Mexican women have long struggled with their country’s culture of machismo. Now Mexico, ahead of the United States, is about to elect its first woman as president.

• Ukraine aid: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy receives a second $1 billion promise of military aid in as many days during a tour through the European Union.
• Taiwan changes: Taiwan’s legislature passes changes that are seen as favoring China and diminishing the power of the island’s president.
• Palestinian state: Spain, Ireland, and Norway formally recognize a Palestinian state to put international pressure on Israel to soften its response to last year’s Hamas-led attack. 
• Soccer players quit: Three players quit Argentina’s national women’s team after a dispute with soccer organizers over a lack of pay and poor conditions.

Read these news briefs.

On the Israel-Lebanon border, old adversaries Israel and Hezbollah know each other well, and what triggers the other. Since Hamas’ attack on Israel, the two sides have sought to avoid a full-scale war even as they appear to move closer to it.

Nonstop media coverage could help shape how the hush money trial of Donald Trump is ultimately perceived by the public – even if it’s not a “trial of the century.”

The U.S. Border Patrol turns 100 this week. How has the agency changed over time and what role does it play now in an election year when border security is of high voter interest? 

The rare emergence of two specific periodical cicada broods this year hasn’t happened since Thomas Jefferson was president. It is inspiring some people to dive deeper into citizen science.

Well into its third year of trying to vanquish Ukraine as an independent nation, Russia has finally learned a key point about war: that soldiers count on their superiors not to steal basic resources like food, weapons, and transport.

In other words, honesty and integrity are essential resources in an armed force.

In recent weeks, five top Russian officials involved in supplying the military have been arrested on corruption charges. The longtime defense minister, Sergei Shoigu, has been removed and replaced by an economist, Andrey Belousov, with a reputation of not being corruptible.

Mr. Belousov speaks of the need for “optimization of military spending” and for greater efficiency in industrial production. Most of all, he says he would operate from an “ironclad principle: it’s possible to make mistakes but it’s inadmissible to lie.”

The purge of generals hints that Russian President Vladimir Putin may be seeking enough integrity in a highly corrupt military to win the war. It may also mean he has recognized Ukraine’s many successes in curbing corruption – even in the midst of war and a ballooning defense budget.

“Most Ukrainian anti-corruption institutions are showing pretty good results,” Andriy Borovyk, executive director of Transparency International Ukraine, told the BBC. Over the past decade, Ukraine has improved its ranking in the annual corruption index from Transparency International, while Russia’s ranking has gone down.

Will better honesty in governance give Ukraine the edge to win the war? Russia’s pro-war bloggers have long complained that their country’s heavy losses on the battlefield are due to corruption – the stealing of funds, fuel, and equipment.

A victory for Ukraine may depend on what isn’t visible or measurable. An army does not just “march on its stomach,” as Napoleon supposedly said. It also wins on the virtues of its leaders.