Your World Tonight - Iran and Israel ceasefire, NATO summit, Diddy trial wraps, and more

Episode Date: June 24, 2025

A shaky ceasefire between Israel and Iran and an irate U.S. president. While the fighting has stopped, it’s still not clear what is next for the Middle East. People in Iran and Israel say they want calm.And: CBC’s Briar Stewart is in Turkey, at the border with Iran. She brings us the stories of people crossing both ways – some getting away from any danger, and some going home, now that the ceasefire has been announced.Also: After six weeks, defense and prosecution have rested their cases in the trial of Sean (Diddy) Combs. Combs has pleaded not guilty to sex trafficking and racketeering charges. The hip hop mogul chose not to testify, and the defense didn’t call any witnesses.Plus: NATO summit begins, the dangers of heat and smoke on your health, and more.

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You can find and follow The Current on your favorite podcast app. We'll talk to you soon. This is a CBC podcast. We have two countries that have been fighting so long and so hard that they don't know what the f*** they're doing. Do you understand that? You understand? Dropping an f-bomb as the real ones finally stop. A fragile ceasefire between Israel and Iran taking hold after Donald Trump started the day by lashing out at both countries. Now the U.S. president is praising them and himself. Welcome to Your World Tonight.

I'm Susan Bonner. It is Tuesday, June 24th, just before 6pm Eastern, also on the podcast. It's important to be clear what we are potentially, and I think likely to all agree tomorrow. 5% of our GDP would be about $150 billion. Canadian military spending and keeping up with the allies, it won't be cheap. As the Prime Minister meets with other NATO leaders, Mark Carney is putting a price tag

on a pledge to boost defence spending, an annual increase the White House is pushing for and Canada seems poised to go along with. The ceasefire agreement between Israel and Iran was first declared last night by Donald Trump. And while that announcement did not stop the strikes, today the U.S. president appears to be getting the calm he was looking for. Katie Simpson begins our coverage in Washington. And a warning, this story contains explicit language. The president just woke up to a new...

U.S. President Donald Trump looking tired as he walked toward reporters on the White House lawn, visibly frustrated by the volatility and fragility of the ceasefire, all of it underscored by his choice in language. You know what? We have, we basically have two countries that have been fighting so long and so hard that they don't know what the fuck they're doing. Do you understand that? Trump had particularly harsh words for Israel, America's ally, over its decision to launch

a massive bombing campaign targeting Tehran just hours before the deal kicked in. I didn't like the fact that Israel unloaded right after we made the deal. They didn't have to unload. Andy was mad about accusations both Israel and Iran violated the terms of the ceasefire by exchanging rockets once it had gone into effect. As Trump left Washington early this morning for the NATO summit in the Netherlands it was still unclear whether the peace deal would hold. The president's de-escalation efforts playing out in real time in a series of remarkable social media posts.

Trump writing in all caps, Israel, do not drop those bombs. Bring your pilots home. Some 30 minutes later, after a call to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Trump wrote, Israel is not going to attack Iran. all planes will turn around and head home so obviously the president has believed from the beginning that diplomacy can

stop wars US State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce appearing confident the fighting has been contained trying to ease fears this will spread into a wider ongoing conflict. The statements that we've looked at that we care about are the fact that both certainly Israel has agreed to the ceasefire and we believe there's a statement from Iran that has done so as well. And Trump is now calling for regional stability telling reporters on board Air Force One he does not in fact want to see regime change in Iran.

I'd like to see everything calm down as quickly as possible. Regime change takes chaos and ideally we don't want to see so much chaos. Trump views this as a legacy moment, posting online a congratulatory text message from the NATO Secretary General who wrote the decisive action in Iran was truly Extraordinary saying it makes us all safer He's also reposting news stories that say he should be nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize Crediting the airstrikes he ordered with obliterating Iran's nuclear weapons program claims that are being questioned after both CNN and the New York Times cited a preliminary

classified intelligence report that says Iran's nuclear sites have not been destroyed and that its weapons program appears to have been set back a few months. Katie Simpson, CBC News, Washington. The halt to hostilities didn't come soon enough for several communities in Israel and Iran. Targeted in a last fury of strikes before the ceasefire took hold, after more than a week of war, people in both countries are wary and wondering what's next. Senior international correspondent Margaret Evans reports from Jerusalem. The cleanup operation in Beersheva after a direct hit by an Iranian missile early Tuesday. Bulldozers clearing rubble in front of a building with at least two floors collapsed in on themselves. Well practiced search and rescue teams having already departed the scene.

