Today's five.

Lindsey Graham died Saturday at 71 from an aortic dissection — four days after his birthday, two months after winning his primary with 57% of the vote. Now South Carolina has to run an entire succession process at speed: Governor McMaster appoints a temporary replacement, then sets a special primary, then someone carries the party into November. Time focused on what the vacancy means for Republican vote math in the Senate, especially with McConnell already out. Straight Arrow News noted Trump has already floated his sister as a successor, which is how you know the vacancy is roughly twelve hours old.

The United States is now charging rent on one of the world's most important waterways, which is a sentence that would have sounded insane six months ago. Trump announced a reimposed naval blockade on Iranian ships and a 20% toll on all other cargo transiting the Strait of Hormuz — then the military launched a third consecutive night of strikes on Iran. Bloomberg led with the blockade mechanics; NPR led with the strike timing. Trump posted on Truth Social that the U.S. would henceforth be known as "THE GUARDIAN OF THE HORMUZ STRAIT," in all caps, as one does. About 20% of the world's oil moves through that strait.

Butler was two years ago today, and it has not gotten less strange. Thomas Crooks fired eight shots at a presidential candidate during a campaign rally and missed by centimeters — a fact that has since been processed into a biographical myth, a political symbol, and now, apparently, an anniversary. Trump marked it by praising God. The White House marked it with a statement. Fox led with a new inspector general report on the security failures. Breitbart led with the scripture. One rally attendee died. Two others were seriously injured. The IG report is still being processed.

Getting fired and then chaining your 13-year-old to a fence is, according to Hialeah Police, exactly what happened here. The mother, 34-year-old Yashira, reportedly admitted to it — which is the kind of confession that tends to make the detective's job unusually straightforward. The stated reason: she wanted to unwind after losing her job. The child was found chained to the fence. Police have charged her with child abuse. There's no version of this story where the details get less alarming the more you read them.

Potassium bromate has been banned in the EU, Canada, and the UK for decades, but it's still legal in American baked goods — and now Florida's AG wants to know how much of it is going into school lunches. James Uthmeier announced subpoenas targeting companies that buy and sell products containing the additive, which has been linked to cancer. Florida Politics led with the "profits over safety" framing; Florida Phoenix kept it procedural. Nobody's being sued yet, Uthmeier said — the word "yet" doing a lot of work in that sentence.