Kyiv battered in Russian assault; Trump’s FIFA intervention ignites backlash
Russia hits Kyiv overnight with another massive barrage just before NATO leaders meet.
Plus, Iran is burying its longtime supreme leader, but one person is still missing from public view.
And a call from President Donald Trump is turning into a World Cup firestorm. And now America’s leading scorer is back on the field after FIFA reversed his suspension.
These stories and more highlight your Unbiased Updates for Monday, July 6, 2026.
Russia fires missiles and hundreds of drones on Kyiv overnight
Search and rescue crews are working across Kyiv Monday morning after Russia launched another massive air assault. This comes just as NATO leaders prepare to gather for this week’s summit.
More than 10 people are confirmed dead, and dozens more were injured after Russia fired 68 missiles and 351 drones overnight, according to Ukraine’s Air Force.
Ukrainian officials say their air defenses shot down or intercepted more than half the missiles and most of the drones.
Even so, strikes were reported at 34 locations across the country.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy used the attack to renew his appeal to NATO. He is urging allies to approve more air defense support at this week’s summit.
He wrote that it is “very important” NATO make “strong decisions to support our defense of the sky, and hence, the protection of ordinary people’s lives.”
Zelenskyy added that “the U.S. and Europe have enough power to stop” the attacks.
Russia’s defense ministry said the strikes targeted military-industrial and energy facilities in Kyiv, along with military airfield infrastructure.
Moscow also said its forces intercepted more than 500 Ukrainian drones overnight.
Khamenei’s procession begins with Iran carrying its late leader through Tehran before burial
Iran begins another pivotal day of mourning on Monday following weekend funeral ceremonies for its supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei
The ceremonies drew massive crowds through the streets of Tehran.
Monday morning, Iranian state media carried live coverage of Khamenei’s coffin being taken in a public procession through the capital. It comes before his coffin begins a multi-city journey across Iran and into Iraq, ahead of his burial later this week.
Authorities have largely shut down central Tehran for the ceremonies.
Sunday’s funeral was also a political message.
Crowds chanted “Death to America” and “Death to Israel,” with some calling for revenge after Khamenei’s death in the U.S.-Israeli strike that triggered the war in late February.
Senior Iranian officials and members of the Khamenei family appeared together, projecting unity. It comes as the country prepares to resume negotiations with the U.S. once the period of mourning ends.
One notable absence: Iran’s new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei.
He did not attend Sunday’s ceremonies and has not appeared publicly since succeeding his father. His absence is fueling ongoing questions about his whereabouts. This, as Iran navigates one of the most consequential leadership transitions in decades.
25 suspected heat deaths in New Jersey as a new heat dome builds in western US
More than two dozen people are suspected to have died in New Jersey due to last week’s record-breaking heat wave.
New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill says at least 25 people are believed to have died from the extreme heat, with most of the deaths reported in the central and northern parts of the state.
The first deaths were reported on Thursday.
Then, thunderstorms Friday night and through the weekend knocked out power to nearly 300,000 customers as wind gusts reaching 80 miles per hour toppled trees and power lines, compounding an already dangerous situation.
While the heat dome that drove last week’s record temperatures is beginning to weaken, it’s also helping spark thunderstorms across parts of the Midwest and Northeast on Monday. Flash flooding is possible in North Dakota, Wisconsin and Minnesota.
Forecasters are now tracking a new heat dome that’s expected to build over the Rockies and expand toward the Pacific coast later this week.
Democrat McMorrow ends Senate bid, reshaping high-stakes Michigan Senate race
A major shakeup in one of the country’s most important Senate races could change the Democratic primary just weeks before voters head to the polls.
Michigan State Sen. Mallory McMorrow has suspended her campaign, turning what had been a three-way race into a head-to-head matchup between Congresswoman Haley Stevens and progressive candidate Dr. Abdul El-Sayed.
McMorrow announced the decision in a video posted Sunday, thanking her supporters and promising to back whoever wins the Democratic nomination.
“For our thousands of volunteers, for everyone who donated what you could — building a campaign with zero corporate PAC dollars. For my staff, who built this team up from nothing. I thank you,” McMorrow said. “Whoever wins this primary on August 4 will have my full support.”
