Ukraine

• Russia requested an emergency UN meeting on the situation at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant yesterday, and it accomplished nothing: Russia and Ukraine spent 80 minutes accusing each other of shelling the plant, making no progress towards plans for international inspections (which Russia has said it would allow).
• Today is Ukraine's independence day, and Ukrainian and U.S. officials are concerned that Russia will commemorate the occasion by escalating its strikes on infrastructure - and potentially striking Kyiv. Ukraine has promised a "strong response" if Russia targets the capital.
• The U.S. is preparing to announce another $3 billion in military aid for Ukraine, which would be the largest single tranche of support to date - and bring total U.S. support committed during the war to $10.1 billion. This tranche would use funds from the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative to buy Ukraine weapons from industry instead of pulling them from existing government stock. Germany pledged more weapons for Ukraine too.

• Haitians are protesting against PM Henry and the rise of poverty and gang violence - from already-high levels - on his watch. Many are especially angry about rising prices: annual inflation has reached 29% and gasoline costs $15 per gallon - but is scarce even at that price.

• The NYT reports that Chinese censors changed the end of the new "Minions" film via revisionist credit scenes. In the original film, the two villains escape. In the censored version, one villain, "Despicable" Gru, re-dedicates his life to his three children (promoting higher birthrates, are we?) and the other, Wild Knuckles, is slapped with a 20-year prison sentence.

• The Global Drought Observatory says two-thirds of Europe is under drought warning or alert, making this the worst drought in Europe in at least 500 years. The EU forecasts that harvest yields for corn, soy, and sunflowers will drop 16%, 15%, and 12%, respectively, adding to global food insecurity.