Global News Podcast - Israel orders attacks in Beirut suburbs

Episode Date: June 1, 2026

Israel has ordered attacks against Hezbollah in the southern suburbs of Beirut - prompting many residents to evacuate the Lebanese capital. Israel's prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said the military would strike what he called 'terrorist targets' in the area, in response to attacks on Israeli civilians and other violations of a US-brokered ceasefire. Also, Iran and the US launch renewed attacks in the Gulf, putting the ceasefire under strain. Moscow criticises France after it seizes a suspected Russian oil tanker in the Atlantic. And, are social media influencers and content creators becoming too intrusive?The Global News Podcast brings you the breaking news you need to hear, as it happens. Listen for the latest headlines and current affairs from around the world. Politics, economics, climate, business, technology, health – we cover it all with expert analysis and insight. Get the news that matters, delivered twice a day on weekdays and daily at weekends, plus special bonus episodes reacting to urgent breaking stories. Follow or subscribe now and never miss a moment. Get in touch: [e-mail]

This is the Global News Podcast from the BBC World Service. I'm Charlotte Gallagher, and at 15 hours, GMT, on Monday the 1st of June, these are our main stories. Lebanese residents flee Beirut as Benjamin Netanyahu orders Israeli strikes on Hezbollah targets in suburbs of the capital. Iran and the US launch renewed attacks in the Gulf, putting the ceasefire under strain. France seizes a suspected Russian oil. tanker in the Atlantic, prompting condemnation from the Kremlin. Also in this podcast. Some kind of intervention that can actually change the course of a child and family's future,

really, in the first 1,000 days, is key. The parents of a teenager who died from a food allergy launch a multi-million dollar prize for life-saving research. There's been no let up in the Israeli offensive in Lebanon, where officially there's been a ceasefire for weeks. In practice, for millions in the country or people in Israeli border towns, it's been clear for some time that there isn't one. On Monday morning, the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu,

said he'd ordered attacks against Hezbollah targets in the capital, Beirut. Together with the Ministry of Defence, I instructed the IDF to attack targets in Beirut. There will be no situation where Hezbollah attacks our citizens' citizens. civilians. We continue to deepen our activity on the ground in southern Lebanon, eliminating Hezbollah strongholds. Hezbollah is on the run. We are determined to restore security to the residents of the north, just as we did to the residents of the south. The Iranian-backed group has been firing missiles and drones into northern Israel, as Israeli forces pushed deeper into southern Lebanon. This comes as the U.S. Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, held talks with both sides in an effort

to de-escalate the fighting. The Lebanese Prime Minister, Noaaf Salam, has accused Israel of a scorched earth policy and collective punishment in the south of the country. The United Nations Security Council is set to hold an emergency meeting later today on Monday to discuss the situation in Lebanon. Our correspondent in Beirut, Lena Sinjab, gave me this assessment of Mr Netanyahu's latest comments. It's a clear escalation at the time where there were diplomatic efforts to de-escalate and save Beirut from any further attacks. You know, the last one was last week where the Israelis said that they had a targeted attack against a leader of Iranian militia affiliated to Hezbollah. But the Americans are trying to talk to both the Israelis and the Lebanese.

The Secretary of State, Markio, talked about efforts to de-escalate. And this message comes less than 24 hours after what we've heard from the Americans, the Israelis are not stopping. Now, there are thousands on the move trying to escape Dachia. Dahlia is the southern part of Beirut, southern neighborhood of Beirut, which is a Hezbollah stronghold and has been targeted in the early weeks of the war, and is now preparing for a new attack, which nobody knows the scale of it, or the locations, or the locations, or or anything, how it's going to happen. So it's leaving the city in a state of panic.

And given that Hezbollah aren't involved in these discussions between the US and Lebanon, I mean, how realistic is it that any kind of lasting peace can be achieved through this? This is all happening just 24 hours also before the fourth round of direct negotiations between the Israelis and the Lebanese government to take place in Washington, D.C., The Speaker of the Parliament, Nabeh Berri, was the one who was giving assurances about Hezbollah stopping aggressions against the Israelis.

