Monday Briefing

Israel releases videos from Al-Shifa hospital

On the fifth day of its operation inside the Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City, the Israeli military released video of what it said was a 55-meter (180-foot) section of a fortified tunnel running 10 meters beneath the complex, seeking to bolster its allegations that Hamas has used it as a base for its military operations.

The Israeli military also released footage that it said showed two hostages being taken inside the hospital on Oct. 7, hours after the Hamas raid into Israel. Israeli officials said they did not know where the two hostages are now. The Times verified the location of the footage as the hospital, but not the identities of those shown or the time stamps.

Proof of an extensive Hamas command center under the hospital has yet to be revealed. Hamas has denied accusations that it uses civilian infrastructure, including residential buildings, mosques and hospitals, to hide its military fortifications and command centers. The group says Israel is committing war crimes by targeting civilian centers.

Airstrike: A strike on a school in northern Gaza run by the U.N. that was being used for shelter by thousands of displaced people killed at least 24 people, a U.N. official said.

Hostages: Israel and Hamas are close to reaching a deal to pause fighting for multiple days so that hostages can be released, but Jon Finer, President Biden’s deputy national security adviser, warned that “nothing is agreed until everything is agreed.”

Patients: U.N. officials said 31 premature babies in precarious health were evacuated from Al-Shifa Hospital to a hospital farther south in Gaza.

A hidden war over radio waves

A battle is raging in Ukraine in the invisible realm of electromagnetic waves, with radio signals being used to overwhelm communication links to drones and troops, locate targets and trick guided weapons.

Known as electronic warfare, the tactics have turned into a cat-and-mouse game between Russia and Ukraine, quietly driving momentum swings in the 21-month old conflict and forcing engineers to adapt. Russia has used powerful jammers and decoy missiles to inundate Ukrainian air defenses, leaving Ukraine reliant on aircraft to fight off Russian planes.

Analysis: “Electronic warfare has impacted the fighting in Ukraine as much as weather and terrain,” said Bryan Clark, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute, a research institute in Washington.

Related: European nations including Germany, Norway and Britain are increasing weapons production to help Kyiv. But the aid may be coming too late, as winter looms and Ukraine’s counteroffensive against Russia stalls.

Argentina elects Javier Milei

In a victory for the global far-right movement, Argentines chose Javier Milei, an economist and far-right libertarian who has drawn comparisons to Donald Trump, as their next president. He will be sworn in on Dec. 10.

Milei burst onto the traditionally closed Argentine political scene with a brash style, an embrace of conspiracy theories and a series of extreme proposals, including pledges to slash spending and taxes, close Argentina’s central bank and replace the nation’s currency with the U.S. dollar. He has also proposed banning abortion and loosening regulations on guns.

THE LATEST NEWS

Around the World

• Bedbug outbreaks in France and South Korea have people across Asia on high alert. For exterminators, business is booming.

• A French senator is under investigation amid accusations that he drugged a fellow lawmaker with an intent to sexually assault her.

• Dubai has spent billions of dollars on desalination, but experts say that the efforts are straining the Persian Gulf’s natural resources.

• The Austrian government is turning Adolf Hitler’s birthplace into a police station. Some say it is a missed opportunity.

Other Big Stories

• OpenAI remains in talks to bring back Sam Altman, the artificial intelligence start-up’s recently ousted chief executive.

• In New York City’s financial district, families are filling up empty offices.

• Sean Combs and the singer Cassie reached a settlement just one day after she filed a lawsuit accusing the hip-hop mogul of rape and abuse.

From Opinion

• The Times’s Editorial Board examines the data on pandemic learning loss.

• There are plenty of new reasons for climate despair — as well as a glimmer of hope, Kate Marvel writes.

• Darby Saxbe considers how to — and how not to — help depressed teenagers.

• Despite the great strides of the body positivity movement, round tummies are still taboo, Amelia Tait says.

• Guido Alfani explores what happens when the rich stop fulfilling their once-critical social role.

A Morning Read

Nasreen Parveen, a talented young poet from India, wanted more freedom than her family would give her, and she ran away to Delhi to escape an arranged marriage. Eventually, she found an escape route from oppressive patriarchy via a path she never expected: romance. Read her story.

Lives Lived

Rosalynn Carter, the wife of Jimmy Carter who became the most politically active first lady since Eleanor Roosevelt, has died at 96.

SPORTS NEWS

A star who died playing soccer: RememberingRaphael Dwamena, who collapsed on a field in Albania last week.

Cricket World Cup: India’s dominant World Cup run ended with a loss to Australia in the final.

In Sweden, putting fans first: While most of Europe’s soccer leagues struggle to source as much money as possible, Sweden has chosen a different model.

Tennis rivalry: Novak Djokovic dismissed Carlos Alcaraz at the ATP Finals.

ARTS AND IDEAS

Preserving a writer’s legacy

Novels by Bessie Head are taught in classrooms around Africa, but she never achieved the fame of some of her male counterparts on the continent. Now, as more female African writers are gaining recognition, Head is being celebrated as a pioneer, and a tiny museum in her adopted hometown is trying to preserve her archive for future generations.

Head, an activist, journalist and author, was born in South Africa in 1937 and later sought asylum in Botswana from the apartheid regime. Her collection is housed at a community museum in Serowe, Botswana, where she lived until her death in 1986 at age 48.

The curators are seeking partners and funding to digitize the collection, which includes tapes of Head’s conversations with the American poet Nikki Giovanni. Head’s novels, such as “When Rain Clouds Gather” and “Maru,” eschew the big political narratives of the 1960s and ’70s in favor of stories about ordinary people grappling with moral questions.

— Lynsey Chutel, Briefings writer based in Johannesburg

RECOMMENDATIONS

Cook: Make an easy chicken dinner in your slow cooker.

Move: Become a morning exercise person.

Travel: What to buy to improve your in-flight experience.

Remember: Keep your appointments with a datebook.

Read: Expert-recommended books that will make your relationship stronger.

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 tomorrow. — Natasha

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