Gazans Flee South After Israel Orders Evacuation

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.

House Republicans nominate Jim Jordan for speaker

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.

How a senator became central to Egypt’s spy efforts

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 overcomes regulators’ objections to buy Activision

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.

The summer’s biggest music event, on the big screen

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.

A ‘ring of fire’ will grace our skies

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.