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      Pence Meets With Zelensky in Ukraine, Highlighting G.O.P. Split Over War

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      Former Vice President Mike Pence made an unannounced visit to Ukraine on Thursday, a detour from the presidential campaign trail that was intended to highlight his unwavering support for the nation as it battles Russia and to contrast it with the views of two key Republican rivals: Donald J. Trump and Ron DeSantis.Both Mr. Trump, the former president, and Mr. DeSantis, the Florida governor, have criticized U.S. involvement in the defense of Ukraine. The United States has provided more than $40 billion in military and humanitarian aid.During his 12-hour stay, with an NBC News crew accompanying him, Mr. Pence met with Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, and toured a mass burial site, placing flowers at a memorial, according to an adviser.For more than 16 months, Ukraine has been fighting to repel the Russian invasion, in a war that has claimed the lives of hundreds of thousands of civilians and soldiers.“Look, the war here in Ukraine is not our war, but freedom is our fight,” Mr. Pence told NBC News. He is the first Republican candidate to visit Ukraine during the 2024 campaign. President Biden was in Kyiv in February.In his nightly address to his nation, Mr. Zelensky thanked Mr. Pence for his support and said that American support for Ukraine was vital.Mr. Pence added to NBC News, “I think we’re advancing not only the interests of freedom, but let me be clear, my other message is we’re advancing our national interest.”The show of solidarity by Mr. Pence, who was Mr. Trump’s vice president, contrasted sharply with the G.O.P.’s top tier of presidential candidates.During a CNN town hall in May, Mr. Trump, the Republican front-runner, refused to say whether he wanted Ukraine to win the war.He also would not call President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia a war criminal, saying that doing so would make it more difficult to end the hostilities. Mr. Trump did say Mr. Putin had “made a bad mistake” by invading Ukraine.Mr. DeSantis, a former House member, has aligned himself more closely with Mr. Trump on U.S. aid for Ukraine.In a statement to Fox News in March before formally entering the race, Mr. DeSantis said that protecting Ukraine’s borders was not a vital U.S. interest and that policymakers should instead focus attention at home. He was responding to a questionnaire from Tucker Carlson, the conservative commentator who was later fired by the network.At that time, Mr. DeSantis was criticized by some hawks in the G.O.P. for describing Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as a “territorial dispute.” In an attempt to clarify his remarks, he later called Mr. Putin a “war criminal” who should be “held accountable.”Jonathan Swan More

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      US targets Wagner by sanctioning gold companies suspected of funding group

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      The United States has taken fresh aim at Russia’s Wagner group, imposing sanctions on companies it accuses of engaging in illicit gold dealings to fund the mercenary force.In a statement on Tuesday, the US treasury department said it slapped sanctions on four companies in the United Arab Emirates, Central African Republic and Russia it accused of being connected to the Wagner Group and its leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin.The companies engaged in illicit gold dealings to fund the militia to sustain and expand its armed forces, including in Ukraine and some countries in Africa, the treasury said.“The Wagner group funds its brutal operations in part by exploiting natural resources in countries like the Central African Republic and Mali,” the treasury’s under secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, Brian Nelson, said in a statement.“The United States will continue to target the Wagner Group’s revenue streams to degrade its expansion and violence in Africa, Ukraine, and anywhere else.”The Wagner Group did not immediately respond to the US allegations.The measures against the Wagner group had been previously planned but were briefly put on hold as US officials sought to avoid appearing to favor a side in a power struggle between the mercenaries’ chief Yevgeny Prigozhin and Russian president Vladimir Putin.Wagner, whose men in Ukraine include thousands of ex-prisoners recruited from Russian jails, has grown into a sprawling international business with mining interests and fighters in Africa and the Middle East.Sergei Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister, said this week “private military contractors” would remain in Central African Republic (CAR) and Mali, the two countries in sub-Saharan Africa where Wagner has the biggest presence. The group has been accused of widespread atrocities in both countries.The State department spokesman, Matthew Miller, previewing the sanctions earlier Tuesday, renewed his criticism of the Wagner mercenaries, who have been accused of wide abuses in Africa.“We believe that everywhere that Wagner goes, they bring death and destruction in their wake. They hurt local populations, they extract minerals and extract money from the communities where they operate,” Miller told reporters.“And so we would continue to urge governments in Africa and elsewhere to cease any cooperation with Wagner,” he said.The United States has previously imposed sanctions on Wagner and Prigozhin.The companies hit with sanctions on Tuesday included Central African Republic-based Midas Ressources SARLU and Diamville SAU, Dubai-based Industrial Resources General Trading and Russia-based Limited Liability Company DM.The United States also issued an advisory highlighting risks raised by gold trade in sub-Saharan Africa due to what it said was increasingly concerning reporting related to the role of illicit actors, including the Wagner Group. More

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      Wagner rebellion reveals ‘cracks’ in Putin government, says Blinken

