Thursday Briefing: Ukraine reshuffles its government

September 5, 2024

	By Gaya Gupta

Good morning. We’re covering a major cabinet shake-up in Ukraine and Russian influence campaigns in the U.S. election.

Plus, “last chance tourism” in the age of climate change.

Zelensky speaking in front of a blue and yellow backdrop.

President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv last week. Sergei Chuzavkov/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Zelensky plans a major reshuffle of Ukraine’s government

Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, laid out plans for the broadest reshuffling of his cabinet since the war began two years ago. The country’s foreign minister was one of half a dozen senior officials who offered their resignation yesterday, and a new list of minsters is expected today.

Zelensky’s overhaul comes at a precarious moment in the war. Russian attacks across Ukraine have increased, killing dozens over the past week. And Ukrainian forces are still trying to maintain control of territory that they have seized in western Russia now that their incursion into the Kursk region has slowed.

His announcement did not appear to signal fundamental shifts in domestic or foreign policy, but may suggest he’s planning for a “new phase of the war,” some analysts say. But some critics are worried that such changes could further concentrate power in Zelensky’s office, depending on who is named to fill the posts.

🇺🇸 U.S. ELECTION 2024

The presidential election is less than 70 days away. This is what we’re watching.

A man sitting at a desk in a TV studio with an image of Donald Trump on a wall of screens behind him.

An RT broadcast in Moscow in 2019. Misha Friedman/Getty Images

The U.S. fights back against Russian election interference

The U.S. has accused Russia of using its state media to influence the American presidential election and announced a broad effort to push back on the Kremlin’s plans to sway voters.

The attorney general, Merrick Garland, yesterday announced the indictment of two Russian employees of RT, the state-owned broadcaster, and the takedown of a Russian malign influence campaign known as Doppelganger. RT used a company in Tennessee to spread thousands of pro-Kremlin videos on social media.

The U.S. is planning more sanctions, indictments and seizures of web domains that it says the Kremlin uses to spread propaganda and disinformation about Ukraine.

Details: The Kremlin’s campaign seems to favor Donald Trump over Vice President Kamala Harris, seeing him as more skeptical of continued U.S. aid to Ukraine, intelligence officials said.

It’s not just Russia: Iran has become one of the top threats in the disinformation game, U.S. officials and experts say. With a flurry of hacks and fake websites, Iran’s efforts appear intended to tip the race against Trump.

Here’s what else to know: TikTok said that it would add more content about how elections work and media literacy. It will also increase security requirements for verified accounts belonging to American politicians.

Do you have questions about the election? Send them to us and we’ll find the answers.

Stay up-to-date: Live coverage | Poll tracker | “The Run-Up” podcast | On Politics newsletter

The blackened remains of Grenfell Tower, with a London Underground station in the foreground.

Grenfell Tower in 2017. Andrew Testa for The New York Times

Lies and lack of oversight led to the Grenfell fire, a report found

Cost-cutting, dishonest sales practices and lax regulation were behind the 2017 fire that killed 72 people at Grenfell Tower, a public housing block in London, a report found.

The public inquiry painted a damning picture of a Conservative-run local council, eager to reduce costs, that approved the widespread use of flammable materials that suppliers knew should never have been used in a high-rise building.

Context: The disaster was Britain’s worst residential fire since World War II and has become emblematic of the hazards of deregulation and of the persistent social inequality in Britain’s capital.

MORE TOP NEWS

Onlookers watch as first responders work at Apalachee High School in Georgia yesterday. Christian Monterrosa/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Gun violence: Four people were killed in a shooting at a high school in Georgia, authorities said.
Business: President Biden is preparing to block Nippon Steel’s attempt to buy U.S. Steel on national-security grounds, according to three people familiar with the matter.
Afghanistan: A 114-page manifesto codified the Taliban government’s decrees restricting women’s rights, including a ban on women’s voices in public.
U.S.: The Biden administration is considering making the president’s tough but temporary asylum restrictions almost impossible to lift, officials said.
Pakistan: Two years after devastating flooding, it’s happening again.
Japan: The country’s era of “free” mortgages is coming to an end.
Economy: The market tumble that began in the U.S. on Tuesday continued across Asia and Europe yesterday over concerns about the global economy and major tech companies.
Indonesia: Pope Francis met with President Joko Widodo on the first stop of his 11-day tour of Asia-Pacific.
Mexico: The lower house of Congress approved a contentious overhaul of the judiciary, which would allow voters to elect nearly all of the country’s judges.
India: Netflix added disclaimers to a fictional series inspired by the 1999 hijacking of a plane by Islamist militants after it was accused of portraying the hijackers as Hindus.

