Ukrainian troops advanced more than 18 miles into Russian territory during a surprise incursion in the most significant cross-border offensive since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and the United States deployed a missile submarine to the Middle East as Israel prepared for a possible direct attack from Iran.^{1 2 3} An Israeli air strike targeting a Gaza City school and mosque killed at least 90 people; a new assault on Khan Younis caused at least 60,000 people to flee; Israel’s Channel 12 News aired footage showing Israeli soldiers raping a Palestinian prisoner; and an Israeli human rights group accused Israel of operating a “network of torture camps.”^{4 5 6 7} The White House promised both a final ceasefire proposal to end the war on Gaza and the release of $3.5 billion for Israel to purchase U.S.-made weapons for the war.^{8 9} Ambassadors from six nations, including France, Canada, and the United States, boycotted the memorial service marking the 79th anniversary of the second atomic bomb in Nagasaki because Israel wasn’t on the guest list.¹⁰  In Bangladesh, following student protests that led Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to flee the country, the Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus was sworn in as interim leader; in Rwanda, President Paul Kagame was inaugurated for his fourth term after securing 99 percent of the vote in last month’s elections, from which opposition leaders were barred.^{11 12 13} A landslide at a garbage dump killed at least 21 people in Uganda; Tropical Storm Debby, which made landfall in Florida, caused significant flooding and power outages in Ohio, New York, Pennsylvania, and Vermont; wildfires forced hundreds to evacuate their homes in Greece; and 62 people were killed when a passenger plane dropped out of the sky in Brazil.^{14 15 16 17} 

Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign raised over $12 million in California, while Donald Trump’s campaign blamed Iran for an email hack that leaked a 271-page dossier on JD Vance’s vulnerabilities.^{18 19} Celine Dion’s management issued a statement criticizing Trump’s campaign for using the song “My Heart Will Go On” without authorization; “And really, THAT song?” the statement concluded.²⁰ Harris and Trump agreed to a debate on September 10, and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. confessed to picking up roadkill his “whole life,” admitting he has a “freezer full of it.”^{21 22}  Harley-Davidson faced backlash after the conservative activist Robby Starbuck posted an exposé of the company’s diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives on social media; “Never, ever again will we support you,” said Lady Maga USA, a self-described “gay drag artist who isn’t woke,” on X.^{23 24} In Vienna, three teenage boys were arrested for plotting terrorist attacks on Taylor Swift’s concerts, and in India, women celebrated after the airline Indigo introduced a feature that will allow female passengers to choose seats based on gender to avoid sitting next to men.^{25 26} 

The FDA rejected MDMA as a treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder; a beachgoer found 70 pounds of cocaine on a beach in Florida; and a man was arrested outside a warehouse about 12 miles east of Los Angeles for attempting to ship a ton of meth to Australia.^{27 28 29} In Spain, a 39-year-old man poured water on ancient cave paintings, irreversibly damaging them in an attempt to capture a sharper photo for Facebook.³⁰ In England, an “exceptionally wet summer” affected the Cerne Abbas Giant, an ancient chalk figure carved into a hill in Dorset, temporarily reducing the visibility of its famously prominent penis; one tourist complained that there was “no attraction there.”^{31 32} In Paris, a porn site offered a $250,000 deal to a French pole vaulter after his “big bulge” knocked down a crossbar, costing him an Olympic medal; the Australian academic Dr. Rachael Gunn, who breakdances under the stage name B-girl Raygun, went viral after scoring a total of zero points; the U.S. sprinter Noah Lyles collapsed after winning a bronze medal in the 200 meter race while suffering from COVID-19; the Court of Arbitration for Sports ruled that the U.S. gymnast Jordan Chiles must return her bronze medal in floor exercises after it found that her coach missed the deadline to submit an inquiry into her score by four seconds; the Algerian gold-winning boxer Imane Khelif filed a formal legal complaint with the Paris public prosecutor’s office over cyber harassment; and the rapper Travis Scott was arrested after a fight with a Paris Four Seasons hotel security guard who was trying to break up a fight between Scott and his own bodyguard.^{33 34 35 36 37 38} The Olympics ended with the United States and China tied for most gold medals, and American athletes lamented the loss of the free health care they enjoyed during the games.^{39 40} “I’m truly amazed. I’m truly amazed,” the American rugby player Ariana Ramsey said in a viral TikTok video after a free eye doctor visit, free glasses, a free dental appointment, and a free pap smear.⁴¹ In Russia, a chess champion was caught on video attempting to poison her rival with mercury, a move one social media user described as a “real-life checkmate.”^{42 43} —Clarissa Fragoso Pinheiro