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- [00:00]
Donald Trump
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- [00:06]
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- [00:36]
Grainger Advertisement Male Voice
If you work in university maintenance, Grainger considers you an MVP because your playbook ensures your arena is always ready for tip off. And Grainger is your trusted partner offering the products you need all in one place, from H Vac and plumbing supplies to lighting and more. And all delivered with plenty of time left on the clock. So your team always gets the win. Call 1-800-granger. Visit grainger.com or just stop by Granger for the ones who get it done.
- [01:08]
Celia Hatton
This is the global news podcast from the BBC World Service. I'm Celia Hatton and in the early hours of Tuesday 10th March, these are our main stories. President Trump says the war in Iran will and soon, soon, but not this week. Global oil prices fall. In response to Mr. Trump's comments, Israel continues to strike targets across Lebanon with links to the Iran backed group Hezbollah. Also in this podcast, Russia wins its first Winter Paralympic gold medal under its own flag since 2014, Starting with the U S Israel war with Iran. Over the last week or so, President Trump has said many things about his objectives for the war and how long it will take to achieve them before he said the military campaign could take some time and the biggest strikes in the war were still to come. Those comments led to a surge in the price of oil and a drop in stock markets across the world. Mr. Trump now appears to have changed his tune. In a media briefing, he suggested the US had nearly completed its military plan for Iran.
- [02:26]
Donald Trump
We're achieving major strides toward completing our military objective and some people could say
- [02:33]
Sardar Pashe
they're pretty well complete.
- [02:35]
Donald Trump
We've wiped every single force in Iran out very completely. Most of Iran's naval power power has been sunk. It's on the bottom of the sea. It's almost 50 ships. I was just notified it's 51 ships.
- [02:53]
Celia Hatton
He also addressed concerns about Iran's chokehold over oil supplies. Tehran has in effect closed the Strait of Hormuz by making it too dangerous for ships to pass through. The US President threatened to bomb targets in Iran that the US has so far avoided, such as electricity infrastructure if tankers could not pass through the waterway.
- [03:15]
Donald Trump
We're also focused on keeping energy and oil flowing to the world. And I will not allow a terrorist regime to hold the world hostage and attempt to stop the globe's oil supply. And if Iran does anything to do that, they'll get hit at a much, much harder level. I will take out those targets that were easy and that I mentioned just before. We'll take them out so quickly they'll never be able to recover, ever.
- [03:42]
Celia Hatton
So is this change of tone by Mr. Trump driven by the rise in the price of oil and the disruption to stock markets? Our North America correspondent is David Willis.
- [03:52]
David Willis
Donald Trump claims, Celia, that he knew oil prices would go up if he launched this attack on Iran. They've gone up less than he thought they would, he added at that news conference today. But he is clearly determined to limit the disruption to global trade that could result from a long term blockage of the Strait of Hormuz. And he's offering US Naval escorts for shipping in the area, the deployment of US Minesweepers, even US Underwritten political risk insurance for those vessels that are wary of navigating that vital waterway. And he made the point that because the United States now has access to Venezuelan oil following the capture of of Venezuela's former leader Nicolas Maduro, and is now the US Almost self sufficient when it comes to oil and gas, any such blockade would affect other countries such as China, more than it would the United States of America. But he does want this war to end, does Donald Trump. And at the press conference today, he almost seemed to me to be willing its conclusion. Because this is a man, after all, elected on a promise to keep America out of so called forever wars in remote corners of the world. He doesn't want to see prices go up in the run up to the midterm elections in November. But there are a lot of mixed messages coming from the administration over this conflict with Iran. And President Trump told CBS News that the war was pretty much complete before telling journalists later in the day that the US Was winning decisively but hadn't won enough and was still looking to achieve what he the president called the ultimate victory. Celia?
- [05:43]
Celia Hatton
David, I mean, we've heard a lot of different messages about the US Military objectives. Did the president lay out a vision for Iran's political future?
