| | | | | | | Hello. Today we’re taking a closer look at the shift in tone of Israel’s western allies, as the country’s army is carrying on its operation in Gaza’s largest hospital. My colleagues here in the UK are reporting on black market weight-loss drugs cashing in on a trend that puts users at risk. And in Canada, Nadine Yousif tells us about singer Buffy Sainte-Marie's 'pretendian' case. |
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| | | | Get up to speed | | • | US President Joe Biden has told his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping the competition between the two countries mustn’t “veer into conflict”. The two leaders are meeting in San Francisco. Follow the talks on our live page. | | • | UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak says he will introduce emergency legislation after his government’s plan to send some asylum seeking migrants to Rwanda was ruled unlawful by the country’s Supreme Court. | | • | A senior Ukrainian official has said that the country’s forces have gained a foothold on the left (eastern) bank of the Dnipro river. It would be a significant advance for Ukraine, if it is able to hold onto the area. |
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| | Questions Answered | | The clocks ticking on Israel’s Gaza operation | | | | A displaced Palestinian patient lies on a hospital bed under a tent in Khan Younis, southern Gaza. Credit: Reuters |
| | Israeli forces entered the Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City last night. The military says it is conducting a "targeted" operation searching for Hamas infrastructure and weapons. The raid on the Strip’s largest hospital comes at a time of increased pressure from Israel’s western allies. | | | | Jeremy Bowen,international editor |
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| | How is the international mood evolving around Israel's operation? | | The international position around the Israeli offensive has moved in the last few days with the US, the UK and France using language that is shifting the tone - perhaps summed up best by what US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said last weekend: "Far too many" Palestinian civilians have been killed. | | How is Israel dealing with international pressure? | | Israelis talk about different clocks running during any operation. One is military: how long do they need before they accomplish their military objectives? The other is diplomatic: how long does Israel hold legitimacy to carry out that operation before its allies say, "you've killed enough people, civilians, you need to stop now please”. | | What are they making of these ticking clocks? | | Israel feels that because of the absolute enormity of the numbers of casualties in the Hamas attacks on 7 October, they have more time than usual, and I think they have gone in - as we can see from the levels of casualties in Gaza - using a great deal of force. Some estimates suggest the Israel Defense Forces will continue to work in this way for a couple more weeks, but I think that among their allies, the forces are gathering to say: you need to change the nature of your military operation. | | | | • | The latest: IDF say they have found Hamas weapons and equipment in Al-Shifa hospital. A journalist inside the hospital told the BBC soldiers were going room to room and questioning people. You can find more on our live page. | | • | Watch: Our analysis editor Ros Atkins examines how the rules of war apply to hospitals caught up in military action. Here’s his report. |
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| AT THE SCENE | North of England | | Black market sellers cash in on weight loss jab hype | | | | Maddy threw up stomach acid, blood, white foam after taking an unapproved version of the drug. Credit: BBC | | Off-label prescriptions for Ozempic, a prescribed type 2 diabetes medication that became known as Hollywood's secret weight loss drug, have skyrocketed over the past year. As pharmacies across the UK struggled to get hold of the medication, an illicit black market selling semaglutide "diet kits" began to flourish online. Doctors say black market drugs are dangerous and could contain potentially toxic ingredients. Maddy bought some of these kits online. | | | | Aoife Walsh and Pria Rai, BBC News and BBC Three |
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| Maddy came across The Lip King, a company run by Jordan Parke. The Lip King's Instagram feed was flooded with before-and-after transformation photos of women with newly slimmed physiques and screenshots of text messages from customers raving about his product. Maddy wanted in. After a brief message exchange with Mr Parke and a £200 bank transfer, Maddy was sold 10mg of semaglutide with no questions asked. She also received a video from him on WhatsApp instructing her how to mix and inject the drug, along with dangerous guidance advising her to take a higher dose than health officials would recommend. This higher dosage is believed to have caused her to become ill.
After her first injection, Maddy was instantly "extremely ill, bed-bound, vomiting". She says Mr Parke told her over text that vomiting was normal and to take anti-sickness tablets. A few weeks later, when the nausea had passed, Maddy tried the drug again - this time before bed. "I was woken up by the vomiting," Maddy says. She went to A&E the following afternoon, where she was put on a drip.
The BBC tested a sample sold by Mr Parke which was found to have a less than advertised amount of semaglutide. We made several attempts to contact Mr Parke, but he did not respond. |
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| | The big picture | | Behind Buffy Sainte-Marie's 'pretendian' case | | | | A recent episode of the CBC's Fifth Estate investigated Buffy Sainte-Marie's claims of indigenous ancestry. Credit: BBC |
| | Prominent figures in North America have faced allegations in recent years of lying about being having indigenous heritage. But recent allegations about Buffy Sainte-Marie, the Oscar-winning folk singer who was celebrated for decades as an indigenous icon in Canada, have come as a shock in the country. In Toronto, my colleague Nadine Yousif explains why. | | | | |
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| | | For your downtime | | An epic biopic | | For film critic Nicholas Barber, Ridley Scott’s Napoleon is "awe-inspiring”. | | |
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| | And finally... in Nigeria | | A woman in Nigeria has set a world record for the longest hand-made wig. Helen Williams spent 11 days and two million naira (£2,000: $2,500) creating the hairpiece. It took 1,000 bundles of hair, 12 cans of hair spray, 35 tubes of hair glue and 6,250 hair clips. See the result. |
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– Jules |
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