Here’s what you need to know at the end of the day.
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Good evening. Here’s the latest.
1. Pounding rains and rapidly rising floodwaters from the most powerful storm to hit the U. S. in a decade have brought Houston, the country’s fourth largest city, to its knees.
The region looks like an inland sea after Hurricane Harvey, and officials fear the worst is yet to come. Nearly two feet of rain is still expected. An enormous and frantic rescue operation is underway. The toll — at least 10 dead — is almost certain to rise. President Trump plans to visit Texas on Tuesday.
Our reporters on the ground are creating a detailed picture of the disaster in photos, videos and articles. Here’s a quick guide to what’s happening, with links. We’ re also running a live briefing with continuous updates, and offering free access to all hurricane-related content.
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2. North Korea fired a missile over Japan, defying an escalation in international sanctions and warnings from President Trump.
The Japanese government sent a text alerting citizens to the launch and advising them to take protective cover. Check back for updates.
Above, Japan tracked another North Korean missile launch on Saturday.
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3. Criticism is building over President Trump’s flexible approach to the rule of law, evident most recently in his pardon of Joe Arpaio, the 85-year-old former Arizona sheriff who defied a court order to stop detaining suspected undocumented immigrants.
Today on “The Daily ” podcast, our former Phoenix bureau chief shares clips and memories of her interviews with Mr. Arpaio over the years. We collected the best writing from the right and left on the pardon. Above, Mr. Arpaio in 2013.
Mr. Trump is also reversing Obama-era restrictions on military hardware for police departments, meaning officers will be able to obtain and deploy grenade launchers, armored vehicles and bayonets.
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4. Uber’s new top executive has his work cut out for him.
Dara Khosrowshahi, 48, who previously led the travel site Expedia, must repair Uber’s culture and reputation while preparing for a self-driving future that many other companies are already vying to dominate.
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5. The U. S. Navy said divers had recovered the remains of 10 missing sailors from the destroyer John S. McCain, above, all from compartments that were crushed and flooded in a collision with a huge tanker near Singapore last week.
The Navy is investigating the crash, as well as another lethal collision near Japan in June. Naval ships are designed to be hard to detect, but more than a dozen current and former Navy officers told our reporters that another problem is the sailors’ grueling schedule.
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6. Power struggles in the Middle East have created many changes, not least of them a new role for Hezbollah. Long focused on fighting Israel, the group has become the spearhead of an international militia network led by Tehran.
Hezbollah is also party to a rare deal with the Islamic State that will remove the last ISIS fighters from Lebanon’s northern border with Syria .
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7. Our S cience desk teamed up with our product-testing site, The Wirecutter, to examine the growing number of DNA analysis services that promise to pinpoint customers’ ethnic heritage and identify relatives.
The answers hidden in DNA can be revelatory, in some cases rewriting family history . (While working on the report, one of our researchers discovered that a grandparent was not biologically related. Above, family photos of another user, who discovered relatives he hadn’ t known of.)
But the testing has real limits. “DNA can’ t always provide a definitive answer to your ancestral roots, ” our writer concluded. “But it can suggest the questions you should ask in search of them.”
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8. The 24th novel by John le Carré, “A Legacy of Spies, ” is a throwback to his best-known book, “The Spy Who Came in From the Cold” (1963) . It rehashes decisions made in the coldest years of the Cold War.
Our critic says it offers prose that “remains brisk and lapidary” and a pleasant reminder “that adults were once in charge of the destiny of the free world.”
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9. The U. S. Open got underway in Flushing Meadows, Queens.
Here’s our tally of the day’s matches so far, and the ones to watch tonight, including Simona Halep vs. Maria Sharapova and the young Sascha Zverev vs. Darian King. Above, JC Aragone to Kevin Anderson.
And here’s the complete U. S. Open schedule and scoreboard to bookmark.
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10. Finally, our pop music critic described this year’s MTV V. M. A.s as “wacky and woke.” Above, the host, Katy Perry. And our TV writer concluded that Season 7 of “Game of Thrones” delivered “arguably the most impressive visceral thrills and the least satisfying storytelling of the show’s run.”
More TV is just around the corner, with a new slate of shows for fall. Here’s your catch-up guide to returning series.
And before you write to ask, our Best of Late Night comedy roundup is on break this week, since all the hosts except Trevor Noah are on vacation. The column will return after Labor Day.
Have a great night.
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