Israel Orders Evacuation of Gaza City, and Congress Releases Epstein Birthday Notes

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From the New York Times, it's the headlines.

I'm Tracy Mumford.

Today's Tuesday, September 9th.

Here's what we're covering.

This morning in Gaza City, a flurry of paper leaflets fell from the sky with an order from the Israeli military to evacuate.

It's a signal that Israel is moving forward with its full-scale invasion of the city.

The order will force hundreds of thousands of people to decide whether to risk staying put or fleeing south to areas that are already overcrowded, many of which are in ruins.

A military spokesman posted on social media, quote, the Israel Defense Force is insistent on finishing Hamas and will act in Gaza City with great force, adding, for your safety, evacuate immediately.

Residents have been instructed to go to what Israel calls a humanitarian area south of the city.

Earlier in the war, the military told Palestinians to go to the same general area, calling it a humanitarian zone, but still carried out airstrikes there.

The United Nations has warned that further military operations in Gaza City will cause a catastrophe for civilians.

More than 60,000 people have been killed in the war so far, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.

Now, two updates out of Washington.

In Congress, the House Oversight Committee, which had subpoenaed the estate of Jeffrey Epstein for a batch of documents, released many of them last night.

The most closely scrutinized was a note from a book created for Epstein's 50th birthday that appears to be signed by President Trump.

Featuring a sexually suggestive drawing of a woman, the note includes the line, We have certain things in common, Jeffrey, and closes with a reference to a, quote, wonderful secret the two men share.

It's signed, Donald, in what looks similar to the president's distinctive handwriting.

The White House has denied that he drew or signed the card.

Trump previously sued the Wall Street Journal for defamation after it reported the card existed.

Trump and Epstein were friends in the 90s and early 2000s, and the president is continuing to face tremendous backlash for how his administration is handling the Epstein case.

And at the Supreme Court, the justices lifted restrictions on how federal agents can make immigration stops in Los Angeles.

A lower court had ruled that agents could not single people out based only on race, if they were speaking Spanish, or if they were near a place where immigrants often work, among other factors.

The Supreme Court overruled that.

The order was unsigned and gave no reasons.

But the court's three liberal justices dissented.

Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote that the administration had, quote, all but declared that all Latinos, U.S.

citizens or not, who work low-wage jobs are fair game to be seized at any time.

Because there was no explanation with the court's order, it's unclear whether it applies just to Los Angeles, where the case originated, or nationwide, but it's expected to embolden the administration in its aggressive push to step up deportations.

Meanwhile, in Chicago.

My employees were telling me this morning that you literally went out in the morning and the streets were empty.

They were empty as if like people aren't going to work.

And even some of my employees mentioned to me that they didn't take their kids to school, you know, because of the fear.

Residents and business owners tell the Times that some neighborhoods went eerily quiet yesterday after the Trump administration officially launched the immigration crackdown it had been promising for weeks.

It's estimated that about 8% of households in Chicago are undocumented.

For the moment, local officials say that the operation appears to be limited and that there has not been a surge in arrests.

On Monday, the Murdoch family, whose media empire includes Fox News and the New York Post, announced they've reached a multi-billion dollar agreement to settle an epic fight over the future of the family business.

At the center of it all was the question of who will control that empire after its founder, 94-year-old Rupert Murdoch, dies.

He said he wants the companies to be the, quote, protector of the conservative voice in the English-speaking world.

But in recent years, that legacy came under threat as a political rift opened between his children, some of whom are less conservative.

Rupert and his son Lachlan, his chosen heir, launched a remarkable effort to try and change the terms of the family trust and effectively push out the heirs who weren't on board.

That bid failed in court, but it led to the negotiated agreement that was revealed yesterday.

In it, Lachlan's three oldest oldest siblings will each get about a billion dollars.

In exchange, Lachlan will consolidate his control of the business, which he's expected to continue to run with a conservative bent.

New national test scores out this morning show that the reading skills of high school seniors in the U.S.

are the worst they've been in more than three decades.

Math skills are also down at a 20-year low.

That means only about a third of students are leaving high school with the skills they'd need to do college-level work.

The decline was most pronounced among students already considered low-performing.

The scores come from the National Assessment of Educational Progress, or NAEP, and they're yet another sign that teens have been struggling in the wake of the pandemic, which upended education with widespread school closures.

Experts say there are also other factors at play, including some that predate the pandemic, like increases in teens screen time and social media use.

The NAEP has long been considered the gold standard for these kinds of tests, but the agency that runs the exam has faced widespread cuts under the Trump administration.

Earlier this year, it had about 100 full-time employees.

Now it's down to just three.

And finally, the Times annual list of the 50 best restaurants in the U.S.

is out today.

It's got everything from an upscale fish shack in Charleston to a West African restaurant in Houston that started as a food stand.

Compiling the list is a months-long undertaking, with reporters and editors fanning out across the U.S.

And as they look for what stands out, they get a wide view of American dining along the way.

Brian Gallagher is one of the editors of the list.

He said he and his team noticed a few clear trends, even across different cuisines.

This year we saw a lot of counter service style approaches with really good cooking, but sort of minimal servers at the table.

I know that's an economic model that helps a lot of restaurants cut staff costs.

Another thing that we've seen a lot of that's also an economic model as much as anything is the all-day cafe.

So you'll see a restaurant that's open for dinner service and really accomplished cooking, but they'll have baked goods or smaller dishes throughout the day that are lower lift, but oftentimes oftentimes really delicious as well.

But that helps them stay open and make money for more hours in a day.

In terms of atmosphere, we're seeing a lot of homey touches, seeing a lot more candles and sort of mismatched silverware, chalkboard menus, things like that that are like a little eclectic, homespun, and feel really kind of human and tactile.

You can find the full list of the best restaurants at nytimes.com.

Those are the headlines.

Today on the daily, how Russia has transformed its economy to keep its war machine running.

You can listen to that in the New York Times app or wherever you get your podcasts.

I'm Tracy Mumford.

We'll be back tomorrow.