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Andrew Peach and in the early hours of Tuesday the 2nd of April these are our main stories a senior
Iranian revolutionary guard Commander is among at least seven people killed in a suspected Israeli
air strike on a building in the Syrian Capital our International editor Jeremy boen gives us his
assessment I think they've seen the way that both Iran and hisb have been pretty cautious
they do not want to esca
late this to an allout War so perhaps Israelis are thinking well that
gives us bit more latitude to push the Kremlin rejects a media report linking Russian agents to
a mystery illness that's affected us diplomats and widespread anger in Ghana after a 63-year-old
traditional priest marries a 12-year-old girl also in this podcast the Harry Potter novelist
JK Rowling challenges Scotland's new hate crime law inviting police to arrest her if they
think she's committed an offense and why have min
dfulness when you could have this
Dutch Trend Nixon is a verb that comes from the noun Nix which translates to nothing in
English so it's the art of Being effortlessly aimless Iran has promised a decisive response
after one of its consulate buildings was destroyed by a suspected Israeli air strike in
the Syrian Capital Damascus hosin akbari is the Iranian ambassador to Syria definitely the Zionist
regime knows better than anyone that such crimes and violating international law will have its
response at the appropriate time the country's Islamic revolutionary guard core says seven of
its members died in the strike including a senior Commander Israel has carried out many strikes on
on Iranian linked Targets in Syria in the past few years but rarely acknowledges them there are
fears this attack could inflame Regional tensions in the aftermath Syria's foreign minister fisel
mcdad pledged his support for the Palestinians our people have grown used to responding to
such cowardly a
ttacks these attacks can only be met with further steadfastness and further
support for the Palestinian people and the resistance whether in Iraq or Southern Lebanon
our International editor Jeremy boen who's in Northern Israel told me more there's been a big
air strike it's flattened the building next to the Iranian Embassy which is in mes which is
a rich part of the central part of Damascus it seems to have been the consulate building that
has been destroyed and with it General Muhammad R
aza zahi he's the Target because he is the most
important Iranian General in Syria and in Lebanon two vital areas for them do we have any evidence
at this point as to who was behind what happened today this is a Precision strike on the man who
would live behind a lot of security who would try and keep his movement secret so whoever hit him I
think we have to assume it's Israel they had the intelligence they knew where he was the capacity
to level the building the buildings around it weren't
particularly damage so it was a very much
a Precision strike so I think what's happened is that the Israelis I'm guessing now but I'm sure
that he had been trying to get this man and they have decided that they had an opportunity they've
done it and they have assassinated other high level people in Hezbollah for example in Hamas in
in Lebanon in the month since October the 7th but this is the most senior Target they've managed
to hit and kill thus far and the big question now is what the I
ranian response will be yeah it
is again it's all speculative I think there have been reports out of tan saying that they will
respond but 2020 the very very senior Iranian General kasum suani was assassinated by the
Americans in Baghdad alongside a militia leader in Iraq you know two very significant targets
and there were not the sort of immediate full-on retaliations you'd expect I've been talking to
people today who are suggesting well maybe if they retaliate it could be through some so
rt of
a Cyber attack hisb in Lebanon and I'm talking to you from Northern Israel not very far from
the Lebanese border they have a lot of capacity much of it provided by Iran to launch missiles
in to Israel and they've been doing that on a regular basis it's a very significant escalation
there was one today and one I think last week there have been drone attacks out of Iraq that
have hit the southern Israeli port on the Red Sea of Iraq this is an important leader on the
Iranian side and th
ey've decided to do it and I think they're also challenging the deterrence
if you like that Iran has been trying to build up because I think they've seen in the last few
months the way that both Iran and Hezbollah have been pretty cautious they do not want to escalate
this to an allout War so perhaps the Israelis are thinking well that gives us bit more latitude to
push and that's certainly what they've done now our International editor Jeremy boen meanwhile in
Gaza Palestinians have descri
bed graphic scenes of death and destruction at the territory's biggest
Hospital Al shifer after Israeli forces withdrew from a two-e raid targeting Hamas fighters who
