What happened
Ukraine has admitted that Russian troops have crossed into Dnipropetrovsk in the east of the country in what officials called the first large-scale attack there since the invasion began. Viktor Trehubov, of the Dnipro Operational-Strategic Group, said the advance had been halted, although fighting continues near the regional border. Dnipropetrovsk, home to more than three million people before the war, is Ukraine's second-largest industrial hub after the Donbas.

Who said what
Russia claims that it has gained ground, with pro-Moscow sources saying its forces now hold the villages of Zaporizke and Novohryhorivka. Ukraine disputes that, insisting that its troops still control Zaporizke and are engaged in "active hostilities" nearby.

Any Russian advance into Dnipropetrovsk "would be a blow to Ukrainian morale", said Paul Kirby on the BBC. The concession by Ukraine that it has lost ground for the first time in the region "comes as momentum towards a possible peace deal has stalled", said France 24.

What next?
Hopes of a US-brokered peace summit have faded, with Moscow insisting that "the agenda is not ready at all".

What happened
The soaring costs of chocolate, butter and eggs have pushed food price inflation to its highest level in 18 months. The British Retail Consortium (BRC) said prices had increased at their fastest pace for a year and a half, with food inflation hitting 4.2% in August, up from 4% in July – the highest since February last year.

Who said what
Helen Dickinson, the BRC's chief executive, said butter and eggs had seen "significant increases". She added that chocolate had become more expensive "as global prices of cocoa remain high owing to poor harvests". But some relief is expected for consumers, "with lower prices for clothing, books, stationery, and computing".

What next?
The rising prices are due to several factors including global supply costs, seasonal inflation driven by weather and rising operational costs. And the retail sector now faces "£7 billion in new costs after last year's autumn budget", said The Guardian. More than 60 retail bosses have warned that further tax increases could undermine efforts to improve UK living standards, predicting that food inflation could reach 6% later this year.

It's time to face the music. Conservative ideals have made their way back into mainstream pop culture. For the first time in more than 10 years, songs based on faith have been dominating the charts. This aligns with society's shift towards "more traditional values".

Pop culture and music have long been a bellwether of the political climate. Last year was "defined by the ascendance of boundary-pushing female pop stars like Sabrina Carpenter, Chappell Roan and Charli XCX, whose 'brat summer' trend was embraced by Kamala Harris's presidential campaign", said news site Semafor. However, "rising in a parallel fashion to pop women", country music resonated with "young white people, some who might not even describe themselves as conservative, but may have been searching for a watered-down, digestible form of populism", said Rolling Stone.

Much of this was attributed to President Donald Trump's campaign, which was "based in part on nostalgia for a formerly 'great' time period in US history when white identity was unthreatened and women held traditional roles", according to Rolling Stone. This summer has been a "stark cultural contrast from the last", said Semafor. It has been dominated by "tradpop", a term "used to describe a hybrid of traditional pop infused with spiritual and country music elements", said Artistrack.

Tradpop has found a keen audience in young men – and the broader move to it "reflects the cultural and political narrative shift towards traditional and conservative ideals" ever since Trump "returned to power", said Semafor.