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      A day after renegade Wagner mercenaries almost sparked a civil war in Russia, the top US diplomat has said the uprising showed “real cracks” in Vladimir Putin’s government and may offer Ukraine a crucial advantage as it conducts a counteroffensive that could influence the outcome of the war.Antony Blinken, the US secretary of state, said the upheaval triggered by the aborted advance on Moscow by Yevgeny Prigozhin’s Wagner mercenaries on Saturday was far from over. Neither Prigozhin nor Putin have been heard from since coming to a last-minute agreement on Saturday to avert clashes near Moscow between mercenaries and regular Russian troops.“This is an unfolding story and I think we’re in the midst of a moving picture,” Blinken told the CBS News programme Face the Nation. “We haven’t seen the last act.”The rebellion, fuelled by anger at the Kremlin’s leadership of the invasion and occupation of Ukraine, represented the most direct threat to Putin’s grip on power since he first became president 23 years ago.With no word from Putin or Prigozhin throughout the day, it was unclear whether Russia’s immediate crisis had passed, let alone what implications it had for the vast country’s longer-term stability. Wagner troops abandoned the positions they had held in the city of Rostov-on-Don and near Moscow, while Russian officials claimed to have dropped criminal charges against Prigozhin and reopened Wagner recruiting centres.Russian military insiders eagerly discussed rumours of an impending shake-up at the ministry of defence, one of the main demands issued by Prigozhin during his uprising.However, the Kremlin appeared keen to slow down developments, saying that Putin had no more plans to address the country and that the invasion of Ukraine would continue as planned.Other top Russian officials and propagandists also remained quiet, leaving an information vacuum that has been filled with rumours about the deal hammered out with Prigozhin, and whether the Kremlin will seek revenge once the immediate threat to Putin’s power recedes.Blinken described the weekend’s events as “a direct challenge to Putin’s authority”.“So this raises profound questions,” he said. “It shows real cracks. We can’t speculate or know exactly where that’s going to go. We do know that Putin has a lot more to answer for in the weeks and months ahead.”He said there was no sign so far of senior Kremlin figures being dismissed as part of any deal between Prigozhin and Moscow. Prigozhin had demanded the removal of the defence minister, Sergei Shoigu, and the chief of general staff, Valery Gerasimov.Russian military bloggers focused attention on Aleksey Dyumin, the Tula region governor and former Putin bodyguard who is said to have a close relationship with Prigozhin and to have taken part in Saturday’s negotiations. He said he had not participated in the discussions.In the wake of the uprising, an uneasy calm descended across Russia, with regional authorities cancelling emergency measures, fixing roads that had been barricaded against the Wagner convoy, and reopening public spaces such as museums and parks.According to the New York Times, US intelligence agencies briefed senior Biden officials on Wednesday that Prigozhin was preparing to take military action against the defence leadership in Moscow.Nothing was made public about the intelligence at the time, the officials said, for fear of Putin accusing Washington of orchestrating a coup, and there was no incentive for the US to help Putin avoid a big dent in his authority.Under the few reported terms of the agreement, Wagner troops turned around on the road to Moscow and returned to their camps in eastern Ukraine. Prigozhin is to move to Belarus with immunity from reprisals, but it is not clear who, if anyone, is allowed to accompany him. Wagner fighters who took part in the uprising are to be pardoned, and those who took no part are to be absorbed by the regular army.With Wagner forces returning to Ukraine, where they have spearheaded some key offensives, it was also far from certain what impact the rebellion would have on the conflict in the midst of a slow-moving and gruelling Ukrainian counteroffensive.Blinken said: “To the extent that it presents a real distraction for Putin, and for Russian authorities, that they have to mind their rear … I think that creates even greater openings for the Ukrainians to do well on the ground.”The secretary of state said US officials had been in touch with their Russian counterparts throughout the crisis to remind them of their legal obligations to protect US citizens on their territory.“A number of people have engaged to make sure that the Russians got that message,” he said.As for concerns that any of Russia’s substantial nuclear arsenal could become the focus of internal power struggles, Blinken said: “We haven’t seen any change in Russia’s nuclear posture. There hasn’t been any change in ours, but it’s something we’re going to watch very, very carefully.”As of Sunday evening, the whereabouts of Prigozhin, a media addict who issues a steady stream of commentary in voice messages on his Telegram page, were unknown. The Wagner leader had gone silent for almost 24 hours. His last post came at 6.30pm on Saturday, when he said that his troops were standing down after holding a “march of justice” and having “not spilt one drop of blood”. Reports in Russia said Wagner fighters had shot down seven helicopters, resulting in the deaths of 20 Russian soldiers.“Now is the moment when blood can be shed,” he said. “Therefore, realising the full responsibility for the fact that Russian blood will be shed … we will turn our columns and go in the opposite direction to our field camps.”Prigozhin was then photographed leaving Rostov-on-Don alongside his men, and given the kind of rapturous reception that would resemble the departure of a rockstar after headlining a concert. Local men grasped his hand through the window of an SUV and posed for selfies. They berated the police who took up the positions previously held by Wagner, chanting “disgrace” and clapping their hands.Then, Prigozhin went silent, apparently on his way to a Belarusian exile that observers said seemed unlikely for the ambitious Kremlin hanger-on.Putin was also silent on Sunday, a day after he appeared on Russian television and said Prigozhin’s uprising would be put down “brutally”, calling it an “internal treason”.The Russian president did not directly comment on the deal that Lukashenko said he had negotiated with Prigozhin. Lukashenko’s press office said the Belarusian president spoke with Putin on Sunday morning, but did not confirm that they had discussed the uprising.Late on Saturday evening, Dmitry Peskov, Putin’s press secretary, said Prigozhin would be allowed safe passage to Belarus, as confirmed by the Russian president.“If you ask what the exact guarantee of the fact that Prigozhin will be able to leave for Belarus is, it is the Russian president’s word,” Peskov told journalists.Additional reporting by Adam Gabbatt More

