Israel-Hamas War liveUpdates Oct. 11, 2023, 8:15 p.m. ET
What We Know Photos Maps Hamas’s Trail of Terror Israel’s Slow Response
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Morning Briefing: Asia Pacific Edition
Thursday Briefing: Israel Forms a Unity Government
Plus, why we love watching influencers fight
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By Justin Porter
Oct. 11, 2023, 4:43 p.m. ET
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The aftermath of Israeli airstrikes in Khan Younes, in the southern Gaza Strip yesterday. Credit...Yousef Masoud for The New York Times
Israel forms a unity government as war intensifies Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu formed an emergency government yesterday, adding two opposition lawmakers — both former army chiefs — to his cabinet. Analysts said the infusion of military expertise would give the government greater legitimacy to make tough wartime decisions, including whether to invade Gaza, or even south Lebanon.
There was heightening fear that the conflict could widen: Fire was exchanged along Israel’s northern border with both Lebanon and Syria in recent days, and Israeli forces said they had launched retaliatory strikes inside Lebanon yesterday, hitting targets belonging to Hezbollah, an armed Iran-backed Lebanese group allied with Hamas.
Israel also launched more missiles at the Gaza Strip, where fears of a humanitarian disaster were growing. New airstrikes hit rescue crews trying to reach people buried under the rubble of earlier attacks. The authorities in Gaza said that its sole power plant had run out of fuel, forcing hospitals to rely on backup generators with limited fuel supplies.
Gazans say that Israel has hit structures that are normally safe, such as schools, hospitals and mosques. Israel has given broad warnings for people to leave certain neighborhoods or towns but acknowledged that the warnings are not as extensive or specific as they have been in the past.
Toll: Israel said the death toll had risen to 1,200. At least 1,100 Palestinians have been killed, including 326 children, since Saturday, Gaza health officials said.
Israel’s security failures: A Times analysis shows how Hamas assailants were able to execute such a sophisticated operation in Israel on Saturday, in what appears to have been a spectacular failure of the country’s security and intelligence operations.
Thailand: The Southeast Asian nation supplies the bulk of labor for Israel’s agriculture industry. Twenty Thais were killed during Saturday’s attack, and 14 Thai citizens were thought to have been abducted by Palestinian gunman. We looked at the case of Kiattisak Patee, a chicken-farm worker who remains missing.
China: The country is the largest oil importer by far from Saudi Arabia and from Iran, highlighting the risk it faces if the war in Israel and Gaza were to broaden.
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Arundhati Roy in New Delhi last week. Credit...Harish Tyagi/EPA, via Shutterstock
India charged a novelist over a 2010 speech The Indian authorities charged the renowned novelist Arundhati Roy over public comments she made 13 years ago about the restive Kashmir region, in the latest step in an intensifying crackdown on free speech by the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The charges, which include offenses related to provocative speech, sprang from a complaint filed 13 years ago by a right-wing Kashmiri Hindu activist against speakers at a conference on unrest in the Kashmir region. It was not clear why the charge was being acted on only now.
Related: A court on Tuesday denied bail to the founder of NewsClick, an online news portal known for criticism of the Indian government that was raided last week, and another person linked to the site. The two have been charged under a draconian antiterrorism law, under which many people have spent years languishing in jail before their trials have begun.
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The Heytea chain, known for selling expensive milk teas, has lowered its prices. Credit...Gilles Sabrié for The New York Times
Inside China’s new thrift economy Beijing hopes domestic spending can spur growth, which has been dragged down by slowing exports and a ballooning real estate crisis that has felled some of the country’s biggest developers. China’s banks even lowered interest rates on deposits, hoping to encourage consumers to open their wallets more. But shoppers aren’t buying in.
To counteract the impact of a slumping economy, Chinese consumers are spending less and saving more. Last month, the hashtag “downgraded spending” was a trending topic on the social media platform Weibo, as some consumers gravitate toward cheaper coffee and forego brand-name clothes.
Winners: Some businesses, like the discount online retailer Pinduoduo, have found a windfall in this countrywide thriftiness. Its growth surpassed Alibaba in the first half of 2023.
THE LATEST NEWS Asia Pacific
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Cheng Lei, center, yesterday in Melbourne, Australia. Credit...Sarah Hodges/Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, via Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
China released Cheng Lei, an Australian journalist who was held in Beijing for more than three years.
Two female Aboriginal lawmakers with drastically different political philosophies have emerged as prominent opponents of the proposed Indigenous Voice, a body that would advise Parliament.
The deadliest earthquake to strike Afghanistan in decades leveled entire hamlets on Saturday. Many people lost most, if not all, of their immediate family.
Around the World
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Steve Scalise after he won the majority. Credit...Haiyun Jiang for The New York Times
Republicans narrowly nominated Representative Steve Scalise, the party’s No. 2 House leader, to replace Kevin McCarthy as speaker.
Exxon Mobil said it was acquiring Pioneer Natural Resources, a shale drilling giant, for $59.5 billion, deepening Exxon’s reliance on fossil fuel production.
The International Court of Justice in The Hague began hearing a case to determine whether President Bashar al-Assad of Syria violated the U.N. Convention Against Torture.
Other Big Stories A push is underway to make Patois an official language in Jamaica, on par with English, as the country weighs cutting ties to the British monarchy.
Scientists in the Netherlands report using A.I. to equip surgeons with knowledge about brain tumors, which can help them decide how aggressively to operate.
Culture News Almost 20 years after his sexy, best-selling album “Confessions,” Usher is back with new music that could redefine R.&B.
Birkenstock, the shoe company that was once a symbol of the counterculture, went public in New York.
Salman Rushdie, the acclaimed novelist who was viciously attacked at a public event last year, will write a memoir about the experience.
A Morning Read
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Bananas, ghee and jaggery rolled into a South Asian style of roti. Credit...Kriston Jae Bethel for The New York Times
Roti — a round, unleavened bread of uncertain origin — is one of the world’s most ubiquitous and shape-shifting foods. It changes every time it reaches a new destination, and it means many different things to many people, from South Asia to South America.
Now, a new generation is shaping roti into a convenience food, using it for pizza, French toast and more.
ARTS AND IDEAS
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Credit...Photo illustration by Anthony Gerace
Why we love to watch influencers fight Many of boxing’s most popular fights these days no longer feature world champions or rising talents. They feature social media influencers.
These matchups are heavy on cocky chest puffing and lowbrow insults, and often have more in common with professional wrestling than good old-fashioned boxing. But the bouts are interesting, writes Brady Brickner-Wood for The New York Times Magazine, not because of their quality, but because of their characters. Influencers know something boxing purists don’t: A fight without a narrative, no matter how poetic its execution, is just a hollow technical exercise.
RECOMMENDATIONS
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Credit...Kelly Marshall for The New York Times.
Cook this twist on saag paneer, which adds coconut milk.
Read one of these new comics for fans of horror.
Listen to these nine new songs.
Try a skateboarding video game from the Tony Hawk series.
Avoid hotel “junk fees,” an increasingly annoying part of the travel experience.
Shop for the best Amazon Prime deals.
Play Spelling Bee, the Mini Crossword, Wordle and Sudoku. Find all our games here.
That’s it for today’s briefing. See you tomorrow. — Justin
P.S. How well do you know sci-fi novels adapted for the screen? Take our quiz.
We welcome your feedback. Send us your suggestions at briefing@nytimes.com.
Justin Porter is an editor on the Briefings newsletter team at The Times. More about Justin Porter
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