First Thing: Israeli ground forces battle Hamas in northern Gaza as Netanyahu rules out ceasefire

Hamas reports clashes with IDF in north and south Gaza as leader of main UN agency in Palestine accuses Israel of ‘collective punishment’. Plus, how to build a life full of joy and meaning when you’re child-free

Good morning.

Israeli ground forces have attacked Hamas positions and infrastructure in northern Gaza, after the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, categorically ruled out a ceasefire as a “surrender”.

“The soldiers killed terrorists and directed air forces to real-time strikes on targets and terror infrastructure,” the army said, as tanks and other armoured vehicles advanced on Gaza City.

Meanwhile, Philippe Lazzarini, the commissioner general for the UN relief and works agency (UNRWA), has accused Israel of “collective punishment” of the people of Gaza and said that the current aid system was “geared to fail”.

“The system in place to allow aid into Gaza is geared to fail unless there is political will to make the flow of supplies meaningful, matching the unprecedented humanitarian needs,” Lazzarini said, calling for the security council to demand an immediate humanitarian ceasefire.

What is a human shield and how has Hamas been accused of using them? The international criminal court defines the war crime of using human shields as “utilising the presence of a civilian or other protected person to render certain points, areas or military forces immune from military operations”. Here’s an explainer on how Israel says Hamas uses them and what Hamas says.

Have war crimes been committed in Israel and Gaza and what international laws apply? The United Nations has said “there is already clear evidence that war crimes may have been committed” by Hamas and the Israeli military since 7 October and that it is gathering evidence for potential prosecutions. Here’s what we know.

Banks pumped more than $150bn in to companies running ‘carbon bomb’ projects in 2022

Banks pumped more than $150bn last year into companies whose giant “carbon bomb” projects could destroy the last chance of stopping the planet heating to dangerous levels, the Guardian can reveal.

The carbon bombs – 425 extraction projects that can each pump more than one gigaton of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere – cumulatively hold enough coal, oil and gas to burn through the rapidly dwindling carbon budget four times over. Between 2016 and 2022, banks mainly in the US, China and Europe gave $1.8tn in financing to the companies running them, new research shows.

The climate rhetoric did not match up with what was happening on the books, said Shruti Shukla, an energy campaigner at the National Resources Defense Council, which was not involved in the investigation. “We need to rapidly decline our production of fossil fuels and support for fossil fuels, whether that’s regulatory or financial.”

What are carbon bombs? The carbon bombs, which were first identified in an academic database by the Guardian and partners last year, are the single biggest sources of fuels that release planet-heating gas when burned. Data for Good and Éclaircies, two French non-profits, and several European media outlets have now used publicly available data to map out the companies that operate the carbon bombs and the banks that finance them.

Friends stars release statement after death of Matthew Perry: ‘We were more than just castmates’

Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc and David Schwimmerhave issued a joint statement paying tribute to their Friends co-star Matthew Perry, who died on Saturday aged 54.

“We are all so utterly devastated by the loss of Matthew,” the five actors said. “We were more than just castmates. We are a family. There is so much to say, but right now we’re going to take a moment to grieve and process this unfathomable loss. In time we will say more, as and when we are able. For now, our thoughts and our love are with Matty’s family, his friends, and everyone who loved him around the world.”

Perry, who was best known for his performance as sarcastic and lovable Chandler Bing on the hit sitcom, was found dead in his hot tub at his Los Angeles home, law enforcement sources told media on Saturday night.

He was open about his struggles with addiction and sobriety, writing in his memoir Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing about becoming an alcoholic as a teenager and his addiction to pain medication after a jetskiing accident in 1997. He later admitted to being unable to rewatch Friends because the fluctuations in his health were so visible.

How did he die? An autopsy, pending a toxicology report, would determine the cause of death, the Los Angeles county medical examiner said. Foul play was not suspected, said Cap Scot Williams, who leads the city’s police robbery-homicide division that is investigating Perry’s death.

