← Global News Podcast
Global News Podcast
Israeli strikes kill an Iran intelligence chief as conflict intensifies
00:28:35
Iran says at least 224 people have been killed in Israeli attacks since Friday
Loading summary
Transcript1 lines
- [00:00]
Oliver Conway
This BBC podcast is supported by ads outside the UK. For over 75 years, Puerto Rico has been a trusted manufacturing hub, home to top global pharma companies and over 70 FDA approved medical device plants. Today, with shifting US tariffs and rising mainland costs, it's the perfect time to reshore. Puerto Rico delivers US jurisdiction made in USA labeling and unmatched business incentives plus a skilled workforce and pro business environment that makes setting up there fast and efficient. Puerto Rico your your cost effective reshoring solution. Visit investpr.orgreshore to get started. You're not at your house. You're at a lavish seaside estate. You're not walking the dog. You're hunting for clues in an Agatha Christie mystery. See it differently with BritBox Stream an endlessly entertaining collection of British TV, including new original series Ludwig starring David Mitchell. Bit awkward really. I think I might just have solved a murder and Outrageous A Scandalous True story. Seems there's a political extremist in every family these days. See it differently when you stream the best of British TV with BritBox. You're listening to the Global News Podcast from the BBC World Service. Hello, I'm Oliver Conway. This edition is published in the early hours of Monday 16 June. Israel has assassinated another military leader in Iran. The Iranians say the attacks have left more than 220 people dead. 13 have been killed in retaliatory strikes by Iran. President Trump says there's still a chance for peace. A gunman who killed a Democratic Party politician in Minnesota on Saturday is still on the run. We hear from the state senator and people have been swept away after a bridge collapsed in the Indian city of Pune. Also in the podcast, first, you're 35 or above. Second, you're healthy. Third, you have fathered at least two children. And lastly, you have consent from your partners. Why some men in Indonesia are being offered cash by the government to get a vasectomy. Iranian and American officials were supposed to be holding nuclear negotiations on Sunday, but they were canceled after Israel launched a devastating series of strikes on Iran, killing 224 people. According to the Iranians, the attacks are continuing, but the US President Donald Trump says a deal is still possible and Vladimir Putin could mediate. However, the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appears in no mood to compromise. Here he is on the Fox News Channel Special Report with Bret Baier. We attacked their chief nuclear scientists working. It's like Hitler's nuclear scientists. Would you leave them? Of course not. We attacked their top command. I can inform you that moments ago we Also got the chief intelligence officer and his deputy in Tehran, because we're now over the skies of Tehran. And Iran has since confirmed that the Revolutionary Guards intelligence chief and his deputy were killed by Israel on Sunday. Iranian retaliation has now killed at least 13 people in Israel, including some in an apartment building in Bat Yam on the outskirts of Tel Aviv. A short while ago, our Middle east regional editor, Sebastian Usher, told us what he'd seen on a visit there. A lot of destruction, not just the building that was hit. Half of it is kind of gouged out. Big protective cordon, as you can imagine, around it. Lots of rescue workers still going in to try to get people out of a rubble. They've now confirmed that seven people died, including two children in Manitap. But also lots of the residential buildings had quite severe damage to them. The shops on the main street, just about 100 yards away, also their shop fronts were badly damaged. The shopkeepers said that they were sitting in their shops in order to prevent any looting happening. And the mood was at first one very much somber, one of mourning families very worried about their loved ones who were there, were attending. But as the day went on, it became more febrile. The people there, a great sense of shock. I spoke to so many people there who essentially said that they didn't believe that there could be such images in a residential building like that. And you could say, well, that brings home the reality of what is happening, which it does. But everyone that I spoke to, young, old, more liberal, more conservative, they all backed essentially what Israel is doing at the moment in one way or another, saying that the price is worth paying. And of course, you had the politicians made very much of it. Mr. Netanyahu was there himself. You had the president, Isaac Herzog, understandably, but you also had very divisive figures like the far right National Security Minister Ben gvir, who appeared. So an atmosphere of sadness, of determination, but also, I think, of cold anger. Where we are in Jerusalem, I think is relatively protected, partly because it's near the Old City and Al Aqsa Mosque. There were some drones and some missiles that went directly overhead. But I've heard and seen