Daily Briefing: A billionaire walks above Earth

A group of civilians is set to carry out the first private spacewalk in orbit on Thursday from a SpaceX capsule. Newbies and veterans alike belted on the stage at the 2024 MTV Video Music Awards. Francine has been downgraded to a tropical storm after winds cut power to the homes of thousands of Louisiana residents.

🙋🏼‍♀️ I'm Nicole Fallert , Daily Briefing author. If you're in one of these states, you may be able to catch the Northern Lights .

Just a typical Thursday walking in space

Billionaire entrepreneur Jared Isaacman will become the first private astronaut to venture outside of a spacecraft as part of the SpaceX Polaris Dawn mission. Isaacman will hold onto a skywalker device installed outside the Dragon spacecraft. Basically a handrail system, he will maneuver and stabilize himself − a difficult task while in a pressurized spacesuit in the weightlessness of space. SpaceX pushed back the start time of a civilian spacewalk to just before 6 a.m. Thursday but did not provide a reason for the delay. Read live updates on the spacewalk from Florida Today, part of the USA TODAY Network.

Taylor Swift makes the VMAs holy ground

Taylor Swift will be celebrating after making history at the 2024 MTV Video Music Awards Thursday night. The "Tortured Poets Department" singer won seven awards Wednesday, including the night's top prize of video of the year.

That makes Swift the solo artist with the most career VMA wins, and the artist with the most video of the year wins.

• Her winning night came on the (cat) tail of an endorsement of Vice President Kamala Harris in the presidential election. On the VMA stage, Swift kept up her political momentum, encouraging viewers to register to vote and paying tribute to the 23rd anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, saying "Everyone we lost, and that is the most important thing about today."
• Swift would also like Post Malone to stop calling her "ma'am." In her acceptance speech for best collaboration, Swift praised her polite "Fortnight" song partner.
• Our brutally honest performance reviews : The 40 ^th incarnation of the show featured performances by chart-toppers and classics, with opener Eminem, VMA new artist honoree Chappell Roan in medieval flair, Sabrina Carpenter's "Espresso" aesthetic, a career medley by Video Vanguard honoree Katy Perry and the show closer from LL Cool J.

More news to know now on Thursday

• Republicans are regrouping after the Harris-Trump debate .
• Meet Sarah McBride , who would become the first transgender member of Congress if elected.
• This grieving parent asked to "stop the hate" toward Haitian immigrants.
• Jon Bon Jovi talked a woman off the ledge of a Nashville bridge .
• Does the mail pose risks to the November election ?

What's the weather today? Check your local forecast here .

Francine downgraded amid blackouts in Louisiana

Hurricane Francine has been downgraded to a tropical storm and is expected to become a tropical depression by late Thursday, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said in its latest advisory. Francine made landfall along the Louisiana coast as a Category 2 hurricane on Wednesday, knocking out power to hundreds of thousands and threatening the region with widespread flooding as cities became inundated with rainfall. Read more

Spiking West Bank violence adds another front

After almost a year of a brutal war with Hamas in Gaza, Israel is at the center of a tinderbox of multiple, interrelated Middle East conflicts. A steady escalation with Hezbollah in Lebanon. A brewing all-out confrontation with Iran. Strikes from Yemen's Houthis. And now, growing deadly violence in the West Bank. Here's an update from USA TODAY's global correspondent Kim Hjelmgaard on what's happening with each of them.

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Paying the rent always hurts, but maybe less than previous months

Inflation slowed to a more than a three-year low in August as falling gasoline and used car prices offset further gains in the cost of services such as rent, car insurance and airline fares. The report likely bolsters the Federal Reserve’s plans to start lowering interest rates next week, but some economists noted the rise in service costs pushed up an underlying price gauge and could help solidify a modest quarter-point cut. Read more

Photo of the day: Shades of grief

Family and friends copied the names of 9/11 victims onto pieces of paper during a day of solemn tribute on Wednesday, marking the 23rd anniversary of the attacks on the World Trade Center at Ground Zero in New York City.

Nicole Fallert is a newsletter writer at USA TODAY, sign up for the email here . Want to send Nicole a note? Shoot her an email at NFallert@usatoday.com .

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Daily Briefing: A billionaire walks above Earth