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      After the destruction of the Kakhovka dam, another threat lies on Ukraine’s horizon: Donald Trump | Jonathan Freedland

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      The war for Ukraine gets darker and more terrifying, and now a new front has opened up many miles away – in a US Republican party whose biggest players are itching to abandon Ukraine to its fate.Proof of the conflict’s deepening horror came this week, with the destruction on Tuesday of the Kakhovka dam in Russian-controlled Ukraine, releasing a body of water so massive it’s best imagined not as a reservoir but as a great lake. The result has been the flooding of a vast swath of terrain, forcing thousands to abandon their homes and flee for their lives. But the menaces unleashed by this act go further than the immediate and devastating effect on the people who live close by.For one thing, this calamity has hit a region of rich and fertile farmland, the same soil that long made Ukraine a breadbasket for the world: the fifth-largest exporter of wheat on the planet, the food source on which much of Africa and the Middle East has relied. Now there are warnings that the fields of southern Ukraine could “turn into deserts” by next year, because the water held back by the dam and needed to irrigate those fields is draining away. That will have an impact on food supplies and food prices, with an effect in turn on inflation and the global economy.Not that the international impact can be measured in dollars and cents alone. Volodymyr Zelenskiy has warned that contaminated floodwaters now carry with them sewage, oil, chemicals and even anthrax from animal burial sites. That toxic material will, said the Ukrainian president, poison rivers and, before long, the water basin of the Black Sea. “So it’s not happening somewhere else. It is all interrelated in the world.”Meanwhile, the Red Cross has sounded an alarm of its own: the bursting of the dam does grievous damage to its ongoing effort to locate and clear landmines in the area. “We knew where the hazards were,” the organisation lamented. “Now we don’t know. All we know is that they are somewhere downstream.” Dislodged by the racing waters, those devices are now floating mines. And that’s before you reckon with the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, the biggest in Europe, which relies on water from the now-draining reservoir for the essential process of cooling.Small wonder that Zelenskiy speaks of “an environmental bomb of mass destruction,” while others now mention Kakhovka in the same breath as Chornobyl. Except few believe this was an accident.Naturally, Moscow insists that this was not a Russian act: it says the Ukrainians did this to themselves. Still, and even though investigations are ongoing, it’s worth heeding the advice of the specialist in Ukrainian history Timothy Snyder, and remembering the fundamentals of detective work. “Russia had the means,” Snyder notes, in that Russia was in control of the relevant part of the dam when it appeared to explode. Russia had the motive, in that it fears a Ukrainian counteroffensive aimed at taking back territory – and flooded ground is ground over which tanks cannot advance.And there is the pattern of behaviour, the record of past crimes. Russia has scarcely restrained itself from targeting Ukraine’s civil infrastructure over the last 15 months: Kakhovka would just be the latest and most wanton example. Indeed, the destruction of dams to trigger mass flooding is no more than Russia’s ultra-nationalist talking heads and TV pundit class have been demanding for a while. This week one such voice suggested Moscow give the Kyiv dam the Kakhovka treatment and that it “raze the city to the ground”. As if weighing up the moral implications, he asked, “Why should we be holier than the pope?”The official denials should not be taken too seriously, given the Kremlin’s history of disinformation and outright lies. Better to judge Russia by its deeds than its words. So what did Russia do to help those made desperate by the floods? The answer was swift and it came from Russian artillery units, seemingly firing on Ukrainian rescue workers and evacuees as they tried to flee to safety. It’s a strategy familiar from Moscow’s war in Syria: pile pain upon pain, misery upon misery.Supporters of Ukraine say that this is a sign of Russian weakness, that it is resorting to barbaric methods because it knows that, in key respects, Ukraine has the upper hand – not least because it enjoys the support of a united west. That is true, for now. But there is a threat from within the alliance’s most powerful member.Freshly indicted though he is, Donald Trump remains the frontrunner for the Republican nomination for president. And Trump is a well-documented friend of Vladimir Putin and a sceptic on the merits of continued US support for Kyiv. When asked on CNN last month, the former president couldn’t say who he wants to prevail in the contest between Russia and Ukraine, between invader and invaded. Nor would he commit to supplying aid to Kyiv: “We don’t have ammunition for ourselves, we’re giving away so much.” Asked about war crimes charges against Putin – centred on the alleged mass abduction of Ukrainian children and their transfer across the border to be “re-educated” as Russians – Trump again refused to condemn the “smart guy” in the Kremlin.Because Trump has remade the Republican party in his own image, this is not a danger confined to him alone. His nearest current rival, the Florida governor, Ron DeSantis, echoed Moscow talking points in March when he referred to the war as a “territorial dispute”, a remark he later sought to undo. But the window into his thinking had been opened.Most Republicans in Congress still back Ukraine, but the right of the party has moved into a different place, one illuminated by Tucker Carlson’s debut Twitter show this week, his first since his firing by Fox News. There he described Zelenskiy, who is Jewish, as “sweaty and rat-like … a persecutor of Christians … shifty, dead-eyed”, suggesting without evidence, and in a perfect echo of Moscow, that the hand of Kyiv lay behind the destruction of the Kakhovka dam.We already knew that much is at stake in the November 2024 presidential election, not least the life expectancy of US democracy. But there is something else, too. Ukraine is engaged in a profound battle for its own survival as an independent nation, and for larger principles essential to the whole world: that freedom must prevail, and that aggression must not. Ukraine cannot win that fight alone. It cannot win only with the backing of its European neighbours, which, though necessary, is not sufficient. It requires the United States, its muscle and its money. The plight of Kherson and the indictment in Miami are linked: the world desperately needs the defeat of Donald Trump.
      Jonathan Freedland is a Guardian columnist More

