President Trump says Iran has shot down an American military helicopter

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0:30No bouncing between tabs. And best of all, no spreadsheets. Stop managing software and start managing your business with one unified system. Try for free today at odoo.com. That's O-D-O-O dot com. How did the United States build the largest soft power empire in the world with the help of some tiny metal objects? I'm Tristan Redmond, one of the hosts of the Global Story podcast from the BBC. To mark 250 years of the United States, we speak to Roman Mars of 99 % invisible. This soft power, this influence, was an incredible invention. For more, listen to The Global Story on bbc.com or wherever you get your podcasts.

1:20Hello and welcome to NewsHour. It's coming to you live from the BBC World Service studios in central London. I'm Tim Frax. We're beginning with the news that broke a few hours ago. It broke on social media in the way that these things often do, at least when they involve President Trump. And it was him posting the news that the Iranians had shot down a US military helicopter. Mr Trump said that the incident had actually happened overnight, but he'd just been informed that two pilots were involved, he said, and that they were safe and uninjured, but that the US must respond to the attack. Our State Department correspondent Tom Bateman is in Washington, so the US is saying, or President Trump is saying, the US must respond.

2:07I guess the key question now is how? Well, I mean, that I think we don't know. I do think, Tim, that there's still a bit of uncertainty about exactly what's happened here because we knew from piecing together various U.S. military statements hours ago that at about 3 o 'clock in the morning local time in the region that this Army Apache had gone down. There was then a sort of two-hour-long rescue attempt, and these soldiers, it was an Army Apache, were rescued by a drone boat, a first-of-its-kind rescue operation, say the military. And it was then, as you say, in the last couple of hours that President Trump put out this post saying he'd just been told by the military that had been shot down by the Iranians.

2:51Now, I would just add a slight note of caution in that, in that there are some anonymous briefings coming out to parts of the US media suggesting this might have actually been an Iranian drone and that there is currently an investigation into whether or not it was intentional. So I think leaving open the possibility that this could have been a collision, but we simply don't know at the moment. And what we have to go on is President Trump's word. He's the commander-in-chief, of course. But there's no there's nothing clear from the Iranian side. Having said that, a couple of statements that have put in words like suggesting that this could have been crossfire is one of the words they've used.

3:29And clearly a lot of aerial activity in the area. So I think a few more details to just be clarified. But in that context, of course, Mr. Trump is going to want to, I think, respond pretty in a pretty muscular sense. This is not the kind of tit for tat we've seen in the sort of maritime area of the Strait of Hormuz between the two sides in recent weeks. This is, according to the allegation by Mr Trump, the Iranians are targeting a US aircraft, and that is on a different scale of magnitude. Yeah, but I just wonder, and there was fascinating detail, Tom, for which thank you, but I just wonder also, and maybe I'm reading too much into it, but just looking at that brief statement from Donald Trump, it didn't feel as if he was sort of champing at the bit to unleash hell on Iran.

4:11It was quite a measured statement from him. Well, I think, let's remember, he's put out this statement before, as far as we know it, the Americans have done anything. So that would be already sort of telegraphing an action, which in these kind of scenarios I think is meant to usually diffuse things a bit, to signal intent and therefore not to go for some sort of huge surprise attack that is meant to just, you know, create devastating damage and shock the adversary. So there's probably something in that, as you say. And I do think, you know, there is not the appetite in the White House to go back to a full-scale war.

4:51That has become abundantly clear, I think, you know, both from Mr Trump's actions in the last few weeks, but also the way he apparently tried to rein in the Israelis over the last few days. you know he has put a lot of stake in the negotiations and was only saying last night that he felt there would be a breakthrough in the diplomacy in the next two to three days. Tom Bateman, our State Department correspondent, speaking to me from Washington. This of course has not just been about the US and Iran trading punches. Israel joined the American military in launching the war back in February and earlier today President Trump said that after Iran and Israel had briefly and directly exchanged fire for the first time since April, that both sides had, in his words, agreed through me to stop.

