Saint Petersburg drone strike appears largest since 2022 invasion
The 2026 midterm elections are on pace to become the most expensive in U.S. history, with more than $15 billion raised to influence the outcome and control of Congress, NPR reported Monday. Both parties are spending heavily in a political environment where neither enjoys broad voter support.
Democratic nominees in competitive House and Senate races are collecting large donations even though the Democratic Party remains unpopular, according to NPR’s Stephen Fowler. Republicans are also unpopular, Fowler said, largely because of issues including the war in Iran, gas prices and the economy. In 13 competitive races highlighted by the Cook Political Report, Democratic candidates outraise Republicans by a 5-to-1 margin. The spending intensity on both sides suggests Democrats may have a chance to win in several locations, and 75% of planned ad buys are in toss-up races or those leaning Republican, Fowler reported.
A few megadonors, including Elon Musk, are donating to super PACs to try to push voters to elect Republicans, according to NPR. The fundraising surge has unfolded alongside an active war in Europe, with President Donald Trump saying that relieving pressure on Russia is the best way to end the conflict in Ukraine. Some of the most competitive congressional races might not be called until days after Election Day, NPR reported.
A major Ukrainian drone strike hit Saint Petersburg on Sunday, Russia’s former imperial capital, killing at least one person and injuring more than a dozen, according to NPR. The attack targeted strategic sites, including a key port oil terminal. While it’s unclear how many drones struck the city, Russia’s Defense Ministry reported intercepting 1,000 drones across various regions that night. NPR’s Charles Maynes, reporting for the Up First newsletter, said the attack appears to mark the largest one on the city since Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
Over the same weekend, Russian missile strikes in Ukraine killed at least 11 people. Trump “seems to be working to protect Russian oil facilities after cutting a deal with President Vladimir Putin to import Russian diesel,” Maynes reported — a move the NPR correspondent said was aimed at lowering gas prices for U.S. voters before the midterm elections.
Trump has called previous Ukrainian strikes a “disgrace,” Maynes added, even as Russia continues to strike Ukraine. According to Maynes, the president blames Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for attacks that allegedly raise U.S. fuel prices, despite economists attributing the price increase mainly to Trump’s war in Iran.
In France, President Emmanuel Macron over the weekend denounced violence that he said has overshadowed largely peaceful protests across the country, according to NPR. The unrest began as a student protest for better conditions and has expanded to include public-sector workers protesting high energy prices, the rising cost of living, and social inequality. The French Interior Ministry reported about 2,300 arrests and nearly 1,000 injured police officers.
NPR’s Eleanor Beardsley, who was in the streets of Paris on Sunday, witnessed burned bikes, shattered glass and graffiti on looted stores saying things like “tax the rich.” She spoke with 23-year-old Sarah Berlia, who said she believes these actions come from a frustrated generation facing dwindling rights and opportunities. Beardsley said the protest culture in France often attracts “troublemakers,” but the scale of current events is massive. The protests carry political implications: France is six months away from a presidential election, far-left candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon has joined the protesters, and far-right leader Marine Le Pen, who is leading in the polls, has condemned both the violence and the government.
Saunas are gaining renewed attention in the wellness world for their potential to improve mental health, according to NPR. While scientists understand how saunas affect the cardiovascular system, they are just beginning to explore their impact on mental health. When skin detects heat, NPR reported, it sends signals to a primitive brain area that prompts the body to cool down, and this pathway also influences mood and pleasure, which is associated with depression. Heat triggers an anti-inflammatory response similar to the effects of exercise, which is known to help with depression and other mental-health issues, and heating people up can act like a “thermoregulatory workout,” helping their bodies cool down more efficiently over time, NPR reported.
Artist Jennifer Teresa Villanueva has captured her family’s everyday life through her lens for eight years, revealing moments of love, care and sacrifice within their Chicago home, NPR reported. The project began in 2018 after her grandmother’s hospitalization and blossomed into a heartfelt exploration of the immigrant experience. “I am interested in what happens when the camera enters a home where everyone already knows one another,” Villanueva told NPR. “There is no distance between photographer and subject. I am photographing the people who raised me, and I am also photographing the home that raised me.”
In other developments noted by the newsletter: Noah Adams, a writer and broadcaster who hosted NPR’s All Things Considered for 18 years, has died at 84. Trump announced over the weekend that he plans to close and renovate the East Potomac Golf Links course in Washington, D.C., which is already at the center of a legal battle. An Air Force service member died Saturday after a rappelling accident during a pregame ceremony at the Alamodome before the University of Texas at San Antonio’s football game against Navy, Texas Public Radio reported.