US and Israel step up attacks on Iran

0:00This BBC podcast is supported by ads outside the UK. This is not the future we were promised. Like, hell that out for a tagline for the show. From the BBC, this is the interface, the show that explores how tech is rewiring your week and your world. This isn't about quarterly earnings or about tech reviews. It's about what technology is actually doing to your work and your politics, your everyday life and all the bizarre ways people are using the internet. Carrying out drone strikes on targets in Azerbaijan,

1:01as the impact of the conflict continues to spread. Also in this podcast, could Ukraine help Gulf states facing missile and drone attacks? Thousands move from southern Lebanon to escape strikes there. And we'll take you to Nepal's election, the first since Gen Z protests brought down the last government. That was what all of us are seeking and that was what all the Gen Z revolt was about. Day 6 of the US-Israel war with Iran and frustration and fatigues being expressed in many parts of the Middle East. In the last 12 hours, there have been fresh waves of attacks. The United States and Israel have intensified their joint bombing campaign on Iran. In the last few hours, we've seen images of destruction across the Iranian capital, Tehran. Those verified images, you can see them for yourself on the BBC website,

2:04show huge clouds of smoke rising from the center of the city. One video that's circulating online shows Tehran's Azadi football stadium severely damaged with smoke coming out of a sports hall. Here are some eyewitness reports that have been voiced by our producers. Today I went to Tehran Sahib and I was there exactly when Azadi was hit. When the first strike hit, Azadi nothing much happened. But when the second one hit, orange smoke rose up from the ammunition depot. The situation was really bad. Last night, there were a lot of strikes from about 3 to 5 a.m. They were hitting places constantly. When it gets to around 9, people go up onto their rooftops. They sit there waiting for the strikes to happen. If the attacks slow down a bit and all the leaders of the Republic killed, then people will definitely pour into the streets. Ellie Deferin is a spokesperson for the Israeli Army.

3:04The goal of the operation is to inflict severe damage on the Iranian terror regime until it removes the existential threat to strike and remove that threat over time. We continue to deepen the damage to the regime. It's important for me to say that it's already shaken. It was shaken by the first strike on Saturday morning when the leadership was thwarted. And every day we continue to destabilize it more and more to deepen the damage to it until the existential threat is removed. So what's it like for those living in Iran? I spoke to Ciavash Medi-Ardalan from the BBC's Persian Service. Life in Tehran may be different to life in other cities around Iran, because Iran is a vast country seven times the size of the UK. But in Tehran, in particular, the population of 10 million, the mood is very diverse. We haven't seen instances of panic, shopping, or queues at the petrol stations, because the government has assured that they have enough food stuff to sustain the population for a few months.

4:04But the mood generally depends on what your political affiliations are. If you're a part of that minority of pro-government pro-regime supporters, you're probably defiant and a little bit scared that the regime may collapse as a result of this. If you're firmly in the anti-regime camp, you might even be cheering on the U.S. and Israeli drones and fighters that are flying at very low altitudes in Iran's virtually defenseless skies. And also there are a lot of people who have disdain for the regime but who also don't see any good coming out of this. But I guess the common sense is one of fear of what is to come, probably, you know, combined with a bit of hope or with a bit of despair. In past conflicts, we've seen people try to get out of the cities. In Iran, are we seeing this as well this time? Not so much in Tehran because so much of the attacks have been, you know, precision targets on military installations.

5:06So we have even seen instances where people, when they hear drones or fighter jets flying overhead, they go onto their roofs and they try to film this. But in other cities where you have military industrial installations there where you have naval assets, for example, in the city of Boucher, which is in the southern part of Iran with a population of 250,000, the city is almost deserted because they've just decimated the entire industrial hub in that city relating to military production, which is one of the objectives of US and Israel. So depending on where it is and which city we're talking about, which part of the country, the moods are different and the people's reaction are different. But obviously the civilians have been impacted by these attacks. Latest toll we had yesterday was of 1097 civilian deaths as a result of these attacks in the past five days. On Wednesday, the funeral ceremonies for the Supreme Leader were postponed.

