Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Janine Herbst.
The Treasury Department says the federal debt has now passed $40 trillion, a record.
And Pierre Scott Horsley has more.
A lot of the increased spending is the result of our aging population, which drives up costs for things like Medicare.
But Carolyn Bordeaux, who heads a deficit watchdog group called the Concord Coalition,
says some of it's driven by the growth of the debt itself.
The $40 trillion itself is just a number,
but you have to think about the impact that that will have on the interest payments.
We are now spending more on interest than we spend on national defense.
It is one of the highest categories in terms of our expenditures, and it's one of the fastest growing.
The government is spending more than a trillion dollars this year just paying interest on the debt,
and that's about 15% more interest than the government had to pay last year.
NPR Scott Horsley reporting.
At least 12 people are dead, more than 40 wounded following a Russian missile attack on the Ukrainian capital of Kiev.
The Russian strikes come as Ukraine says air defense capabilities remain low.
NPR's Charles Maines has more.
Russia's defense ministry said it attacked Kiev with missiles and drones.
Hitting a drone production factory as well as a military depot and a logistics hub.
Yet at least some of the Russian fire destroyed apartment buildings as well,
driving civilians out of their homes in the middle of the night.