pictures that in Haifa there seems to have been another strike on a building, heavy smoke coming from there. So we might see similar images as the night goes on. And in the morning of what happened in Batya, Sebastian Usher in Jerusalem. Well, Israel continues to launch its attacks across Iran, even targeting an airport in the Far east near the border with Afghanistan. So what do people in Iran make of all this? Death and destruction. These Iranians sent us voice messages. If I want to say how I truly feel, honestly, I feel completely hopeless. I feel like my youth, my childhood was spent during the war. Then came the sanctions, economic hardship, political pressure, repression, the soaring dollar. Dreams turned to smoke. And now the only thing left is that you go to sleep at night and a missile lands on your head. The truth is, over these years, we've died many times, really. I mean, we're truly not afraid anymore. We've been through everything. The Iran, Iraq war, Covid sanctions, woman, life, freedom. But in these circumstances, and I'm not a supporter of the authorities, not at all really. But in this situation, I feel a sense of unity among the people. We definitely won't back down against Israel. No way, Mr. Netanyahu. Even if you kill us, we won't let you and people like you dominate us. BBC journalists are unable to report from inside Iran because of Iranian government restrictions. But Siahvash Adlan of the BBC Persian Service has been monitoring the impact of this latest Israeli campaign. Initially, many Iranians thought that an Israeli attack will be limited to Iran's nuclear sites and the military bases and military commanders, which it did initially. But then as the civilian casualty figures began to emerge, of which there are quite a few, Iranians realized that the harsh reality of war is really worse than they thought. They were not prepared for this as more industrial sites, as industrial infrastructures were hit. Yesterday it was one of Iran's gas fields in the south and Persian Gulf and also an oil depot in northern Tehran where hit, where you had very dramatic pictures of the whole neighborhood being set on fire. The damage is quite extensive. And also today, for the first time, Israel attacked some institutions related to the civilian administration, the judiciary, the police force, law enforcement, bases and so on. So it's dealt quite a severe blow to the establishment itself. Yeah, very senior people being targeted. Reuters is saying that two U.S. officials told it that President Trump had vetoed an Israeli plan to kill the Iranian supreme leader. But we do see reports that 14 nuclear scientists killed and now Benjamin Netanyahu saying they've, quote, got Iran's intelligence chief. How damaged is the government? The government seems to have recovered from the initial surprise, shock and awe attack by Israel. They managed to get their act together, hence these barrage of missiles that are effectively hitting Israel. But still that chain of command has been broken. Some of the most highest ranking Iranian military commanders have been killed. So I find it very difficult to envisage a scenario in which the government can again revolution, retake control as it is today, the whereabouts of the Supreme Leader himself is quite unknown now. And many people believe that Israel deliberately and purposefully is not yet after the Supreme Leader because he needs someone to sign an agreement to give the concessions which everyone can accept. So if they do eliminate the Supreme Leader, then Iran's. The future of the Iranian state, state is very uncertain. I mean, uncertain at the moment. What do the people make of all this? Are they pointing the finger at their leaders? Yes, they are. Because obviously, as the Israelis are always arguing and putting forward the case it was the government of Iran that had called for the destruction of Israel. So many Iranians are asking, we never called for the destruction of Israel. This is not our war. We have asked the government to revise this foreign policy. We even tried to revolt against the government over our own civil freedoms. We were put down, but it's not our fault now. So they do blame the government. But, you know, you have that national pride feeling as well, emerging as more civilian casualties come in. As you know, more parts of Iran are being hurt. You know, Iranians are thinking, well, we thought that the Israelis may help us weaken the government, but if it's going to lead to a case of a collapse of law and order and the central government, government's power, then they might think twice. Sivash Adlan of the BBC Persian Service, our World affairs editor John Simpson has witnessed decades of war in the Middle East. How bad is this latest conflict? It's serious. Slinging large amounts of high explosive around is always running the risk of some sort of disaster. Of course, it's a ultra volatile region and the outbreak of warfare is always going to make things more dangerous and difficult. The worst thing that could happen is that something goes really badly wrong in terms of an explosion, a lucky or an unlucky hit, and that brings in other countries. People are going to die. That is true, and they are