Also, Israel said it encircled Gaza City. Here’s the latest at the end of Monday.
During four hours of testimony in a Manhattan courtroom today, Donald Trump repeatedly attacked the judge overseeing the trial and defended himself against accusations of fraudulently misvaluing his properties.
On the witness stand, the former president acknowledged helping assemble documents stating the value of his properties, which a judge had already decided were filled with fraud and which are central to the New York attorney general’s lawsuit against him. But he denied being involved in undervaluations and insisted that the financial statements were ultimately of little importance.
The judge in the case, Justice Arthur Engoron, became frustrated as he repeatedly sought to rein in Trump, whose asides included proclaiming the proceeding was “a very unfair trial” and calling the New York attorney general “a political hack.” At one point, Trump complained that the judge had “called me a fraud and he didn’t know anything about me.”
What’s next: Ivanka Trump will testify on Wednesday.
What’s at stake: New York’s attorney general, Letitia James, who brought the case, has asked that Trump pay $250 million and that he and his sons be permanently barred from running a business in the state.
The Israeli military cut off Gaza City
Israel’s military said today that it had encircled Gaza City, effectively splitting the Gaza Strip in half. The move, officials said, would make it harder for Hamas to control the enclave.
Israel has described Gaza City, in the north of the enclave, as a center for Hamas’s military operations. “It’s close-quarters urban warfare,” said Lt. Col. Richard Hecht, an Israeli military spokesman. “A lot of infantry working there.”
Israel said it struck 450 targets last night in Gaza. The extent of the fighting there remained unclear because of a communications blackout, but phone and internet connectivity appeared to be gradually returning today.
In related news, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Turkey today on the final stop of his Middle East tour. Blinken told reporters that the Biden administration was “very aggressively” working on getting more humanitarian assistance into Gaza.
A year before Election Day, Biden is playing catch up
New polls by The New York Times and Siena College found that President Biden was trailing Donald Trump in five of the six most important battleground states; that Black voters, a crucial Democratic constituency, were turning away; and that an overwhelming majority said he was “too old” to be an effective president.
The Biden campaign sought to downplay the polling, but their own internal numbers suggested similar results. A lot will change before the 2024 election, and our polling suggests a conviction could sink Trump. Our chief political analyst explored why Biden was behind and how he could come back.
Tuberculosis passed Covid as the deadliest infectious disease
Many scientists believe that the defeat of tuberculosis is within reach. It is preventable and curable, innovations in diagnosing and treating it have started to reach developing countries, and a promising vaccine is in the last stage of clinical trials.
However, the disease killed 1.6 million people in 2021 and supplanted Covid-19 as the world’s most deadly infectious disease, reflecting the world’s continued failure to get treatments into the hands of the people who need them most.
More top news
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U.S. The father of the man accused of killing seven people at a Fourth of July parade near Chicago pleaded guilty to misdemeanors after helping his son obtain a firearm license.
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War in Ukraine: Kherson is trapped in purgatory. Ukraine has a secret plan to save it.
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New York City: Mayor Eric Adams’s 25-year-old fund-raising chief is in the spotlight after the F.B.I. raided her home.
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Supreme Court: The justices will hear arguments tomorrow on whether the government can take guns from people with restraining orders for domestic abuse.
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Military: Tech start-ups are trying to sell a cautious Pentagon on A.I.
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Health: Covid shots for kids and Novavax vaccines are still hard to come by.
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Iran: Narges Mohammadi, an Iranian human rights activist and Nobel laureate, went on a hunger strike after prison authorities denied her medical treatment.
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Sports: Afghanistan’s cricket team has won big upsets and many fans at the Cricket World Cup.
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Europe: “Britain’s loneliest sheep” found a home after two years of solitude.
TIME TO UNWIND
How we commute now
The rise of working from home during the pandemic shifted millions of commutes. My colleagues took a deep dive into the data to see what has changed: People are driving more and driving faster, taking public transit less often and, on average, facing shorter commutes.
They found that the average American commute was about 27 minutes, about a minute shorter than in 2019. Those who commute by public transit spend roughly twice as much time traveling to and from work as people who drive.
Will we ever get another holiday classic?
On Nov. 7, 2003, American audiences had the opportunity to see either “Elf” or “Love Actually” for the very first time in theaters. Chances are, many of you have seen at least one of them, because, after all, they have become bona fide seasonal classics.
Both now seem like relics of a different time, when movies received the kind of dedicated theatrical releases that allowed them to win over viewers. In recent years, with streaming audiences fragmented and options galore, finding a new holiday classic feels far-fetched.
Dinner table topics
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A reader asked: Why don’t women’s clothes have more pockets? Our fashion critic has an answer.
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Expensive viewing: Viewers are flocking to YouTube, Instagram and TikTok to watch auctions and see how the 1 percent spends.
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Reclaiming the memes: Nicolas Cage says that his new dark comedy is a metaphor for viral fame that he found cathartic.
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Holiday vacation: There are turkey trots, holiday-themed spa treatments and multicourse feasts. Here are five hotels where you can spend Thanksgiving.
WHAT TO DO TONIGHT
Cook: This carbonara swaps out spaghetti for smooth, velvety orzo.
Drink: Several producers are blending wine and ciders to make fascinating beverages.
Watch: “Penn & Teller: Fool Us” is a premier showcase for magicians where kindness rules.
Listen: “I Got the Fear” from Torres is one of nine new songs our critics are listening to.
Prepare: If you’re thinking about having a baby, it’s a good idea to train for it.
Shop: Our 2023 holiday gift guide has something for everyone.
Compete: Take our quiz and test your knowledge of these military-themed books and movies.
Play: Here are today’s Spelling Bee, Wordle and Mini Crossword. Find all our games here.
ONE LAST THING
Beyond what we can see
From our perspective on Earth, space appears to be a dark and dusty void spotted with a smattering of tiny stars. But with a little help from the new James Webb Space Telescope, a stunning array of stars, nebulas and galaxies spanning billions of years comes into view.
The telescope’s discoveries have already given humans a clearer understanding of the universe than we have ever had: It has shown us a plume of water spanning 6,000 miles in our solar system and a galaxy that formed only 390 million years after the Big Bang. The New York Times Magazine has a visual guide to understanding it all.
Have a celestial evening.
Thanks for reading. I’ll be back tomorrow. — Matthew
We welcome your feedback. Write to us at evening@nytimes.com.