Netanyahu claims historic victory over Iran
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This BBC podcast is supported by ads outside the UK. There was a time when sunshine brought us back to the brightest days of our youth, when midday picnics reminded us of simpler times and vibrant gardens reflected innocent romance in full bloom. It was a time of remembrance. It was summer, this summer at Biltmore.

This is the Global News Podcast from the BBC World Service. I'm Ankur Desai and in the early hours of Wednesday the 25th of June, these are our main stories. The Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has claimed a historic victory in the country's 12-day war with Iran as a ceasefire between the two countries appears to be holding.

In Iran, President Pesachian blamed the conflict on Israel's adventurism and said Tehran has ended it successfully. And the billionaire Jeff Bezos has moved his lavish wedding celebrations in Venice away from the city centre following protests. Also in this podcast. We need to change our understanding of nightmares from being a nuisance or something you're funny with life at, something which is important to me.

Suffering from nightmares are impacting our night's sleep, but might also be affecting our health more than we know.

A historic victory for Israel. Benjamin Netanyahu's assessments on his country's 12 days of war with Iran. As we broadcast this podcast, a tentative ceasefire is holding. In a televised speech to the nation on Tuesday, the Prime Minister had this to say about Iran's nuclear program. Over the 12 days of Operation Rising Lion, we achieved an historic victory, one that will resonate for generations to come.

We eliminated two imminent existential threats, the threat of annihilation by nuclear bombs and the threat posed by 20,000 ballistic missiles. Had we not acted when we did, the state of Israel would soon have faced the risk of extinction.

Mr Netanyahu also used his address to heap praise on President Trump, who earlier in the day had used an expletive to vent his frustration towards Israel and Iran for violating the ceasefire he'd declared on his Truth Social platform. Israel claimed that Iran had fired missiles after the start of the ceasefire, which Tehran denied.

In response, Israel destroyed a radar installation near the Iranian capital. The White House said that Mr Trump had a firm call with Mr Netanyahu, whose office said afterwards that Israel would refrain from further attacks.

What does all of this tell us about the relationship between Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu? Nedav Eyal is a senior scholar at Columbia School of International Public Affairs and prominent Israeli journalist. My colleague Julian Warwick has spoke to him. Well, it's the president that green-lighted the Israeli attack in Iran. Without a green light from the White House, Netanyahu would have never done it. It's the president who, of course, ordered the US Air Force

to strike against these nuclear installations. And it's the president who decided that this war should end. These are just the facts. And while doing so, he also described his relationship with Netanyahu as working in a team together, including thanking the IDF for what they have done. But on that basis, it's pretty clear who's in charge of the team.

Yes, absolutely. Well, the president of the United States was always in charge of the team. And you and I probably remember 1956 and the president Eisenhower ordering the UK, France and Israel to withdraw from the Sinai Desert. It's the U.S. president that always is calling the shots. But the fact that Netanyahu got the president to greenlight an Israeli attack in Iran as of itself,

is his achievement. He's going to go to the Israeli public and say it's a big achievement for him. What does this ceasefire, assuming it holds, mean for the situation in Gaza now, do you believe? We already know that there is a sort of a breakthrough in the negotiations towards a ceasefire in Gaza. It's just we heard the prime minister of Qatar announcing right after his country was attacked by Iranian missiles and right after the US president announced a ceasefire,

that Hamas and Israel agreed to send their delegations to Doha. And we are reporting on Israeli press that there are big strides made towards a possible agreement in Gaza in the near future. Hamas was waiting to see what's going to happen with Iran during this conflict. Israel was waiting to see how this will end. And there is an appetite, I think, on both sides to try and reach a conclusion of the conflict there. Nadev Eyal.

Well, it's not just Israel's Prime Minister Netanyahu claiming victory. Those words were used by Iranian President Massoud Pesachian to mark the start of the ceasefire. He blamed the conflict on Israel's adventurism and said Tehran had ended it successfully. Let's get some perspective of how people in Iran are reacting and feeling after days of unrest and uncertainty. The BBC is not allowed to report inside the country, but these people in Tehran spoke to BBC Persian. I don't recall Tehran.

Do you think the United States is on the side of the Iranian people? Every day, sanctions upon sanctions. What good are sanctions? Do they weaken governments? Sanctions make people miserable. Do you want us to become so desperate that we take to the streets and change this government?

No, people who are hungry and miserable are more dependent on their government. These actions are truly shameful. What scares me more than war or ceasefire right now is a wounded, humiliated Islamic Republic that because it couldn't stand up to Israel or the United States...

will now turn its anger inward, toward the Iranian people. We just want to live in relative peace, in a country we love, in a place where our roots run deep.