Many Israelis will have heard about this strike before news of an overnight ceasefire announced by US President Donald Trump. One that didn't come early enough to spare lives here. The residential building was struck about an hour and 15 minutes before the ceasefire was due to come into effect. Four people were killed. I'm not happy with them. Trump blamed both Iran and Israel for

increasing attacks against each other ahead of the truce. But I'm really unhappy if Israel is going out this morning because the one rocket that didn't land that was shot, perhaps by mistake, that didn't land. I'm not happy about that. The precise details of the phased ceasefire remain murky, and Israelis have mixed feelings about whether it will hold. 16-year-old Elat says he thinks the fighting will now stop. I think it's not going to continue more because the goals are already achieved. For Israel?

For Israel, yeah. Yair El-M madal see disagrees i think he's a not told because in israel every every day is war every day every day in iran reeling from a barrage of overnight israeli attacks that reportedly killed at least nine people there were also mixed views about how long the bombs will stay silent and regret for the lives lost over the past 12 days. This ceasefire should have happened much earlier,

says this man speaking in Tehran, because it's the people who are paying the price, whether it's our people or theirs. Nicholas Hopton, a former British ambassador to Iran, expects the country's ruling clerics to hold to a ceasefire for their own sake. The Islamic Republic's top priority will always be its own survival. They, at this point, are licking their wounds. The ceasefire is something they will welcome because it allows them to regroup. Whether it holds or not, the Iran-Israel ceasefire has renewed calls for a ceasefire in a much longer and deadlier war, the one in Gaza. Health authorities and witnesses there say

more than 40 Palestinians were killed in Gaza today in a repeat of earlier scenes when Israeli forces reportedly opened fire on desperate crowds at aid sites. The Iran and Israel war started less than two weeks ago says Abdulhafez Saleh and now it's over. We congratulate them for ending the war. We hope that the world stops it here. Families of the Israeli hostages still held in Gaza by Hamas also made an appeal, calling on their government to expand the Iran ceasefire to include Gaza. Margaret Evans, CBC News, Jerusalem. With few foreign journalists permitted in Iran, it's been difficult to know how Iranian

people handle the missile strikes or what they think about the ceasefire deal with Israel. The CBC's Briar Stewart traveled to the Iranian border to try to find out. Briar, what have you seen? Well, I was at the Kataquah border crossing today and there are hundreds of people there going in and out of Iran. A lot of them of course leaving Iran dragging their suitcases, pushing strollers in some cases carrying their pets and they had made the journey out of the country for many of them after fleeing Tehran earlier after the airstrikes began and when we talked to people about the ceasefire, there was a mix of relief,

hope, and confusion. And part of the reason there was confusion was because people didn't have network connection. There were widespread internet outages in Iran, and people simply were not getting the updates. I spoke to one man who recently left the country and entered Turkey alongside his wife. Take a listen. Actually, we don't have any news about the ceasefire. Some agencies say that it was a fake news, there's no ceasefire. Some say that there was a ceasefire and Iran started the war again. I don't know. But I think totally it's for the best, because, you know, many people lose their lives, lose

their jobs. So I think there should be a political solution for this. Now we aren't using that man's name because he asked us not to and a lot of people at the border were either too fearful to talk or if they did they wanted to remain anonymous simply because they were afraid that they could be punished if they said something critical. Briar, what are you hearing about how they think about the future? Well people are worried. I mean they realize how fragile this ceasefire is

and they are also worried about what kind of impact this could have on Iran's theocratic regime. Someone explained to me that in the country right now you really have three different groups politically. There are those who hoped that what unfolded over the last 12 days could lead to a dramatic upheaval and the regime would collapse. There are those who are loyal to Iran's supreme leader, and then there are those who don't like the leadership but have perhaps tilted back towards it because they're sort of united in their anger at Israel and the U.S. over all of these airstrikes.

