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FTX founder charged with defrauding investors · Apple News Today

• 0:00
  Shumita Basu, Narrating: Hey, there. It's Shumita here. Before we get started, I have a quick request. On an upcoming episode of "In Conversation," we're gonna be talking about retirement. And not so much about how to prepare financially, but more about how to prepare spiritually.
• 0:01
  So, we want to hear from retired people out there. What have been some of the unexpected challenges of retirement? And what are some of the unexpected joys that you've found?
• 0:02
  Tell us all about it! Just use your iPhone's voice memo app to record yourself. Tell us your name, where you're from, and a little bit about your retirement story. And please, please try to keep it under a minute or so.
• 0:03
  And if you are not retired but you know someone who is, tell them to send a story our way. You can send it to applenewstoday@apple.com. Again, that's applenewstoday@apple.com, and we might include your story on the show. Thanks!
• 0:04
  [MUSIC FADES IN]
• 0:05
  Good morning! It's Tuesday, December 13th. I'm Shumita Basu. This is "Apple News Today." On today's show, scientists are one step closer to the Holy Grail of clean power, inside the fight to make U.S. streets safer for pedestrians and why you should root for the underdogs in the World Cup semi-finals.
• 0:06
  [MUSIC FADES OUT]
• 0:07
  But first, Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of the collapsed cryptocurrency exchange FTX, was arrested yesterday in the Bahamas at the request of the United States. He now faces eight criminal charges from U.S. prosecutors, ranging from wire fraud to violating campaign finance laws, as well as new civil charges from the SEC this morning, which says he defrauded investors and customers.
• 0:08
  It's the latest in what's been an unreal fall from grace for Bankman-Fried, who's been called everything from the "golden boy" to the "white knight" of crypto. The 30-year-old founder has been under intense scrutiny ever since his crypto exchange filed for bankruptcy last month. According to those filings, the company now owes its creditors at least $3 billion. The SEC charges describe a "years-long fraud" in which FTX diverted customer money to fund risky trades by a crypto hedge fund that Bankman-Fried also owned. Right now, FTX customers have no idea whether they'll get their money back.
• 0:09
  Bankman-Fried has spent the past few weeks in the Bahamas, where FTX is headquartered. And he's been talking. A lot, for someone facing criminal investigations. He has said he admits he's made mistakes, but denies any malicious wrongdoing. This is what he told "The New York Times" in his first live interview after FTX collapsed.
• 0:10
  [START THE NEW YORK TIMES ARCHIVAL CLIP]
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  Sam Bankman-Fried: Look, I screwed up. Like, I was CEO. I was the CEO of FTX. And I say this again and again, that means I had a responsibility, that means that I was responsible, ultimately for us doing the right things. And we didn't.
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  [END THE NEW YORK TIMES ARCHIVAL CLIP]
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  He was scheduled to testify virtually in Congress today before the House Financial Services Committee, but his testimony was canceled because of his arrest. The SEC says they have ongoing investigations into related potential securities law violations. And federal prosecutors will be assessing whether Bankman-Fried's actions are considered market manipulation, based on the greater impact on other cryptocurrencies.
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  [INTENSE MUSIC]
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  Today, scientists are announcing an unprecedented breakthrough in energy. For the first time, scientists have been able to produce a fusion reaction that led to a net energy gain.
• 0:17
  Evan Halper: Fusion energy is kind of the Holy Grail of clean energy. Scientists have been chasing this since the 1950s.
• 0:18
  Evan Halper is a reporter with "The Washington Post."
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  Halper: If you can create this fusion energy, it takes very little resources to create the energy, but it creates, you know, a lot of energy very cheaply.
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  We all know that we need to find cleaner sources of energy. The future health of our planet relies on it. Scientists hope that nuclear fusion could be the answer. It's totally clean. There are no greenhouse gases involved. There's no radiation that later needs to be buried. And it requires far fewer resources than solar or wind.
• 0:21
  But it is incredibly challenging. Creating nuclear fusion is basically like trying to bottle up the sun. And I mean that literally. Nuclear fusion is a process that happens naturally in the sun and all stars. Plus, the research that goes into this is expensive. This recent development cost $3.5 billion.
• 0:22
  Halper explains that there are years of engineering and scientific challenges still ahead before this technology could be ready for wide-scale, commercial use.
• 0:23
  Halper: It is exciting. Celebrations probably are premature. I mean, scientists are very excited, but the engineers still have tremendous work to do to take this scientific breakthrough and turn it into something that actually could create cheap, reliable, unlimited clean power for all of us.
• 0:24
  Scientists say we're probably at least a decade, maybe decades, away from that reality.