But he is also himself who said that Hezbollah will not stop before the Israelis will stop their aggression. So it's kind of like a back-and-forth accusation and blaming game between Hezbollah and the Israelis on cessation of hostilities. and each side blames the other for violations of the ceasefire. But it seems in this equation that the government in Lebanon, although the Prime Minister Nawaf Salam came out and said, he's pushing for the negotiations, he's going with the negotiations because that's the only way to minimize the damage and only way to find a political solution,

even though the reality on the ground is completely the opposite. But the government seems to be not able to control Hezbollah's activities on one hand and are only able to push ahead with diplomatic effort to end this hostilities and find a lasting ceasefire for Lebanon. Lena Sinjab, well, as we record this podcast, news of the impending strikes on Beirut has been filtering out and the roads out of the Hezbollah stronghold of Dehia have been jammed with cars as people try to leave. At least 3,412 people have been killed in Lebanon since the start of the war in March, according to the country's health ministry. Meanwhile, Israel says

24 of its soldiers and four Israeli civilians have been killed over the same period on both sides of the border. Refugee groups say more than a million people in Lebanon have been displaced since the Israeli military operation began. My colleague, Regina Vajanathan, has been speaking to Miriam, who's packing her bags and is preparing to leave Beirut. Right now I'm in my house in an area very close to Dahlia. My kids left school early at 1230 because of the, they threatened that they will bomb Dachia. And everything like is on hold until we see what will happen. And we are preparing like the baggage to be ready to leave the house. You packed your bags. Where are you going to go to? We usually go to the mountain like just to be far from the sound of bombs. You know, when this happens,

people in threatened area come to our house and we leave the house so we can be far. So this is like a story that is being repeated every time Beirut is being bombed. How many times have you had to pack your bags and move in the last few years? Since 2024, it's been like a ritual for us, I can't count. We live day by day. We try to be numb in times where there's no bombing. but now things escalated very quickly. Yesterday they started to hit our village.

They were a bit far before. But yesterday they did an Ansar, our village. So all our houses and my uncle's businesses and houses are like under threat of being demolished. And today, Beirut, so we have also to move. And you have a family as well. So it's not just you that has to do all that packing and moving. It's the whole family. I have two teen ages, 12 and 14.

I have nine uncles who I usually live in the south in Ansar. And now they are with their families, imagine. They are all in Beirut living in different houses. But I can't imagine if they started to bomb our houses and their businesses, what will happen next, yeah. Yeah, I mean, this is supposed to be a period of ceasefire, isn't it, Miriam? But it's far from that. We believe that ceasefire was like only for Beirut.

They are like bombing the South and demolishing everything in the South. And I can't imagine how this is being acceptable. Nobody is saying anything. Even the government is not saying anything. A whole life is being demolished. Soor, nabatia are under threat beyond something that we can like imagine. That was Miriam, a resident of Beirut, speaking to Regina Vajanathan. Meanwhile, with no signs of a breakthrough for a peace deal

between the US and Iran over the weekend, both sides have exchanged fire. The US Central Command said it launched what it called self-defense strikes in response to aggressive Iranian actions, which it said included a US drone being shot down over international waters. Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard said it had targeted an airbase used by US forces for an attack on southern Iran, but didn't say where. Kuwait said earlier that its air defences were dealing with. with a drone and missile attack. The Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman, Ismail Bagayi, accused the US of violating the ceasefire

and said negotiations did not include Iran's nuclear program. We know when it's necessary to act on nuclear matters. No negotiations have taken place on the details of the nuclear file. At this stage, our priority is ending the war. Our Middle East correspondent Yolán Nell gave me more detail. Well, this is more strain on the two-month-old ceasefire, the US saying that it struck Iranian radar and drone sites in the city of Goroch and on the island of Kashim at the weekend. And these are two locations that are basically in and on the Strait of Hormuz.

The USA more specifically, it hit Iranian air defences, a ground control station, and two Iranian drones that it said were threatening shipping. And the language it's used in this statement by US Central Command, And it's quite similar to what we heard last week when there was also talk about, you know, US actions against Iran in self-defense. Now, Iran's Revolutionary Guard said they targeted a U.S. air base in response to this, saying this is where the U.S. forces had launched an attack from against Iran. And Kuwait came out saying that had sirens sounding across the country and that it was intercepting missile and drone attacks. There was also in the statement that came from the Iranian Revolutionary Guard. what was being reported in Iranian media, they said if the aggression is repeated,

