Fuel leaks force NASA to scrub launch; Washington running back shot; Taylor Swift wins top prize at MTV VMAs | Hot off the Wire podcast

Fuel leaks have forced NASA to scrub the launch of its new moon rocket on a no-crew test flight. The next launch attempt will not take place until Friday at the earliest. The 322-foot Space Launch System rocket was set to lift off Monday morning with three test dummies aboard on its first flight, a mission to propel a capsule into orbit around the moon. The shakedown flight, when it happens, will be a big step forward in America’s quest to put astronauts back on the moon for the first time since the end of the Apollo program 50 years ago.

The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency says that the U.N. nuclear watchdog’s long-awaited expert mission to the Zaporizhzhia power plant in Ukraine “is now on its way.” The site is Ukraine’s and Europe’s biggest nuclear facility.

The Russian military says it will launch sweeping military drills in the country’s east that will involve forces from China. The maneuvers that start on Thursday reflect increasingly close military ties between Moscow and Beijing amid the tensions with the West over the Kremlin’s action in Ukraine.

International aid is reaching Pakistan, as the military and volunteers desperately tried to evacuate many thousands stranded by widespread flooding driven by “monster monsoons” that have claimed more than 1,000 lives this summer.

Students in Ohio’s largest school district were returning to classrooms after members of the union representing teachers and other employees approved a contract, ending a strike.

For one day, movie tickets will be just $3 in the vast majority of American theaters as part of a newly launched “National Cinema Day” to lure moviegoers during a quiet spell at the box office. The Cinema Foundation, a non-profit arm of the National Association of Theater Owners, announced that Sept. 3 will be a nationwide discount day in more than 3,000 theaters and on more than 30,000 screens.

The horror film “The Invitation” needed just $7 million to finish at the top of the weakest weekend of the summer at the North American box office. Sony also had the No. 2 movie with the Brad Pitt vehicle “Bullet Train,” which brought in an estimated $5.6 million in its fourth week, putting its domestic total past $78 million.

The Washington Commanders say rookie running back Brian Robinson Jr. was shot during an attempted robbery or carjacking. The 23-year-old former Alabama player was taken to the hospital with what the team called non-life-threatening injuries.

Taylor Swift took home the top prize at the 2022 MTV Video Music Awards before she closed out the show with a surprisingly big announcement: Her new album. The pop star said Sunday night that her new album called “Midnights” will be released Oct. 21. 

In sports highlights, Rory McIlroy won another FedEx Cup title, the Cardinals doubled up the Braves, the Astros saw their top hurler make an early exit, the Mets failed to sweep the Rockies, the Dodgers kept winning and Hawaii claimed Little League bragging rights.

In a surprise salute at Citi Field, the Mets have retired Willie Mays’ No. 24 as part of festivities for the organization’s first Old-Timers’ Day since 1994. Mets charter owner Joan Whitney Payson told Mays he would be the last player in franchise history to wear No. 24. But Payson died not long after Mays’ retirement in 1973, and the Mets finally made good on her promise nearly 50 years later.

A mint condition Mickey Mantle baseball card has sold for $12.6 million, blasting into the record books Sunday as the most expensive ever paid for a piece of sports memorabilia. The rare Mantle card eclipsed the record just posted a few months ago — $9.3 million for the jersey worn by Diego Maradona when he scored the controversial “Hand of God” goal in soccer’s 1986 World Cup.

A car driven by Princess Diana in the 1980s sold for $764,000 at auction Saturday, just days before the 25th anniversary of her death. Silverstone Auctions says there was “fierce bidding” for the black Ford Escort RS Turbo before the sale closed. The U.K. buyer, whose name was not disclosed, paid a 12.5% buyer’s premium on top of the selling price, according to the classic car auction house.

Russia has blocked agreement on the final document of a four-week review of the U.N. treaty considered the cornerstone of nuclear disarmament which criticized its takeover of Europe’s largest nuclear plant soon after Russian troops invaded Ukraine. The deputy director of the Russian Foreign Ministry’s Non-Proliferation and Arms Control Department told Friday’s delayed final meeting of the conference reviewing the 50-year-old Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty that “unfortunately there is no consensus on this document.”