Why do so many people still love Friends? ”It’s hard not to mourn, along with the Matthew Perry, the spirit of the 90s, with its relentless optimism and comically low stakes. It felt like a time when nothing could go wrong, and anything that did would be worth it for the anecdote,” writes Zoe Williams.

In other news …

Sam Bankman-Fried testified in his own blockbuster crypto trial again yesterday, with prosecutors grilling the one-time crypto mogul about the many discrepancies between his public and private claims about crypto-exchange FTX. He denied his messy hair was part of a “tech genius” persona.

Robert De Niro testified yesterday in New York City at a trial resulting from a former personal assistant’s lawsuit accusing the actor of being an abusive boss. De Niro, who at times appeared grouchy, restrained himself from erupting at the dissection of his interactions with her before finally blurting out: “This is all nonsense!”

Five months before the deadliest mass shooting in Maine’s history, the gunman’s family alerted the local sheriff that they were becoming concerned about his deteriorating mental health while he had access to firearms, authorities said yesterday.

Republicans in the US House of Representatives yesterday introduced a plan to provide $14.3bn in aid to Israel by cutting funding for the Internal Revenue Service, setting up a showdown with Democrats, who control the Senate. Meanwhile the defense secretary, Lloyd Austin, and the secretary of state, Antony Blinken, will appear before a Senate hearing today to argue in favour of Joe Biden’s $105bn emergency aid request for Israel and Ukraine.

Stat of the day: Adam Wainwright ends 18-year MLB career ‘because I got a puppy’

Adam Wainwright managed to survive 18 years amid the grueling schedule of Major League Baseball before a puppy ended his career. The 42-year-old called time on his long career at the end of the 2023 season after 478 games, 2,202 strikeouts, three All-Star appearances and a World Series title with the St Louis Cardinals, his only major league team. But when he lodged his official retirement papers to Major League Baseball, rather than listing health concerns or the opportunity to enjoy his $182m in career earnings, he gave his reason for stepping away from the game as “Because I got a puppy”.

Don’t miss this: I’ve chosen to be child-free – here is how I plan to build a life full of joy and meaning

My husband and I are very open about the fact that we don’t want to have children. I am child-free by choice, writes Emma Gannon. Even though I am sure I don’t want kids, a period of existential worry has crept up on me – the feeling that I’ve somehow already ticked off life’s big moments. Last year I got married (tick!) and I bought a house (tick!), but then there was a feeling of: what next? I was haunted by a conversation I had with a woman who worked at a beauty counter who, as she applied wax to my eyebrows, asked me if I had children. When I replied no (and that I don’t think I want to have them), she said: “I hope you have enough to fill your life with. Life is very long.”

Do I have enough to fill my life with? Yes, I believe so. But also, like most people, I need things to chase, to do, to look forward to. I realised I needed to map out some non-traditional ways to keep moving forwards.

Climate check: US students file complaints against six universities over fossil fuel investments

Students at six universities filed legal complaints yesterday accusing their colleges of breaking a little-known law by investing in planet-heating fossil fuels, the Guardian has learned. Campus organizers from the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Chicago, Tufts University, Pomona College, Washington University in St Louis and Pennsylvania State University wrote to the attorneys general of their respective states to ask officials to scrutinize their universities’ investments.

The students argue that by investing in coal, oil and gas, the schools are violating their obligations as non-profit organizations to prioritize the public interest.

Last Thing: Rescuers free humpback whale ‘hog-tied’ to 300lb crab pot in Alaska

A young humpback whale was freed by rescuers in Alaska after it was discovered hog-tied to a 300-lb crab pot. The rescue, which occurred on 11 October, came after two local residents discovered the trapped whale a day earlier in the coastal waters near Gustavus, a city close to Glacier Bay national park in the southernmost part of Alaska. Researchers estimate the whale to be about three to four years old.

The rescue team observed that the whale was swimming in a tight clockwise circle that “appeared to be intermittently anchored to the seafloor” by a 300-lb crab pot with 450ft of heavy duty line, according to NPS. Crews spent hours cutting away at the rope to free the whale.

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