5:40And yet the Iranian government had announced that were Israel to continue striking southern Lebanon in its bid to crush the Iran backed militia Hezbollah, then as Tehran's Joint Military Command put it, Iran would hit back in a much more severe and crushing way. Well, today, Israel carried out new airstrikes on the southern Lebanese city of Tyre. Eight people were killed, according to Lebanese officials. And the Israeli military reported that it had killed a gunman from Lebanon who'd fired on troops at the border with Israel. A displaced resident of Tyre has been speaking to BBC Arabic. I live in the Christian quarter of Tyre, and this is the first time we have received an evacuation warning from the Israeli military.

6:25We had been expecting the possibility of attacks, especially after reports that Hezbollah members were present in the city. When the warning was issued, we felt that our area could be targeted next. As a result, we left our homes uncertain of where to go while shelling continued around us. The situation is becoming more difficult with each passing day, and the sense of uncertainty and fear continues to grow. Hélène Salon is the Middle East Bureau chief of the French newspaper Le Monde. She's based in Beirut. What's her understanding of what happened today? So there were first heavy strikes in the morning in the city of Tyre and its surrounding, like the suburb of Tyre and villages around.

7:10And then around 9.30, we had this evacuation order declared by the Israeli army. It's not the first one, but this time what is really new is that it included the old city of Tyre for the first time. This old city, which is composed of the Christian neighborhood, as well as a Muslim neighborhood and the archaeological sites, there is a lot of heritage in Tyre from the Roman Empire, was never included in all the evacuation orders. So it's the first time that we see this order be expanded. And it's a real problem because the tyre has been a safe zone for many local inhabitants, but also displaced from the rest of the city and the surrounding villages and south of Lebanon.

8:01And from what Lebanese health officials are reporting, eight people were killed in those airstrikes. Is it clear how many people heeded the evacuation order? No, we don't have clear numbers because every time, like since almost three weeks, maybe one month, we had successive orders of evacuation. We knew when I reported like two weeks ago, we still had 18 ,000 people inside of Tyre plus 8 ,000 displaced inside five centers of the city, like to host them. And so it was 25 ,000. The successive orders of evacuation every time pushed people to flee, but not the entire city. Like I was there a few days ago after a big warning from the Israeli army, which was also targeting the whole city, but there was no strike and no evacuation order.

8:59we knew that a few thousand people evacuated again at that time. But there were still a lot of people in the old city, on the old port. So it's really difficult to evaluate, estimate how many people are still there. We know that the IDPs, the 8 ,000 which are hosted in the schools are still there. It's a real danger because if this evacuation order is maintained, it will be a problem for this displaced. for the local, but also not to forget for the NGOs, the humanitarian organizations. There are a few which are operating in the south of Lebanon because of the danger. And these few found a safe haven in Tyre in order to operate in the city and in the surrounding villages.

9:49Hélène, you mentioned that you were in Tyre just a few days ago. I was wondering if you found it possible to gauge the sort of support that Hezbollah has in a place like Tyre, because, I mean, it does have a large Christian population, the city. And obviously, Hezbollah is a hardline Shia militia. Did you get a sense of what people in the city feel about, I mean, indeed, whether Hezbollah is present in the city? People are saying like there is no weapons of Hezbollah inside the city. And when there was this warning last week, the mayor of the city with the army went into the whole city to search for houses and hotels and they declared there were no weapons.

10:38But some people say, yes, there are fighters, certainly, who maybe also themselves try to find a safe haven. That could be the reason why there are some targeting orders. But you have a minority of Christians who are, of course, not supporting Hezbollah. And also in the majority of the Shia population, you have a divide between the people who were supporting Hezbollah and who are supporting its ally, Amal Party. And we can find now that some people who support Amal Party are not really supporting Hezbollah in this war. Some of them are criticizing. So it's really diverse. And then you have this petition, which was published on the 29th of May, where you have around 250 people from the city of Tyre, Shia, Christian, Sunni, who ask for a solution to declare the city of Tyre an open city, which means demilitarized.