dying already, both in Iran and in Israel. But we're not talking about Armageddon here. And if the strikes on both sides, but particularly on Israel's side, are fairly limited, then I don't think it's going to widen out in any way. I noticed something scarcely been reported. But Russia, which after all is a close ally nowadays of Iran, Iran supplies drones to the Russian army to fight in Ukraine. Russia, you might think, would start to say Israel must stop. This is an outrage. Iran has the right to counter in any way it chooses. We support Iran. Russia is not saying that at all. The statement that came out of the Russian Foreign Ministry said we meaning the Russian government remind you, meaning Iran, of the readiness of the United States to hold another round of negotiations. I mean, hard to think of anything that's softer and less aggressive than saying to Iran, look, your best bet is to go back to Talks with the U.S. our World affairs editor John Simpson. Other news now and police in America are still searching for a gunman who murdered a Democratic state legislator in Minnesota On Saturday, Melissa Hortman and her husband were killed in their home while state Senator John Hoffman and his wife were also shot and wounded. The suspect is thought to be 57 year old Vance Bolter who disguised himself as police officer Amy Klobuchar, a US Senator for Minnesota and a friend of Melissa Hortman has been speaking to Tim Franks. I can't explain to your listeners how much I wish they knew Melissa like we know her. We lost her and her husband. She has two children who will not have a parent. She got into politics as a young mom. That's when we got to know each other. I also had a young child and, and we door knocked together and I saw just that personal relationship she had with her constituents. And she went on to be a Sunday school teacher and a Girl Scout leader and train dogs for veterans and all the time rising up in the legislature to become speaker of the House and by all accounts the most consequential speaker in Minnesota's history. She could work across the aisle, especially this year where we had a tied state house and she had to work out a budget and did it to the work she did with the governor on preschool lunch and paid family leave, standing up for women's rights and passing legislation. She was absolutely incredible and a really good friend. And I certainly want to ask you about the broader implications of this. May I ask, and it may not be a question that you want to answer publicly, but one of the responses has been that we need to provide more protection for people. Are you taking more precautions? Well, I appreciate the extra security I've and I appreciate both Senator Schumer and Senator Thune called yesterday and a number of our elected officials here in Minnesota have more security. I'm actually not scared myself just because I'm more worried about honestly what innocent person he's going to come up against as he's, you know, clearly knows there's a manhunt going on. But at the same time, we've seen in the US this major increase in threats against judges and threats against elected officials. Do you think, though inevitably people are gonna wonder, should I bother? Should I bother either going into politics or frankly, becoming a member of the judiciary because there are such threats now. Maybe I could just have a quieter life elsewhere. It is understandable people might think this, but I just beg them not to, because now more than ever, we need people like Melissa in her name to go into public service. I do believe I wouldn't be doing this job if I didn't think we'd see a better day. I do think we'll see a better day. And maybe when they keep seeing her face and hearing about what she did, it's going to change how they act and it's going to change what happens, because something's got to change. Amy Klobuchar, U.S. senator for Minnesota and still to come on the global news podcast anchors or jetty remnants or like here, there's this massive chain which you know is fairly wow. The search for treasure on the banks of the River Thames in India. At least four people have been killed and others swept away after a bridge collapsed in the western city of Pune. Eyewitnesses said tourists were standing on the bridge when it broke apart. Richard Hamilton has the details. Footage from the scene shows locals desperately trying to help people in the water before the emergency services arrived. The National Disaster Response Force is now overseeing rescue operations. The collapse occurred on a busy Sunday afternoon when many tourists, possibly around 100, were on the iron bridge, which has been described as old and dilapidated. This eyewitness said he saw the bridge suddenly break up. He said at least 25 people were swept away. He added that rescue workers did manage to save a few tourists, but he feared that many more were still trapped beneath the debris. So far, around a dozen people have been taken to nearby hospitals. It's thought that recent heavy rainfall increased the volume of water in the river and the strength of its current. Richard Hamilton, According to Ukraine, Russian troops have executed at least 124 prisoners of war on the battlefield