And then I think above everything, there's a lot of people that are just tired. They're exhausted trying to cope with the day to day. I feel that people are tired and they just don't have the energy to fight or to think of regime change because we only try to stay alive and because of the inflation we only try to make the both ends meet. It all depends on the political leaders. The United States, it's not up to the people. So you can hear the resignation in his voice, basically a sense of powerlessness that whatever happens will happen.

Breyer, thank you. You're welcome. The CBC's Breyer Stewart in the Turkish city of Van tonight. Coming up on the podcast, world leaders gather in the Netherlands for a NATO summit and commit to big spending on defence. A warning about the possibility of Iranian terrorist sleeper cells in Canada, and later the risk to your health from a hot smoky summer. For NATO leaders gathering this week in the Netherlands, the ask is simple but expensive. This meeting of the military alliance is geared towards getting all members to boost

defence spending and for the first time Prime Minister Mark Carney is talking about just how much that will cost Canada. The CBC's Murray Brewster is in The Hague tonight with details. As a founding member of NATO, we have always been consistent with our allies. Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Onond basically suggesting Canada is prepared to go along with NATO's new defence spending target of 5% of the gross domestic product. The question really is the timeline. What is the timeline that we would utilize to get to a heightened percentage?

It's been suggested that the increase, if agreed upon by all allies, could be implemented over a 10-year period. But before they get to the timeline, there's the question of numbers. Prime Minister Mark Carney did not speak to the Canadian media travelling with him today, but made himself available to CNN. I'm going to give you an entry for you. Five percent of our GDP would be about $150 billion. I mean, that's a lot. It's a lot of numbers.

Per year? Per year. That's a lot. Of course it is a lot. So it means that that's a lot. That $150 lot of number per year That's a lot of course it's a That 150 billion dollars would be broken down two ways More than 100 billion in direct military spending and roughly 50 billion in defense related infrastructure Carney says much of the infrastructure portion Canada can already claim credit for under existing or planned spending This is the first time the Prime Minister has put a clear price tag on what it would take to accede to the demands of increased defense spending from the Trump administration.

Former U.S. Ambassador to NATO, Kurt Volker, says around the NATO table tomorrow, Trump will be very single-minded. The emphasis that the U.S. is looking for is everybody to say, yeah, we mean it. We have a plan, 5% is real, we're going to get there, we have a real threat in Europe, we have to do more, we have to do our share. Even still, two allies, Spain and Slovakia, have said they're not prepared to back the

5% plan. And that isn't the only flashpoint for the summit. Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen was among the first leaders to arrive in Amsterdam ahead of tonight's NATO Leaders' Dinner. It was the first time she and Donald Trump were in the same room since the US president started boasting about annexing Greenland one way or another. I hope Greenland does not become an issue right now. Seth Jones of the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington suggests

a meeting between the two could be awkward, or a chance for Denmark to get some clarity. The Danish government is eagerly trying to ask the Trump administration what it actually wants from them and what it actually what the US wants in Greenland. Trump has not only threatened Greenland but talked repeatedly about annexing Canada through economic force. Not lately though, and NATO leaders including Prime Minister Mark Carney as they formally sit down tomorrow hope we've moved past that. Marie Brewster, CBC News, The Hague.

The United States' bombing in Iran is creating concern that retaliation could happen even in Canada. Activists say Iranian sleeper cells could be activated and federal officials say they're taking the possible threat seriously. Ashley Burke reports. The sound of U.S. Air Force bombers returning from its attack on three Iranian nuclear plants. Those airstrikes on Saturday now causing concern about retaliation on North American soil. My concern is certainly heightened now. Kaveh Shahruz is an Iranian Canadian lawyer and human rights activist critical of Iran's

regime. Iran's regime has been humiliated internationally, it's been defeated militarily and so I think it's looking for different ways of asserting its own power and dominance to some extent against the West. He's reported threats before, and now fears Tehran could try to send a message to its critics abroad, including in Canada. Letting them know that it remains in charge. So I think now we have to be more alert than ever.