the response will be completely different in scale and nature. And that responsibility will be with the US. So now it's the third time in the space of the week. We've had such news of an exchange. And this just adds to the concerns that it could lead to a more serious escalation. And that could really jeopardize the efforts to secure a longer term ceasefire of a full end to the war. And speaking about a full end, the war, US media reporting that President Trump has asked for more changes to this Iranian

peace proposal. Do we know what those are? So nothing has been confirmed by the White House at this point, but US sources have been saying in general that, you know, the two sides are getting closer to this memorandum of understanding with Iran. Donald Trump has been on truth social this morning saying he's very close to a very good deal. But the reports in the US media are saying that he's pushing for tougher terms. And what we understand is that this deal that's been proposed, there would be, in this memorandum of understanding, it would go towards unrestricted shipping in the Strait of Hormuz,

Iran clearing mines in the strait, but also the US lifting then its naval blockade in stages. There is meant to be some language on Iran's nuclear program and understood that there's a commitment there for Iran not to develop a nuclear weapon ahead of the more detailed talks that would then take place. And what is being reported, for example, by the US site Axios, is that after being briefed on all of this in his situation room on Friday, President Trump has really been looking to strengthen that language around the nuclear program in Iran. What the US is really ultimately looking for is to have Iran dispose of its enriched uranium stockpile

and to prevent Iran from carrying out further nuclear enrichment. That was Yoland Nell. and we'll have more on this story on our YouTube channel. Search for BBC News on YouTube and you'll find the Global News Podcast in the podcast section. There's a new story available every weekday. Ten years after the death of their daughter from a food allergy, the parents of Natasha Edna Napan Lapparous from the UK

have launched a new research prize in her name worth $13.5 million. The 15-year-old died after eating a sandwich bought from a popular church. which contained sesame seeds which were not listed or visible. Since then, her parents have successfully campaigned for a change in the law to mean all such foods in Britain have to be labelled with allergens clearly highlighted. Now they want to fund research into why more and more people, especially children, are developing allergies to common foods. Alice Adelaide reports.

It's estimated that more than 220 million people around the world have a food allergy and in Britain, hospital admissions for food-induced anaphylaxis have more than tripled over the last 20 years, with the biggest increase in children under 15. Previous research suggests the causes of food allergies include changes to our environment, ultra-processed foods, and changes to our immune systems. But scientists believe they are preventable.

Natasha's father, Nadim, says this prize is being launched to try to create a future without allergies and to prevent more people from dying. No child is born with food allergies. However, many children develop food allergies under the age of one, or certainly when they're very young, like a toddler. And that is something that was never in the family,

mother or father, before. So it's something completely new as a major health condition that has now entered into the child's life and into that whole family's life. The competitions to try to find out, why we are becoming more and more allergic to food, and the research will concentrate on the first 1,000 days of a child's life

from conception until the age of two. That time is when we know, scientists know, that children's immunes are the most plastic, plastic meaning able to change very quickly, one way or another, and of course what we're looking at is a change to be beneficial. So some kind of intervention that can actually, change the course of a child and families' future, really.

Natasha's mother, Tanya, says they hope that one day research undertaken in her name will stop anyone else from experiencing the grief they feel every day. We don't know yet what it's going to look like, but we know that we need to do things differently. I think that's what is really clear. You know, medical research has definitely been moving forward in all sorts of areas. there's been a lot of treatments in allergy, but not everybody can either access them or it doesn't work for everybody.

Scientists from across the world are invited to apply for the prize, which has been funded by donations. Natasha's mother Tanya says more information is available on the Natasha's Foundation website, and the winner will be announced next year. That was Alice Adley. Still to come in this podcast. They can reach a far wider audience. It's an easy sell. I give away a plate of food and a meal for two and that can reach thousands of people.

What do you think about influencers? We look at the pros and the cons. This is the Global News podcast. In recent years, Russia has been using a so-called shadow fleet of tankers in order to evade international sanctions on its oil exports that were put in place after the full-scale invasion of U.S. Ukraine in 2022. So far, more than a dozen ships have been boarded and detained by other countries, including Britain and the US. On Sunday, the French Navy stopped and boarded another oil tanker. The French president Emmanuel Macron said it was unacceptable for ships to circumvent international sanctions and fund Russia's war against Ukraine. The Kremlin spokesman, Dmitzou Peskov, criticized the action. Consider such actions to be illegal.