since Vladimir Putin launched his full scale invasion three years ago. Now Russian soldier Dmitry Kurashev is on trial in Ukraine, accused of executing a Ukrainian soldier called Vitaly Hodniuk. Joel Gunter has been in court in Zaporizhzhia. The allegation is that as Hodniuk was emerging from the foxhole essentially to surrender with no weapon, Khuraschov shot him execution style with his AK47. Khuraschov initially pled not guilty and then switched his plea to guilty, but he said only to speed up the process. We had the opportunity to go and do an interview with him and he told us a Little bit about his life up until that point. An orphan from birth, he was raised in a group home in Russia, had some brushes with the law as a teenager. Ended up in a penal colony just for essentially shoplifting and stealing from homes while he was homeless. And he was among those prisoners who was offered the opportunity to be freed in exchange for going to fight in the war in Ukraine. Khuraschev said he knew very little about the war at that point in his penal colony in a remote part of Russia. It seemed better to him than serving five more years there in the penal colony. And he was only at the front line for barely a few weeks before this operation took place. And then he was captured by Ukraine. Of course, the war is still going on. How did the Ukrainians investigate this incident? Yeah, they had a lot of difficulty because their crime scene essentially was on the front line. So Ukraine's state security services and then the prosecution had no access to the crime scene. So they did a remote investigation using open source material, intercepts of Russian communications. But really the key to the investigation and the prosecution was a remarkable turn of events, which is that three of Khurashov's own Russian unit mates, also freed prisoners, agreed to testify against him that they had either seen or could put together that they felt Khuraschov must have been the person who carried out this alleged battlefield execution. And all three of those testified on the first day of the trial. And that is, according to Ukraine's war crimes prosecutions office, the first time that that has happened. Now the investigation ran to 2,000 pages of evidence. You've got these prisoners of war giving testimony. What is the point of this for Ukraine? These investigations are important for Ukraine. I spoke to Yuri Belisov, the head of war crimes prosecutions for Ukraine, and he told me their responsibility is to do this, to get justice for the victim. But there is also another story which is about Ukraine showing that it can bring Russia to justice in some form. The BBC's Joel Gunter talking to me from Ukraine. Hundreds of people have taken to the streets of Barcelona and other southern European cities to protest against mass tourism. Smoke bombs were set off next to luxury stores. A hotel entrance was taped off and water squirted at shops. Tourists get out of our neighborhoods, they chanted. The activists say visitors have driven up housing costs and caused environmental damage. Our correspondent in Barcelona, Sarah Rainsford, told me more about the protest. Well, this was a march through the city center. It wasn't huge. There were hundreds of people rather than thousands. But they were really quite angry. Quite frustrated, quite passionate about their cause. And their cause, of course, is calling for measures that will tackle what they're describing as over tourism, which means there are huge numbers of visitors heading to cities like this and crowding the streets, filling up the restaurants, overfilling the restaurants and pushing up prices for everybody. But particularly they talk about prices for housing. That's becoming a massive problem. And the protesters essentially blame short term lets for that. They say that landlords are forcing tenants out of flats so that they can rent them for much more money from tourists. So that's why it was so passionate today, including protesters with water pistols who were spraying tourists. Then at one point they threw smoke bombs, red smoke bombs, into the lobby of a hotel that they were passing. They were trying to tape it off with red and white tape, sort of a symbolic protest. And then somebody threw a smoke bomb inside. And I suppose to some of the tourists after that they were really shaken. An American man who said he was actually in the US army, he really looked taken aback and quite scared. His family were in the hotel and they hadn't been expecting that at all. And they were upset that as tourists they felt they were being targeted. Now, nearly 3 million people work in tourism in Spain. What do businesses and indeed the authorities make of these kind of protests? Of course, tourism is huge for the economy here and these are protests in other countries where tourism is massively important to the economy. I think what the protesters say, it's about how that's managed, you know, not having cruise liners spilling out, thousands of people at the same time as your other measures. Like for example, here in Barcelona, expanding the airport's just been approved, so more people are expected to come here. So there have been measures. The Spanish government