We got more from BBC Persian's Siavash Ardalan. Now people are just starting to really self-reflect, really having time to think about how they feel, whilst the government is very quickly trying to build its own narrative that Iran has achieved victory by virtue of the fact that it managed to withstand an assault by Iranians.

Israel and by the US and still managed to survive. And this is what was echoed in the message that the Iranian President Massoud Pesachkian delivered, thanking everyone and also saying that Iran now will abide by the ceasefire. What about the future? What happens next? Some will be supporting the government and celebrating what's happened, but others might fear the uncertainty about what might happen next.

Yes. So it depends on which walk of life you belong to. You have a small minority of very, very extreme hardliners, even more hardline than the government itself, who are unhappy about the ceasefire, who feel that this ceasefire was imposed upon them. But then in the higher echelons of power, this was a decision that was made and the narrative is that they have achieved victory. But on the other hand, you have a lot of people who are not happy with the government, who are critical of the government, and they worry that

the Islamic Republic will now turn to revenge as it has been arresting a lot of people. We're getting reports of hundreds of people being arrested across the country for having aided and abetted Israel, while at the same time, the reformist faction, the really isolated and sidelined reformist faction, are calling on the government, including the former president Rouhani, to really try to be more moderate. Siavash Ardalan.

The recent Israeli attacks on Iran's nuclear sites were triggered by the belief that the country was close to building a nuclear weapon. There was growing international concern that Iran had increased its production of enriched uranium for that purpose. For its part, Iran has always insisted its nuclear program is a peaceful one.

As US Energy Secretary under President Obama, the nuclear physicist Ernest Moniz was a key part of the team that negotiated the nuclear deal with Iran in 2015, the agreement that President Trump withdrew from in his first term in the White House. So what's his assessment of the effect of those Israeli and US attacks on Iran's nuclear facilities?

While the facilities have been severely damaged, the nuclear program has not been eliminated since there are many other components, most especially the large amount of 60% enriched uranium, not to mention presumably a lot of parts to construct new centrifuges in some unknown, very secure locations.

You refer there to these 400 kilograms of highly enriched uranium, which Iran says it moved before the attacks. It would be pretty foolish not to. And I believe there is some satellite intelligence that would support that. It's certainly pretty easy to move. It's in metallic cylinders. So I have to assume that they have at least the majority of that material somewhere under their control.

And it doesn't take a lot. Once you are at 60% enrichment, you've done 90% of the work needed to produce fully weapons-grade material. But there are many other pieces, Julian, to making a nuclear weapon. And the reality is, even though Iran denies it, the IAEA, the American intelligence community, Israeli intelligence, have all said that Iran had a pretty extensive program of developing nuclear

weapons components up to 2003, I'm sure that's not been totally forgotten. Yeah, I mean, very close to getting a nuclear bomb was the wording that some use, the Americans and the Israelis in the run up to what we've just seen. Were they right to view it in that way? To have reached weapons grade uranium for a number of bombs, I think would have been a matter of a couple of weeks, three weeks,

if they set their mind to it. I remind you, American intelligence at least continues to assert that Iran did not make a decision to build a nuclear weapon, and that's consistent with my knowledge of the situation. But what you also hear is some talking about several years to a weapon. I think that's also incorrect because presumably that's referring to what it would take to

to build and test a very efficient small weapon that could be delivered through a missile. I think the more relevant comparison is an intermediate one where the material is enriched maybe in a few weeks, but maybe a few months later

to building a more primitive nuclear weapon that could still make for a very, very bad day. But just to be clear, I mean, that timetable that you just outlined, you think that still holds potentially even now? I'm assuming a full damage assessment would indicate very significant damage to the existing centrifuges. If that is correct, it would take them some time to rebuild the

perhaps 1,000 or 2,000 centrifuges. They would have to do it in a covert way. But still, I would not say that they would be years away. I would still put it at months, maybe to a year, to build those centrifuges, to do the remaining enrichment of the uranium to weapons grade, and to assemble at least a crude device. In which case, where does that leave

the diplomatic moves. What has to happen now is not to let any grass grow before re-engaging diplomatically. Iran is, after all, in a weakened position, and this might be the time to really push hard on a diplomatic advance and perhaps even go big. Things like proposing and helping to implement a regional nuclear energy approach.

Ernest Moniz speaking to Julian Warwicka. And just a reminder that we need your help with a special episode all about the Iran crisis. We'll be putting your questions to a range of BBC correspondents and they can be as simple or as complex as you like. Perhaps you want to know if Iran and Israel can ever coexist peacefully. Could the Iranians still try to build a nuclear weapon? Or what might regime change look like? If so, please send us an email or a voice note to globalpodcast at bbc.co.uk.

We've all had bad dreams, but what if they were doing more than just ruining your night? New research suggests nightmares may be harming your health more seriously than we ever imagined. Ella Bicknell reports.

