his 71st birthday.

In the audio the dispatcher is heard saying EMS is responding to the ‘cardiac arrest’ at Graham’s residence, which was censored.

The emergency call was placed from Graham’s residence around 8.30pm, but no official cause of death has been confirmed.

President Donald Trump shared a tribute to the late Senator on Truth Social shortly after the announcement was made.

‘Senator Lindsey Graham, one of the greatest people and Senators I have ever known, is dead!

‘He was always working, and was a true American Patriot. Lindsey will be greatly missed!!! DETAILS AND ARRANGEMENTS TO FOLLOW. So sad!,’ Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.

Graham was one of Trump’s closest allies in the US Senate, consistently voting to enact the president’s agenda.

The commander-in-chief also shared the final conversation he had with the senator, revealing what he claims was the veteran Republican’s last political wish before his unexpected death.

In a Sunday morning interview on NBC’s Meet the Press, Trump revealed that Graham was ‘like a member of the family to him,’ and that the two had spoken over the phone on Saturday night.

Trump also revealed that Graham called him to discuss the passage of the SAVE America Act, which Graham co-sponsored in the US Senate.

‘He actually said he was tired, but he wanted to pass the SAVE America Act, and I said, ‘Well, we’re going to get it done, Lindsey. We’re going to get it done. I’ll see you, like, soon,’ Trump noted on Meet the Press.

The SAVE America Act has been passed by the US House of Representatives three times, but has not been passed by the Senate, where it needs 60 votes due to the filibuster.

In a separate interview with CNN on Sunday morning, Trump revealed to anchor Jake Tapper what he considered to be Graham’s finest moment in the US Senate: his defense of now-Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh during his confirmation process. 

Graham’s death comes just days after he visited Ukraine and met with the country’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, to discuss the ongoing Russian invasion.

His meeting with the leader of Ukraine is understood to be the last public image of him. 

There were no known concerns about his health in the lead-up to his trip to the embattled nation.

During his senior year at high school on the Puyallup Reservation, Gerald Dillon swapped a significant portion of his academic studies for career-oriented training. As a teaching assistant entering a second-grade classroom, he was greeted by eager students jumping up for fist bumps or hugs.

For the 18-year-old, who previously viewed classes as dull and did just enough to scrape by, this new approach gave him a fresh reason to attend school each day.

“It’s motivating,” Dillon shared. “I enjoy building connections with the kids, and I love helping them.”

His transformation began in his junior year after he signed up for career training courses. As Dillon integrated into this new learning environment, his grades saw a noticeable uptick. He graduated in June from Chief Leschi Schools, Washington, and is now contemplating pursuing a teaching degree in college.

School administrators note that this new emphasis on technical training and career preparedness is yielding positive outcomes, with more students not only remaining in school but also graduating on schedule.

Those gains are emblematic of progress across the U.S. Bureau of Indian Education, which oversees 183 primary and secondary schools serving over 40,000 students. In 2015, just over half of high schoolers at BIE schools graduated within four years. That number soared to a record high of 79% by 2025.

Some BIE educators attribute that surge to local innovations. Assistant Secretary of Indian Affairs Billy Kirkland says they reflect the Trump administration’s commitment to Native American students, including efforts to strengthen teacher training. In addition, the way graduation rates are reported across BIE schools was changed to address flawed data collection that previously depressed the numbers.

But concerns loom that changes reshaping the BIE under the Trump administration — including the planned dismantling of the U.S. Department of Education and continued fallout from cuts instituted by DOGE — could undermine progress and prevent struggling schools from improving.

Reporting standards net more accurate data

The surge in graduation rates reflects, in part, more accurate reporting rather than a sudden leap in student academic improvement, according to agency officials.

For years, school administrators across the system used flawed methods to track graduation rates, often counting students who had transferred to other schools as dropouts.

“We had to come to a consensus and set an accountability framework for our schools,” said Carmelia Becenti, the agency’s chief academic officer.

Beginning in 2018, BIE began standardizing data collection methods. In the years since, Becenti said, the data has painted a more accurate and encouraging picture.

An AP analysis of BIE data found that graduation rates across the system are up 55% since new reporting standards began rolling out, with nine of its secondary schools reporting 100% growth or higher.

New approaches help students connect

Less than one-third of BIE schools are operated by the agency itself. The rest are run by tribes and receive federal funding. At some of those, educators say data collection is only part of the story.

Don Brummett, superintendent of Chief Leschi Schools, said his staff has been working to correct a “disconnect” between the high school’s previous laser focus on getting students ready for college and many students’ goals of finding a job upon graduation.

“We devalued the trades. That was a mistake,” Brummett said.