are alleged to have returned to the site the Hamas run health Ministry in Gaza says dozens
of bodies have been recovered the White House said it would demand more information from Israel
here's White House Press Secretary Karen jeanpier Hamas has intentionally embedded themselves into
these hospital and so we've been very clea
r as as it relates to the footage as it relates to the
photos and reportings we have not verified that footage we're we're reaching out uh to the Israeli
government to get more information but obviously if these reports are true that is indeed deeply
concerning of course B and Huga basa has more from Jerusalem at Gaza City's alifa Hospital a scene
of complete desolation walls scorched by fire and pounded by explosions with rooms and Wards reduced
to Rubble for two weeks this was the scene o
f an Israeli incursion against what the Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu described as a terrorist Lair today Israeli troops pulled out leaving a
wasteland of destroy DED buildings and dozens of Palestinian bodies in and around the complex
mutasim duu a local journalist was one of the hundreds of people who went to see the damage I
saw all the buildings of Al Hospital completely or partially destroyed people screaming crying they
are looking for their loved ones I saw Mass Graves bodies sca
ttered every side of the destroyed
buildings the Israeli Army said he had killed two 100 people who he described as terrorists and that
500 suspected Fighters were detained leftenant Colonel Peter Lerner is a spokesperson for the
Israeli military hundreds of Hamas terrorists had taken up positions utilizing the premises
different Wards different buildings to conduct command and control capabilities communicate
with the forces in the north of the Gaza Strip and effectively had created a nort
hern Fortress
within the Gaza Strip within the premises of the shifa compound Hamas called the destruction of the
complex a crime against humanity for critics of the Israeli campaign in Gaza this shows not only
that Palestinian Fighters still have the ability to regroup it also demonstrates a lack of a
long-term plan by the Israeli military as no long after its forces left the hospital last year enemy
Fighters went back a new investigation has accused Russia of being behind Havana syndrome
a mystery
illness which has affected American Diplomat stationed in many countries The Joint report by
Des spegel The Insider and cbs's 60 Minutes says a Russian military intelligence unit may have been
involved Moscow has denied the accusations Rachel Wright has the story heran syndrome was first
identified in Cuba's capital city in 2016 when us diplomats began to complain of dizziness headaches
and a painful sound in the ears more than 1,000 reports of the condition have been made since
and people with confirmed brain injuries from the illness are eligible for compensation from the
US government us intelligence had suggested that those affected could have been hit by microwaves
from hidden devices but said it was unlikely a foreign power was to blame now evidence has
emerged suggesting that operatives from a Russian military intelligence unit may have targeted us
diplomats with direct energy weapons the report said the evidence Place members of the unit in
cities around th
e world at times when American Personnel who was there reported feeling unwell
one victim an FBI agent told CBS 60 minutes she felt like she'd been hit by a powerful force when
she fell ill in 2021 inside my right ear it was like a dentist drilling on steroids and it knocked
me forward and pressure and pain started coursing from inside my right ear down my jaw down my neck
and into my chest the woman known as Carrie said she passed out and L later had issues with memory
and concentration th
e Kremlin has dismissed the accusations as baseless and unfounded India is
bracing itself for more heat waves than normal between now and June this means temperatures are
expected to reach more than 40° or at least 4 and A2 degrees higher than average It also says
they'll last longer than normal making it the third year in a row of excessive heat in India
and coming as the country prepares for a general election our southeast Asia Regional editor and
Barrison eaj is in Delhi the Met Office
has been warning that the number of days where they expect
the heat wave to persist has increased up to 10 to 20 days instead of 4 to 8 days so that is having
a huge impact on a number of sectors across the country first of all you have the mammoth election
coming up starting from the 19th of April where tens of thousands of people will attend rallies
so that is a big concern because in one of the meetings last year near Mumbai people died of heat
stroke and then hundreds got admitted it's
not unusual for there to be very hot days in Delhi but
we're talking about many hot days this month next month the month after that these three months are
going to be really hot I mean usually summer is hot in India but what the scientists are saying