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      Your Friday Briefing: A Major Ukrainian Offensive

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      Also, a victory for voting rights in the U.S.Fighting in the Donetsk region this week prompted U.S. authorities to say that the counteroffensive may have begun.Tyler Hicks/The New York TimesUkraine mounts a major attack in the southA senior U.S. official said that the Ukrainian assault in the southern region of Zaporizhzhia appeared to be a main thrust of its long-anticipated counteroffensive to retake territory from Russia. The stakes are high for Kyiv and its Western allies.The Ukrainian forces in Zaporizhzhia included German Leopard 2 tanks and U.S. Bradley fighting vehicles, the official said. The attack involved some of the troops the U.S. and other allies of Ukraine had trained and equipped especially for the counteroffensive.Russian military officials said that their forces had withstood the assault and inflicted heavy casualties. The U.S. official confirmed that Ukraine’s Army had suffered casualties in the early fighting. There was no immediate comment from Ukraine, which has said it would remain silent on details.Stakes: If Ukraine fails to break through Russia’s lines, support could shrink — and Kyiv could come under pressure from allies to enter serious negotiations to end or freeze the conflict.Flooding: Russian forces shelled Kherson yesterday, striking near an evacuation point, hours after Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, visited the flood-stricken city. Rescue efforts are continuing after a dam was destroyed.The U.S. Supreme Court building in Washington. Kenny Holston/The New York TimesA victory for U.S. voting rightsIn a surprise move, the Supreme Court ruled that Alabama had diluted the power of Black voters by drawing a congressional voting map with a single district in which they made up a majority.The 5-to-4 decision was a surprise: The Supreme Court’s conservative majority has worked to erode the Voting Rights Act, a federal law that was enacted in 1965 to protect minority voters from racial discrimination.The case started when Alabama’s Legislature, which is controlled by Republicans, redrew the congressional map to take account of the 2020 census. The state has seven districts, and its voting-age population is about 27 percent Black.The decision means that Alabama’s State Legislature will have to draw a second district with a Black majority.Context: The Supreme Court’s recent rightward lurch — seen in decisions on abortion, guns, religion and climate change — has shaken public confidence in its moral authority.For decades, the Najiaying Mosque has been the pride of the Muslim Hui ethnic minority in Nagu.Vivian Wang/The New York TimesChina’s plan to remake mosquesThe mosques in Nagu and Shadian in Yunnan Province in China hold particular importance in the story of Beijing’s relationship with Islam, which has fluctuated between conflict and coexistence.They are among the last major mosques with Arab-style architecture still standing in China after a campaign by the ruling Communist Party to close, demolish or forcibly redesign mosques that has so far been met with limited resistance.But late last month, members of the Muslim Hui ethnic minority in Nagu clashed with the police after the authorities drove construction cranes into that mosque’s courtyard. Officials had said they planned to remove its domes and remake its minarets in a more “Chinese” style. The demolition was paused, but residents think that it’s inevitable.To Hui residents in Nagu, which our correspondent Vivian Wang visited shortly after the protest, the remodeling plan was a precursor to a more sweeping repression of their way of life.THE LATEST NEWSAsia PacificChina has agreed to pay several billion dollars to Cuba to build an electronic eavesdropping center, which could be used to spy on the U.S., The Wall Street Journal reports.A poll has found that Europeans still mostly see China as “a necessary partner,” even as Beijing moves closer to Russia.Around the WorldA haze over the U.S. Capitol yesterday.Kenny Holston/The New York TimesSmoke from raging wildfires in Canada that has plagued the northeastern U.S. is spreading south and west. President Biden and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak of Britain met at the White House and pledged to work together to confront challenges posed by A.I., the economy and Ukraine.Prosecutors have told Donald Trump’s lawyers