Good evening. Here’s the latest at the end of Monday.
Israel announced plans for an ‘intensive’ escalation in GazaPrime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared today that Israel was “on the eve of a forceful entry to Gaza.” Israel’s security cabinet voted last night to approve a new plan for tens of thousands of additional soldiers to seize and hold territory in Gaza and relocate Palestinians to the south. Netanyahu said Israel’s military leaders told him that “it’s time to launch the concluding moves.” The escalation followed more than two months in which Israel continued to blockade and bombard the enclave as cease-fire talks to free the remaining hostages ground to a near standstill. Israel has barred any humanitarian aid to Gaza in an effort to press Hamas to surrender, leading to “catastrophic” shortages of food, water and medicine, the U.N. said. An Israeli spokesman said the offensive would aim to increase pressure on Hamas to release the hostages and to destroy all of the group’s infrastructure. Officials said it would start slowly ahead of President Trump’s trip next week to the region. Cease-fire negotiations are ongoing, but the officials said that if a deal is not reached soon, the expanded ground operation would commence in earnest. In related news, Israeli fighter jets bombed Yemen today after Houthi militants fired a missile that landed near Israel’s main airport.
Trump offered money to migrants who deport themselvesIn an effort to ramp up deportations, the Trump administration has begun to offer $1,000 and a flight home to any undocumented immigrant who agrees to willingly leave the U.S. Already, one migrant from Honduras has taken up the offer. The program is the latest effort by the administration to encourage migrants to “self deport,” which officials consider cheaper and easier than arresting, detaining and flying people out of the country. In other immigration news, the administration is in talks with Rwanda to accept U.S. deportees. Also, the tents that the U.S. erected at Guantánamo Bay have not held any migrants.
Sean Combs goes on trialJury selection started today in the Manhattan trial of Sean Combs, who is also known as Diddy. The 12-member panel will be confronted with the question of whether Combs led a typical celebrity entourage or, as prosecutors will argue, a criminal enterprise that enabled years of sexual exploitation and other crimes. The government says employees set up hotel rooms, procured drugs and arranged for male prostitutes ahead of “drug-fueled coercive sex marathons.” Testimony is expected to take two months. Combs has pleaded not guilty to the charges against him.
Warren Buffett changed the way many investors thinkThe idea of “value investing” existed well before Warren Buffett began his career. But no one did it as well, or for as long, as he did. In the process, Buffett, 94, built up a $168 billion fortune and influenced generations of investors, promoting the now-common advice about investing for the long term. This weekend, Buffett, who said “our favorite holding period is forever,” announced something that the finance world had been discussing for many years: the “Oracle of Omaha” was stepping down and handing his $1.1 trillion conglomerate to a new leader, Gregory Abel. My colleague Andrew Ross Sorkin, who has reported on Buffett for decades, described the emotional scene in the room. More top news
The Pulitzer Prizes The Times won four Pulitzer Prize awards, including one for photos of the July 13 attempt on Trump’s life. ProPublica won the public service prize. See all of the winners.
It’s time for the splashiest party of the yearThe stars are now arriving at the Met Gala, which means the most discussed, debated and dissected red carpet of the year is now underway. Here’s how to watch. Sometimes that can sound like hyperbole, but this year it’s actually true, our fashion critic Vanessa Friedman said. This year’s theme, which honors a Met exhibition about the Black dandy, has put the event on a collision course with the shift to the right in politics and helped it raise a record-setting $31 million. Follow along with our live updates to see all of the night’s best looks.
The last SurrealistJean-Claude Silbermann was a teenager when he joined André Breton’s enigmatic group of acolytes, who called themselves Surrealists. Now, at 90, Silbermann is having his dreamlike artworks shown in the U.S. for the first time. He calls himself “the last Surrealist alive,” but he insists that Surrealism is simply a frame of mind that future generations of artists will interpret.
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