| | | | | | | Hello. As the week is ending, I wanted to share two reflective pieces with you today, taking a step back from stories we have covered day-to-day over the past weeks. After Sam Bankman-Fried was found guilty of fraud, my US colleagues give us the full account of the “crypto king”’s formidable rise and his brutal downfall. In southern Israel, our international editor Jeremy Bowen is identifying new realities for the region, amid a dense fog of war. |
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| | | | | | Analysis | | Five new realities in the Israel-Gaza war | | | | A burnt house in Kibbutz Kfar Aza and the crater in the Jabalia refugee camp in Gaza. Credit: Reuters/Reuters |
| | We've now been covering the conflict between Israel and Hamas for the past four weeks. It can be tough to get a clear picture of events as we're getting day-to-day updates on the humanitarian, military, political and diplomatic aspects of the war. Ahead of this weekend, my colleague Jeremy Bowen has identified five new realities that have emerged since the 7 October attacks. Here's how he's presenting his effort to take a step back - I invite you to read his full analysis. | | | | Jeremy Bowen, international editor |
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| One of the first things to understand about the reportage, analysis and commentary that has poured out since the Hamas attacks of 7 October is that no-one has the full story. Not only is it, as ever, hard to penetrate the fog of war to work out what is happening on the battlefield. The new shape of the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians has not yet emerged.
Events are still moving fast. Fears that the war could spread are very real. New realities in the Middle East are out there somewhere, but their shape and the way that they will work depend on the way this war goes for the rest of the year, and probably beyond.
Some people mocked Donald Rumsfeld, US defence secretary at the time of the invasion of Iraq in 2003, when he talked of "unknown unknowns". But in this part of the world as much as any other, they exist - and when they emerge, they can make a big difference. The list is not exhaustive, but here are a few things that we know, and a few that we do not. | | | | • | The latest: The BBC has verified videos showing badly injured people lying outside the Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City following a blast. A spokesperson for the Israeli army said it hit an ambulance used by Hamas, but did not make clear whether he was talking about the same incident. Follow our live updates. | | • | Calibrated statement: In a speech in Lebanon, his first one since the war began, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah praised the Hamas attacks on Israel on 7 October, but said the operation was "100% Palestinian”. |
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| EXPERT INSIGHTS | New York, United States | | The end of Sam Bankman-Fried’s big gamble | | | | Sam Bankman-Fried is expected to face a sentence lasting decades. Credit: Reuters | | Sam Bankman-Fried, the “crypto king” who once ran one of the world's biggest cryptocurrency exchanges, has been found guilty of fraud and money laundering in New York. It concludes a stunning fall from grace for the 31-year-old former billionaire. But how did everyone get duped in the first place? | | | | Holly Honderich, Natalie Sherman & Erin Delmore, BBC News |
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| On 7 November 2022, as his empire began its dizzying, irrevocable collapse, Sam Bankman-Fried did what he always did: he weighed the odds. Earlier that day, a rival executive had expressed concerns on social media about the finances of Bankman-Fried's crypto exchange, spooking customers into a multi-billion dollar bank run. In an online chat, Bankman-Fried consulted two of his top deputies. "To be clear you think the tweet is net bad?" he asked them. They considered their options. Was it possible that his rival would walk back the criticism? Was it probable that that would stem the bleeding? "Fairly unlikely," Bankman-Fried wrote. Bankman-Fried faces decades in prison after guilty verdict
It was the kind of calculus Bankman-Fried had been making for years, the quick equations friends said he used in nearly every situation - mulling a break-up, assessing a risky trade. For a while, that approach seemed to work. As the boy-wonder of crypto, Bankman-Fried got rich faster than almost anyone in history, amassing an estimated $26bn in personal wealth, countless magazine covers and sweeping political influence. The flameout was even faster. |
| | | | • | Who is ‘SBF’?: Here’s what you need to know about the 31-year-old convict. | | • | Real consequences: How the collapse of Sam Bankman-Fried's company lost a fortune to a British father. |
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| | The big picture | | Unusual jellyfish roam UK waters | | | | An influx of crystal jellyfish was recorded in the UK. Credit: Getty Images |
| | The most commonly seen jellyfish in UK waters this year were the huge barrel jellyfish. But rarer warm-water crystal jellyfish were also seen, as climate change created favourably warm conditions. Sign up to the Future Earth newsletter for more essential climate news and hopeful developments - in your inbox, every Tuesday - from BBC correspondent Carl Nasman. | | | | |
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| | | For your downtime | | More relevant than ever | | In 1998, American History X divided critics over its portrayal of white nationalism. | | |
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| | | | | | | | | | Future Earth Newsletter | | Essential climate news and hopeful developments, in your inbox every Tuesday. | | |
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– Jules |
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