Biden Weighs Visiting Israel

President Biden is considering making an extraordinary trip to Israel in the coming days to demonstrate American solidarity with the country after the terrorist attacks carried out there by Hamas this month.

Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, extended the invitation to Biden over the weekend, but the White House has not said whether the president would accept it. The invitation arrived as Israelis continued to learn more about the Hamas attacks. The military now believes the group took 199 people hostage, nearly 50 more than previously thought.

A trip by Biden amid the conflict would be a remarkable gamble, and pose enormous challenges in terms of both security and politics. His presence would signal to rivals like Iran, Syria and Hezbollah that Israel has U.S. backing at a time of widespread anxiety about a regional war. But it could also tie Biden and the U.S. to the increasing bloodshed in Gaza.

Israel’s continued airstrikes, which they say have killed at least six Hamas senior leaders so far, have forced hundreds of thousands of Gazans from their homes and deepened the humanitarian crisis there. Officials in Gaza said that 2,808 people had been killed. (Follow live updates from our reporters in the region.)

A judge imposed a gag order on Donald Trump

Tanya Chutkan, the judge overseeing Donald Trump’s federal criminal trial on charges of conspiring to overturn the 2020 presidential election, imposed a limited gag order today on him. The ruling specifically restricts Trump from making public statements that attack witnesses, prosecutors or court staff involved in the case.

Judge Chutkan left Trump free to disparage the Justice Department, President Biden and apparently even herself. However, she said, Trump’s freedom of speech rights do not permit him “to launch a pre-trial smear campaign” against those involved in the trial. “No other defendant would be allowed to do so, and I’m not going to allow it in this case,” she said.

Jim Jordan gained steam in his bid for the speakership

Representative Jim Jordan of Ohio, who was nominated by House Republicans last week to fill the speaker vacancy, appears to be within striking distance of obtaining the votes he needs to be elected.

Several holdouts, including some mainstream House Republicans, had previously said they would not vote for Jordan, who is the hard-line co-founder of the ultraconservative House Freedom Caucus. But after an intense pressure campaign carried out by Jordan and his right-wing allies, they announced today that they would support him. Their reversals have improved Jordan’s chances of being elected speaker in a vote planned for tomorrow, but the outcome remains far from certain.

Families separated at the border reached a settlement

The U.S. reached a settlement today with lawyers representing thousands of families who were separated at the southern border during a Trump administration crackdown. If approved by a judge, the agreement would allow the migrants to live and work legally in the U.S. and to apply for asylum, putting them on the path to permanent legal residency.

The settlement would conclude years of negotiations that were part of a class-action lawsuit to address the harm inflicted by family separations in 2017 and 2018.

More top news

Teju Cole’s much-anticipated return to fiction

Teju Cole’s new book, “Tremor,” scheduled to be released tomorrow, is his first novel in more than a decade and one of the most anticipated books of the season. The story, set in 2019, follows a Nigerian professor of photography at a prestigious Boston college and his wife, and it mostly eschews plot. Instead, it considers the ebb and flow of family and friendships, and the microaggressions and minor conflicts of daily life.

As with Cole’s previous work, readers might notice similarities between his characters and his own life. He told us that autofiction was not an “unjust” way to frame his work, but he cautioned against taking it literally.

The future of salmon farming

Salmon is the second-most-popular seafood in the U.S., behind shrimp. A small percentage of it comes from well-managed fisheries in Alaska, but most of it is imported farmed fish raised in the ocean in open net-pens, which can wreak havoc on the wild fish population and pollute the environment.

As an alternative, several companies have started land-based salmon farms, which can be cleaner and more ecologically responsible. Experts say that they are likely the future of the industry. Melissa Clark, a columnist for the Food section, visited a farm to see it in action.

The cute white rabbit sweeping the U.S.

Miffy, a fictional bunny created in 1955 by a Dutch author, has long been a familiar childhood character in many European and Asian countries. But until recently, the bunny, which stars in a series of picture books, was largely unknown in North America. Over the last year, however, Miffy has become popular in America. She is on TikTok and Instagram, dangling from key rings and glowing as giant floor lamps.

The new fans are often young adults who want to inject a little joy — and childhood — into their daily lives. They’re challenging the idea that cute characters designed for kids have an age limit.

Have an adorable evening.

Thanks for reading. I’ll be back tomorrow. — Matthew

We welcome your feedback. Write to us at evening@nytimes.com.