Israel carries out fresh strikes in Beirut

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0:39Hello and welcome to NewsHour. It's coming to you live from the BBC World Service studios in central London. I'm Tim Franks. All the signs are, as we come on air, that it may well be coming. A deal could well finally be signed by the US and Iran to halt the war. But as we go on air, today, there is still some doubt over timing. Donald Trump has insisted it will be nailed down today, which happens to be his birthday, his 80th birthday. Iranian media have been reporting that the authorities in Tehran have yet to take their final decision on signing off on it. And then there is the question as to what this memorandum of understanding, as it's called, will actually consist of and what equally it will leave out.

1:21We'll get into some of those questions in a moment. But first, just as we are coming on air, there's also been what may be a very significant related development, and that's the Israeli military, the IDF, launching strikes in southern Beirut at what it says was a Hezbollah infrastructure site in response to the militia firing into Israeli territory. This clip of the immediate aftermath of the attack, a clip which we haven't verified, has appeared across social media in Lebanon.

1:57This distressed man is saying amid smoke and evidence of damage to the building, this is the strike, my sister, I'm now in the apartment, they're taking people away. Oh God, I hope no one was harmed. Ugo Boshega is our correspondent in Beirut, our Middle East correspondent. Ugo, what have you been able to gather about this attack? so tim this happened a couple of hours ago and it's an attack that happened without any warning by the israeli military it hit a building uh in the dahir district which is the area where hezbollah is based in the southern suburbs of beirut and the israeli military described this building as a command center being used by hezbollah to plan attacks against israeli citizens in israel and also against Israeli troops occupying parts of southern Lebanon.

2:48And as you said in the introduction, the Israeli prime minister said this was in response to these attacks by Hezbollah against Israel. And we've seen those drone and rocket attacks that have been happening over the last few days. But obviously, you know, the timing of it is very interesting because a lot of people will be saying that it is no coincidence that this attack has happened. I mean, the expectation that there could be the signing of a deal between the US and Iran to end the conflict there. And the speculation is that this deal could also include the end of the conflict, something that is rejected by Israel.

3:25Well, I was going to ask you, Hugo, I know that you're currently based in Beirut, but you spend a lot of time in Jerusalem. What is your understanding of the sort of pressure internally that Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, is under as a result of possibly the war in Lebanon having to come to a close? Yeah, it was very interesting this morning, you know, reading Israeli newspapers and the reaction, you know, that many of the newspapers had was that this deal, this, you know, possible deal, we've seen only leaks of the deal. We haven't seen the deal itself, but the reaction was that this was a catastrophe for Israel in one of the newspapers.

4:06Another one said this was a major setback for Israel because the prime minister is under a lot of pressure, particularly from those residents in the north of the country because of these continued attacks by Hezbollah. So there is public support in Israel for this war here in Lebanon to continue. Uga Bashega in Beirut, thank you and apologies about the slightly scratchy quality of that line. Well, as Uga was saying, these attacks could well complicate, if not undermine, the immediate prospects of a deal between Iran and the US being hammered out today. Ali Vaez is Iran Project Director for the International Crisis Group.

4:42What's his view? This is important because it's either Prime Minister Netanyahu trying to undermine the agreement between Iran and the United States at the last minute, or he's trying to basically weaken Hezbollah and degrade Hezbollah significantly before he gets another chance to do so maybe at some point down the road. In either case, it is not a very helpful approach. What's your understanding or what's your best guess as to how comprehensive this memorandum might be, what it might comprise? This is a page and a half long document. It contains 14 points. So by definition, it is not a very comprehensive, detailed understanding.

5:26What it does is that it brings the war to an end in a comprehensive manner at the regional level. It does start the process of reopening the Strait of Hormuz and also removing the US blockade of Iranian ports. And that's a positive development. And then it has a few general points that really are superficial at the end of the day. A non-aggression understanding between Iran and the United States that implicitly applies to their regional allies. A commitment by Iran not to develop nuclear weapons and to dispose of its fissile material without really getting into the technical details of how that's going to happen.

6:08And the promise of sanctions relief for Iran and a basically fund for Iran's recovery from this war, again, without really getting into the details of how that is supposed to be operationalized. The two sides are giving themselves a period of 60 days to fill in the details. But that's a very ambitious timeline, given the complexity of the issues at hand. Just in terms of some sort of financial reprieve for Iran, are you saying that the MOU would not have an immediate bonus for Iran? But the thought is that over the ensuing two months, there would be some sort of promise of money going to the regime in some fashion.