Sports

A tennis player running with a blue backdrop that reads “U.S. Open.”

Frances Tiafoe playing against Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria on Tuesday. Janice Chung for The New York Times

U.S. Open: There hasn’t been an American man in a major singles final since 2009. Either Frances Tiafoe or Taylor Fritz will be the next.
Arthur Ashe Stadium: The nosebleed seats offer an accessible, casual way into the Open.
Breaking: In her first interview since the Olympics, Rachel Gunn, the Australian breaker known as Raygun, said that much of the criticism of her was due to a lack of knowledge of the sport.

MORNING READ

Rescue teams and two vehicles are scattered around a glacier after the partial collapse of an ice cave.

Rescue teams at the scene of an ice cave collapse in Iceland last week. STOD2/Vilhelm Gunnarsson, via Associated Press

Climate change has popularized “last chance tourism,” in which adventurers head to glaciers and ice caves before a warming planet erases them forever. But receding glaciers can be unstable: Just last month, an American tourist died when a frozen arch collapsed during his visit to an ice cave in Iceland. Experts warn that it may be time for tours like these to add more guardrails.

CONVERSATION STARTERS

Call it fashiontainment: Our chief fashion critic, Vanessa Friedman, breaks down fashion month, which begins this week in New York.
Dead butt syndrome: If you spend your days at a desk or hours in a car, it’s important to recognize the symptoms of “gluteal amnesia.”
Look ma, no hands: Self-driving cars sometimes struggle to drive themselves, so they get help from human technicians hundreds of miles away.

We hope you’ve enjoyed this newsletter, which is made possible through subscriber support. Subscribe to The New York Times .

ARTS AND IDEAS

A portrait of a man who is standing in the sun with his eyes closed and his arms slightly outstretched.

Ricardo Nagaoka for The New York Times

Daniel Dae Kim takes a risk

You may recognize Daniel Dae Kim from his brooding, enigmatic role on the hit series “Lost” or as the tough, shotgun-blasting detective on the reboot of “Hawaii Five-0.” But in the new Broadway production of “Yellow Face,” Kim makes a rare foray into satire.

“I’ve always loved comedy,” Kim said. “But I am aware that people have not usually seen me in this way.”

In the role, Kim lampoons an artist who falls from grace as an activist in his own Asian American community. It’s quite a twist compared with Kim’s own trajectory: He has spent years leading efforts against anti-Asian hate and advocating greater Asian representation in the arts.

RECOMMENDATIONS

A short video shows rotating images of food dishes including meatballs, tacos and chicken with mushrooms.

The New York Times

Cook: Meal planning can be overwhelming, so we’ve compiled 100 easy dinners for you to make in the months ahead.

Read: Buenos Aires is a literary city. This is how the author Samanta Schweblin suggests you read your way around her hometown.

Ask Well: Making certain lifestyle changes can help you improve your cholesterol levels without taking a statin.

Play: Spelling Bee, the Mini Crossword, Wordle and Sudoku. Find all our games here.

That’s it for today. See you tomorrow. — Gaya

We welcome your feedback. Send us your suggestions at briefing@nytimes.com.

Need help? Review our newsletter help page or contact us for assistance.

You received this email because you signed up for Morning Briefing: Asia Pacific Edition from The New York Times.

To stop receiving Morning Briefing: Asia Pacific Edition, unsubscribe. To opt out of other promotional emails from The Times, including those regarding The Athletic, manage your email settings. To opt out of updates and offers sent from The Athletic, submit a request.

Subscribe to The Times Get The New York Times app

Connect with us on: