Friday Briefing

Israel tells northern Gaza to evacuate

Israel’s military has informed the U.N. that the entire population of northern Gaza should relocate to the southern half of the territory within 24 hours, a spokesman said, adding that such a movement — involving over one million people — would lead to “devastating humanitarian consequences.”

It came as Israel’s military said that its troops were preparing “for the next stage of the war.” The country has called up 360,000 reservists, and Israel has warned that, after the massacre of its citizens by Hamas on Saturday, the rules have changed. “Every Hamas member is marked by death,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.

In Gaza, the humanitarian crisis deepened after six days of Israeli bombardment of the crowded, blockaded territory in retaliation for the brutal incursion by Hamas, the Palestinian militant organization that controls the enclave. U.N. officials have warned that people in the territory are experiencing “horrible” suffering as they face a “huge disaster.”

Toll: More than 1,200 Israelis and 1,500 Palestinians have been killed, officials said, and more than 300,000 Palestinians have been forced from their homes.

Humanitarian corridor: Egypt said it would facilitate the moving of urgently needed aid into Gaza, but officials in Cairo were adamantly opposed to allowing Gazans to enter the country, their only viable exit.

What else to know:

• More details were emerging on the atrocity of the Hamas attack on dozens of towns and a military base: civilians, including children, shot dead in homes, in cars, on streets and in hiding places.

• A U.S. Treasury Department official said that Iran, a backer of Hamas, would be blocked from access to $6 billion that the Biden administration had sent to Qatar to be released for humanitarian purposes.

• While Israelis have largely shown solidarity since the Hamas massacre, Netanyahu’s government has begun to face a backlash from people angered by its security failure.

A secret Vatican conference attracts heterodox Catholics

A major assembly of more than 400 bishops and lay Catholics, called by Pope Francis to discuss the church’s future, is underway in Rome. Topics on the agenda include the ordination of female deacons, the celibacy of the clergy and the blessing of same-sex couples.

Outside the conference, every ideological stripe of Catholic activist and special interest group has also descended on the Italian capital, hoping to share the spotlight. They include advocates for the ordination of women, conservative and progressive culture warriors and abortion rights campaigners. (At least one had been formally excommunicated.)

What is a synod? The seemingly obscure meeting could be the culmination of Francis’ papacy and lay the groundwork for lasting change on hot-button issues.

Ukraine and Russia look to sway opinions in Hamas war

Nearly two years into Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the two countries are seeking to nurture their diplomatic alliances and influence opinion to bolster their respective military causes.

Since attacks by Hamas on Israel last weekend, Ukraine has sought to position itself as a friend of Israel while asserting that Moscow would try to use the conflict to drive a wedge between Ukraine and its allies. Russia, in turn, said that Israel’s war in Gaza showed the failure of the West and in particular U.S. policy in the region.

THE LATEST NEWS

Around the World

• New Zealanders will vote tomorrow in a general election that is likely to show a rightward shift in the country’s politics and punish Jacinda Ardern’s Labour Party.

• Stockholm, the Swedish capital, will ban conventional diesel- and gas-powered vehicles from entering a significant part of its center.

• In Ecuador’s presidential election, Daniel Noboa, a center-right businessman whose family business includes a banana empire, faces an establishment leftist, Luisa González.

• G7 finance ministers pledged to continue providing economic support for Ukraine and to finance its reconstruction with proceeds from frozen Russian assets.

• Representative Steve Scalise withdrew from consideration for the House speakership after hard-line Republicans balked at rallying around him, leaving the House leaderless and the G.O.P. in chaos.

Other Big Stories

• Sam Bankman-Fried’s trial has made it clear how much his inner circle, above, has turned on him.

• Britain’s financial regulator barred James Staley, the former Barclays chief executive, from holding senior positions for misleading officials about his relationship with the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.

• Consumer prices in the U.S. rose 3.7 percent in the year through September, suggesting that the goal of returning inflation to 2 percent remains far off.

• Researchers are struggling to understand why young women are getting lung cancer at higher rates than men.

• A new archaeological analysis found that Neanderthals intentionally stalked large beasts of prey, including apex predators.

The Week in Culture

• Negotiations between the major entertainment studios and the union representing tens of thousands of actors have collapsed.

• After a year of less-than-stellar ticket sales, the German-language translation of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s stage hit “Hamilton” is closing.

• Taffy Brodesser-Akner describes a trip to the “heart of Swiftiedom.”

• Most people haven’t heard of Cristaseya. But it’s become the ultimate “if you know, you know” luxury fashion line.

A Morning Read

In France, concern about bedbugs is so high that the country’s leading bedbug expert has become a household name.

But is the problem in people’s heads, rather than in their beds? French exterminators said that anxiety far outpaced the severity of the infestation.

SPORTS NEWS

The sole revolution: Exploring one of soccer’s latest tactical strategies.

Bernie Ecclestone: The former Formula 1 chief executive got a suspended sentence in London after he pleaded guilty in a fraud case.

On a different level: Leroy Sane has had his best season start in Munich.

A teenage Grand Slam champion: Is Coco Gauff destined for greatness?

ARTS AND IDEAS

A Judy Chicago show

Judy Chicago’s monumental 1979 installation “The Dinner Party” is among the most famous works of feminist art. Yet she had never had her own survey in New York — until now. “To see it in the context that I have carried in my heart and in my mind, and it’s sustained me — that’s overwhelming, completely overwhelming,” she said.

“Herstory,” which spans four floors of the New Museum, covers six decades of Chicago’s work, along with pieces from artists and thinkers including Hilma af Klint, Zora Neale Hurston, Virginia Woolf and Frida Kahlo.

RECOMMENDATIONS

Serve this spiced squash pie piping hot.

Watch the reboot of “Frasier,” which premiered this week.

Read seven new spooky comics before Halloween.

Spend 36 hours in Montreal.

Play the Spelling Bee. And here are today’s Mini Crossword and Wordle. You can find all our puzzles here.

That’s it for today’s briefing. See you on Monday. — Natasha

P.S. Kamala Harris and Elon Musk are among those being interviewed at The Times’s annual DealBook Summit on Nov. 29.

You can reach Natasha and the team at [email protected].