6:54The two sides have two very different narratives about it. The Americans are saying they're not giving Iran any money at this stage. and payments would be progress payments that would happen down the road when Iran delivers on its commitments. The Iranians, however, are saying because of the lack of trust, they want upfront payments and they are going to receive it in the form of a line of credit from the regional countries. In terms of what will count as sufficient progress on the nuclear issue, which would deliver satisfaction for both sides. I mean, everybody's been saying it's partly about what happens to the highly enriched uranium that's already in Iran, and it's also about how far enrichment of uranium needs to be halted inside Iran.

7:49Assuming that those are the two big issues, can you see a position which could possibly satisfy both sides? I can see the position. It is negotiating that it's harder than saying the zone of possible agreement. So basically, the Iranians have in the past accepted restrictions and transparency measures on their nuclear program in return for economic incentives. So that I think they would be willing to do. And given the fact that it is now almost exactly a year since the 12-day war in 2025 when their nuclear program was bombed, that they haven't really enriched a gram of uranium. So their uranium program is in any case suspended.

8:33And I can see them continuing the suspension of enrichment for a period of time and then accepting a period of restrictions and transparency measures. They had also in the past put the offer of diluting and shipping out their stockpile of highly enriched uranium on the table. I can see them doing that as well. The difficulty is in negotiating the sequence of events and what they would get in return. That took almost two years, about a decade ago, when the Obama administration was negotiating with them. Now we're starting from a negative starting point, given the degree of mistrust and the difficulty of dealing with the Trump administration.

9:15I mean, just look at this one and a half page document. It's almost two months and back and forth, and we still don't know when it's going to be signed. So it's easier said than done, but the contours of a final agreement are not difficult to envision. And that was Ali Valles from the International Crisis Group. Switzerland holds lots of referendums. It's a big part of how this European country does democracy. But today's referendum has been particularly intriguing because Swiss people were being asked to vote on whether they want to limit the country's population, cap it. at 10 million. It was an initiative advanced by the Anti-Immigration People's Party.

9:58Early projections suggest that the proposal has been rejected. We can get the latest from our correspondent in Byrne, Imogen Foulkes. Imogen, what are you hearing? Well, what we're looking at with some votes counted, some countons results already through, is a rejection, but a pretty narrow rejection, looking maybe 53, 54 percent no, and that kind of 47, 48%. Yes, I would say we still have the big urban centres, Zurich, Geneva, Basel, Bern to come, where we would expect a bigger no vote. But it is close, reflects again this division which we see right across Europe about whether immigration is something that is a benefit to us all or whether it's putting pressure on our environment.

10:48You're right. I mean, it's a very familiar debate. It was a rather unfamiliar sort of policy move that was being put forward. Tell me how this cap was supposed to work. Well, that's a really good question, because it was one I was asking people throughout this campaign. And it was really complicated. A 10 million cap on the population, a hard ceiling. What would happen to the 10 millionth and first baby that was born was one question that I asked. Nobody had an answer to that. Nobody could really envisage that. what the right-wing Swiss People's Party, which is consistently anti-immigration, says that when we get to nine and a half million, we start closing the doors.

11:30We start saying that if you want to recruit workers, they can't come with their families. At 10 million, all agreements that regulate immigration, for example, free movement of people, which Switzerland is a part of, would be stopped. Free movement of people inside the European Union. Yes, that's right. Not in the EU, but has signed up to free movement so it can access the single market, which is really important. More than half of Swiss exports are sold into the EU. And in terms of the argument from the Swiss People's Party, I mean, I know the argument against was sort of, you know, precisely because of Switzerland's deal with the EU and free movement of people that this, you know, economically could be very harmful and that we need migrant labour and so on and so forth.

12:16Was the Swiss People's Party's argument, was it mainly cultural or was it the sort of economic one about we can't afford the pressure on our public services? it's kind of both i mean what you have to know is that swiss voters are very familiar with the swiss people's party and its stance on immigration and its stance on on europe which are steadfastly negative but this initiative this proposal was dressed up as a sustainability initiative that's what they called it and they said look we don't have enough housing our trains are crowded um our Our health insurance premiums are going up and up. And their argument was the problem is over there with the immigrants.

