Senator Lindsey Graham died of aortic tear, examiner says

Senator Lindsey Graham died of aortic tear, examiner saysImage source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Lindsey Graham died at the age of 71ByElla KiplingPublished1 hour agoUS Senator Lindsey Graham died of an "aortic dissection" caused by cardiovascular disease, according to a preliminary finding by the Washington DC medical examiner.Aortic dissection is a tear in the main artery that carries blood to the heart.Graham, a close Republican ally of President Donald Trump, died at the age of 71 on Saturday evening.Elected to the Senate in 2002, the South Carolina politician was one of Washington's most influential voices on foreign policy, often pushing for US military intervention overseas.Anthony Zurcher: From Trump critic to ally, Lindsey Graham was a political survivor of the Maga eraPublished15 hours agoGraham's spokesperson said the death certificate would be pending until "all the toxicological and microscopic testing" was finalised.The senator had just returned from a trip to Kyiv, Ukraine, where he met with President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday.Zelensky said he was "deeply saddened" by Graham's death, writing on X: "Lindsey was a true defender of freedom and the values that make our world safer."Graham was known for his interventionist stance on foreign policy, and had strongly supported the war in Iran.Last month, he told CBS that the US would "obliterate" Iran if it did not submit to US control of the Strait of Hormuz.Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday, "Lindsey understood that the security of Israel and America are inseparable."Israel lost "one of its greatest friends", he added.Graham had previously been a critic of Trump, and ahead of the 2016 presidential election said: "If we nominate Trump, we will get destroyed... and we will deserve it."However, he voted against convicting Trump in his 2021 impeachment trial, and supported Trump'...