They border on international piracy. We strongly disagree that they are being carried out in full compliance with international law. As you know, Russia is taking a number of measures to ensure the safety of its cargo and will continue to do so. Our Paris correspondent Hugh Schofield told me more about how the French authorities were reacting. There's a statement from Macron himself and from the maritime authorities. They said the ship was detained or stopped. A long way out of sea, 7.50 kilometres off the coast of Brittany, so way out in the Atlantic. It was going apparently from Murmansk, that's the Russian oil port and the Arctic,

around the British Arzan, going down to the coast of West Africa, to Cameroon, where it seems this ship, called the Tagore, was officially registered. Now, I mean, the background, we all know, the accusation is that Russia operates this fleet of tankers, often old tankers, which it bought up when the sanctions started to hit. and in order to evade sanctions, they operate under all sorts of flags of convenience and all sorts of elaborate kind of management devices. But these ships, or many of these ships are tracked, the intelligence services of Britain, France, the US, know of these ships. They keep an eye on them.

And when necessary, like now, or where they deem it necessary, like now, they intervene. So it's far from the first of these actions. The French have actually done three previous boardings. And the idea is to, well, to reinforce the same. actions and to show that there is action being taken to stop this, what they regard as illegitimate sanctions busting. So what happens to the ship and also the crew that were on it? Well, I mean, if president's only going to go by, the ship will be brought back to the coast,

there'll be more inspections. The captain, who I think is a Russian man, will be asked to, well, we're told to attend some kind of judicial hearing, which will then probably set the date for some kind of trial down the line. The man will then be allowed to go with the crew of the 20, 23 people on board this ship. And at a later date, there'll be a hearing, which will probably last a day, and no doubt a fine will be imposed. And that'll be that. The Russians probably regarded as a fly bite. I mean, it's not going to stop them doing this, but it does represent

the determination of countries like France to act and where necessary to intervene. The ship, though, will be allowed to go on. I mean, it's not going to be impounded eventually, so one wonders what will happen afterwards. Russia have said they're quite angry about this. Have France responded to that at all? Well, I mean, they're not going to respond. I mean, they simply say that what they are doing is in accordance with international maritime law. That allows nations even out at sea outside their own waters to stop ships if they suspect that maritime law is being broken. They suspected here that the maritime law has been broken, that there was a kind of fictitious kind of subterfuge about how this ship was registered. a lot of secrecy and things being hidden from the authorities in terms of the ships of registration and so on.

That was borne out. It had a Cameroonian flag, even though it was carrying Russian oil. For that reason, all this was legitimate, and that no doubt it will be their answer. That was Hughes-Gofield in Paris. To Ukraine now, and President Zelensky says his government has evidence that Russia is abducting Ukrainian children and then training them to fight against fellow Ukrainians. He made the comments while speaking to our US news partners, CBS News. Yes, we have evidence of it. And they taught these children to hate their native country, to hate native people.

And Ukrainians can imagine such young Ukrainians, young boys come to the battlefield and kill Ukrainians. So, I mean, this is a practical way of disinformation of rights. Russia, how they use all the instruments to kill Ukraine and Ukrainians. And how do you use children? President Zelensky says Ukraine has documented the abduction of at least 20,000 Ukrainian children and once helped tracking down what he suspects are even higher numbers. The accusation goes beyond previously documented evidence that Russia has taken thousands of Ukrainian children for re-education in Russia in a state-sponsored program. Lisa Yasker, is a member of Ukraine's parliament for the governing servant of the People Party.

Regini Vajanathen asked what evidence Kiev has. We have a number of organizations such as UN agencies and a lot of other NGOs that monitor the human rights situation of occupied territories of Ukraine. And they also monitor the situation with many thousands of Ukrainian children that are legally deported to Russia. And this information was coming out long time ago that Russia is actually using these children. And even more, we have evidence that those young people that stayed in occupied territory and, for instance, were not illegally deported, but those who stayed for one reason to another, I actually forced to take the Russian citizenship and then they're taking

to the army as one of the first lines. in the queue. Is this because new evidence has emerged and are you going to be releasing more information around this then? I think so, but this is not new information. We have it on a weak basis that Russia is doing it more and more because they're doing it also because it's a part of ideological approach of Russia. They want to make sure that there are no Ukrainian ideas or Ukrainian freedom present inside Russia. So they're killing any sign of Ukrainian identity by that. Now, the International Criminal Court says that these allegations could constitute a war crime. I just want to get your take on that. I'm a member of the Council of Europe delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly. This is the place where we actually were fighting for creating a special tribunal of aggression of the Russian crimes against Ukraine.