is that the intensity of the heat has increased not just about Delhi if you see the major cities
some of the areas were witnessing 5° C more than what it used to be pay day wage laborers those
who are involved in construction work that will hav
e health issues for them so they have to stop
work at some point and also agricultural laborers who are working in the field and people pulling
carts or Ras has a huge social problem if the heat persists that will have an impact on agricultural
production as well India is the world's second biggest producer of wheat in 2022 because of
this heat wve it hit the overall production and as a result India baned exports for a few months
it is not simply about people trying to protect themselves fr
om the heat wave it is also having
an impact on society and agriculture as well as business a lot of people will be thinking is this
more evidence of global warming is that something that's being talked about people do realize that
the temperatures have gone up now scientific studies show that 0.15 de increasing over the
years every year scientists are clearly linking this with both global warming as well as with the
El new weather pattern where the intensity of the heat as well as the inte
nsity of the monsoon both
increase and Barrison eogan with me from India Easter celebrations have been taking place across
the globe over the weekend but in Iran anyone seen marking Christian Traditions is arrested for that
reason Christians are turning their homes and even their cars into makeshift churches so they can
worship without being detected by the authorities the BBC SAR manetta has been talking to some
celebrating Easter in secret Tina's cooking dinner for her husband and young c
hildren on a
table in a corner of the living room she has made a display with Daylights pastel colored eggs and
a little wooden cross it's her own intimate way to Mark Easter she and her husband converted to
Christianity years ago and because of that they could be arrested so I'm not using her real name
and her words are been boed by an actress it is very difficult knowing that our beliefs could lead
to our imprisonment particularly for someone like me who has children in Iran some minoriti
es like
Armenian and Assyrian Christians are allowed to practice their religion but they are banned from
preaching to other Iranians or even letting them into their churches so people like Tina can only
practice their faith in secret in so-called house churches we meet in small groups and each time
in different places it could be in the home of one of our members or sometimes even in a park or
in a car while driving it is safer if each group knows as little as possible about the others so
if one group encounters problems the rest aren't implicated on a special days like Christmas
and Easter the government also intensifies its efforts to identify and arrest people so we've
never been able to celebrate Christmas or Easter on the actual day so we have to shift the timing
and do it a few weeks later Tina and her husband have received warnings but have not been arrested
so far many others have not been so lucky one day there was a knock on the door and there was like
10 officers
standing in front of the door Mahi was 20 the first time he was arrested due to
safety concerns again I'm not using his real name he says he was kept in solitary confinement
interrogated rep ly and threatened but it was the second time he was arrested when he was
24 that really left a mark on him this time I was in C and finan for more than a month and
the interrogations were more intense they kept us in there for 3 years when he was released he
couldn't go back to his old life eventually h
e decided to flee Iran according to the NGO article
18 at least 166 Christians were arrested in Iran last year authorities led a Spate of arrests
in the months leading up to the anniversary of the death of Masa amini the young woman who died
while in custody of the Iranian morality police who had accused her of not wearing her head scarf
properly mansur bori the founder and director of article 18 believes that the increased pressure
by Iranian authorities on protesters and religious minorit
ies is backfiring they have alienated a
younger generation back in her home Tina and a few other members of their church are planning
a postponed Easter celebration we have to take precautions because we know the government has
plans for those days as well now you may have been marking Easter over the last couple of days
or taking the opportunity to do something active perhaps you've been doing nothing there is a
Dutch word for that Nixon our correspondent Anna hollan told Nick Robinson Mo
if you think about
mindfulness that has the explicit goal of being fully present in the moment whereas Nixon is about
letting yourself just be Idol without trying to be productive it's mindlessness and Nixon is a verb
that comes from the noun Nix which translates to nothing in English so Nixon is to nothing it's
the art of Being effortlessly aimless and we tend to feel guilty about doing nothing but the
