July 4th events threatened by heat wave. And, Russia strikes on Ukraine's capital

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Tomorrow marks the 250th birthday of the United States, with Independence Day celebrations planned across the country. But many events are being affected by the intense heat wave stretching from Texas to the East Coast. Some communities have already chosen to cancel or reduce their festivities, including Philadelphia, which shortened its annual Fourth of July parade route.

Rescue workers in Kyiv recovered more bodies from an apartment building overnight after it was crushed by a Russian missile yesterday. Officials say that 30 people were killed in the missile and drone strikes on Ukraine's capital, which Russia launched in response to Ukrainian drone strikes targeting Russian oil refineries.

Congress is on its July 4th recess, but lawmakers will soon turn their focus to this fall's midterm elections. Democrats are searching for ways to energize their base, and several primaries have revealed growing frustration with the party establishment. In Denver and New York City, democratic socialists have successfully unseated incumbent Democrats who they believe are not left-leaning enough.

Living Better is a special series about what it takes to stay healthy in America.

It is a scorcher of a holiday weekend, with large swaths of the Midwest and the Eastern U.S. under heat advisories. Heat can be dangerous: hundreds of people in the U.S. die from heat-related illnesses each year. Here are a few tips from NPR's reporting to help you stay safe.

Check out what NPR is watching, reading and listening to this weekend:

🍿 Movies: Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova were the defining women's tennis champions of their generation. Now, they are reflecting on their friendship, battles with cancer and retirement in the Netflix documentary Chris & Martina: The Final Set.

📺 TV: Craig Ferguson, the Scotland-born comedian who hosted The Late Late Show from 2005 to 2014, has returned to TV with a five-part documentary series on CNN called American On Purpose. The series showcases his quirky humor and his appetite for the unpredictable.

📚 Books: In Paul Tremblay's Dead but Dreaming of Electric Sheep, a woman must use a video game-like controller to get a man, who is stuck in a vegetative state, across the country.

🎵 Music: To celebrate the midpoint of the year, a dozen members of NPR Music's team have each selected one song and one album they can't stop listening to.

This newsletter was edited by Majd Al-Waheidi.