Axios

Ukrainian forces launched what appears to be their first major counter-offensive of the war on Monday, aiming to retake Kherson in the south of the country.

Why it matters: Ukrainian troops bombarded Russian ammunition depots, command-and-control centers, and river crossings. The scale of the operation is not yet clear, but Ukrainian officials claimed to have breached Russia’s “first line of defense” outside of Kherson.

The scope and severity of the flooding in Pakistan from two months of unusually heavy monsoon rains is drawing comparisons to the devastating rains of 2010. In some respects, it may exceed that benchmark.

The big picture: The flooding is especially severe in Sindh and Balochistan provinces in the country's south, where the Indus River has swelled well beyond its banks.

The Solomon Islands did not allow a U.S. Coast Guard vessel to make a routine stop to refuel and resupply at a port in the Pacific island nation that has lately fallen under China's sphere of influence.

Why it matters: The Solomon Islands signed a security pact with China in April that the U.S. and Australia fear could allow Beijing to dispatch security forces there or even establish a naval base. Both countries have conducted significant outreach to the islands to restore their influence there, without clear success.

A Dutch soldier who was one of three commandos wounded in a shooting outside a hotel in Indianapolis over the weekend has died of his injuries, the Dutch Ministry of Defense said Monday.

Driving the news: The three Dutch soldiers were part of the Commando Corps and were in Indiana for training, the ministry said.

The United Nations' nuclear watchdog has deployed a team to the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia power plant in southeastern Ukraine, the agency's chief said Monday.

Driving the news: International Atomic Energy Agency director-general Rafael Grossi's announcement that the IAEA team is "now on its way" and will arrive at the nuclear power station "later this week" comes as reports of shelling near the plant in recent days raise concerns of a potential disaster.

NASA's Artemis I mission may have no human astronauts aboard the rocket that's due to launch Monday, but the space agency does plan to send some much-loved children's characters to the moon.

Driving the news: Snoopy and Lego figures will be on the mission, along with some Girl Scout badges, tree seeds and a Shaun the Sheep toy representing the European Space Agency, which is providing a service module for the flight.

More than 1,000 people have been killed since the start of Pakistan's monsoon season this summer, in what the country's climate minister has dubbed a "climate catastrophe."

Driving the news: Pakistan’s National Disaster Management Authority reported on Sunday that the death toll from the monsoon rains, which have sparked flooding and landslides across the country, had topped 1,060 people, AP reported.

Two U.S. navy warships sailed through the Taiwan Strait on Sunday for the first time since House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to the self-governing island enraged China this month.

Driving the news: The USS Antietam and USS Chancellorsville cruisers made the crossing as part of a "routine" transit, the Navy's 7th Fleet said in a statement.

Mossad director David Barnea will visit Washington next week for talks on the emerging deal to restore the Iran nuclear agreement, a senior Israeli official told reporters Sunday.

Why it matters: Barnea is the most hawkish official on Iran within the Israeli security establishment and intelligence community. The organization he leads is highly respected in Washington and cooperates closely with the CIA.