that the former president is the target of an investigation into his handling of classified documents, a sign that he is likely to face charges.Other Big StoriesA Syrian asylum seeker was arrested in France after an attack in a park in which four children and two adults were stabbed.The eurozone fell into a mild recession early this year.The U.S. suspended all food aid to Ethiopia, citing theft of the contributions.The Week in Culture“I’m good at a lot of things, but I’m best at performing.” — Alex Newell of “Shucked”Thea Traff for The New York Times Ahead of the Tony Awards on Sunday, our theater and culture reporters spoke to Jessica Chastain, Wendell Pierce, Ben Platt and other nominees about their craft. Here’s the full list of nominees.Satoshi Kuwata, the Japanese designer and founder of Setchu, won fashion’s most prestigious award for young designers.The job of a museum director is expanding beyond the art: Directors need to confront controversies ranging from looted art to issues of social justice.The fabled Cinecittà Studios in Rome are buzzing with activity again, thanks to modernized facilities and generous tax incentives.A Morning ReadDr. Sandra Hazelip, left, and Eleanor Hamby.Christopher Lee for The New York TimesIt’s never too late to travel with your best friend.Just ask Eleanor Hamby, 81, and Dr. Sandra Hazelip, 82, known by some as “the TikTok traveling grannies.” They went from Antarctica to the Grand Canyon in just 80 days, visiting 18 countries on a budget.Lives lived: Pat Robertson, a Baptist minister and broadcaster who gave Christian conservatives clout in U.S. politics, died at 93.ARTS AND IDEASA gay bar in Singapore.Ore Huiying for The New York TimesL.G.B.T.Q. life in AsiaFor Pride month, we asked our L.G.B.T.Q. readers to share their experiences. Thank you to those who told us about your joys and worries. I’ve lightly edited some responses.A reversal in ChinaJack, 38, moved to Beijing in 2008. At the time, “it felt like things were on the up for queer people.” The nightlife was thriving and activism was moving. “Everyone expected things would continue to get better,” he said. That all changed once Xi Jinping came to power, Jack said. Venues closed. Activists disappeared. Representation dwindled. “People withdrew into apps and the underground,” he wrote.Uncertainty in South KoreaA 16-year-old in Seoul, who didn’t want to share his name, said that there was little representation in the media or arts, and he knows only one other L.G.B.T.Q. person. “I’m a gay student,” he wrote. “I have come out to just a few friends whom I trust; it would be social suicide to come out publicly to everyone.”Muted relief in SingaporeSince Singapore repealed a ban on gay sex, some readers said life felt easier. Tan Jun Lin, 25, said that being gay felt less scary now, both because of the change in the law and because of growing visibility on social media. But he has still had to cut off homophobic friends and hide his sexuality from colleagues.“Pride doesn’t simply mean acceptance,” he wrote. At work, he told some colleagues about his sexuality, but they responded with a “stunned silence that clearly conveyed a concealed homophobia.”Frustration in JapanGaku Hiroshima, 33, lives in Kyoto. He is still aware of prejudice, he said, but in just a few years, he has seen attitudes change.“I feel the arrival of the zeitgeist of ‘making fun of sexuality is not cool,’” Gaku wrote. Kyoto’s City Hall is decorated for Pride, which he said “was clearly impossible a few years ago.”PLAY, WATCH, EATWhat to CookDavid Malosh for The New York Times. Fold grated cheese into ground beef, instead of layering it on top, to make these moist burgers.What to WatchThese 10 movies celebrate New York City.What to Listen toDiscover the beauty of New Orleans jazz.Advice from WirecutterA guide to picking the best camping tent.Now Time to PlayPlay the Mini Crossword, and a clue: Night hallucination (five letters).Here are the Wordle and the Spelling Bee. You can find all our puzzles here.That’s it for today’s briefing. I hope you have a lovely weekend! — AmeliaP.S. Gilbert Cruz, our Books editor, spoke with NBC about exciting new titles. He recommends “The Wager,” by David Grann, about an 18th-century shipwreck.“The Daily” is about the race to become the Republican Party’s presidential candidate.We’d like your feedback. You can email us at briefing@nytimes.com. More

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      Your Wednesday Briefing: A Dam Destroyed in Ukraine