6:07Any news on a potential successor? Yes. His son, Mochitaba Hamine, is tipped to be the successor. The votes have already been cast by a body called Assembly of Experts, which is comprised of 87 clerics who decide who the successor to the Supreme Leader should be. But they just haven't announced it yet. Perhaps waiting for the funeral to take place before the announcement is made. But the reason why Mochitaba Hamine is tipped to be the successor is because he has very good connections with the military and security establishment. And if there is any compromise to be made, or if there's any new policy or change of directions, he is the person who the military will listen to. Ziavash Medi-Artalan. Israel is fighting on two major fronts in this war, attacking Iran and also Hezbollah, targets in Lebanon. Israeli forces have crossed the border into Lebanese territory in a number of areas, according to the UN peacekeeping contingent in the country.

7:09Residents in Beirut's southern suburbs have been attempting to flee on mass, hampered by huge traffic jams, falling when evacuation warning by Israel. Rana Hamud is one of those leaving South Lebanon. She's fled before when the Israeli invasion happened in 2023. Along with her family, she's now inside Dunn, further north. She spoke to the BBC's James Coppnell. It was a disaster. It got a traffic. We stayed 10 hours on the road. We slept in the car on the street for one night with my three children and the cat. It was a nightmare. My friend called me. At midnight, she said they're throwing rockets to Israel. I did not believe that. I was in total denial. In 2023, I did not leave. We stayed like 10 days and my children are traumatized. We've been going to therapists. Yesterday, they sent us to evacuate all the South. This means like

8:1160 villages, cities, people. Last time in 2023, this did not happen. We did not evacuate all the South. And what about with your children? I'm really sorry to hear about that trauma. How were they getting on? Well, they know that's the situation. This is our reality. My youngest, he's lying. When he went back to school, he was a blank paper. He forgot everything we had to start. All over again, with the basics, writing and reading. But this time, we brought the books with us. But now, we still did not find the house. So where are you staying right now? Our friend, and Siden, she said we can stay for a couple of days until we find the place. But this is very difficult because this time, it's different because people do not want to rent their houses to the southern, to us because they say, all the people from South Lebanon,

9:12we are with what is happening. What you're supporting is Bala, basically. Exactly. Yes. If you're from South Lebanon, you're supporting them. So, yes, it's very difficult. You need to prove that. No, I'm against war. I do not want this to happen. I need a price for a house like a bedroom, a living room, and a kitchen. $15,000, and we need to pay one year in advance. I don't have $15,000. I do not want to stay out of South Lebanon for one year. I prefer to leave the country. We're going to collapse one day because this is too much for us. We did not ask for this. We did not want this. We never want this. But it's always happening to us. We're always paying the price. Rana Hamud, speaking to James Coppano. As the US and Israel continue their bombing campaigns, the Iranians are still hitting back, launching rockets at Israel, and also launching aerial

10:12attacks on other countries in the region. Explosions have been reported in Bahrain and in the Qatari capital Doha, with black smoke rising over the horizon. In the seas off the coast of Q8, an explosion is reported to have hit an oil tanker. And Azerbaijan has said Iranian drones struck an airport in the west of the country. That's the wine of an approaching drone followed by a blast recorded and posted by a Nazari social media user and verified by our in-house experts at the BBC. Least you said is the BBC's chief international correspondent. War once on leash has a momentum and a mind of its own. It's been shown to us in stark relief every day. Yesterday, you were doing a story about a naval destroyer of Iran being torpedoed by submarine in just out of Sri Lankan territorial waters. And today came the attack, as you mentioned,