11:42authorized. So to have the army deployed in the city, so to confirm that there is no weapon and to protect the city. And that was the Middle East Bureau Chief for Le Monde, Hélène Salon. She was speaking to me from Beirut. We will explore the frontiers of space and push the boundaries of what's possible. This is what it takes. We're going to get the job done. Well, that highly produced clip is not a trailer for a new film. It was actually a trailer for an announcement earlier today, which came from the American space agency, NASA, as they named the crew for the Artemis 3 mission. It's scheduled to blast off next year, and it's hoped to be the penultimate stage before the return of humans to the surface of the moon for the first time in more than 50 years.

12:39The astronauts are the mission specialists Andrew Douglas and Frank Rubio, the commander Randy Bresnik, those three are American. There's also, though, the pilot Luca Parmitano, who's from Italy, and he paid this tribute to his family and friends at today's ceremony. There are many parts that need to come together for a space launch. You need a launch pad, and for me that launch pad is my country, Italy. the Italian Air Force that gave me the professional tools to bring me here today. The European Space Agency is like a launch tower connecting these two worlds. The rocket, figuratively and literally, is NASA.

13:20I'm grateful that NASA has allowed me to be part of this incredible group of people, of this crew, and for letting me fly. But we wouldn't be going anywhere without fuel. and the fuel that lets everything move is right here. Maya, Sara, Marta, my extended family here in the crowd. You are the energy that feeds my soul. And your love is the spark that ignites every passion. Thank you. Grazie. The emotional words of Luca Parmitano, the pilot on Artemis 3. And we'll get the views of a highly experienced space watcher in just a moment here on News Air.

14:16Also coming up on the programme as the World Cup is about to get going, we'll hear from some young US football fans. To be able to get to go four times to different games, I think it's going to be really fun and I'm going to be able to remember that for the rest of my life. Pretty big deal. I mean, I've never actually gone to a game in person because they're all out of country and I've only seen one on screen. Very lucky young football fan who's, well, some parent or benefactor is taking them to four games given the price of the tickets. Anyway, we'll have more on the World Cup in 15 minutes, including some of the controversies that are swirling around it.

14:58Our main headline this hour, Donald Trump says that the United States will retaliate after accusing Iran of shooting down a US military helicopter patrolling the Strait of Hormuz.

15:16you're with news ad live from the bbc and let's return to that story we were covering just before the break nasa naming the four astronauts who be taking part in the artemis 3 launch which is due next year despite the previous artemis 2 mission sending astronauts on a trip around the moon those taking part in its successor will barely go any further from Earth than the International Space Station. How come? Leo Enright is a space commentator. Artemis 3 does make sense. In fact, it makes more sense than the original plan, because the idea at the moment is that Artemis 3 will test all of the systems that they will use at the moon in Earth orbit first, so that if something goes wrong, they're close to home and close to safety.

16:09It is the obvious way to go, but there's one big unanswered question that was not answered at today's briefing. They do not know if either of the lunar landers that they plan to use for America's return to the moon will be available by the time they launch this mission in the middle of next year. And that's because when one of those lunar landers that they're supposed to be docking with or practicing the docking with, when there was a test launch from the Blue Origin site, Jeff Bezos' space venture, it blew up. Yeah, that was probably the second largest explosion in the history of spaceflight.

17:00And there are some who have compared it to a low-yield atomic bomb, because this was an enormous explosion that not only destroyed the rocket, but destroyed the launch pad. And that actually is the big problem, because they have to rebuild the launch pad before they can put the rocket back into space with the lunar lander that NASA wants to link up with in 13 months' time. Right. That is a big ask. Well, I was going to say, Leo, I mean, it does make one, I know journalists are paid to be sceptical, but I mean, it does make one wonder whether that 2027 launch date is at all feasible. Well, Tim, please, NASA does not want you to say that.

