BBC News Briefing

3 June, 2024

Sofia Lotto Persio

Hello. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promised to "eliminate" Hamas after the group's deadly attack on 7 October. The terms of a ceasefire in Gaza now depend on how that verb may be defined, writes Lucy Williamson. In Russia, Steve Rosenberg tours a library named after author George Orwell to understand how dystopian writings resonate in the country. The team behind the Missing Cryptoqueen podcast series investigate new information about the FBI most-wanted's fate. Finally, a museum with an unusual focus opens in the US.

GET UP TO SPEED

Nigel Farage, a prominent figure in the Brexit movement, has announced he will stand as a candidate in the UK general election as the leader of Reform UK.

Jury selection has begun in Hunter Biden's criminal trial - a first for a son or daughter of a sitting US president.

MrBeast has overtaken Indian music label T-Series as the biggest YouTube channel, in a long-running battle for the most subscribers.

QUESTIONS ANSWERED

High stakes riding on Gaza ceasefire plan

Palestinian women walk among the ruvbble of collapsed buildings in Gaza

The plan aims to wind down the war after eight months of fighting. Credit: BBC

On Friday, US President Joe Biden attempted to end a stalemate in the talks between Israel and Hamas over how to end the war in Gaza by outlining an Israeli proposal for a three-phase ceasefire plan. Some members of Israel's government have vocally opposed the deal.

Lucy Williamson, Middle East correspondent

What do the different parties want?

Hamas leaders are likely to want permanent ceasefire guarantees upfront. But the option to resume fighting – until Hamas is “eliminated” – is, some believe, the least Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s far-right coalition partners will demand.

Why are far-right coalition parties vital to the Israeli government coalition?

Without their support, Mr Netanyahu faces the prospect of early elections and the continuation of a corruption trial. He needs to keep his long-term options open, to stand a chance of winning their support for any initial hostage deal.

How to break this impasse?

It all depends on how much room for manoeuvre Mr Netanyahu has with his hard-right government allies to find alternatives to the “elimination” of Hamas – and how far Hamas leaders are prepared to consider them.

What could happen

Hadid sisters: Supermodels Bella and Gigi, whose father is Palestinian, are donating $1m (£785,000) to support relief efforts in Gaza.

Jabalia refugee camp: Palestinians who returned to the northern Gaza site after the end of Israel's three-week military operation there have expressed shock at the level of destruction.
Israeli hostages: Israel's military says it has established the deaths of four more people abducted by Hamas on 7 October.

AT THE SCENE

Ivanovo, Russia

Inside a Russian dystopian library

A building with a sign reading 'Library' in Russian displays a poster with George Orwell's face

Although not banned, the contents of the books at the library can bring problems. Credit: BBC

Two years ago, Dmitry Silin opened a library dedicated to books about totalitarianism and dystopian worlds. A vocal critic of Russia's war in Ukraine, Mr Silin has left the country after being accused of scrawling “No to war!” on a building. The library, for now, remains open.

Steve Rosenberg, Russia editor

In the town of Ivanovo, a four-hour drive from Moscow, a giant banner glorifying Russia’s invasion of Ukraine covers the entire wall of an old cinema. These posters depict a country marching towards economic and military success. But there is one place in Ivanovo that paints a very different picture of today’s Russia.

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I’m standing outside it. There’s a poster here, too. Not of a Russian soldier, but of the British author of Nineteen Eighty-Four. The sign above it reads The George Orwell Library. “The situation now in Russia is similar to Nineteen Eighty-Four,” librarian Alexandra Karaseva tells me. “Total control by the government, the state and the security structures.”

Read in full

Eiffel Tower: French intelligence officials have blamed Russia for a stunt in which coffins draped in a French flag and bearing the inscription “French soldiers of Ukraine” appeared near the monument.

Global peace summit: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has accused Russia and China of attempting to undermine his upcoming event in Switzerland.

Strategy change: The US has agreed to change its policy and allow Kyiv to strike Russia with Western weapons. Abdujalil Abdurasulov looks into how that will affect the front line.

THE BIG PICTURE

Missing cryptoqueen: Dead or alive?

Ruja Ignatova poses for a photo published before her disappearance

Ruja Ignatova has not been seen since she took a flight from Sofia to Athens in October 2017. Credit: Shutterstock

In 2019, a BBC podcast started reporting on Ruja Ignatova, a Bulgarian woman wanted by the FBI after scamming investors out of $4.5bn (£3.54bn) through her fake cryptocurrency. In the past year, the team has looked at her ties to a suspected Bulgarian organised crime boss and allegations he ordered her murder.

What we know

Soldiers hold a fake inflatable tank in a World War Two-era photography.

FOR YOUR DOWNTIME

Movie-set warfare

The British film industry fooled the Nazis ahead of D-Day.

Here's how

And finally... in the US

A man who holds the Guinness World Record for the largest collection of fossilised poo - coprolite is the proper name - has opened a "Poozeum" showcasing his treasures for the wider community's benefit.

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– Sofia

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