11:14that drones went into Azerbaijan, which is on the border, the northern border of Iran. Iran has now denied that it targeted Azerbaijan, but Azerbaijan has reacted to a strong criticism. It has close historical and religious links to Iran. It's a Shia majority country, and one of the big ethnic minorities in Iran are the Azaris, but in the long disputes between Azerbaijan and Armenia, Iran has sided with Armenia. And of course, Azerbaijan has long standing relations with the U.S. and Israel, but it doesn't have U.S. bases. So the big question is, if they are targeting it, why the whole ambition of Iran seems to be, although it denies this, but to increase the price for those close to those fighting the war? Lise Deset. Well, one country that has plenty of experience countering missile and drone activity is Ukraine. And on Wednesday, Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelensky, said he was prepared to lend

12:15his support to Gulf states. He's ordered his government to present options for how it could help those facing Iran's missile and drone attacks. I asked our diplomatic correspondent James Landel what the support might look like. I think it would come primarily in two forms. One would be actual hardware. In other words, the many forms of intercepted drones that the Ukrainians have developed and are developing, that they use to counter the threat of the Shahed drones as they're known from the Russians. In other words, these are relatively slow moving, but pretty devastating attack drones that are causing so much devastation across the Gulf at the moment. So there's the hardware, which we've been speaking to defense sources here in Kiev today. And they say the Ukrainians have a huge capacity to upscale their production of those. So they'll be able to get quite a lot to the Gulf quite quickly. The problem is this. The second thing that Ukraine could give the Gulf is expertise and training. And that is much harder to provide, because the Ukrainians say

13:21that the moment they're training programs, that the moment training their own people, both in the military and civilians, to use these intercepted drones, that training program is incredibly full. It is oversubscribed already. And I think Ukraine will be very reluctant to send its own people to the Gulf if that in any way put at risk, Ukraine's own defense. And that point is something that President Zelensky has made very, very clear. Absolutely. I mean, President Zelensky has his own war to fight. I mean, what's the strategy here? Is Zelensky seeing an opportunity to win allies? Yes, absolutely. I think the Ukrainians are not relishing, but they are certainly taking note of the fact that the tables have turned. For the last four years, they have been the ones with the Begging Bowl asking allies and others around the world to supply them with the weapons. Now it is the other way about. There are teams of people from the Gulf here in Kiev right now asking the Ukrainians what can you give us, how soon can you give it

14:24to us. And I think that that is certainly something that not only is that something that the Ukrainians can use to make money. They can improve their own defense production to satisfy the demand in the Gulf, but also President Zelensky has made it very clear also that this is something that he could use for what he called diplomatic investment. In other words, using it to win more friends and allies around the world. So look, we can do business together. You need to be with us, and so you need to put more pressure on Russia as a result, because this threat of Shahed drones is clearly a global threat now. It is not just one for, you know, Ukraine, it's not just one for the Gulf. Our diplomatic correspondent James Landel in Kiev. And for a more in-depth look at the military situation in the Middle East with an assessment of the weapons Washington and Tehran are using and how long their stockpiles can last, you can watch our defense correspondent on our YouTube channel. Search for BBC News on YouTube and you'll find the Global News podcast in the podcast

15:27section. There's a news story available every weekday. Still to come in this podcast, what happens to people's bodies when they stop taking weight loss drugs? It is expected and known that when you stop these treatments, there will be a rebound in the body weight. We'll hear the results of a new study. This is the Global News podcast. Turkey has drawn up plans to deal with a potential influx of people fleeing the war in Iran, but it said so far there hasn't been much change in movement along the border. Our correspondent James Waterhouse is close to one of the crossing points. He's been speaking to people there, some of whom have left Iran and others who are going back. The Aaron a half journey from the city of Vaan to the Capricore border crossing here is a weaving one through

16:28jagged mountainous terrain under a brilliant white snow covering for as far as you can see. It is bitterly cold and the activity here is only increasing. It is a peephole into a country under sustained aerial assault. Where the Iranian flag used to be, you can now see a black one. In an official sense, at the very least, it is a country mourning the death of Ayatollah Ali Hamani. There are people taking their suitcases, heading into Iran, and of course, there are people looking to escape going in the other direction. My name is Hemi. I come from Mashat and what's the situation like there? The internet is going out and the situation is very bad. We couldn't contact our family in something else on the world, but also telephone because we couldn't reach somebody. What do you