17:49And there's a very simple reason, because the press conference today, which wasn't, I beg your pardon, wasn't a press conference. We never got to ask a question. But the presentation today had an audience of one. and NASA does not want that one person to know, they don't want to say directly to that person that they're not going to be able to land on the moon before Donald Trump's presidency ends. So this is all about trying to get to the moon before Trump's presidency ends, and that is becoming increasingly problematic. There isn't a serious space commentator who thinks that the schedule that NASA has proposed is remotely feasible.

18:44But NASA has to present this as a feasible project if they want to keep getting the funding and if they want to keep on the right of the single person in the audience. And that was the space commentator, Leo Enright.

19:06More than 300 migrants heading to the UK last summer were kidnapped, tortured and threatened with forced organ removal, the BBC has learned. The young men, all from Iraqi Kurdistan, were captured in Libya by a militia which demanded a ransom of$5 ,000 from each of their families. It threatened to harvest the captive's kidneys if payment wasn't made. A BBC team investigating people smuggling learned about the kidnapped group while recording in Iraqi Kurdistan. The reporter Sue Mitchell and the aid worker Rob Laurie visited the town of Rania, a starting point for many migrant journeys from the Middle East to Europe.

19:48We came to northern Iraq to investigate a network of smugglers bringing thousands of people across Europe. We've heard that smugglers from Rania have opened up a new route from Iraq to Europe, crossing over land through Libya. But something's gone wrong, and more than 300 boys have been kidnapped by one of Libya's armed militia groups. Nice to meet you. We meet a father of one of the boys. His son was there. Oh, really? In Libya? And they make a surgery for him. He stole his kidney.

20:21Harvested his kidney. That's terrible. How old is his son? 19. The father takes out his phone and zooms in on a photo of a large wound. That's a scar exactly where the kidney goes on the body. Yeah. Look at that. So basically the scar looks absolutely... I'm surprised that's not infected. So he's got one, two, three, four... A lot of stitches. The man lets me copy the photo and I send it to a surgeon I know in the UK. He replies straight away, saying the location's consistent with where you'd make an incision to reach a kidney. Is this where we're here? The father says he's in touch with many other families of missing boys in Rania and if we give him an hour, he can get dozens of them to meet with us.

21:08These are all the families and they've come out to meet us. When we arrive at a local hall, there are about 20 people outside wanting to show pictures or videos of their sons being held in Libya. Some are violent, sent to parents by the militia to extort a$5 ,000 payment for each boy's release. That is brutal surgery, that. Oh, it's brutal. All the blood there. In Libya? In Libya. So it's a video of his son. He looks terrified on that video. Once we're inside, there are about 60 people in total, mostly fathers and brothers of the missing boys. More coming. Yeah, more coming. There's a lot more coming in.

21:54So I'm just going to now explain to the people who we are, why we're here. Good afternoon, gentlemen. It's such a great honour for me and my colleague. This is Sue Mitchell of the BBC. My name is Rob Laurie. So at the moment, this tragedy, no one knows about it, other than families. Most of the families tell us they paid the same smuggler, a Rania gang leader called Noah Aran, who's been selling illegal crossings for more than a decade. Parents say he'd taken groups of migrants through Libya before, but not paid the militia transporting them, so the latest group had been held and ransomed to repay the smuggler's debt.

22:35They taken our sons. It's more than eight months. So our sons, they are there and they don't do anything. So why they don't capture one of the biggest smugglers? Noah Aaron has since been jailed in France and given 10 years for smuggling crimes. And the Iraqi government has been bringing the kidnapped boys home on military planes. Most of the boys have since returned, although migrant groups are kidnapped regularly in Libya. and an investigator for the UN tells us that organ harvesting is common. I don't want to go to any country again, you know. As we leave our meeting in Rania, we meet one boy who's just returned home after his parents were among the first to pay the$5 ,000 ransom.