The race now enters a new phase, with Stevens and El-Sayed set to face off in a televised debate this week as both campaigns scramble to win over McMorrow’s supporters.
El-Sayed was quick to make his pitch, urging McMorrow’s backers to join his campaign and “stand up against money in politics, to put money back in pockets, and pass Medicare for all. We cannot allow the establishment to decide our nominee for us.”
Stevens, in the meantime, is positioning herself as the Democrat best equipped to defeat Republican Mike Rogers in November.
The seat is open after Democratic Sen. Gary Peters announced his retirement, and holding it will be critical if Democrats hope to win back control of the Senate.
They need to hold all of their seats and flip four currently held by Republicans.
Burgum defends pool contractor, saying additional repairs will stay with the same company
The Reflecting Pool repair job that was supposed to restore a national landmark has become a political fight over cost, damage, and now who gets paid to fix it.
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum says the Trump administration will not seek new bids to repair the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.
Burgum said Sunday the administration will stay with the same contractor, saying the company did a “fantastic job.”
Workers drained the pool this past spring as part of a project to prepare the site for the nation’s 250th anniversary celebration.
But after the work was done, an algae bloom spread in the water, turning it green, and pieces of the new coating appeared to peel off the bottom in large chunks.
“Well, it’s fixed in the sense that it’s no longer leaking 45,000 gallons a day. And we’ve got, you know, less than one-tenth of 1% of that industrial liner that’s been damaged,” Bergum said. “And that’s the only thing that remains to go back and fix the damage done by the vandals.”
When asked about the cost of repairs, Bergum said the number will be low.
“It’s going to be a small number because the majority of the work was related to the labor and the materials for the liner,” Bergum said. “And, of course, the new nanobubbler system, which has taken care of and won the battle against the algae.”
Burgum said the pool will have to be at least partially drained this week to finish the repairs.
Authorities have arrested more than a half-dozen people in connection with damage at the Reflecting Pool, as the White House insists there’s been lots of vandalism.
That includes former Olympian David Hearn, who was indicted last week on a felony property-destruction charge.
Hearn’s lawyers called the charges “outrageous.”
The project is also facing scrutiny from Democratic lawmakers.
The renovations have cost more than $16 million, and lawmakers are now investigating the no-bid contracts behind the work.
FIFA overturns red card, making Balogun eligible for US knockout match
FIFA has lifted the suspension of U.S. star Folarin Balogun, clearing him to play against Belgium Monday evening in the World Cup round of 16.
But it’s how that red card suspension was overturned that’s drawing the most attention.
President Trump called FIFA president Gianni Infantino after last week’s U.S. win over Bosnia.
Balogun was shown a red card after colliding with a Bosnian player and spiking his opponent’s ankle. It was an ejection that normally carries an automatic one-game suspension.
Trump asked Infantino to review the call.
On Sunday, Trump posted on Truth Social, writing, “Thank you, FIFA, for doing what was right, and reversing a great injustice.”
The decision has sparked angry reaction from Belgium, with its football association saying it is “astonished” by the reversal.
The Associated Press reports it’s the first time since 1962 that a World Cup red card has not resulted in a suspension.
So now, after all the controversy, the U.S. faces Belgium Monday night in Seattle.
The winner moves on to the quarterfinals, and the loser goes home.
More from Straight Arrow:
How a school district censored a local newspaper — and left a community in the dark
It’s been more than a month since New Jersey newspaper editor Charlie Kratovil published surveillance camera footage of a high schooler getting busted for bringing a BB gun to school — and just about as long since a county judge ordered him to take it down.
In late May, a judge used emergency powers to force Kratovil, the editor of New Brunswick Today, to remove the video from YouTube at the school board’s request. The order has set into motion a battle between education leaders who say the newspaper violated the student’s privacy and an editor who says the school administrators are silencing him to protect their public reputations.
“They got caught in a lie and their response is to litigate and waste taxpayer money trying to silence the press,” Kratovil said in an interview with Straight Arrow. Kratovil accused the district of upholding a “culture of secrecy,” with animosity toward journalists.
Ella Rae Greene, Editor In Chief