13:03Again, this is familiar across Europe. The opponents said, no, this is the fault of the government and of planning, of business, that we need to address these issues. But blaming one sector of society is not it. But, you know, it does find support from we see more than 40 percent have voted in favor. People are worried about their children being able to afford a flat, not having to pay too much in health insurance premiums. This is a challenge for people, even in wealthy Switzerland. Imogen folks, thank you very much. Now, there is this thing called the World Cup happening right now across Canada, the US and Mexico, you may have noticed.

13:42But on Saturday night, local time, there really only was one sports story in North America. And that was the news that one of the most storied teams in one of the world's greatest cities that scored a victory for the ages. BBC's Ned Atorfic was out there with the fans of the New York Knicks in Manhattan.

14:05New York has hit peak Knicks mania. The wait is finally over with the Knicks winning their first NBA championship since 1973. And the streets are erupting with energy and joy. I've been watching them since I was a kid. This means everything to me. I've been watching them for 25 straight years. They've been garbage. Finally, we brought a ring. I'm telling you right now, it's once in a generation. I'm happy to be here to witness it. I'll tell you that right now. Nixon 5. You're never going to see it again, maybe. We did it. They didn't believe we could do it. Nixon 5. New Yorkers, man. Nixon 5. It's historic.

14:4453 years. That's crazy. 53 years. The Knicks won the best of seven series in five games that delivered excitement, anxiety and iconic moments that will go down in history. Haswell, that short piece from Ned Atorfic, turning it up to 11. I love the fan who said he'd been watching the Knicks for more than 25 years and they'd been garbage. And this first championship in more than 50 years came with another stunning comeback over the San Antonio Spurs to win the finals in the fifth game. Well, we managed to secure our own small little triumph, finding a local reporter who was coherent enough to speak to us at four in the morning local time.

15:24That was Ashley Southall, a reporter for the Metro Desk of the New York Times. Fans of the New York Knicks are a long-suffering bunch. They have watched as New York teams in other sports, like the Mets or the Yankees or even the New York Liberty, the women's basketball team, win championships in the last 50 years. For the Knicks, it's been 53 years that they've been waiting for another championships. The Knicks, just in recent years, have not been at the center of the conversation or even really relevant in the conversation about the best of the NBA, which is men's basketball in the United States.

16:06And basketball, football and baseball are basically the three major sports in the United States. And it wasn't just that they've won it this time. It was also how they did it. I mean, these extraordinary comebacks that they staged, it's been sporting drama at the highest level, hasn't it? Yes. The Knicks came into this series facing a lot of doubts. In the United States, we have the Eastern Conference and the Western Conference. And the Western Conference is full of teams like the Los Angeles Lakers that have a history of being dominant and competitive. It's generally a more competitive league than the East.

16:50So there were lots of doubts about whether the Knicks had it easy on their way to the finals. But they have played with what a lot of fans said is just an extraordinary heart. coming back from the biggest deficit in the NBA finals to win game four and then doing something similar tonight. Ashley, just one more question, if I may. I know there's been some violence on the streets. Some of the sort of partying has got unruly, it seemed. but when it comes to the moment when the Knicks return to New York and parade their trophy, I mean, it's going to be some party, isn't it? Oh, it's going to be amazing.

17:38The Knicks fans have always been a wild bunch, even before this year. If you ever watch the watch parties outside of Madison Square Garden, or if you've seen the videos on apps like YouTube, they're always just wild to the point of delirious. And to some degree, you have to be that way when you're rooting for a team that has not gone far for the last 30 or so years, right? But having notched this championship, I went to high school in Atlanta with a lot of New Yorkers, and they always talked about the Knicks, even though the Knicks had not won. So I can imagine that my high school friends from New York who live in Atlanta are just going to be more insufferable.

18:21I have friends in New York now who are saying that they're going to be so much more unbearable as people because now there's nothing anyone can say about the Knicks. They brought home the championship and they did it in spectacular fashion. And New York is a city of ego. New York is exactly what it thinks it is. It's the center of the world for the people who live here and are from here. And the city is going to act like it. And it's just going to be a fantastic time. Ashley Southall talking it up for the New York Knicks. She was speaking to us from the New York Times.

19:02What are the chances, what are the challenges of answering an exam question when it's about a piece of work that you inspired? That was what confronted the 15-year-old son of the Irish poet Emily Cullen when he sat down for his English exam, opened the exam paper and saw on the page a poem his mum had written about him years before. Branka Lesser-De Sarr picks up the story. Emily Cullen, a poet from Galway, had spent the morning helping her son cram in some revision for his afternoon English exam. It was an ordinary day like every other, except with the tension of the state exam that morning and trying to do last-minute revision of Shakespeare's quote.

