8/25 to 8/31, 2025

Welcome back, folks. This is This Week, Basically, hosted by Robyn Davies. From missile barrages and fraught diplomacy to marijuana testing scandals, from the heartbreak of school shootings to babies born at Burning Man — this week’s news ran the full spectrum. Let’s dive in.

We’ll start with war in Ukraine. Russia launched nearly six hundred drones and missiles in one overnight barrage — the second such massive assault in just three days . Strikes stretched across the map, from Lutsk in the west to Zaporizhzhia in the southeast, where an apartment building was ripped open, killing one and injuring two dozen more. Just days earlier, another wave on Kyiv killed twenty-five and damaged buildings used by the European Union and the British government. And in a chilling side note, Andriy Parubiy, a former speaker of Ukraine’s Parliament, was shot dead in Lviv. Police don’t know if it’s tied to the war, but President Zelensky called it a “horrendous murder.” All this came as Trump tried to arrange peace talks between Zelensky and Putin. Moscow, however, has brushed off the idea, going right back to high-intensity bombardments .

Meanwhile in Washington, federal officers have turned the capital into something resembling a permanent checkpoint. Trump declared crime in D.C. “out of control” and flooded the streets with agents. In just two weeks, nearly a thousand arrests were made . But court records show many of them were for small infractions — open containers, tinted windows, smoking a joint. The White House says violent crime fell forty-five percent. Critics say the short-term dip could just reflect people staying indoors. Immigration arrests spiked too — more than four hundred people picked up in just three weeks. The result? D.C.’s jail is the fullest it’s been in years. Residents say the presence feels like an occupying force, with platoons of officers even showing up at neighborhood cookouts demanding to see what was in people’s cups .

From Washington to Minneapolis, the country is reeling from another mass shooting. This one took place at a Catholic school. Children were gathered for Mass when an assailant armed with a rifle, shotgun, and handgun opened fire . Eight-year-old Fletcher Merkel, who was midway through the first Harry Potter book and wanted to learn how to make beef Wellington, was killed. Ten-year-old Harper Moyski, remembered for her laughter and infectious joy, was also killed. Eighteen others, mostly children, were injured. Families are telling stories of fishing trips, flag football dreams, and Lego castles — all the ordinary moments that make the loss unbearable .

Now to geopolitics. Relations between Trump and India’s Prime Minister Modi have gone from hand-holding rallies to near collapse. It started with a phone call where Trump bragged that he’d “solved” the India-Pakistan conflict and hinted Modi should nominate him for a Nobel Peace Prize . Modi bristled. India insists the cease-fire had nothing to do with Washington. Since then, Trump slapped India with fifty percent tariffs on imports, calling out its purchases of Russian oil. Modi is headed to Beijing to meet Xi and Putin, a sign India may be tilting away from the U.S. The fallout shows how personal Trump’s diplomacy has become — bruised egos shaping the fate of two of the world’s largest democracies .

Further east, Afghanistan is drowning in what one analyst called a “perfect economic storm.” Four years into Taliban rule, millions of Afghans are being deported back from Iran and Pakistan . They return to no jobs, few homes, and an economy already battered by aid cuts. USAID’s closure gutted health programs, shutting more than four hundred clinics. The Taliban itself has been laying off workers as coffers run dry. Hunger is rising. Kabul looks like a construction site in some corners, with new roads and foreign investors sniffing around. But for most Afghans, the reality is harsher: unemployment, aid shortfalls, and little sign of relief .

Back in the U.S., another public health story: cannabis. New York legalized weed with promises of clean, tested products. But lab workers and researchers say the testing system is riddled with flaws . Some products cleared for sale may contain pesticides or dangerous mold like aspergillus, which can cause severe lung infections. The Times even commissioned tests that found vape cartridges and infused chocolates sold in licensed shops weren’t as safe or as potent as advertised. Labs, it turns out, can test the same product and get wildly different results — both technically valid. With cannabis federally illegal, there’s no strong nationwide standard, leaving states like New York with patchwork rules and plenty of questions about what’s really inside that “Lemon Slushie” joint .

Meanwhile abroad, Yemen’s Houthis claimed the Israeli military killed their prime minister in a strike . Israel hasn’t confirmed, but the announcement came amid escalating regional tension. And in Afghanistan’s neighbor Pakistan, economic struggles continue as fallout from wars and shifting alliances ripple outward.

Not all the week’s stories are heavy. At Burning Man, a baby girl entered the world with the help of strangers . In the chaos of desert heat and music, attendees formed an impromptu delivery team, keeping mother and child safe until medics arrived. It’s the kind of surreal headline only Burning Man could produce.

In New York, another surreal one: chicken nuggets under fire. New school food standards could banish them from cafeterias . Officials argue it’s about health — less processed meat, lower sodium. But to a generation of students, nuggets aren’t just food, they’re comfort.

And finally, a story of memory and music. Families in Minneapolis, even amid grief, are already talking about legacies — remembering children’s laughter, building foundations in their names, insisting that joy survives tragedy . Meanwhile, across culture, artists continue to create, sing, and perform — because even in stormy weeks, life goes on.

So that’s the week: barrages in Ukraine, raids in D.C., heartbreak in Minneapolis, tariffs rattling India, Afghanistan’s storm, New York’s shaky weed market, and lighter notes from nuggets to new life in the desert.

This has been This Week, Basically. I’m Robyn Davies. Thanks for listening, and I’ll see you next time.