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      Also, a victory for the Saudi-backed golf tour.A satellite image showing an overview of the damage from the Kakhovka dam.Planet Labs PBC, via Associated PressA major dam is destroyed in UkraineThe Kakhovka dam and electric plant in southern Ukraine was destroyed yesterday, sending torrents of water through the breach and forcing tens of thousands of people to evacuate.Russia and Ukraine blamed each other for the disaster, but it was not immediately clear who was responsible. Officials in Kyiv said Moscow’s forces had blown up the Russian-controlled dam on the Dnipro River in the predawn hours.More than 40,000 people could be in the path of flooding, a Ukrainian official said. Here’s a map of the damage.Downstream, residents described watching in horror as floodwaters swept past carrying trees and debris from washed-out houses. More than 1,300 people were evacuated, officials said, as conservationists warned of a huge and long-lasting environmental disaster. The waters are expected to peak today, an expert said.Satellite image is from before the flooding. | Sources: Planet Labs PBC; Institute for the Study of War; Google Maps | By The New York Times“People here are shocked,” said my colleague Marc Santora, who was in southern Ukraine. “They’ve gotten used to all sorts of Russian bombardment, all sorts of horrors, but this is just so much bigger in both magnitude and the repercussions that it is going to have across society.”The destruction of the dam came a day after U.S. officials said it appeared that a Ukrainian counteroffensive had begun. President Volodymyr Zelensky blamed “Russian terrorists.” The Kremlin’s spokesman said Ukraine had carried out a “sabotage” attack.A woman held her dogs inside her house, which was flooded after the Kakhovka dam blew up.Evgeniy Maloletka/Associated PressThe dam supplies water for drinking and agriculture, and to cool reactors and spent fuel at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, but the U.N.’s nuclear watchdog said there was “no immediate nuclear safety risk.”Analysis: The dam is far from the intensive fighting in the eastern Donetsk region. But its destruction could divert both sides’ resources from the counteroffensive.Other worries: The destruction could also wash away underground mines that Russian and Ukrainian forces planted on the banks of the Dnipro, creating new hazards in once-safe areas.LIV has been a target of fierce criticism, immense skepticism and bitter litigation.Adrian Dennis/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesSaudi-backed LIV Golf merges with PGA TourA bitter and costly rivalry for supremacy in men’s professional golf ended yesterday when the PGA Tour and LIV Golf, which is bankrolled by Saudi Arabia, announced a merger. The deal stunned the world of golf and was the Gulf kingdom’s biggest success yet in its ambitions to become a player in global sports.“It is hard to overstate how surprising this news is,” my colleague Kevin Draper writes. The PGA Tour and LIV have spent the past two years competing with and suing each other. Some in the PGA had sharply criticized LIV, both for dividing golf and for associating with Saudi Arabia and its poor human rights record. All lawsuits will now end between the formal rivals.Still, much remains unknown about the new golf company, which was created so quickly that it was announced before it even had a name. One thing is sure: LIV has gained a foothold that guarantees its outsize influence in the game’s future. The governor of the Saudi sovereign wealth fund will become the chairman of the new company.Background: LIV lured some of the world’s most prominent players, some with contracts said to be worth $200 million, and offered tournament prize funds that were the richest in golf history. Tiger Woods, who rebuffed a nine-figure offer from LIV, has denigrated the league’s approach to competition.Saudi ambitions: The kingdom’s wealth fund has bought a Premier League team and sponsors Formula 1 races. Saudi Arabia is also bidding to host soccer’s World Cup in 2030.The self-exiled British prince did not mince words.Alberto Pezzali/Associated PressHarry has his day in courtPrince Harry took the stand in a London court to accuse the Mirror newspaper group of hacking his cellphone over a decade ago. He spent five hours airing grievances against the tabloids.Harry said that some journalists “do have blood on their hands” and characterized their behavior as “utterly vile” and “criminal.” He said he had suffered “depression and paranoia” from the coverage. His testimony will continue today.The court appearance was, in many ways, another chapter in what has become a life of litigation: Harry and his wife, Meghan, are plaintiffs in no fewer than seven cases against the tabloids and other news media organizations. Harry has also filed claims against the Home Office related to the loss of his police protection while in Britain.THE LATEST NEWSAround the World“We are very quickly about to lose the Arctic summer sea-ice cover, basically independent of what we are doing,” a study author said.Markus Rex, Alfred Wegener Institute, via Associated PressThe first Arctic summer without sea ice could arrive as early as the 2030s, a new study found, about a decade earlier than scientists studying climate change had predicted.The World Bank warned of sluggish growth in the global economy this year and next, as rising interest rates slow spending and investment.U.S. authorities sued Coinbase, a major cryptocurrency trading platform, as part of a crackdown on the industry.Chris Christie, the former governor of New Jersey, entered the race to challenge Donald Trump to be the Republican Party’s presidential candidate.A Morning ReadA defensive fighting position from World War II that fell from the cliffs.Andrea Mantovani for The New York TimesRising seas and coastal erosion are threatening D-Day sites on France’s beaches. Historians now wonder: Can memory be preserved if the landing sites of the Allied invasion disappear?“If I don’t have the site, I lose the history of what happened here,” a battle monument superintendent said. “You may as well stay at home on the couch and read a book.”Lives lived: Astrud Gilberto sang “The Girl From Ipanema” and helped popularize Brazilian bossa nova in the U.S. She died at 83.ARTS AND IDEASJennie, left, is a breakout star of “The Idol.” Eddy Chen/HBOFrom Blackpink to ‘The Idol’The first two episodes of HBO’s new drama “The Idol” were panned for their graphic sexual content. The network is leaning into the controversy: It’s marketing the star-studded series, about a pop star whose life takes a turn after a breakdown, as the “sleaziest love story in all of Hollywood.”Jennie of Blackpink, the blockbuster K-pop girl group, is making her acting debut as a backup dancer to the show’s aspiring idol, who is played by Lily-Rose Depp. On TikTok or Twitter, the number of posts critiquing the show is likely to match those commending Jennie’s performance.PLAY, WATCH, EATWhat to CookDavid Malosh for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews.Tomatoes, salmon and garlic butter make for a quick and tasty pasta dinner.What to ReadIn Dorothy Tse’s “Owlish,” set in a fictional city that stands in for Hong Kong, an adulterous professor doesn’t see the civic decay around him.What to Listen toJohn Mellencamp’s new album, “Orpheus Descending,” is a scornful look at America.FashionIf you’re packing shoes for travel, consider a “sleaker,” the dressy sneaker that works for both city strolls and country treks.HealthHow often should you wash your hair?Now Time to PlayPlay the Mini Crossword, and a clue: Extensively praise (five letters).Here are the Wordle and the Spelling Bee. You can find all our puzzles here.That’s it for today’s briefing. See you tomorrow. — AmeliaP.S. Carl Hulse, our chief Washington correspondent, wrote about how covering the debt limit crisis required a combination of arcane knowledge and pure stamina.“The Daily” is on literacy education in the U.S.Did you enjoy this newsletter? Send us feedback at briefing@nytimes.com. More