19:39So when she met him afterwards, and he looked pleased, she assumed their work had paid off. He had a big, broad smile on his face. And I thought, oh, that's good. He must have remembered his Shakespeare quotes. But it wasn't Macbeth or Hamlet that had come up on 15-year-old Lee's paper. Instead, it was a poem written by Emily herself about him. He said, you won't believe it, Mum. The poem you wrote about me came up in the paper. And I said, what? And he said, the one about the chalk. Envoy and Chalk was written by Emily after she spotted something Lee had written in chalk on the pavement outside their home.

20:11He was eight years old and the message read, the world is great. It was just what Emily needed. To bring me back to reality and to remind me that things were so bad and there was beauty all around me and lots of wonder in the everyday. The poem was first published as an Irish Times poem of the week before later appearing in Emily's third collection, Conditional Perfect. But seven years later, she could never have imagined it would come up on her son's exam paper. It was just the most flabbergasting moment. It felt like I was in another dimension. Lee had also been in shock when he flipped open his exam and saw his mother's words.

20:45Initially, the coincidence posed the problem. Admit in his answer that the poem was about him and risk seeming delusional, or respond to it as he would any other text. When he took a moment, he thought, well, the person grading my exam probably won't believe that I inspired the poem and that my mum wrote the poem about something that I chalked in the pavement. So he opted to respond to the question in the third person. Once the exam was over, the emotions sunk in. Lee asked his mum to pick him up so he could tell her. I got quite emotional about it, as you would, and my breath was taken away, really.

21:19I was just kind of in a state of pleasant shock. Emily's life has changed considerably since she wrote Envoy and Chalk. Her own mother has since died, and she's now caring for her 95-year-old father, who recently returned home from hospital. The world is great. Those words her son wrote on the pavement all those years ago remain more important than ever. We do have to kind of remind ourselves of the gifts that life is and of the wonders all around us in abundance amid the darkness and the dark times. For Emily, there is no better reminder of this wonder than having her own 15-year-old son answer an exam question on a poem she wrote inspired by him.

21:56It's an amazing thing. I mean, what are the odds that that would happen? Yeah, it's kind of a once-in-a-lifetime synchronicity, really. Emily Cullen, the Irish poet, ending that report by Branca Lesser de Sar. you're listening to news hour much more to come in the next 30 minutes stay with us if you can

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23:58Welcome back to NewsHour. British Armed Forces have taken control of an oil tanker in the Channel, the Sea Between England and France, an oil tanker which the British Prime Minister has said is part of Russia's Shadow Fleet, as it's known. It's the first time that British forces have intercepted and boarded one of these vessels in a multi-agency mission that spans several hours. Elizabeth Braw is Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council think tank. she's written extensively about the Shadow Fleet. The Shadow Fleet is a collection of vessels that sail outside international shipping rules. Most of them, for example, lack a functioning accident insurance.

24:37Most of them also use flag registrations in countries that really have no business flagging vessels. Some even sail without valid flag registration. Most of them are also very old. So it's like having a steady stream of rust buckets through UK waters and indeed the waters of countries in the Baltic Sea, for example. And they're there to take sanctioned Russian oil around the world. Many of them transport Russian oil. And the reason they do that is that there is a Western price cap on Russian oil, which essentially prevents legally operating ships from transporting that oil. And Russia wants to transport oil above the price cap.

25:20So it has turned to this shadow fleet, which as a result has exploded, as it were, grown phenomenally in size. Right. Is this a significant part of Russia's income? I mean, there are people who say, you know, this trade in sanctioned oil is fueling the war in Ukraine. Is that overstating it or is that a reasonable assessment? Russia's main source of revenue is oil. So from a Russian perspective, it's got to be oil above the price cap because that's how Russia makes a profit, which is why it has turned to the shadow fleet. So without the shadow fleet, Russia would be struggling mightily to fund its war against Ukraine, which is why this is such a wicked problem and one that the Western governments have been trying to tackle.

26:05Now, this is the first time that British forces have boarded one of these vessels. I guess it has a certain symbolic significance, but I presume this was a pretty expensive operation for the British authorities to launch. I mean, is it sustainable for them to try to intercept these vessels in this way? Presumably not all of them, because around 600 shadow vessels have been sanctioned by the UK and other European countries. and it would be impossible to board and seize all of them. But the UK did say it was going to board some of the most egregious violators within the Shadow Fleet. And since then, it hasn't done so.