10.11.2023

Israeli Airstrikes Intensify

Israel yesterday increased its mobilization of reservists to 360,000—the largest call-up since the country’s founding—as its military continued to launch airstrikes into the sealed-off Gaza Strip following Hamas' surprise attack in Israel Saturday. Israeli airstrikes destroyed Gaza's upscale Rimal neighborhood (see footage) and home to ministries of the Hamas-run government, and regained control of two dozen border towns. Hamas' rockets targeted Tel Aviv and the coastal town of Ashkelon. See the latest updates here.

The death toll in Israel has risen to more than 1,000, including at least 750 civilians and 14 Americans, with at least 2,600 wounded. At least 20 Americans are still unaccounted for in Israel, US President Joe Biden said yesterday. The Israeli military said it had found the bodies of roughly 1,500 Hamas assailants. In Gaza, at least 900 have died with 4,500 wounded. See the conflict in maps here.

Additionally, Israel said it intercepted four of 15 rockets launched from Lebanon, with which it shares a northern border, and that tanks from Israeli forces struck three Hezbollah observation posts. Hezbollah and Hamas are both backed by Iran. Israel also carried out artillery strikes in Syria, with which it shares a northeast border, after a Palestinian faction launched rockets into Israel. Observers say concerns are growing over a wider regional conflict.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is expected to arrive in Israel tomorrow in a show of support. The first plane carrying US ammunition arrived in Israel yesterday; Israel has asked the US for more weapons, including interceptors for its Iron Dome missile defense system (see visual overview). 

Flu-Resistant Chickens

UK scientists have successfully used gene-editing technology to create chickens that have some resistance to avian flu, offering a potential solution to prevent future outbreaks.

A lethal version, H5N1, has been damaging poultry farms globally in recent years. Since February 2022, the avian flu has directly or indirectly killed over 58 million chickens and turkeys in the US, including recent outbreaks in Utah and South Dakota. As of July, 685 outbreaks have been reported globally.

The researchers used CRISPR technology to alter two amino acids in a chicken protein called ANP32A, which is critical for bird flu virus replication. They then edited chicken embryos to produce 10 chickens with the altered protein before exposing the chickens (and 10 nonedited chickens) to a virus strain—only one gene-edited chicken became infected, compared to all nonedited chickens. When subjected to a viral dose 1,000 times higher, half of the gene-edited chickens were infected but had lower virus levels in their airways.

Regulatory testing and approvals are necessary before gene-edited chickens can be considered for consumption, with an estimated timeline of about 20 years.

FTX Deputy Testifies

Caroline Ellison, the former CEO of cryptocurrency hedge fund Alameda Research, testified in New York yesterday in the criminal fraud case against FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried. Ellison, who pleaded guilty to seven charges in December, is cooperating with the prosecution.

The 28-year-old Ellison has revealed she was a key participant in the scam (see explainer), which led to the exchange's sudden downfall in November. Prosecutors have positioned her as their star witness, as she was both Bankman-Fried's top deputy and on-and-off girlfriend. Bankman-Fried has pleaded not guilty to all charges, including a separate campaign finance case set for March 2024.

Ellison claimed Bankman-Fried schemed to use billions of dollars of FTX deposits—in the exchange's native currency, FTT—to pad Alameda's balance sheet to better attract lenders to the exchange. She also shared details of their relationship, her compensation, and some of Bankman-Fried's political views. See highlights here.

If convicted, Bankman-Fried could be sentenced to life in prison. 

Science & Technology

Business & Markets

Politics & World Affairs

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Historybook: Earthquake in Aleppo, Syria, kills 230,000 people (1138); Eleanor Roosevelt born (1884); "Saturday Night Live" premieres (1975); Kathryn D. Sullivan becomes first American woman to perform a spacewalk (1984); ... and Alexei Leonov, first person to ever perform a spacewalk, dies (2019).