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      Today’s Top News: The Growing 2024 G.O.P. Field, and More

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      The New York Times Audio app includes podcasts, narrated articles from the newsroom and other publishers, as well as exclusive new shows — including this one — which we’re making available to readers for a limited time. Download the audio app here.The Headlines brings you the biggest stories of the day from the Times journalists who are covering them, all in about 10 minutes. Hosted by Annie Correal, the new morning show features three top stories from reporters across the newsroom and around the world, so you always have a sense of what’s happening, even if you only have a few minutes to spare.From left: Former Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey, former Vice President Mike Pence and Gov. Doug Burgum of North Dakota.Charles Krupa/Associated Press, Alex Brandon/Associated Press, Mike Mccleary/The Bismarck Tribune, via Associated PressOn Today’s Episode:The U.S. and Russia Say a Major Ukrainian Operation Has Begun, with our Ukraine correspondent Thomas Gibbons-NeffS.E.C. Accuses Binance of Mishandling Funds and Lying to Regulators, with our finance reporter Emily FlitterThe 2024 G.O.P. Field Balloons This Week, Adding Three New Candidates, with our national correspondent Trip GabrielEli Cohen More

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      Your Tuesday Briefing: Is Ukraine’s Counteroffensive Here?

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      Also, train service resumes near India’s crash site.Initial reports showed movements of larger units, which could show that Kyiv had deployed its NATO-trained forces. Tyler Hicks/The New York TimesHas the counteroffensive begun?Ukraine intensified attacks on Russian positions along many sections of the front line yesterday. U.S. officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the surge in attacks could indicate that Ukraine had begun an expected counteroffensive, which could be its best shot at regaining territory and coming to any peace negotiations with a strong hand.The officials based their assessment in part on information from military satellites, which detected an uptick in action from Ukrainian positions. Ukraine has long said it would make no formal announcement about the start of its counteroffensive.Russia also said that a major operation had begun at five locations along the front in one eastern region, Donetsk, but that it had repelled them. Bloggers affiliated with the Russian military reported that Ukraine’s forces had advanced in some areas and had taken a village in Donetsk, but the claims could not be corroborated.U.S. military analysts said they believed that Ukrainian units were making an initial push to determine the positions and strength of Russia’s forces, a traditional tactic that Americans had been training Ukrainian forces to use.Strategy: Attacks were reported to take place to the east of where analysts had expected the counteroffensive to begin. But even starting in that area would allow Ukraine to keep the same goal: to head south toward the Sea of Azov and cut off the “land bridge” connecting Crimea to Russia.The stakes: If the counteroffensive is successful, Kyiv could secure longer-term commitments of military aid from the West. Victories also could strengthen President Volodymyr Zelensky’s hand in any peace talks with Russia. Failure or a lack of major progress could complicate Ukraine’s path forward and lead some Western officials to question the war strategy.People looked at damaged coaches from a train at the site of the train collision.Adnan Abidi/ReutersTrains restart near crash site in IndiaRail lines reopened at the Bahanaga Bazar rail station, where at least 275 people were killed in a catastrophic crash on Friday. The resumption of service could ease disruptions and help more families reach the area and identify their loved ones. There are still more than 100 unclaimed bodies.Questions continue to swirl about who was responsible for the three-way accident. (These graphics show how the disaster unfolded.) Officials are focused on an electronic signal’s malfunctioning, but they have not ruled out sabotage. They are also looking into whether negligence played a role, but they have not identified any suspects.Reaction: Opposition politicians called for the resignation of the railway minister and accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government of not doing enough to ensure rail safety. Modi’s focus: India spent almost $30 billion on the rail system during the past fiscal year, more than 15 percent than it did the year before. But most of Modi’s initiatives have been aimed at improving speed and comfort — not basic safety. The amount spent on track maintenance and other safety measures has been falling.The suggestion that someone had tried to poison schoolgirls rattled young girls and their parents.Samiullah Popal/EPA, via ShutterstockPossible poisonings in AfghanistanAfghan officials believe that 89 schoolgirls and their teachers were deliberately poisoned at two schools for girls. Some were hospitalized with respiratory and neurological