17:31make of what is right in the US doing? What do you make of those tactics? You're worried about that. It's interesting. Someone's expression here might tell one story while their words tell another. Not everyone wants to be named. They certainly don't want to criticise the regime openly, and they're almost reluctant to give a view on what Israel and the US is doing. This man did, however, tell us what his hometown is going through. It's been bombed rapidly. They are targeted by both regimes, Israel and America, but it's been a really tough situation in Iran for everybody. Every single person is really get scared and they want to get out of there. You can see in my face how tired I am to get just to get in here. There is a real nervousness, a hesitation here, among Iranians, to not just speak ill of the regime, but even to say where they lived. They are fearful of reprisals, not just for them, for when they return, but their families as well

18:34still in Iran. I spoke to one gentleman there. He really didn't want to be filmed or recorded. I asked him what it's like and he just turned and said, they can't be to run. And he sensed he really meant it, visibly angry, visibly tied by the events of the past few days. I can't perceive my mum honestly. How is your mother? My mum is in the city called Nishabu. And how is it in Nishabu? He's first heard about Nishabu, unbelievable, honestly. How so? You can see young people dying, they are first terrified. From air strikes. Now for me, what do you see inside Iran? You can see how difficult it is for people to talk openly, even once they've crossed the border, that those who talk of change do so out of optimism here, rather than pragmatism.

19:35James Waterhouse on the Turkish border with Iran. Tunipal now, where the votes are being counted in a general election, it's being seen as a contest between the old guard and a new generation of politicians, taking place nearly six months after a wave of youth-led protests that left scores dead and forced Nepal's then-prime minister to quit. Candidates now include a former rapper and a former prime minister. These are some voters in the capital, Kathmandu. I'm here to vote, hoping to bring new changes in the poor. That was what all of us are seeking, and that was what all the Gen Z revolt was about. I felt somehow I'm able to fulfill duties and responsibility as a person and a citizen because each of our votes matter. Our South Asia correspondent, Azadema Shiri, is in Kathmandu, and she's been telling me about the candidates. Right now, I'm outside of a Hindu temple that's been converted into a polling station here,

20:38Nick Kathmandu, and one of the candidates was actually here earlier. I spoke to him who is the leader, one of the senior leaders of the Nepalese Congress. He is someone who has been part of the long established political system here. Gagantapa has been a part of the fragile coalitions that have ruled Nepal for the past three decades because what's important to understand here when we talk about a new generation of faces, unseating these veteran heavyweights, is that since 90s, there hasn't been a coalition government that has completed its full term. It ends up turning into a round of musical chairs where the same three parties tend to bargain and negotiate about what happens next after the protests in September, with the rise of other faces like a ballon Shah, a former rapper-turned politician who became the mayor of Kathmandu only three years ago. People are hoping that these new politicians, these younger ones, he's about 35 years old,

21:38could dethrone some of these veteran politicians. That includes the former Prime Minister KP Sharma Ali, who was forced to resign after the protests back in September. Now he also is part of one of these veteran parties, and when I spoke to him earlier today at another polling station, I asked him whether he thought he still had a chance, and he said, of course, that he's confident he will win, that he is confident that his party will win as well. And after the protests, he told me that his party's dedicated and committed to listening to younger generations and understanding their concerns. So the established parties think that they can continue this long political dynasty that they've had, and these new faces like ballon Shah are ready to shake things up. And this result will test whether those Gen Z protesters who are hoping for change have managed to convince the rest of the country that it's time for an untried generation to

22:41delete them all. So how can you paint a picture for us about what these Gen Z protesters really want? You talked about their calls for change and their concerns. What are the big issues for them? Number one, and this comes up no matter how old people here in Nepal are, is corruption. They feel like after decades of the same parties in charge, corruption hasn't been dealt with, and the reason that they marched in September was initially triggered by a social media ban, but it turned into days of anti-corruption marches. The second is unemployment. They really want jobs. Youth unemployment here stands at about 20% among the highest in South Asia, and they don't want to have to leave Nepal in such a better opportunities. So those are the two big issues that they're hoping will change after this election. As a dayma Shiri, and for more from Nepal, check out our BBC News website where we're following the results. One warning, it will take time, perhaps a few days, for a final vote tally to come in. As you can imagine, it takes time