The school launched its career and technical curriculum in 2020 with funding from the Puyallup Tribal Council. Since then, Brummett has seen students who might otherwise have dropped out instead enter health sciences, education and fisheries management and find new motivation to stay in school.

Dillon, the recent graduate, said hands-on job training was a better match for his learning style.

“It was kind of the first time I felt excited to go to school,” said Dillon, reflecting on his time helping second graders practice reading skills and learn the life cycle of a frog.

Between 2019 and 2025, Chief Leschi Schools reported four-year graduation rates rose from 53% to 87%.

A focus on trades is just one of the ways tribal-controlled BIE schools have innovated to keep students on track. At Choctaw Central High School, a BIE school operated by the Mississippi Band of Choctaw, administrators said a COVID-era experiment in virtual learning contributed to a surge in graduation rates from roughly 70% to 93%.

“For certain kids that have more responsibilities at home, kids that need to work, we saw that (virtual learning) gave them a flexible schedule and an opportunity to earn their diploma,” said principal Alaric Keams.

When pandemic lockdowns lifted, the district maintained a virtual learning option for all high schoolers.

But not all tribal governments have the resources to pay for these kinds of programs or take over management of BIE schools.

Peter Lengkeek, chairman of the Crow Creek Sioux Tribe in South Dakota, says the BIE-operated high school serving his community is chronically understaffed and crumbling under a backlog of deferred maintenance, including a gymnasium with sinking walls and a rodent infestation. It has reported graduating fewer than 60% of students on time in recent years.

“If we were able to, we would step in and try to remedy a lot of these things,” said Lengkeek. “We have to rely on the government to fulfill its treaty promise.”

Tribal leaders push back against education changes

From the dismantling of the federal Department of Education to DOGE reductions that swept out longtime staffers, as well as repeated threats of deep funding cuts, tribal leaders fear the progress that has been made could be undermined.

In November 2025, the Department of Education began handing off oversight of dozens of programs that serve Native students to BIE.

At a tribal consultation session in February in Washington, D.C., dozens of tribal leaders spoke in opposition, saying the transition could overwhelm the already understaffed and stretched BIE with additional responsibilities. Several accused the department of ignoring its legal responsibility to seek their input before moving forward.

“We are here too late,” said Herschel Gorham, lieutenant governor of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes. “The ink was dry on the agreements before the tribes were ever notified. That should never, ever happen.”

Jason Dropik, executive director of the National Indian Education Association, said turmoil at the agency’s Washington office trickles down to schools, pointing to a Trump administration executive order that aimed to turn the BIE into a school choice system but was scaled back after an outcry from tribes.

“That caused some delays and disruptions to services,” Dropik said. “When drastic changes go into motion without tribal consultation, there can be unintended consequences for our students.”

Lengkeek worries the BIE could be consumed by political upheaval while schools like the one serving his community continue to underperform.

“This system holds the future of our nations in its hands,” Lengkeek said. “We need stability. We need increased funding. We need infrastructure.”

——

A compelling new documentary is poised to shed light on critical, previously unseen evidence that advocates claim could exonerate Scott Peterson, widely known for his conviction in the murder of his wife, over twenty years ago.

Peterson, now 53, has been incarcerated for life in California following a jury’s verdict that found him guilty of murdering his pregnant wife, Laci, and their unborn son, Conner, on Christmas Eve in 2002. A significant part of his conviction hinged on allegations that he disposed of Laci’s body using his fishing boat.

The forthcoming two-part documentary by A&E, titled “Scott Peterson: The New Evidence,” scheduled to broadcast on July 16 and 17, promises to unveil newly discovered footage, purported handwritten notes from Laci, and expert analyses. These elements, according to the documentary makers, fundamentally challenge the evidence that led to Peterson’s conviction.

Mark Geragos, who represented Peterson during his highly publicized 2004 trial, expressed to The Post, “I lose sleep—especially with Scott, more than any other case—when I believe [a client] is innocent,” defending his former client’s case.

Geragos, known for representing high-profile figures like Sean “Diddy” Combs, Michael Jackson, and the Menendez brothers, explained, “You develop a sense or intuition, refined through extensive experience, recognizing when someone is culpable or not.”

Peterson has repeatedly failed to overturn his conviction through the appeals courts. 

In a tawdry case that grabbed national headlines, the Petersons were a seemingly picture-perfect couple — but in reality, he was cheating on his very pregnant wife with massage-therapist mistress Amber Frey and cruelly killed Laci and their unborn son to pave the way for him to enjoy a jet-setting bachelor lifestyle, prosecutors said.

Years after Peterson’s conviction, in 2024, the Los Angeles Innocence Project took over his case, arguing in court filings that “new evidence now supports Mr. Peterson’s long-standing claim of innocence and raises many questions into who abducted and killed Laci and Conner Peterson.”

