Both Republicans and Democrats are making populist appeals to address voters’ pocketbook concerns. If enacted, moves like tariffs or price controls can harm consumers and the economy, policy experts say.

• Robert F. Kennedy Jr. statement: RFK Jr. said Aug. 23 in Arizona he is suspending his independent presidential bid and backing Donald Trump, claiming his presence in the race would help Democratic nominee Kamala Harris.
• Asylum app: As of Aug. 23, migrants in Mexico’s southernmost states, bordering Guatemala, will be able to apply for appointments to seek U.S. asylum using the CBP One app, following a request from the Mexican government. 
• Back on track: One of Canada’s two major freight railroads has resumed operating, bringing an end to a stoppage that threatened the economy across North America.
• Icelandic volcano: Lava is continuing to spew from a volcano in southwestern Iceland, the sixth time since December it has erupted after being dormant for 800 years.

Read these news briefs.

Most Americans are still getting to know Kamala Harris – and the race for the White House may be decided by the race to define her. The Democratic National Convention was a chance for Democrats to lean into her biography and highlight their most favorable issues. 

Russians are not enthusiastic about the idea of Donald Trump’s return to the White House. While Mr. Trump may admire Vladimir Putin, the Kremlin found the chaos that surrounds Mr. Trump more trouble than it’s worth.

Most musicians’ work is in some way derivative of what came before. Folk artist Jake Xerxes Fussell plumbs and recasts Americana music with respect, attribution, and an alchemist’s skill. A Monitor writer who fell into fandom joins our podcast to talk about his story.

August books straddle the seasons – they are more substantial than beach reads but less serious than September’s big releases. Our picks for this month offer both diversion and thoughtful writing. 

Whenever the role of religion pops up in Russia’s war on Ukraine, it’s difficult for Ukrainians not to get angry. By the latest count, at least 630 religious sites have been damaged or destroyed by the Russian aggression. Dozens of priests, pastors, and theologians have been killed.

On Tuesday, Ukraine’s legislators passed a law banning any religious group in the country that supports the Russian Orthodox Church, which itself declared in March that the war has a “holy” purpose in defending a “single spiritual space” for “the Russian World.” To the Kremlin, that includes Ukraine.

Far less noticed during the war, however, has been a quiet effort by Ukraine to do what religion does best: provide spiritual solace.

Over the past two years, its military has begun to train dozens of clergy to be official chaplains and embed them with soldiers at the front lines. With help from NATO, Ukraine has now created the second-largest military chaplaincy in the world.

No matter what Ukrainian soldiers may think about the war in moral or nationality terms, many simply need help in dealing with trauma, grief, stress, and loneliness. And in a country with so many different faiths – the president, for example, is Jewish – the chaplain corps operates by a simple, ecumenical motto: “Being there.”

“We’re like doctors. We heal whoever comes to us, no matter who they are,” one chaplain, Master Sgt. Anatoly Ponomarjov, told The Christian Century.

He added, “People have their own particular practices, but here it’s a different microclimate, and we have to provide them with universal answers regardless of their religion.”

Another chaplain, Yevren Flysta, told The Associated Press last year that the soldiers are, first and foremost, “a spiritual person, and he must have strength, he must have support.”

Ukraine’s defenses during the war have been many: strong morale to defend its sovereignty, advanced weapons, and Western financial aid. But whether the country wins or loses, it has lately added another asset: spiritual security for its fighters.

One indirect battle for Ukraine’s future is Russia’s war on religious groups in the country. But for the soldiers, the war itself has become a way of reviving faith – there are, after all, no atheists in foxholes. Ukraine simply wants to make sure chaplains are there to provide compassionate care and spiritual solace.