Dutch are pragmatic people and as far as they're concerned you have to own that nothingn
ess and
they've given it this name Nixon to do nothing without a purpose what do you meant to gain well
if you look at some of the data the Dutch have one of their shortest working weeks in Europe
yet they're among the most productive people constantly raced as one of the world's happiest
Nations they prioritize work life balance it's perfectly plausible that Nixon could be part of
the secret to that success and there is a science behind Nixon so by building relaxing moments of
brain break
s into your days you can balance your stress levels by tapping into your rest and digest
response so a few minutes of Nicks and every day could improve your focus and decision making it's
all about your frontal loob the section of the brain involved in decision making and self-control
that becomes increasingly tired the more cognitive load you push on it so when you rest your frontal
load Powers down and lets your default mode take over so if you think about those moments when
you're actual
ly not trying to achieve anything that's when your greatness can really take over
we're told to chill but then we feel guilty about doing nothing so Nixon it's about giving
yourself permission recognizing the value and simply tuning in and zoning out our correspondent
anah hollan with Nick Robinson still to come on the global news podcast Hollywood actresses and
close friends an Hathaway and Jessica Chastain on their new film mother's instinct I love Annie
it actually sometimes makes it mor
e difficult to play friends who then have have a conflict but I
think what it does is it gives the film an [Music] edge there's been widespread anger in Ghana
after a 63-year-old traditional priest got married to a girl of 12 the customary wedding
ceremony took place outside the capital Acra on Saturday Africa Regional editor Richard Hamilton
reports the legal age for marriage in GH is 18 and the prevalence of child Brides has declined
but the practice still continues videos of this event h
ave been widely shared on social media
during the ceremony women told the girl to dress teasingly and use perfume to increase her
sexual appeal to her husband these remarks have been perceived to mean that the marriage was not
merely ceremonial garan law recognizes customary unions but does not allow child marriages under
the guise of culture or tradition next to South Korea and a story about spy cameras elections and
a YouTube influencer police are searching for two men who've been accused
of helping a YouTuber
to install dozens of spy cameras at polling stations ahead of local elections on Thursday
our Asia Pacific Regional editor Celia Hatton told me more a few days ago police arrested
a YouTuber who had been going online and and spouting unfounded theories that there had been
manipulation in the South Korean elections they then went on police to reveal that they'd found
quite a few illegal secret cameras in polling and vote counting stations that have been set up
for ear
ly voting in the Parliamentary elections the number of illegal cameras that's been found
has now risen to 40 devices that were disguised to look like electrical Chargers that had been
plugged into a wall outlet they even had stickers of South Korean telecommunications companies
stuck onto them to make them look authentic but they were actually cameras this YouTuber was
going to use to try to watch the voting process they've actually issued two more arrest warrants
for two other men they bel
ieve were helping to install these secret spy cameras all over South
Korea what I'm intrigued by is what use would it be to be able to film how people have voted
well this suspect as he was paraded by the police said that he had wanted to check the numbers of
early voters it doesn't have a basis and it has been unfounded but he has a theory that there
is a difference between the people who vote in early elections and the people who vote in the
main voting period so that's what he wanted to
use this spy camera footage for amazingly police
have actually said that they actually found a spy camera that they believe was installed by this
same person during the 2023 byelection in Soul where they'd also found spy cameras installed at
the early voting stations is this a one-off or is it common to have different sorts of election
interference in South Korea South Korea really is seen as as quite a healthy democracy with
transparent elections that are quite free and fair very close mon
itoring by the media but
this YouTuber represents fears that South Korean politics is becoming more polarized
and also the authorities have said they are worried about other things including artificial
intelligence the threat of deep fakes and so there are concerns for The Wider Health of South
Korean elections but I think that that's something that politicians in many democracies are becoming
concerned about asia-pacific editor Celia Hatton with me the author of the world famous Harry
