Gazans Flee South After Israel Orders Evacuation

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/13/briefing/israel-hamas-war-jim-jordan-speaker.html

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There was a palpable sense of crisis in the Gaza Strip today. Thousands of residents raced to flee their homes in the hours after Israeli officials called for more than a million civilians to evacuate south in just 24 hours, ahead of a potential ground invasion.

And Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel took the unusual step of delivering a televised address on the Jewish Sabbath to say that the campaign against Hamas, which over the weekend carried out the worst terrorist attack in the country in 50 years, is just beginning.

The Health Ministry in Gaza said that airstrikes had killed at least 70 Palestinians who had been trying to flee the northern part of the territory, and the U.N. warned that Israel’s evacuation order would lead to “devastating consequences.” The organization said that its priority was negotiating with Israel to allow the opening of a humanitarian channel for deliveries of essential aid, including water.

The U.S. is also trying to broker safe passage out of Gaza and into Egypt for American citizens and other foreigners. Secretary of State Antony Blinken traveled to at least seven Middle Eastern countries in four days to shore up support for Israel and to persuade Arab countries to limit their criticism.

The Israeli response to the initial attacks by Hamas is still coming into focus. My colleagues reported today that a pair of classified C.I.A. intelligence reports issued in the days ahead of the attacks warned about a potential escalation in violence but did not predict such a complex assault. Here’s how the atrocities unfolded.

In the U.S., several cities took extra security precautions after Hamas called for a day of protest around the world. Some Jewish schools canceled classes.

In Gaza, we spoke to two women about life on the ground under bombardment.

Representative Jim Jordan of Ohio, the hard-right Republican and chairman of the Judiciary Committee, received his party’s nomination for speaker of the House. By a vote of 124 to 81, he turned back a challenge from Representative Austin Scott of Georgia, a little-known conservative.

Still, Jordan’s quest for the speakership faces serious challenges. Several mainstream Republicans said they would not support him — a sign that the bitter party infighting that has broken out in recent days may continue to paralyze the House.

During a cozy dinner at a steakhouse in 2019, Nadine Arslanian — who soon after married the powerful Democratic senator Robert Menendez — posed a question to Egypt’s top spy in Washington: “What else can the love of my life do for you?”

Her question, and other contacts that she and Menendez had with Egypt’s top intelligence officials, were revealed yesterday in a federal indictment. The document painted an unseemly picture of how the couple advanced Egyptian interests, including U.S. aid, profiting in return. It also suggested that the couple became an important focus of Egypt’s government.

Microsoft announced today that it had closed its $69 billion purchase of the video game giant Activision Blizzard, making it the largest consumer tech acquisition in decades. The message sent by its completion was undeniable: Big Tech can still get bigger.

In order to make the deal, Microsoft needed to mollify three of the most powerful and skeptical regulators in the world. The company slowly flipped competitors into allies, signing private deals to pre-empt concerns about market power. And when diplomacy didn’t work, it made a substantial concession on streaming. Eventually, the strategy worked.

Europe: A teacher at a school in northern France was stabbed to death in what officials described as a terrorist attack.

Tech: Chinese Bitcoin mines around the U.S. are drawing scrutiny as national security risks.

Economy: Retailers’ seasonal hiring plans signaled a cooling labor market.

Europe: Ahead of Sunday’s elections in Poland, right-wing politicians are pushing to cut aid to Ukraine.

Labor: Kaiser Permanente reached a tentative deal with more than 75,000 of its health care workers following a three-day strike.

Labor: The United Automobile Workers union refrained from expanding its limited strikes, but said that more plants could strike without warning.

Climate: The Biden administration awarded $7 billion for seven regional hubs around the U.S. to make and use hydrogen fuel.

New York City: 10,000 vendors want new food cart permits. The city has issued 14.

Space: NASA began a six-year mission to explore Psyche, an enigmatic metal asteroid.

Taylor Swift dominated cultural headlines this year during her record-breaking Eras Tour. For those who missed out — or those eager to see it again — a movie version arrives this weekend at theaters nationwide.

The concert film gives fans “plenty of bang for their buck,” writes my colleague Kyle Buchanan, who attended the premiere. During the film, Swift performs nearly 40 songs, including a 10-minute version of “All Too Well.” To capture it all, the filmmakers hired upward of 40 camera operators and used several savvy tricks.

For more, our magazine writer wrote about her delirious trip to the heart of Swiftiedom.

As the school year continues, millions of students will face the daunting task of applying for college — and figuring out how to pay for it. It’s a complicated subject, but my colleagues built an interactive that answers dozens of the most important questions.

Reimagining Southern literature: The novelist Jesmyn Ward is competing with giants like William Faulkner, while mapping territory all her own.

Stolen art: Thieves in Scotland made off with the painting “Children Wading” in 1989. It turned up at an estate sale last year.

Ancient scrolls: With an assist from A.I., a computer scientist unlocked a word from rolled-up papyrus that was carbonized 2,000 years ago.

Is it really dinner?: A reader likes to serve soup in the fall. His wife says it’s not dinner food. Who is right?

Cook: Homemade focaccia turns this simple mortadella sandwich into a life-affirming meal.

Watch: “Goosebumps,” a new show adapting the famous children’s books, premiered today.

Follow: The W.N.B.A. finals could finish on Sunday. A twerking elephant has stolen the show.

Travel: We have a guide for visiting Montreal, including its big-holed bagels.

Relax: Today is Friday the 13th. But rest assured that there’s nothing to fear.

Straighten: Here’s how to put together an ergonomically correct workstation.

Compete: Take this week’s news quiz.

Play: Here are today’s Spelling Bee, Wordle and Mini Crossword. Find all our games here.

Tomorrow, millions of people will feast their eyes on a celestial marvel: an annular solar eclipse making its way across the skies of the Western Hemisphere.

The moon, farther from Earth than during a total eclipse, will block much of our view of the sun for a few minutes, leaving only a fiery halo of light in a darkened sky. It will begin in Oregon in the morning, sweep across the American Southwest and exit the country through Texas. Here’s a map of where and when the “ring of fire” will be visible.

Always remember, however: You should never look directly at the sun without appropriate protective eye gear.

Have a stellar weekend.

Thanks for reading. I’ll be back on Monday. — Matthew

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