U.S. media is reporting the FBI is on high alert. NBC says Iran sent private messages to Donald Trump ahead of his strikes, warning they would respond with terrorist attacks on American soil carried out by members of its regime already in the U.S. We will continue to take any possibility of foreign interference extremely seriously. Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Onin asked about it after the Globe and Mail reported that former Liberal Justice Minister Irwin Kotler says Tehran may have activated terrorist sleeper cells in Canada to target critics like himself here.

In addition to Mr. Kotler's remarks, we are very concerned about foreign interference, including We are very concerned about foreign interference including the types that were highlighted by him. And we're very concerned about the Iranian regime generally speaking." Associate Professor at Carleton University and former national security analyst Stephanie Carvin says the concern in the intelligence community is that people connected to Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps could be living under deep cover in Canada. But may secretly have the ability and tension or may actively be working at the behest of the Iranian government in order to carry out fundraising or money transfers, some kind

of espionage campaign, being involved in transnational repression or this particular case may be ordered to engage in some kind of terrorist activity against targets here in Canada. But she warns Canadians shouldn't panic because there hasn't been any change to the terrorism threat level here and despite Canada cutting ties with Iran in 2012, Onon said she had an unprecedented call with her Iranian counterpart on the weekend to urge Tehran to allow Canadians to leave the country safely. Ashley Burke, CBC News, Ottawa. Canada's inflation rate is holding steady. Statistics Canada says the consumer price index for May was 1.7 percent,

the same level as April. Smaller increases in food prices and rent and mortgage costs were the biggest factors. The data is being closely watched by the Bank of Canada. As it monitors the effects of the U.S. trade war, the central bank makes its next rate decision in late July. After weeks of explosive testimony from dozens of witnesses, the racketeering and sex trafficking trial of music mogul Sean Diddy Combs is nearing an end. And as expected, Combs did not take the stand. Alice Chiaçon goes through some of the evidence and arguments. It's a RICO conspiracy.

Former prosecutor turned defense counsel counsel Elise Adamson says the question at the crux of this case is whether Sean Combs was running a human trafficking operation. An organization is existing for the purpose of criminal activity and there's a bunch of little guys committing crimes but the orders are coming from up top. Combs has pleaded not guilty to racketeering conspiracy, two counts of sex trafficking and two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution. The jury heard from 34 witnesses over six weeks, including Combs' famous ex-girlfriend and singer Cassie Ventura. She was a very credible

witness by all accounts. More than 500 exhibits were submitted into evidence, including video of Ventura allegedly trying to escape then being beaten after a drug-fueled sex marathon known as a freak-off in 2016. Combs' most recent ex also took the stand using the pseudonym Jane. She testified she felt she couldn't say no to the sexual encounters she knew as hotel nights, partly because he was paying for her rent and lifestyle at $10,000 a month. I think that prosecutors have done a very good job methodically bringing people onto the stand and telling stories that if the jury believes are true, could prove every

element of the various offenses. The court also heard from male sex workers allegedly hired for the freak-offs and former assistants who allegedly booked their plane tickets and set up the hotel rooms with the much-talked-about bottles of baby oil, allegedly at Combs' request. One of the assistants testified she was, quote, scared into silence. But were the escorts and ex-girlfriends who took part trafficked? Were they coerced, bribed and plied with drugs? But more importantly, has the prosecution left room for reasonable doubt among the jurors?

Combs' defense lawyers believe they have. They started and wrapped their case in half a day today without calling any witnesses. Combs didn't take to the stand but did speak in court today. The judge asked him if it was his decision not to testify. He said yes. He went on to tell the judge quote you're doing an excellent job. AP reporter Michael Cisak has been covering the trial from the beginning. He says the defense laid out most of its case while cross-examining the prosecution's witnesses. Defense attorneys argued that

this was Combs' personal life. They said that yes, Sean Combs could be violent, but violence alone does not prove these charges. Closing arguments are set to start on Thursday. Then the jury will begin deliberating. Ali Chiasan, CBC News, Toronto. This is Your World Tonight from CBC News. If you want to make sure you stay up to

date and never miss one of our episodes, follow us on Spotify, Apple, wherever you get your podcasts. Just find the follow button and lock us in. As parts of Canada continue to struggle through hot weather and wildfires, there is new research about the dangerous combination of heat and smoke. And exposure to both is only expected to increase with climate change. Shayna Luck explains what the study found and how to stay safe. It's not the most common way that fires are discovered. Scott Tingley is a 22-year veteran of Nova Scotia's Department of Natural Resources.