has introduced rent caps, for example, to try to help tackle rising prices for local people. They've also here in Catalonia, they have issued a ban. In fact, on short term lets so from 2028 there will be no more licenses and in fact all licenses that currently exist for B and B rentals, they're going to be taken away. And of course, as you suggested, it's not just Spain, but other parts of Europe as well. Yeah. Protests today in Lisbon, process on Mallorca, on Ibiza, here in Spain, also in Italy. Italy too. Prices in Rome are extraordinarily high for rent these days, and it's the same in places like Venice and Sicily. Sarah Rainsford in Barcelona. Officials in Indonesia have begun offering cash for vasectomies in an attempt to slow population growth. Indonesia is the fourth most populated nation on earth with some 286 million people. The new scheme is being rolled out in West Java Province. As I heard from our Asia Pacific regional editor, Jae Sung Lee. If you're a man living in West Java province, you can get the procedure done if you meet these requirements. First, you're 35 or above. Second, you're healthy. Third, you have fathered at least two children. And lastly, you have consent from your partners. Now, in return for the procedure, the local government will pay you 500,000 rupiah. That's about $30. And it's actually proven to be quite popular. One local official said that more than 200 men have come for the procedure when they only had space for 60 people. Now, some critics have questioned the effectiveness of this policy, including officials, human rights activists, and importantly, religious leaders. Remember, Indonesia is a predominantly Muslim country, but some of the men who underwent the procedure have told regional media that they really welcome the cash payout, especially as more than 3 million people in the West Java province live below the poverty line. Now, the authorities are clearly worried enough to put up some cash towards this policy. How bad a problem is overpopulation in this area? This province has 50 million people, and overall in the country, population growth has been declining steadily. That's because in the 1970s, the government launched a program providing universal access to volunteering, quality family planning and reproductive health services. But the government is worried that the country might face pressure in the future as high population density could put a strain on resources, infrastructure, and services. So the authorities here are trying to bulletproof themselves from future problems that could arise from overpopulation with initiatives like this one we're seeing today. Interestingly, Indonesia seems to be something of an outlier in the region because a lot of countries like China, South Korea are actually worried about a shrinking population now. That's correct. In contrast to Indonesia, South Korea, Japan, China, Singapore, and importantly Vietnam. I'll come back to this. Are all countries that are experiencing some of the lowest birth rates in the world. And so governments there are trying to incentivize couples to have more children with things like financial support for new parents, subsidized education, and expanded parental leave. Now, coming back to Vietnam, I just want to point this out because recently it scrapped its long standing two child policy there. That's because the authorities fear the low birth rate could threaten its economic growth. They want to continue seeing this robust growth that it's been experiencing for the past few years. Years. And it's hoping one day it will become a developed nation. So they Want to keep this going. That's why they're trying to incentivize couples to have more children so they will have a robust working population. Jae Sung Lee, finally, do you fancy scrabbling about among the debris washed up on the foreshore of a polluted river in a busy city center? Well, mud larking, as it's known, is now so popular here in London that there's a long waiting list for licenses to search the banks of the river Thames at low tide. As Annabelle Arie Niagam has been finding out, London's dirtiest hobby has become one of its most popular. Since the COVID 19 lockdown, the wait list for mudlark licenses has rocketed to 10,000 people. Driven by a thirst for history and the time old irresistible allure of treasure hunting, the river Thames has never had so many people wanting to dig through its mud. Mary Louise Plum is an avid mudlark and I'm going to meet her now to hear what exactly mudlarking involves. We are down on the bank of the river Thames. I'm looking for items of historical interest. If you looked in my bag now, you'd think, why are you taking that home? So there's like, really there's kind of like mudlark, mudlark finds and then there's the finds that everyone loves. So we're in a bone line here. We are. I'm literally looking at bones, lots and lots of animal, bony stuff, the remnants of many meals had by Londoners past and butcheries, tanneries, and lots of animal processing. That's why you get all these bones down here. Clay, tobacco, pipes. You see these everywhere down here, especially in central locations. When were they mainly in use there? So the very end of the 16th