Ukraine reports new advances near Bakhmut

Plus, what to expect from the NATO summit.

View in Browser Sign up for Reuters newsletters Daily Briefing We bring you the latest on the hunt for Prigozhin, Yellen's Beijing trip and Twitter's beef with Meta. Plus, why McDonald's is dropping tomatoes from its menu in India.   By Linda Noakes Today's Top News A Ukrainian serviceman fires a self-propelled howitzer towards Russian troops at a position near the city of Bakhmut, Ukraine July 5, 2023. REUTERS/Sofiia Gatilova RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR Ukrainian troops have advanced by more than a kilometer in the last day against Russian forces near the eastern city of Bakhmut, a military spokesperson said. His comments were the latest by Kyiv signaling that the counteroffensive it launched in early June is gradually making progress although Russian accounts of fighting in the Bakhmut sector differ from Ukraine's. Yevgeny Prigozhin was supposed to be in Belarus under a deal brokered to end the Wagner Group's mutiny. Now, Belarus' president says he's in Russia. Listen to the Reuters World News podcast to hear chief Russia writer Mark Trevelyan on where we last saw him - and why Russian TV aired alleged footage of his wig collection. With the war dragging on, some of Ukraine's millions of refugees are beginning to think about settling for good in the countries they find themselves in across Europe, posing a challenge to rebuilding the economy when the guns finally fall silent. IN OTHER NEWS The head of the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog said that one or two of the team of international experts behind its report greenlighting Japan's release of treated radioactive water from the crippled Fukushima plant may have expressed concerns. A high court in western India rejected an appeal by opposition leader Rahul Gandhi to suspend his conviction in a defamation case, quashing for now his hope of returning to parliament and contesting national elections due next year. Deforestation in Brazil's Amazon fell 34% in the first half of 2023, preliminary government data showed, hitting its lowest level in four years as President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva institutes tougher environmental policies. President Joe Biden will today announce new steps to crack down on short-term health insurance plans and surprise medical bills, stepping up his war against so-called junk fees to lower healthcare costs US Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, a staunch ally of former President Donald Trump, has been voted out of the hardline House Freedom Caucus group after clashing with a fellow lawmaker. Business & Markets US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen called for market reforms in China and criticized the world's second-largest economy for its recent "punitive" actions against US companies and new export controls on some critical minerals. Chinese authorities are likely to announce a fine of at least $1.1 billion on Ant Group, sources said, bringing an end to the fintech company's years-long regulatory overhaul.  Twitter has threatened to sue Meta Platforms over its new Threads platform in a letter sent to the Facebook parent's CEO Mark Zuckerberg by Twitter's lawyer Alex Spiro. Threads racked up more than 30 million sign-ups within about 18 hours of its launch. Siemens Energy's management board has set up a task force to establish the scope of deepening problems at its crisis-ridden wind turbine division. Here's why its turbine troubles have rattled the wind sector. Restaurants of fast food chain McDonald's have dropped tomatoes from their burgers and wraps in many parts of India, hit by supply shortages and quality concerns after prices of the vegetable soared to records. The Week Ahead MARKETS Trade tensions between Washington and Beijing are riding high while US inflation data will inform the Federal Reserve's next move and rate setters in New Zealand and Canada meet.  Markets have come around fast to the Fed's view that instead of being cut anytime soon, rates will remain high for longer. US banking giants sailed through the Fed's annual health check in late June, highlighting they have enough capital to weather a severe economic downturn. But now it's time for earnings, with JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup and Wells Fargo all scheduled to report  Here's a look at the week ahead from our markets team. And sign up here for our Morning Bid markets newsletter. NATO SUMMIT Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will join NATO leaders in Lithuania on Tuesday to remind an alliance focused on Ukraine to pay heed to Chinese and Russian activity in Asia, which Japan sees as a threat to global security. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy called on NATO leaders to take concrete steps towards Ukrainian membership at the summit. Sweden failed to convince Turkey to lift its block on Stockholm's path to NATO membership, and the issue will now go to a meeting of the Turkish and Swedish leaders. The Week in Pictures Protests, celebrations and wild weather - here's a slideshow of our top photos this week. And Finally... A tourist from the US tries to spar against a former sumo wrestler at Yokozuna Tonkatsu Dosukoi Tanaka in Tokyo, June 30, 2023. REUTERS/Issei Kato Ohtori spent his two-decade sumo career struggling for wins so he could to move up the ranks of Japan's traditional sport, but now he is fighting to entertain a different crowd: curious tourists. He is one of six ex-wrestlers putting on sumo demonstrations catering to overseas travelers, who are returning in droves after a two-year COVID-19 blockade. Read more here: Sumo retirees play for laughs from tourists flooding back to Japan Sponsors are not involved in the creation of newsletters or other Reuters news content. Reuters Daily Briefing is sent 5 days a week. Think your friend or colleague should know about us? Forward this newsletter to them. They can also sign up here.   Want to stop receiving this email? Unsubscribe here. To manage which newsletters you're signed up for, click here. Reuters Terms & Conditions and Privacy Statement © 2023 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved. 3 Times Square, New York, NY 10036