Good evening. Here’s the latest at the end of Friday.
Nepal roughly doubles the number of missing after floodOfficials in Nepal said today that at least 1,900 people were missing after an enormous flash flood tore through a Himalayan valley along the border with China, killing at least 580 people, but perhaps many more. The estimate of those missing is about double the previous tally, as Nepali forces continue to search the region. Officials said more than 3,700 people had been rescued so far, including some who were dragged out of the mud. The country’s disaster relief agency said the big jump in the number of missing came after hydropower producers in the flooded river valley reported that about 900 people connected with the projects were unaccounted for. For more: The Times has verified footage showing the moments after a giant glacier broke away from the top of a ridge in the Himalayas, setting off the deadly flood.
Oil stockpiles drop after six months of warExactly six months ago today, American and Israeli forces launched a massive attack on Iran, setting off a war. President Trump said the conflict would be quick and decisive, but the conflict is dragging on. In the U.S., the war has become very unpopular, in part because it has lead to higher fuel costs. The federal government has been steadily depleting its Strategic Petroleum Reserve, which recently fell to its lowest levels since 1982. And private oil storage sites are holding a small fraction of their capacity. In Iran, many people are losing hope. Six months ago, some Iranians believed that the U.S. intervention would help force the country toward a better future. Now, with many expecting the Islamic government to remain in power, the focus has shifted to surviving an economic crisis that the war has worsened. “People are hungry, confused and unable to find a way out,” an artist in Tehran said.
Fed chair seeks to calm inflation concernsKevin Warsh, the chairman of the Federal Reserve, said today that the central bank was chiefly focusing on getting inflation down after half a decade of overshooting the Fed’s 2 percent target. The Fed, he said, had “work to do” if prices do not cool down. In his first speech as the main attraction at the Fed’s annual conference in Jackson, Wyo., Warsh stopped short of saying whether higher borrowing costs were on the horizon. But investors nevertheless raised their expectations for higher rates.
Trump orders the creation of a space academyDeclaring today that “space is the hot thing,” the president signed an executive order to establish a space academy, similar to the Naval Academy in Maryland or the Coast Guard Academy in Connecticut. Plans are still preliminary, but the order said that the academy would feed its graduates into the U.S. Space Force and NASA. In other space news: The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, which is set to launch this weekend, promises a new era of exploration. Here’s why.
Meet the megadonors pouring millions into the midtermsA Times analysis found that the 20 biggest donors so far in this year’s midterm election cycle have collectively shoveled $1.2 billion into federal races. This list includes George and Alex Soros, who back left-leaning groups, but it is dominated by Republican donors. Check out the full list, which shows how the donors are prioritizing their spending. For more on politics:
Before we get to the rest of the news, I’ve got a service announcement: If you’re not a subscriber, you can now explore all of The Times’s journalism for a month — without any paywalls — just by downloading The New York Times app. If you already subscribe, thank you. Subscriptions make all of this possible.
In 2022, the Taliban banned formal education for girls beyond the sixth grade in Afghanistan, but thousands of clandestine schools are in operation. Students and teachers took us inside.
College football is back!It may still be August, but it’s already football season at college campuses across the country. It officially begins tomorrow, when Bill Belichick’s U.N.C. team takes on T.C.U. across the pond in Dublin, Ireland. The good news: everyone starts the year undefeated. The bad news: your beloved school probably won’t stay that way. To prepare, check out The Athletic’s ranking of every major team — from Indiana at No. 1 to UMass at No. 138 — and bold predictions for the season ahead.
A game with grand ambitionsIt’s hard to overstate the pent-up anticipation for Grand Theft Auto VI, which is set to come out in November. Its predecessor sold 230 million copies and helped define a generation of video games. The new game is a Bonnie and Clyde story, but its creators wanted to make sure that you can do much more than just steal cars. You can feed dogs, work out, hold hands (if you put in the romantic effort) and go scuba diving in a world populated by individually animated characters. We got an inside look.
Dinner table topics
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