The new documentary was filmed to “stress-test” that evidence, according to host Chris Pixley, an Atlanta-based defense lawyer and legal analyst for ABC News. 

The nearly three hours of footage kick off with Pixley and retired Los Angeles Detective Ninette Toosbuy retracing Peterson’s Christmas Eve drive to the Berkeley Marina, where prosecutors said he dumped Laci’s body from his small fishing boat.

Pixley and Toosbuy claim it would have been nearly impossible for Peterson to dispose of the body without any witnesses in broad daylight or leaving behind any significant DNA evidence.  

Two strands of Laci’s hair were found wrapped around a pair of pliers found under a seat on his boat after her death, although no blood or tissue was recovered from them, and the instrument was rusty from apparent lack of use, according to trial testimony.

The series also reveals previously unseen defense footage showing a weighted dummy, meant to replicate Laci’s body, causing the tiny vessel to capsize while it was being thrown overboard — evidence the jury never saw, the documentary says.

It also highlights handwritten notes allegedly written by Laci that suggest that she knew about Peterson’s purchasing of the fishing boat — undercutting the prosecution’s claim that he had secretly bought it to carry out the killing. 

New experts featured in the series also challenge the tidal and wind analysis presented at the trial, claiming that Laci’s body could not have washed up where investigators found it if Peterson dumped it where he was fishing. 

Advances in fetal biometric science also suggest that Laci and Conner could have died later than Dec. 24, according to the experts and LAIP — a timeline that casts doubt on the state’s theory that Peterson killed them that day. 

Laci spoke with her mother on the phone the night of Dec. 23. By Dec. 25, the Petersons’ Modesto home was swarming with family, investigators, and hordes of reporters.

The documentary, meanwhile, revisits an alternative theory centered on a burglary across the street from the Petersons’ home around the time Laci went missing. It cites seven witnesses who reported seeing a suspicious van in the neighborhood on Dec. 24, including a reserve police officer who allegedly told police he saw a pregnant woman being forced into a van. 

A van was later found burned in an apparent arson incident about 1.5 miles away in Modesto’s Airport District – a seedy area where a police dog had allegedly tracked Laci’s scent during the initial investigation, according to the documentary. 

Geragos and his defense team didn’t learn about the torched van until more than a decade after Peterson’s conviction, the lawyer said. 

Finally, the documentary and the LAIP accuse the Modesto police of mishandling and even destroying potentially significant evidence in the case, including witness interviews, investigator notes, and property recovered from the burglary. 

Peterson was initially sentenced to death, but that punishment was later overturned. 

The Innocence Project provides pro bono legal help to inmates convicted of crimes in Central and Southern California. 

Modesto police did not respond to a Post request for comment.

Certain far-left commentators swiftly responded with controversial reactions to the unexpected passing of U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham, seizing the moment to express their satisfaction at his death.

Lindsey Graham, who had diligently served as a Senator for South Carolina since 2002, passed away, as confirmed by his office on Sunday morning. The statement indicated that his death resulted from a “brief and sudden illness.”

Authorities responded to a 911 call from Graham’s home on Saturday evening, citing “cardiac arrest” as the issue. However, the exact cause of his death has not been officially determined, according to various sources.

The news of Graham’s passing saw numerous public figures, including former President Donald Trump, as well as leaders from countries like Israel and Ukraine, paying their respects and expressing their condolences. Meanwhile, some liberal voices did not share in the mourning, openly expressing satisfaction over his death.

Among those who reacted was Ana Kasparian, co-host and executive producer of the progressive media outlet The Young Turks, who was seemingly among the first to voice such celebratory sentiments.

At 2.35am, about 30 minutes after it was announced Graham had died, she posted a tweet on X that simply said: ‘Good riddance.’ 

A few hours later, Kyle Kulinski, host of the popular left-wing podcast Secular Talk, posted a tweet that said: ‘Miserable closet case warmonger.’ 

The insensitive words seem to refer to decades-long speculation that Graham was a closeted gay man, as he never married or had children. The senator had consistently and firmly denied the rumors and regularly opposed pro-LGBTQ+ legislation. 

Hasan Piker, a socialist commentator and streamer with an enormous following online, wrote on X: ‘Lindsey graham was a bloodthirsty odious monster who loved war.’

‘Ironic that he achieved his best friend john mccains dream of bombing iran, only to experience the spectacular failure it turned into in his final days! he watched a century of force projection capabilities collapse,’ Piker added. 

Earlier, he replied ‘lmao [laughing my a** off]’ to a tweet mourning Graham’s death that was posted by Israel’s Minister of National Security, Itamar Ben-Gvir.