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  [GENTLE MUSIC]
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  Last year, five-year-old Allison Hart was killed while riding her bike. She was in a crosswalk with her dad when she was struck by a person driving a van. Allie was one of 20 pedestrians and cyclists killed in Washington, D.C. last year. Her death fits into a national upswing in pedestrian fatalities.
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  Marin Cogan: Last year saw more pedestrian deaths than at any time in the country in 40 years, and more cyclist deaths than at any time since 1975. So all across the country, there were thousands of tragedies just like this.
• 0:29
  Marin Cogan is a reporter with "Vox." She told us how this crisis has been getting worse.
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  Cogan: In 2020, they increased dramatically, the number of pedestrian deaths, and the people who study and follow the stuff were really alarmed. Far fewer cars were on the road and people were traveling a lot less, and yet pedestrian deaths were soaring. And then the problem managed to get even worse in 2021.
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  The uptick in pedestrian deaths comes as the types of cars on the road has changed. SUVs and trucks are getting bigger, and data shows that these larger cars are what many Americans prefer. In October of 2021, trucks and SUVs accounted for 80% of all new vehicle sales.
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  Cogan: There's a ton of research going back decades that these larger vehicles are much more dangerous and deadly, and they have larger blind spots, and they're about 50% more likely to kill pedestrians than smaller cars and sedans.
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  Another reason the U.S. has a traffic fatality rate close to 50% higher than comparable countries has to do with design choices.
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  Cogan: So, the United States has really built its infrastructure around the primacy and supremacy of cars first. And what that looks like is big, wide roads, wider than they need to be, multiple open lanes, and situations where you're forcing pedestrians to cross in unsafe conditions. Maybe there's not enough crosswalks, or the crosswalks are few and far between, there's multiple lanes to get across.
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  Cogan spoke to Allie's mother, who has since become an advocate for safe street design measures. She said it's painful knowing that her daughter died, and somehow not much changed to prevent the same thing from happening to other families.
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  [DRAMATIC MUSIC]
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  The World Cup semi-finals get underway today, and if you love an underdog story as much as I do, there are two matches that you won't want to miss. First up today, Croatia takes on soccer powerhouse Argentina. And tomorrow, the tiny but mighty Morocco goes up against defending World Cup champion France.
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  Now, Morocco has defied expectations at almost every match-up of the tournament. And Brendan Hunt, co-host of our World Cup podcast "After the Whistle," says he thinks there's lots of reasons to keep rooting for them.
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  [START AFTER THE WHISTLE CLIP]
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  Brendan Hunt: Shoutout to Morocco's coach Walid Regragui, who became coach exactly three months and ten days ago. [LAUGHS] He had never, ever coached international football before. He's coached at the club level. He had 45 caps for Morocco. So, it's not like he just got picked up off the street, but this was a team in turmoil, and my man guides them to their first semi-final, the first African country to make it to the semi-final. That is staggering. That is a sports movie achievement.
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  [END AFTER THE WHISTLE CLIP]
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  If Morocco can pull off a win tomorrow, it would be one of the biggest upsets that the soccer world has ever seen, maybe ever. But Brendan says he's not holding his breath because World Cup history just isn't on Morocco's side. Here's a bit of his conversation with his co-host, Rebecca Lowe.
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  [START AFTER THE WHISTLE CLIP]
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  Brendan Hunt: There's basically never an upset win for the World Cup. I think the closest to one would be France in '98 because they hadn't won one before, but they were a very good team. West Germany in 1954 I guess a bit of a shock 'cause, you know, they had never won at that point and they were going up against Hungary, who were the widely-held best team in the world. I can't think of a single other shock World Cup winner. And now here they are at the doorstep.
• 0:46
  Rebecca Lowe: And now, Brendan, we have a 50% chance of it happening. Because if Croatia win the World Cup or Morocco win the World Cup, both are underdogs. Both no one had to win this World Cup. And I'm here for it. Morocco, win the World Cup! Beat France!
• 0:47
  Hunt: [LAUGHS]
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  Lowe: I mean, can you imagine? [LAUGHS] That would be amazing. Ah. May. Zing.
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  [END AFTER THE WHISTLE CLIP]
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  [MUSIC FADES IN]
• 0:51
  There will be a new episode of "After the Whistle" out tonight, after today's match. You can subscribe on Apple Podcasts.
• 0:52
  And you can find all these stories and more in the Apple News app. If you're already listening in the News app right now, stick around. We've got a narrated article coming up next from "Vox." It has more reporting from Marin Cogan on the pedestrian fatality crisis and the deadliest roads in America. So sit back, listen to that, and I'll be back with the news tomorrow.
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  [MUSIC FADES OUT]