A bedside alarm blasts you awake and sudden panic. You've overslept for your final maths exam. Wait, didn't I finish school years ago? Never mind, you sprint to the exam hall, dread building with every step. Phew, you may hit just in time. As you sit down, a hundred eyes lock on you.

then it hits you. You're in your underpants. Panic surges, you jolt awake, heart pounding, in a cold sweat next to your pillow. It was only a nightmare, but scientists have found bad dreams do more than just ruin your morning. They can also shorten your life. We need to change our understanding of nightmares from being a nuisance or something even funny we laugh at, or something

something which is important. Dr Ibademi Ortegu from Imperial College London and the Dementia Research Institute. His study found people who had regular nightmares had increased levels of cortisol, that's the stress hormone, and more signs of cell damage, meaning they were ageing biologically faster than those who slept peacefully. In fact, those with weekly nightmares were three times more likely to suffer from a premature death. There were four separate questions.

How often do you have difficulty sleeping due to bad dreams? That sounds pretty severe. How often do you have disturbing dreams, which is less severe? Other ones describe how often do you have nightmares? These are all similar terms, but they differ slightly in possible severity. But what I found was that irrespective of the question that was used, the link between frequency and aging outcomes

The study, which surveyed more than 180,000 children and adults, suggests nightmares are an even stronger predictor of premature death than smoking, poor diet or even a lack of exercise. Whether nightmares cause it entirely, whether nightmares to some degree are reflecting other factors, that needs to be clarified.

But irrespective, the correlation exists. More nightmares, poorer outcomes. The results are almost nightmare-inducing themselves. But Dr. Ategu says there are ways to reduce the risk. I sleep very well, but I oftentimes spend my hours researching sleep as opposed to sleeping. So I wouldn't put myself as the role model. But I do know things that are good for other people to do. And that includes managing your stress. If people have underlying anxieties, depression...

Remember, it's not just tomorrow that depends on a good night's sleep. Ella Bicknell reporting. Still to come, the singer who became a household name in Afghanistan. The family of Zulala Hashemi have reported her missing and appealed to the Taliban to help find her.

As NATO leaders gathered in the Netherlands on Tuesday for a two-day summit, President Trump published an apparently private message from the alliance's chief praising him effusively. In it, Secretary General Mark Rutter described an expected commitment from NATO allies to raise defence spending massively as Mr Trump's win. Danny Eberhardt has the details. NATO has confirmed to the BBC the message is genuine, but hasn't said whether Mark Rutter intended it to get a worldwide audience. He lays it on thick.

Dear Donald, he writes, your decisive action in Iran was truly extraordinary and something no one else dared to do. You are flying into another big success in The Hague, Mr Rutter continues, referring to the fact NATO allies are expected to agree to reach, within a decade, a target of 5% of their GDP on defence and security. The Dutch Foreign Minister Casper Velkamp told the BBC the Netherlands is in favour of the increase.

I think we already convinced Dutch people when I look at the opinion polls and also when I look at the vote in Dutch parliament recently. When the Prime Minister, Defence Minister and I explained our approach towards this NATO summit and the 5% defence spending in Dutch parliament, it met with a very large majority of votes in the parliament. Over 90% of Dutch parliament from left to right supported this approach, supported this 5% commitment.

Mr. Ritter said Mr. Trump was achieving what no U.S. president had managed in decades. We're going to take you back in time to Afghanistan and a time when music was legal and women were allowed to sing. Bismillah.

That's the voice of Zulala Hashemi, who became the first woman to reach the final of the popular TV show The Afghan Star in 2017, Afghanistan's equivalent of American Idol. Zulala's family have reported her missing for the past two weeks and appealed to the Taliban to help find her. A spokesman for the Taliban said an initial inquiry found there was no evidence of kidnapping. Our South Asia regional editor Ambarasan Ethirajan told us more about Zulala Hashemi and how Afghan Star made her a household name. That

that created so much buzz. It was a trailblazer because it's a male-dominated, conservative society, a woman, you know, 18-year-old girl coming and singing in front of this audience, getting broadcast all across the country. Giving hope and inspiration, I guess. Hope and inspiration and how, you know, others can follow. It's a...

But she didn't win the prize, but she motivated a lot of young people. And then she gave quite a few concerts. And that's why she's one of those very well-known singers in Afghanistan. And that is why people remember her. When the news came out, why it became a big news on social media, the Afghans inside and outside the country talking about is because of her musical talent. There have been numerous cases, as we've reported, of women who've been beaten and jailed.

for defying the Taliban and also the case of Afghan folk singer who was killed by the Taliban. Do people fear Zohra has been targeted possibly because of her, I guess, prominence? Kidnappings and detentions by Taliban are not uncommon given the current situation. But we do not know any information or any confirmed report of any kidnapping by any particular group because nobody has claimed responsibility or

whether anything else happened to her. We don't know. But what it shows is the other aspect is about the status of musicians in the country. I mean, if you see how in the last two or three years, systematically by province by province, the Taliban rulers have said no music in radio stations, no music being played in marriages or in concerts or even in restaurants because what they call us, it is...

