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Debt reaches
$40 trillion
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The national debt has surpassed a record $40 trillion, highlighting the impact of defense costs, social programs, and interest on the deficit. This milestone comes just five months after hitting $39 trillion.
Experts say the growing debt is already affecting Americans by raising borrowing costs and lowering wages. Advocates for a balanced budget warn of tougher fiscal tradeoffs ahead.
Margaret Spellings from the Bipartisan Policy Center says the fiscal trajectory is unsustainable. The U.S. is subject to a statutory debt limit, which Congress may need to address again by 2027.
Overton named
to lead FDA
WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Donald Trump has picked Dr. Heidi Overton to lead the Food and Drug Administration. Overton is a deputy director of the White House Domestic Policy Council and a trusted figure in Trump’s administration.
Overton has worked on several of Trump’s health initiatives. But the new FDA commissioner will face challenges balancing Trump’s priorities, traditional Republican interests and Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s anti-corporate stance.
Overton will need Senate confirmation and face questions from the Senate health committee. The previous FDA head, Dr. Marty Makary, resigned in May, leaving unfinished projects like work on ultra-processed foods, antidepressants and COVID-19 shots.
UAE suspends
Iran trade
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) -- The United Arab Emirates has suspended all trade with Iran after it said it had come under renewed fire from the country. That will further isolate the Islamic Republic.
The country is already suffering under U.S. sanctions and a blockade. Incoming ballistic missile fire triggered nationwide warnings Tuesday night for UAE residents to seek shelter. It was the first time in weeks such an alarm had sounded.
Early in the conflict, the UAE regularly came under intense fire from Iran, and most trade between the countries ground to a halt. It was not clear how much trade there was more recently.
Lala leaves
two dead
(AP) -- Forecasters are warning of the likelihood of another tropical cyclone that could approach Hawaii by the weekend after Lala left two people dead. The National Hurricane Center says conditions appear conducive for a tropical depression to form in coming days to the east-southeast of the islands.
The hurricane center says it’s too early to tell the exact location or potential wind, rain and storm surge impacts. Lala battered parts of Hawaii over the weekend without making landfall.
Police say a man’s body was found Tuesday in a pasture on the Big Island, a day after a 93-year-old woman’s body was found.