Good morning. We're covering U.S. criticism of the Ukrainian counteroffensive and Greek wildfire deaths. |
Plus: Classical music in 3-D. |
 | | Ukrainian marines training in the Zaporizhzhia region before heading to the front line.David Guttenfelder for The New York Times |
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U.S. officials say Ukraine's forces are misallocated |
The main goal of the counteroffensive is to cut off Russian supply lines in southern Ukraine by severing the so-called land bridge between Russia and the occupied Crimean Peninsula. But instead of focusing on that, Ukrainian commanders have divided troops and firepower roughly equally between the east and the south, the officials said. |
American planners have advised Ukraine to concentrate on the southern front driving toward Melitopol, Kyiv's top priority, and on punching through Russian minefields and other defenses, even if the Ukrainians lose more soldiers and equipment in the process. |
Only a change of tactics and a dramatic move can shift the tempo of the counteroffensive, one U.S. official said. |
- The Ukrainian military said that its troops had entered a small southern village, a sign that Kyiv's counteroffensive was inching forward.
- President Vladimir Putin of Russia did not travel to the BRICS summit in Johannesburg because he is wanted by an international court on accusations of war crimes, but he sent a prerecorded address.
- Yevgeny Prigozhin, the mercenary chief who led a brief mutiny against the Russian military in June, appeared in a video, seemingly in Africa.
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 | | Gale-force winds were fanning wildfires across Greece.Achilleas Chiras/Associated Press |
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Those who died in Greek wildfires may be migrants |
The charred remains were found near a shack on the border of the Dadia Forest, a spokesman for the Greek fire service said. There have been no reports of missing people in the area, so the authorities said they were examining the possibility that the dead were migrants. The Evros region is on the border with Turkey and is a crossing point for thousands of migrants seeking to enter Europe through Greece. |
Wildfires: In addition to the large fire in the Evros region, firefighters were grappling with blazes in the north, as well as two fires west of Athens. Fires were also burning on the islands of Kythnos and Evia. |
 | | A helicopter rescuing a person from the cable car yesterday.Umeed Sahar, via Reuters |
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A dramatic cable car rescue in Pakistan |
Video posted on social media showed one person scrambling out of the car and being lifted to safety by a rope attached to a helicopter hovering overhead. As darkness fell, however, helicopter operations had to be suspended, and officials instead employed a zip line to rescue those still trapped, according to the Pakistani military. |
The cause of the accident remains unclear. The cable car is a regular mode of transportation for residents of the mountainous northern region. But such locally built systems are privately owned and tend toward relatively ad hoc construction. |
 | | John Wessels/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images |
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- Zimbabweans are scheduled to go to the polls today amid what critics say is a crippling "brain drain" of educated professionals leaving the country.
- After three months of uncertainty, Thailand's Parliament named Srettha Thavisin, a real estate tycoon who is seen as amenable to royalists and the military-appointed Senate, as the country's next prime minister.
- At least 50 buildings were consumed by wildfires in and around Kelowna, British Columbia, over the past few days, officials said.
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 | | Samuel Corum for The New York Times |
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- The field is set for the first U.S. Republican primary debate today: Eight candidates will participate. Donald Trump will not.
- Microsoft offered British regulators changes to its proposed $69 billion merger with Activision Blizzard, in a bid to win approval by addressing concerns over cloud gaming.
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 | | Sam's Sunflowers |
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When the weather cooperates, tourists flock to Sam's Sunflowers, southwest of London, to take part in a quintessential British summer activity: flower picking. |
| SPORTS NEWS FROM THE ATHLETIC |
Christian Pulisic's dream start: A goal for the American in his Serie A debut. |
Recent developments in spatial audio have made news in the world of pop. These days, headphone sounds can seem to whiz around your head or beckon from the nape of your neck. |
But classical music was there decades ago. Deutsche Grammophon and the Philips label both experimented with Quadraphonic — or four-channel — releases in the 1970s. More recently, binaural recordings and mixes, designed to simulate that 3-D feel, have been a delight. |
"Hearing Dolphy's bass clarinet in front of my face," he wrote, "allowed me the fleeting sensation that I was sharing space with the legend." |
 | | Ryan Liebe for The New York Times. |
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Watch "Ahsoka," the new "Star Wars" mini-series, which looks for new energy in the old formulas. |
Read about life among America's most entrenched elite in "Quiet Street." |
That's it for today's briefing. Thanks for joining me. — Jonathan |
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