and we managed to create that tribunal right now. And a part of that is also the compensation mechanism and the damage register where actually people in Ukraine can provide the evidence how much they suffered from the war of the Russian crimes against Ukraine. For instance, they lost someone or they were sexual abuse or other crimes. and all of that has to be investigated. That was the Ukrainian MP, Lisa Yasko, speaking to Regini Vajanathan. Finally, from cafes and gyms to supermarkets and restaurants,

content creators and influencers are often in our everyday spaces and sometimes in our faces. They can bring huge value to businesses, helping them reach new customers, but are they becoming too intrusive and is a backlash starting? The BBC's Megan Lawton has been finding out. We get a lot of people who will spend quite a while before they eat the food. They get the cameras out and they're taking photos.

I'm in Starfish and Coffee, an independent cafe in Brighton on the UK's South Coast. And honestly, I love seeing it because I know if they're taking photographs of it, it's going to go on social media, it's going to be shared. Tony Marks is the manager here, and he's telling me about the rise of influencers using his cafe as a space to create content. I think that was a point where someone started moving tables so they wanted to be nearer to a window

and I did have to politely say the tables need to stay where they are, I think. Often, that footage that we see being shot in the streets will end up on our social media timelines. Queen, spend the day with me. Let's spend a reset day together. But not everyone is happy with content being filmed in places

open to the general public. Recently, the restaurateur Jeremy King who's behind London. Restaurants, including the Ivy, said he was fed up with influencers arriving with tripods and holding tables for long periods of time while they film. Well, the influences have caused me to consider the possibility. I don't want to ban anybody from the park. But unfortunately, the behaviour of some people coming through the door

has gone beyond decency and has become incredibly intrusive. And in Manchester, in the UK, a TikTok went viral after a creator said she was asked to stop filming inside a cafe unless she had hired the whole space. If you run a business, though, it can be more complicated than just saying no to filming. A video might annoy one customer, but it could also bring new customers through the door. Tony Marks tells me how content creation has changed. We've gone from influencers doing content to now everyone could be a content maker. so you've actually got a lot of people who aren't necessarily professionals or making money out of it.

For a small independent cafe, he says the attention can help. It used to be the case that you'd want to advertise on the radio or newspapers, but going through influencers, they can reach a far wider audience. It's an easy sell. I give away a plate of food and a meal for two, and that can reach thousands of people. It's just advertising. In 2024, the influencing industry was valued at approximately 250,000. billion US dollars. The dominance of the industry means we're seeing more content gathered in our

every day. My name is Laura Alec. I'm a Vancouver-based content creator featuring food, fun and all the best things in life. Five years ago, Laura was able to quit her job in the charity sector to go full-time in content creation. Over my platforms, I have around 230,000 followers. So how do you record content in a public space without annoying others. It starts with knowing that I'm not the main character when I'm at a restaurant and that because I'm filming I don't get any kind of special privilege. So I always like to think about the people around me first. Is there someone in my shot that's going to be really annoyed that I have a camera pointed

at them? Nina Robertson is the founder of neon management, a global talent and marketing group. She's based in Sydney and manages a roster of creators and tells me she thinks influencers can get a hard time. Businesses are saying, oh, we need exposure and all of these things, when really those are the sorts of people that are doing it organically for them. They're not having to pay these people, so I don't see the negative in it unless they are being intrusive to other patrons,

where if that is the case, then it just needs to be educated to that creator that they need to be more mindful and respectful of others around them. Nina believes businesses should be upfront on whether they do or don't want influences filming in their space. If a specific restaurant or gym has an issue with it, then put up a sign at the front of the door that says you're not able to record or film content in the space and they'll go elsewhere.

That was Megan Lawton. And that's all from us for now. If you want to get in touch, you can email us at global podcast at BBC.com. You can also find us on X at BBC World Service. use the hashtag global newspod. Don't forget our sister podcast, The Global Story. This edition of the Global News podcast was mixed by Sid Dundon, and the producer was Alfie Habeschen.

The editor is Karen Martin. I'm Charlotte Gallagher. Until next time, goodbye.