On Sunday, he says provincial staff went on patrol just east of Halifax and followed their noses to a small wildfire. About 100 homes were briefly evacuated before it was brought under control. This time, the smell of smoke was a helpful early warning sign. But with wildfire smoke alerts issued across parts of western Canada and rising temperatures and heat alerts in the east, new research warns of the increased health risks when heat and smoke hit at the same time.

Sarah Henderson is a scientific director at the BC Centre for Disease Control. She recently led a study into these effects. Your body's just got a lot going on, so it's not surprising that when we combine those two exposures, they're riskier than either exposure alone. The study looked at 21,000 deaths in the Vancouver area over more than a decade. Heat is the bigger danger. But later on, smoke, and the study found the risk of dying goes up 8 percent. That's compared with days that are neither hot nor smoky. Henderson's study looked at temperatures above 26 degrees.

That's when she suggests people consider moving inside. So looking at air conditioning or heat pumps to get climate control indoors, and then looking at ways to keep smoke out and clean smoke out with indoor air cleaners. People with pre-existing health conditions are most at risk. Kevin Mehta is a Respirologist at McMaster Children's Hospital in Hamilton, Ontario. He says more research is needed to say why. Why does heat potentially make smoke inhalation worse or have more health effects? That's where we can then really get into giving very specific advice and changing practice.

Researchers do know kids, seniors and pregnant people are at risk, and so are those who can't take shelter at all. Ashley Briggs is homeless in Toronto, where hot and humid summers can make it hard to breathe. It's very much does bother me because I have asthma. Andrew Buzari is a doctor who works at Toronto's University Health Network. The heat is really illuminating these cracks in our system, these real gaps that people have, challenges that will go well before and beyond the heat waves that are playing out across the country. When it comes to dealing with hot and smoky weather, experts say make sure you have a place with clean, cool cool indoor air even if it's only one room in your home and if you don't have access to that try to keep cool while outside.

Shane Aluk CBC News Halifax. Finally tonight they have a star-studded guest list a luxurious Venetian venue. Billionaire Jeff Bezos and journalist Lauren Sanchez are gearing up for the best wedding money can buy. Ivanka! Ivanka! Ivanka!

Ivanka! Paparazzi hollering at Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner this afternoon as they arrived in Venice. Invites went out to the likes of Oprah Winfrey, Mick Jagger, Kim Kardashian and other celebrities. The exact timing of the big day is not public but it's expected to happen between Thursday and Saturday and not everyone is congratulating the happy couple. One big billionaire can't rent a city for his pleasure. We need to tax people that have a big, a huge number of money and use this money for reduce the impact of climate change

to increase the healthcare system, to increase the welfare state. Yesterday, Greenpeace demonstrators unfurled a massive banner in the city reading, if you can rent Venice for your wedding, you can pay more tax. For weeks, activists and local residents have complained about the wedding, the optics and the impact. Bezos is not renting all

of Venice but he will take over parts of it. Gondola service is on hold, airspace is closed, security ramped up. After threatening to crash the wedding itself, today those critics are claiming victory saying they forced the reception to move to a different venue in the city. Threatening to crash the wedding itself, today those critics are claiming victory, saying they forced the reception to move to a different venue in the city. And not everyone opposes the event. This shop owner says local business will get a boost from the A-list crowd, and Bezos and Sanchez are trying their best to build goodwill with the community, telling their guests the wedding gifts and instead donations will be made on

their behalf to a scientific research group doing work on the Venice Lagoon. Thank you for joining us. This has been Your World Tonight for Tuesday June 24th. I'm Susan Bonner. Talk to you again.