century, going up to the early 20th. So when tobacco first came in, it's all kind of signs of everyday life, of eating, drinking, living, working, being on the river. We call it foreshore furniture. It's the stuff that stays here, like anchors or jetty remnants or like here there's this massive chain which you know is fairly, fairly heavy duty. So it would have been a mooring chain. Payoff is finding something amazing, especially when you can research it and it can put you in contact with actual people, people. I'm now headed to the London museum to meet with Kate Sumnall. She's curated over 350 mudlarked objects for the secrets of the Thames exhibition. We wanted to tap into that sense of discovery that the mudlarks feel when they go on the banks of the Thames. If they just never know what they're going to find. From the everyday to the really special the earliest records we have of mudlark stretch back into the 1700s. These were often women and children living in utter poverty and who were mudlarking to try and scrape together enough pennies to maybe get some food and a room for the night. I like to find those very little personal stories that are held in these objects. Interest and knowledge about mudlarking has really soared in recent years thanks to social media. The river is the holder of all the secrets of London's past, but it's also got so many surprises down there as well. And that report by Annabelle Arianayam and that is all from us for now, but the Global News Podcast will be back very soon. This edition was mixed by Caroline Driscoll and produced by Alfie Habershon and Peter Goffin. Our editors Karen Martin. I'm Oliver Conway. Until next time. Goodbye. For over 75 years Puerto Rico has been a trusted manufacturing hub, home to top global pharma companies and over 70 FDA approved medical device plants. Today, with shifting US tariffs and rising mainland costs, it's the perfect time to reshore. Puerto Rico delivers US jurisdiction, made in USA labeling and unmatched business incentives, plus a skilled workforce and pro business environment that makes setting up there fast and efficient. Puerto Rico your cost effective reshoring solution. Visit investpr.orgreshore to get started. You're not at your house. You're at a lavish seaside estate. You're not walking the dog. You're hunting for clues in an Agatha Christie mystery. See it differently with Britbox. Stream an endlessly entertaining collection of British tv including new original series Ludwig starring David Mitchell. Bit awkward really. I think I might just have solved a murder and outrageous assessment. Scandalous. True story. Seems there's a political extremist in every family these days. See it differently when you stream the best of British TV with BritBox. What I put into my body on a day to day basis matters to me. I took a food allergy test and discovered I was sensitive to certain ingredients, including what was in my protein powder. Then I found organ. It was a game changer for my health. Organ is an excellent source of complete protein, 21 grams and has all nine essential amino acids. It's an easy way for me to incorporate clean nutrition into my diet. Plus orgain has less than 1 gram of sugar per serving and is made without soy which is also one of the ingredients I avoid in my diet. With organ, I don't have to compromise on taste for good clean nutrition. My post workout shakes now include both Organs Organic Plant Protein Powder for muscle support and recovery and their collagen peptides to help support my joints, Skin, hair and Nails shop now available@orgain.com and selected retailers. Now I'd like to introduce you to Meaningful Beauty, the famed skin care brand created by iconic supermodel Cindy Crawford. It's her secret to absolutely gorgeous skin. Meaningful Beauty makes powerful and effective skin care simple and it's loved by millions of women. It's formulated for all ages and all skin tones and types and it's designed to work as a complete skin care system leaving your skin feeling soft, smooth and nourished. I recommend starting with Cindy's Full Dry Regimen which contains all five of her best selling products including the Amazing Youth Activating Melon Serum. This next generation serum has the power of melon leaf stem cell technology. It's melon leaf stem cells encapsulated for freshness and released onto the skin to support a visible reduction in the appearance of wrinkles. With thousands of glowing five star reviews, why not give it a try? Subscribe today and you can get the Amazing Meaningful Beauty system for just $49.95. That includes our introductory five piece system, free gifts, free shipping and a 60 day money back guarantee. All that available@meaningfulbeauty.com looking to reshore your operations? Global conversations about tariffs make now the time to act. Puerto Rico is the ideal place, a US jurisdiction with lower costs, made in USA labeling and unmatched incentives. Join global leaders like Amgen and Eli Lilly in an EcoSystem built over 75 years, home to top pharma and medical device production, a deep talent pool and world class bioscience infrastructure. Puerto Rico, your cost effective reshoring solution. Visit investpr.orgreshore to get started.