symptoms, and officials said that security and intelligence forces were still searching for the perpetrators.On Saturday, 63 students and staff members in the northern Sar-i-Pul Province became sick shortly after arriving at school, officials and parents said. The next day, 26 more students and staff members at a nearby school reported similar symptoms.The cases come at a precarious time for Afghan women and girls. Restrictions on education have become a flashpoint since the Taliban seized power in 2021. They are emblematic of the government’s policies toward women, which have effectively erased them from public life. The Taliban has barred girls from attending school above sixth grade; most of these students were 6 to 12 years old. History: The U.N. investigated similar cases between 2012 and 2016 and found no trace of chemical gas or poison, The Wall Street Journal reported. The U.N. concluded that the symptoms were the result of mass psychogenic illness, a form of social panic.In Iran: Earlier this year, hundreds of schoolgirls were hospitalized after what officials said could have been deliberate attempts to stop them from attending school. The Interior Minister blamed stress and anxiety for some of their symptoms.For more: On “The Daily,” three Afghan women talk about how life changed under the Taliban.THE LATEST NEWSAsia PacificJacinda Ardern considered declining the title, but said she accepted it as a way to show gratitude.Gabriel Monnet/EPA, via ShutterstockJacinda Ardern, the former prime minister of New Zealand, was awarded the title of dame for her service to the country.A Hong Kong Court overturned a ruling against an investigative journalist, a rare victory for the news media there.Australian officials freed Kathleen Folbigg, who was convicted of killing her children in 2003. Scientists now say that they probably died from natural causes.Around the World“Even if they shoot me, I won’t go back,” said Rasha, a Syrian refugee in Lebanon.Diego Ibarra Sanchez for The New York TimesSome Syrian refugees are afraid they will be pressured to return home now that the fighting there has lessened and President Bashar al-Assad is emerging from diplomatic isolation.Mike Pence, who was Donald Trump’s vice president, formally entered the race for president.Tech NewsU.S. authorities accused Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, of lying to regulators and mishandling customer funds.Twitter’s U.S. ad sales dropped by 59 percent, possibly because advertisers are worried about a rise in hate speech and pornography on the site.Apple introduced a $3,500 virtual reality headset.A Morning ReadOne vendor said wants his food to reach Filipino Americans “from Millennials to Gen Z, as well as their parents — the titos and the titas, the real cooks in our families.”Adam Amengual for The New York TimesA tiny pop-up market in Los Angeles is trying to become a hub for the city’s Filipino community. Its creators imagine it as an intergenerational space where new Filipino businesses can experiment, connect with their audience and expand.ARTS AND IDEASBelinda Jiao/Getty ImagesPrince Harry vs. the tabloidsPrince Harry’s bitter, yearslong feud with Britain’s tabloids is coming to a head this week. Today, he is set to testify in a London courtroom against the Mirror newspaper group, which he says hacked his phone more than a decade ago. He has filed two other suits against Britain’s tabloid publishers related to illicit information gathering.Harry’s lawyers say that the Mirror used private investigators to illegally obtain information about him, in part by intercepting voice mail messages. The publisher apologized and admitted to unlawfully getting information on Harry in one instance, but denies the hacking charges.The testimony is putting the House of Windsor on edge. Harry will be the first senior member of the royal family to be cross-examined in a legal case since the 19th century. (Usually, the family prefers to settle legal claims.) In court, Harry could face questions about his personal life, or his relationships with other royals.Background: The case is about more than just money. Harry has said he holds the tabloids responsible for the death of his mother, Diana, Princess of Wales, in a car crash in 1997. In his memoir, he also described the trauma that intrusive tabloid coverage has caused him.PLAY, WATCH, EATWhat to CookDavid Malosh for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews.Practice grilling basics with these five recipes.What to WatchIn “Past Lives,” a wistful what-if story, two childhood friends from Seoul pass through each other’s lives across decades and continents.What to ReadIn “August Blue,” a new novel by Deborah Levy, a pianist refashions herself amid personal and global crises.From WirecutterHow to get rid of your old electronics.Now Time to PlayPlay the Mini Crossword, and a clue: Mushrooms and such (five letters).Here are the Wordle and the Spelling Bee. You can find all our puzzles here.That’s it for today’s briefing. See you next time. — AmeliaP.S. Fictional cocktails, a puppy’s bowel movements: We asked readers to show us the contents of their Notes apps.Thanks for your feedback. You can always reach us at briefing@nytimes.com. More