23:45to collect and count all the votes across Nepal's mountainous terrain. Conservative Anglicans, meeting in Nigeria's capital Abuja, have pulled back from electing a rival leader to the first female archbishop of Canterbury. The plan had been seen as a direct challenge to Sarah Malale's leadership just weeks ahead of her installation. Many churches, mainly in Africa and Asia, oppose liberal shifts in parts of the Anglican Communion. Our Global Religion Correspondent, Leber de Seco reports. Gafcon, a conservative group of Anglicans said that it was leaving behind all structures, and as a result was leaving behind all titles. Their new leadership council will be headed by the Archbishop of Rwanda, Law and Bandam. A Gafcon spokesperson said the root cause of the divide with the Church of England was doctrine. But speaking today, he repeated a previous Gafcon statement that the majority of the Anglican Communion still believes that the Bible requires an all-male episcopacy. And he said her support for same-sex blessings was unbiblical.

24:49Asked repeatedly if they recognise Sarah Malale, the spokesperson said that she is the Archbishop of Canterbury, but that Gafcon recognised Archbishop Mbanda as its leader. A Global Religion Correspondent, Leber de Seco. And last, some news that might surprise you about weight loss drugs. The latest research into injections, such as Mongera or Wiegavi, suggests most people will regain almost two-thirds of the weight they lose within a year of stopping the drugs. The study at Cambridge University included six trials involving more than 3,200 people. Professor Antonio Vida Pooge has been speaking to the BBC's Nick Robinson. I think with respect to the current new treatments for obesity, they are certainly good at helping people to lose weight. But then it is clear that people cannot stay in these treatments forever. So in these treatments can help you to lose around 50 to 20 percent of your body weight

25:49in a very short period of time. But the price that you pay is that it is expected and known that when you stop these treatments, they will be a rebound in the body weight simply because the need of restored energy that precedes your body. But as I understand the research, is this right? You still keep off about 25 percent of the weight loss. So there is some overall gain. Yes, in principle, this is the you only recover around 60 percent. However, what we don't know at this moment is that if the weight that you recover is exclusively you recover fat or you, for example, don't recover enough muscle. During the period that you are taking your drugs is fundamental to use this time to relearn the way you eat, also to maintain a very active lifestyle so that when you are win from this type of treatment, you can defend yourself from the natural tendency of your body to regain the body weight. Professor Antonio Vida Pooge from Cambridge University.

26:54That's all from us for now. If you want to get in touch, you can email us at globalpodcast at bbc.co.uk. You can also find us on x at BBC World Service. Use the hashtag global news pod. And don't forget our sister podcast, The Global Story, which today takes an in-depth look at America's complicated history of interventions in the Middle East and what lessons can be learned in Iran. This edition of the Global News Podcast was mixed by Hannah Montgomery and the producer was Marion Straun. The editor is Karen Martin. I'm Celia Hatton. Until next time, goodbye. This is not the future we were promised. Like, hold that up for a tagline for the show. From the BBC, this is the interface, the show that explores how tech is rewiring your week and your world. This isn't about quarterly earnings or about tech reviews.

27:56It's about what technology is actually doing to your work and your politics, your everyday life. And all the bizarre ways people are using the internet. Listen on BBC.com or wherever you get your podcasts. This is not the future we were promised. Like, hold that up for a tagline for the show. From the BBC, this is the interface, the show that explores how tech is rewiring your week and your world. This isn't about quarterly earnings or about tech reviews. It's about what technology is actually doing to your work and your politics, your everyday life. And all the bizarre ways people are using the internet. Listen on BBC.com or wherever you get your podcasts.