NPR News: 09-20-2026 6AM EDT

0:00This message comes from Angie. Angie has been helping homeowners find skilled pros to get their home projects done well for over 30 years. For everything, from minor repairs to major remodels, find reviews, pricing, and booking at Angie.com or on the Angie app. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Windsor Johnston. At least two people were killed and 20 others were injured in a massive drone attack inside of Russia overnight. It came as the country completed the third and final day of parliamentary elections. The VVC's D-Rosenberg reports the Kremlin accused Ukraine of trying to disrupt the vote but said polling continued. According to Russia's Defence Ministry, overnight, the country's air defenses shot down more than 1100 Ukrainian drones over Russia. In a statement, the mayor of Moscow Sergei Sabyanian claimed that since yesterday, 450 drones targeting the Russian capital had been repelled. But he admitted that

1:00the Moscow oil refinery, one of Russia's largest, had been hit and not for the first time. The VVC's D-Rosenberg reporting authorities evacuated about 400 people from a heavily damaged apartment building. Two airports in Moscow have reopened after they were forced to temporarily close. Two Trump administration agreements with drug companies are now public. A consumer advocacy group obtained them through a public records request, but heavy redactions leave questions about what the company's promised and how patients could benefit NPR Sydney Lepkin reports. Public citizens says it has received two of the Trump administration's most favorite nation deals with drug companies. The deals are aimed at getting U.S. drug prices in line with those paid in other wealthy countries, and the administration has announced 26 of them since last fall. But the text of the deals had not been made public, and public citizen had to sue the government to get the agreements with Pfizer and Eli Lilly. While many of the details are redacted, the documents

2:03show terms that public citizen calls concerning. For instance, if Eli Lilly stopped selling a drug in another country, that country's price will be excluded from the calculation of the U.S. discount under the deal. The documents also show that Pfizer's deal expires at the end of Trump's term. Sydney Lepkin and PR News. New reports out this week could show how rising costs are reshaping the housing market. NPR Stephen Besanhaal reports mortgage rates are climbing quickly, putting home ownership further out of reach for many buyers. It's possible average mortgage rates will rise above 7% for the first time since January 2025. We'll find out Thursday when Freddie Mac releases its weekly average for the 30 year fixed rate mortgage. The cost of borrowing across the economy has been climbing, both because the Federal Reserve raised interest rates last week, and because the bond market has been shaken for months over concerns about government debt and inflation. On Thursday, we'll also get sales numbers on newly built homes in August from the U.S. Census Bureau.

3:04According to the National Association Realtors existing home sales in August fell 2% from a month earlier. Stephen Besanha and PR News. This is NPR News in Washington. Cuba is restoring power after another nationwide blackout left millions of people in the dark. The latest collapse comes nine months into a U.S. oil blockade that is deep in the island's fuel crisis. NPR's Ada Peralta reports from Mexico City. Cuba's electrical grid has been on the ropes for years, but ever since the U.S. enacted an oil blockade in January, nation-wide blackouts have become commonplace. This year there have been at least six total collapses. The Cuban government says this one started in the West and spread to the whole island on Friday. By Saturday morning, some of the grid had come online, and most of the capital, Havana, had been restored. Even outside these blackouts, Cubans have been living with precious little electricity, often going more than 30 hours at a time without power. The U.S. government says the oil blockade is intended to bring a

4:08political transition in Cuba, but the Cuban government says right now there are no active negotiations with the United States. Ada Peralta and PR News, Mexico City. A new lawsuit accuses for leading artificial intelligence companies of illegally agreeing to slow development of the technology. The federal complaint names Anthropic Open AI, SpaceX AI, and Google alleging their leaders coordinated support for an industry-wide slowdown. The lawsuit argues the alleged agreement violates anti-trust laws and reduces the value of paid AI subscriptions. It also cites an essay from Anthropic CEO calling for greater cooperation on safety. The leaders of the other companies publicly supported the proposal. This is NPR News. This message comes from Angie. Angie has been helping homeowners find skilled pros to get their home projects done well for over 30 years. For everything, from minor repairs to major remodels,

5:09find reviews, pricing, and booking at Angie.com or on the Angie app.