It encourages moral corruption because they follow a very ultra-conservative version of Islam. And you see some of those very...

hot-rending photographs of a pile of musical instruments, a guitar or harmonium and various Afghan instruments being set on bonfire by Taliban. So this is a very, very well-known but tragic picture because they seized all these musical instruments in different parts of the country and they set fire to them. And there are pictures of videos on social media of some of these instruments being broken by the Taliban. So many of these musicians have fled the country and

And in fact, one musician, one folk singer was killed a few years ago. And they are living in fear. So they have to, some of them say, we bury this musical instrument under the ground so that the Taliban won't see. We don't want them to be destroyed. It is part of the culture. It is part of the society. But the fear is, you know, by not being there, they will lose it out. And that's why many people are escaping musicians to neighboring countries like Pakistan or Iran or even come to other countries.

Some of our audience might be surprised to hear that there is no personal income tax

in many of these small states in the Gulf region. That has been one of the reasons that's allowed them to attract talent from around the world, both in terms of migrant labor, but also doing higher level, more skilled jobs as well. But Oman now is saying that they need to diversify their tax revenue. A lot of these countries rely on mainly oil and gas revenue. They're not the first ones to recognize that they need to diversify it, but they're the first ones to announce that they're

putting in a personal income tax. It's still pretty low, 5% of taxable income if you make more than about $110,000. So it's not everyone that's going to be having to pay. Yeah, indeed, only the top 1% of earners in the country are going to end up paying this income tax. But is it a sign, do you think, of countries that have got pretty wealthy from exploiting their oil and gas reserves, looking towards a future perhaps beyond oil and gas?

guess? Well, the biggest example of that would be Dubai and Saudi Arabia, who have

Well, Dubai, maybe not so much, but Saudi Arabia, which basically became as rich as it is today because of oil and some gas, saying that it now wants to diversify into technology, into entertainment, into sports. Saudi Arabia is, of course, hosting the World Cup in about a decade's time. Qatar, of course, hosted the World Cup in 2022. So these countries are realizing that they need to have their economy based on more than just one type of industry. More of Fogarty.

Campaigners in Venice are claiming victory after the founder of Amazon, Jeff Bezos, moved the location of his wedding party in the Italian city. The event has caused controversy with protesters planning to disrupt it.

One of those organising the protests with the group No Space for Bezos is schoolteacher Marta Sotoriva. My colleague Julianne Warwicker spoke to her. We are not opposing the wedding. What we are opposing is a vision and a logic that see the city as some like a ascetic scenery, like a landscape behind which

a multi-billionaire can buy Venice for a few days. So the idea is basically, of course, there was a lot of anger coming from Venetian people because we are looking at a proper, you know, assault to the lagoon. So the whole issue of a city that is very fragile and of people that are struggling to live here, it's a city that is losing its population year after year.

And so our idea is that by opposing this event, it's our way to say we are sick and tired of, you know, the exploitation and the commodification of our land. He is clearly a very wealthy man, as you rightly say. He is also bringing in lots of very wealthy guests who will spend their money in Venice and therefore boost the economy, surely.

Right. Well, for people living in Venice, there's no contradiction between mass tourism over tourism on the one hand and rich people coming and believing that because they've got money, they can do whatever they want.

Money is pouring in Venice, but money was already pouring in Venice. We've got 20 to 30 million people per year. So the issue with Venice is not the money or the visibility that they can bring. The issue here is that the city is losing its inhabitants and it's losing its economic and social fabric. And so we need politics that have a...

a long-term vision for this place. Right. Just a word about your tactics and your approach here. What are you planning for the next few days? We've been involved in several direct non-violent actions. We're going to have a big demonstration on the 28th

So because of our protest, Bezos and the city council were forced to move the location from the Misericordia area that is very central to the city into a peripheric site that is more controllable and it's without reach.

You know, we are not a Las Vegas landscape. We are not a postcard. There's people living here and we feel that it's a real problem here that a man can be so rich that he can rent a city. Marta Sotariva.

And that's all from us for now, but there will be a new edition of the Global News Podcast later. And if you want to comment on this podcast or the topics covered in it, you can send us an email. The address is globalpodcast at bbc.co.uk. And you can also find us on X at BBC World Service. And you can use the hashtag Global News Podcast.

This edition was mixed by Caroline Driscoll and the producers were Alison Davies and Daniel Mann. The editor is Karen Martin. I'm Ankur Desai. Until next time, goodbye.