 President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine with Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis of Greece. Kostas Tsironis/EPA, via Shutterstock |
| Dueling tours for influence in Ukraine war |
| The ripple effects of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine played out yesterday diplomatically as leaders jockeyed to cement new alliances in a scrambled world. |
| Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, arrived in Athens for meetings with the leaders of Greece and other Balkan nations to discuss security concerns and better integration with Europe. It was Zelensky’s fourth stop on a European tour aimed at securing more weaponry. A day earlier, he received commitments of dozens of F-16 fighter jets from Denmark and the Netherlands. |
| As Zelensky was making his way to Greece, an Iranian military delegation was visiting Russia, a sign of how deep ties between Moscow and Tehran have become since the war began. |
| Brig. Gen. Kioumars Heydari, the head of Iran’s ground forces, was welcomed to Moscow by his Russian counterpart. Heydari said that Tehran’s ground forces were ready to increase their cooperation with Russia, Iran’s state news agency reported. |
| E.U. commitments: In Sweden on Saturday, Zelensky said he had reached an agreement involving the supply of armored vehicles. On Sunday, Zelensky went on to the Netherlands — securing a pledge for 42 F-16 fighter jets — and later Denmark, which said it would donate 19 of the military jets. |
| In Athens, Zelensky referred to a Greek proposal to train Ukrainian pilots to fly F-16 fighter jets. But late yesterday, it was unclear what, if anything, Ukraine and Greece had agreed to. |
 Ethiopian migrants boarding a boat in Djibouti to reach Saudi Arabia, in 2019.Nariman El-Mofty/Associated Press |
| Rights group accuses Saudi guards of killing migrants |
| Human Rights Watch said in a report released yesterday said that border guards in Saudi Arabia had regularly opened fire on African migrants seeking to cross into the kingdom from Yemen. Hundreds — and possibly thousands — of men, women and children were killed between March 2022 and June of this year, the report estimated. |
| The guards have beaten the migrants with rocks and bars, forced male migrants to rape women while guards watched and shot detained migrants in their limbs, the report said, adding that the shooting of migrants was “widespread and systematic” and could constitute a crime against humanity. |
| A Saudi government statement dismissed the report as “unfounded and not based on reliable sources.” |
 Lucy Letby was convicted of killing seven newborns and trying to kill six others.Christopher Furlong/Getty Images |
| U.K. nurse gets life sentence for killing newborns |
| Lucy Letby, a nurse who became the most prolific serial killer of children in modern British history, was sentenced yesterday to life in prison without parole. Her sentencing was the culmination of a yearslong case that has horrified the country and raised questions over the management culture that allowed her to evade detection for so long. |
| Letby received a “whole life order,” meaning she will spend the rest of her life in prison, a sentence reserved for the country’s worst offenses. She is only the fourth woman to receive such a sentence. |
| The government has ordered an independent inquiry into how Letby managed to remain undetected for years after the British news media reported that hospital managers had ignored repeated warnings about her conduct. |
| THE LATEST NEWS Around the World |
 Jon Cherry for The New York Times |
| Donald Trump’s bail was set at $200,000 in a sprawling racketeering case charging him and 18 associates with election interference in Georgia. He said he would turn himself in on Thursday.In Ecuador, two presidential candidates — an establishment leftist and a newcomer from the business world — will compete in a runoff in October.Japan’s plan to release into the ocean more than 1.3 million tons of treated water from the destroyed Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant has triggered a backlash in the region, especially in highly polarized South Korea. |
| Other Big Stories |
 Kith Serey/EPA, via Shutterstock |
| After 38 years, Hun Sen, the prime minister of Cambodia, transferred the premiership to his son, Gen. Hun Manet, above center.Authorities in Zambia arrested 12 people after a plane arrived from Egypt carrying cash, weapons and what appeared to be gold bars.Lawyers for a Palestinian man who was arrested by the Israeli police said officers beat him and imprinted his face with a Star of David.Spain’s soccer federation chief issued something of an apology after forcefully kissing a Spanish player on the lips during the Women’s World Cup medals ceremony. |
| U.S. News |
| President Biden flew to Hawaii to inspect the damage wrought by deadly wildfires and to meet with survivors.A Times investigation found an alarming pattern of near misses by airplanes in the skies and on the runways of the U.S. At least 46 close calls involved commercial airlines last month alone.So far there have been no reports of deaths or major storm damage in Los Angeles and San Diego after Tropical Storm Hilary. |
| A Morning Read |
 Thomas Gibbons-Neff/The New York Times |
| Somewhere along Ukraine’s front line, a Ukrainian soldier is probably playing the video game World of Tanks. |
| It might seem like a baffling choice: Why would anybody want to play a violent video game in the midst of a brutal war? But for some it’s a way to cope with the bloodshed around them. |
| SPORTS NEWS FROM THE ATHLETIC |
| Creating his own identity: Comparisons between Jobe Bellingham and his brother, Jude, are unavoidable. |
| Women’s World Cup: Our experts pick the tournament’s best of the best. |
| Frustration for Scottie Scheffler: A PGA Tour event lost with his putter. |
| SPOTLIGHT ON AFRICA |
| Bringing Orwell to Zimbabwe |
| George Orwell’s “Animal Farm” is acclaimed around the world, including in Zimbabwe, which is holding elections tomorrow. Now, a Shona language translation of the classic is making it resonate on a deeper level. |
| Shona storytellers have always used fables and allegory, and now Zimbabweans have adopted Orwell’s allegorical tale to comment on the state of politics in the country, said Tinashe Muchuri, a poet and one of the lead translators. “The story can be set anywhere in the world and make sense,” Muchuri said. “Human beings are not different; they act and behave the same when in power.” |
| Sixteen translators worked for seven years to create “Chimurenga Chemhuka,” or “Animal Revolution.” The names of the characters have been adapted to Shona, and the translation uses local dialects. The pigs speak Manyika, Muchuri said, as Zimbabwe’s revolutionary leaders did, and the sheep bleat in slang. |
| — Lynsey Chutel, our Briefings writer based in Johannesburg. |
| RECOMMENDATIONS |
 Christopher Testani for The New York Times. |
| Make these chilaquiles, a quick and easy Mexican dish. |