Brian Krassenstein, another leftist political commentator and vocal critic of Trump, posted a tweet that said: ‘Lindsey Graham just died. Good, I’m glad he’s dead. 

‘He can no longer hurt innocent people! There are clearly a lot of emotions being flung around about Graham dying so suddenly. He was a war monger and diehard Trump Supporter until the very end of his 71 year life.’

Jackson Hinkle, the international secretary for the American Communist Party, posted to his nearly four million followers on X: ‘Lindsey Graham advocated for dropping nuclear bombs on Gaza RIP BOZO.’ 

Steve Schmidt, co-founder of an anti-Trump political action committee called the Lincoln Project, posted a tweet that said: ‘Lindsey Graham was a simple, tragic man. 

‘He lacked a moral core. The great empty spaces of his life were filled with an insatiable need for “relevance.” He found it as a cast member in the most malignant reality show ever made.’ 

Mike Drucker, an Emmy-nominated writer, producer and comedian, wrote on X: ‘RIP Lindsey Graham. You taught me it was okay to be a coward whose only skill is debasing myself until death for a tiny, ultimately illusionary crumb of power.’ 

Graham was a controversial figure because of his staunch support of Israel, even as public opinion towards the country declined in recent years. The senator was also steadfast in his support of Ukraine, and he was an Iran hawk. 

Graham’s calls to arm Ukraine and Israel, as well as his aggressive stance on Iran, are what led critics, including some on the extreme right, to call him a warmonger.

But the senator was beloved by many Republicans, including Trump. Graham was one of the president’s closest allies in the US Senate, consistently voting to enact Trump’s agenda. 

Graham’s death comes just days after he visited Ukraine and met with the country’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, to discuss the ongoing Russian invasion.

His meeting with the leader of Ukraine is understood to be the last public image of him. There were no known concerns about his health in the lead-up to his trip to the embattled nation.

Graham later announced that an agreement had been reached with Trump to advance bipartisan legislation targeting countries buying Russian energy, which would potentially clear the way for stronger pressure on Moscow over its war in Ukraine. 

The senator also cheered on Trump’s decision to strike Iranian nuclear sites last year and had been a supporter of the latest conflict that started a few months ago.

A tragic accident claimed the lives of a father and his 22-year-old son when their light aircraft seemingly flew into an emerging storm while they were returning from a St. Louis Cardinals baseball game. Investigators noted that the plane appeared to attempt a final turn before it disastrously spiraled into a wooded area in rural Illinois.

The 48-year-old pilot and his son took off from St. Louis Regional Airport in Bethalto on Thursday night, charting a course for Siloam Springs Municipal Airport located in Arkansas. Unfortunately, their journey concluded with a crash near Waterloo, Illinois, according to a statement from the Monroe County Sheriff’s Department.

The tragic victims have been identified as Jimmy Don Lewis and Brayden Ty Lewis, the Monroe County Coroner’s Office confirmed to KSDK.

Investigators have reported that the father and son enjoyed an evening at a Cardinals game before embarking on their return flight in what is believed to have been a Beechcraft Baron 55 private airplane.

“Investigators believe the aircraft departed into an area of developing severe weather,” authorities said. “Flight data indicates the aircraft appeared to begin a turn, possibly in an attempt to avoid the inclement weather, before entering what appeared to be a descending spiral. Radar contact was subsequently lost.”

Emergency crews were dispatched around 2:34 a.m. Friday after reports of a possible aircraft crash south of Waterloo. Search efforts were hampered for hours by low clouds, rain and poor visibility, forcing authorities to rely on a massive multi-agency response that included specialized drone teams from Illinois and the St. Louis region.

An ARCH Air Medical helicopter eventually located the wreckage at about 7:40 a.m. in a tree line near the Columbia Quarry after investigators narrowed the search area.

“We extend our deepest condolences to the victims’ family and loved ones,” authorities said after confirming both occupants of the aircraft had died in the crash. “Our thoughts and prayers remain with them during this incredibly difficult time.”

Kelsey Lewis told the Daily Mail that her father and brother earned their pilots’ licenses together, saying the pair “did everything together.” She also described her father as an experienced flyer.

“My dad, when it came to flying, he was very, very, cautious of everything,” Kelsey told the outlet. “Very cautious.”

She said an apparent glitch in the aircraft’s weather-tracking system that caused the readings to be about 30 minutes off could have led to the crash.

Representatives from the Federal Aviation Administration later assumed responsibility for the crash scene, while the National Transportation Safety Board and the FAA continue to investigate the cause of the crash.

Officials emphasized that the findings released so far are preliminary and that the federal investigation remains ongoing.