23:23For a long time in Libya, by six months in the jail. They wanted to take your organs? Because they want the money. He said, I want your kidney, you know. You're scared, frankly? Yeah, yeah. My family paid$5 ,000. I'm very happy in this moment, you know, to come back. That young man has just returned to Rania in Iraqi Kurdistan. The report was from Sue Mitchell. You can find out more about what she discovered online at bbc.com forward slash news and on the podcast to catch a king. You're listening to NewsHour.

24:17How did the United States build the largest soft power empire in the world with the help of some tiny metal objects? I'm Tristan Redmond, one of the hosts of the Global Story podcast from the BBC. To mark 250 years of the United States, we speak to Roman Mars of 99 % invisible. This soft power, this influence was an incredible invention. For more, listen to The Global Story on bbc.com or wherever you get your podcasts.

25:00filmed and widely shared on social media. A man in his 30s who's from Sudan has been charged on suspicion of attempting to murder a man who suffered significant injuries to his eyes and serious slash wounds to his back and face. And it's the fact that the suspect is an asylum seeker indeed that he was given leave to have remained in the United Kingdom that has made this potentially so incendiary. Among those calling for calm tonight has been Northern Ireland's Justice Minister Naomi Long. We know that people are horrified. We were all horrified. It is a frightening thing to see that unfold online in the way that we did.

25:42But it is important that in our response, it is about protecting everyone in our community from further harm. Our political correspondent Rob Watson spoke to me earlier. Why had this event caught the attention of so many? People in Britain and beyond who've seen a video of this frenzied attack in North Belfast have been supremely exercised. And of course, that followed a video that was released last week that showed a young man, a white man dying while handcuffed by police trying to tell them that he had been stabbed. And his killer in that case was a British Sikh man. Yes, who'd complained that he'd been the victim of a racist attack.

26:25So I think it's to do with the graphic nature of these videos. And so not surprisingly, you know, you've had certain elements, perhaps what you would call on the sort of populist right of British politics, one person, for example, Tommy Robinson, his far right leader saying that this is yet another example of a migrant attacking our people. And And he's been encouraging people to go out and protest. And clearly, already in Belfast, it's still dusk there, Tim, but things are looking pretty ugly. I can see that there are some vehicles on fire and people on the streets. And how does this read across in Northern Ireland?

27:01Because obviously, that's a place that a lot of our listeners will know. I mean, it's been riven for decades. I mean, things are a lot quieter than they used to be, but riven for decades by sectarian tensions between Protestants and Catholics and also between those who want Northern Ireland to stay part of the United Kingdom, those who want to join the Irish Republic. Do these sorts of tensions that you've been talking about, do they map on to Northern Ireland? They do to some extent in the sense, and I can tell you I've spent a lot of time in those neighbourhoods, and maybe you have too, Tim.

27:33They are places of high tension. They tend to be quite deprived. Protestants live on one side. Catholics live on the other. So, you know, you all sort of feel in these areas that, you know, just any sort of small thing might set off protests. You know, it's an unhappy and angry place. So, yes, this sort of feeds into that, absolutely. That was our UK political correspondent, Rob Watson.

28:19This is the BBC World Service and live from London, you're listening to NewsHour with me, Tim Franks. Now, it's a bit of a toss-up whether the Men's Football World Cup or the Olympics is the biggest sporting show in the world. We'll leave that one for arguments over a pint in the pub. But the World Cup will be huge, no debate about that. and it begins on Thursday across the US, Canada and Mexico. It's been a run-up beset by controversy over limited visas for football fans, the banning of a Somali referee and exorbitant ticket prices. We'll have more on all that in a moment. But it's also true that excitement is brewing among American fans in a country where soccer, as it's known, incorrectly, some would like to argue, is not always foremost.

29:06Ned Ertorfik has been speaking to some of those fans in New York.