Pot
ter novels JK Rowling is invited police to arrest her if they think she's committed an
offense under a new hate crime law that's just come into force in Scotland M ring who lives in
the capital Edinburgh says the legislation is a threat to free speech here's our Scotland editor
James Cook the hate crime and public order act criminalizes Behavior which crosses a line from
offensive shocking or disturbing to threatening and abusive it deals with offenses aggravated
by Prejudice and creates a
crime of stirring up hatred relating to age disability religion sexual
orientation transgender Identity or being intersex stirring up racial hatred was and remains illegal
but one group is not protected by the law women JK Rowling says that is wrong on social media today
the author posted about several trans people who are protected adding that she looked forward
to being arrested if what she had written about them qualified as an offense earlier Susan Smith
of the gender critical campaign
group for women Scotland had predicted a flood of complaints there
will be a rush to report people to the police I imagine that there will be many complaints for
example made against JK Rowling so there is a high chance the police will be overwhelmed with
a lot of complaints some of which will be purely spurious Scotland's first Minister Hamza yusf
says the threshold for criminality in the new law is incredibly high but insists it is needed
we have seen him afraid right across many parts of
the world it's kind a rising tide of hatred
against the people because of their protected characteristics so unless your behavior is
threatening or abusive and intends to start up hatred then you have nothing to worry about
in terms of the new offenses being created Mr yousef's government is planning a separate law
to tackle hatred and harassment of women but for now senior police officers are worried about the
impact of this act with the complaints already coming in China's leaders are tr
ying to find ways
to tackle what's been described as a demographic ticking Time Bomb it's simultaneously aging and
shrinking population one in five people are over the age of 60 which is the largest elderly
population in the world pension and health care systems are struggling to cope at a time
when women are having fewer babies so can the world's second largest economy afford to grow
old our China correspondent Laura Bier has been investigating at the back of morning exercise
class Grandm
a Fen and her friends are giggling and gossiping they live together in one of China's
Flagship Elderly Care Homes in the south of the country she's decided to pay for long-term care
rather than rely on her son I'm more open-minded there are few people of the same age who think
like us I give my house to my son all we need is our two pension card in the community room
there are young people being beaten at table tennis by 80-year-olds they live here rent free
and volunteer to care for the [M
usic] elderly the home is partly funded by private companies so
that could help out local governments who are deep in debt but after the pandemic the home is
currently running at a loss so Beijing does need other ideas on the sunny banks of the Grand
Canal in Hano we meet four women all over 55 they're a new kind of social media star promoting
graying gracefully China hopes more over 60s will continue working as the economy slows so we come
to the north of China to Ling Province the reason
we've come here is because it has the highest
percentage of elderly in the whole of China former Digger operator Tango he looks after six
residents she grows all her own crops the animals too are dinner she's tapping into the need to
find solutions for the large elderly population in this province it's really tough without a
pension in rural areas just say that 85y old man he doesn't have a pension his son pays one
month his daughter pays next month but they need to leave too now I have to
pay my pension every
month even if I don't eat or drink but for some retirement will never be an option in a village
nearby we find farmer H sa and his wife do you have a pension mil no I don't have a pension I
guess I will become a burden for my children I'm 72 this year I think I can only keep doing this
for another four or five years but if feeble and weak then I might be confined to bed that's it
over Ordinary People Like Us or end up like this like much of rudal China there are very fe
w young
people left here to look after the old especially after Decades of a policy allowing couples to only
have one child the rising ranks of the elderly are causing a dramatic imbalance which means China May
grow old before it gets Rich Laura B reporting the newly released film mother's instinct Stars the
American actors an Hathaway and Jessica Chastain in the role of best friends who seem to have it
all as they rais sons of the same age in the same neighborhood the psychological Thrille
r follows
their apparently picture perfect life in 60
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