- [05:54]
David Willis
Not much. He did make plain though that his view of the Iran of the future, if you like, does not include the newly elected Supreme Leader, Motaba Khamenei as head of state. He, of course, is the son of a previous Iranian leader. And Mr. Trump has called his appointment disappointing, said he would like to see someone more amenable to the United States in place in Iran, and asked at today's news conference if the administration had plans to take Murtaba Khamenei out. He said he didn't want to get into that, but he did add that he was disappointed because we think it's going to lead to just more of the same problem for the country, said Mr. Trump.
- [06:39]
Celia Hatton
David Willis if President Trump was concerned about the rising price of oil and wanted to bring it down with his words, then that plan seems to have worked. I spoke to our business correspondent Nick Marsh in Singapore and began by asking him if oil traders had been reassured that the war won't disrupt oil supplies.
- [07:00]
Nick Marsh
Yes, I think they have, to a certain extent, at least temporarily. But I'm just taking a look here now, Celia. The price of Brent crude does seem to be climbing up again. It dropped significantly after President Trump made those comments. And the markets on Wall street, for example, and out here in Asia in the morning responded pretty positively. But it's climbing up. It's around $94 a barrel, which, which is still significantly higher, by the way, than before this war. This campaign was launched by the US And Israel. But it just goes to show, doesn't it, words can move markets, but also the facts on the ground can, can also influence markets as well. And in spite of the fact that Donald Trump made those assurances that the war would come to an end very soon, he talked about naval escorts getting ships through the Strait of Hormuz, things like that, the facts on the ground haven't actually changed. The war as it stands is still continuing. Neither side looks like it wants to back down and nothing is going through the Strait of Hormuz.
- [08:01]
Celia Hatton
The war could go on for some time, couldn't it? Our countries prepared for this if it does happen.
- [08:08]
Nick Marsh
Ordinary people in real life are already feeling the effects. Outside of the Middle east, petrol prices are up pretty much everywhere. You look out here in Asia, governments are already looking at things like price caps. Thailand's brought one in, South Korea's brought one in. There has been some panic buying in parts of Indonesia, saw some in Pakistan as well, where schools are closed. The president of the Philippines I saw has told civil servants to switch to a four day working week to try and save fuel. So governments out here are looking at the here and the now. They're trying to bring in temporary measures. No one really knows what's going to happen long term. But the real effects are starting to be felt in an area, let's not forget, where the vast majority of that oil and gas is supposed to be headed. 90% of what goes to the Strait of Hormuz comes to economies out here in Asia. So it's no surprise that people are feeling the effect on the ground even after, you know, 10 days of this war having been launched.
- [09:08]
Celia Hatton
And just briefly, Nick, I mean, what about stock markets? How have they been doing so far?
- [09:13]
Nick Marsh
So we saw big losses yesterday in Japan, for example. In South Korea they are regaining some of those losses. They were up quite sharply at the beginning of the morning. The Kospi was up about 6%, the Nikkei around 4%. That's been scaled back a little bit. I'm looking at 2% in Japan and 3% in South Korea. So a rise definitely. But again, you know, every day something different changes and even within the day, things can change quite quickly.
- [09:42]
Celia Hatton
Nick marsh, Staying with the war, the United States and Israel have continued their bombardment of Iran with powerful explosions echoing across the capital, Tehran. At the very start of the 11th day of hostilities, Iran has again been retaliating, firing missiles and drone against its Gulf neighbors, including Bahrain, which has reported another fatality. Israel has also experienced further attacks. Meanwhile, the Israeli military has continued to strike targets across Lebanon, including financial institutions with links to the Iran backed group Hezbollah. Tens of thousands of people have now fled the fighting. Many of them have been arriving in the capital, Beirut. Our correspondent Wira Davis is there and sent this report.
- [10:31]
Donald Trump
This is the Renee Moad State School in Beirut. You can probably hear children playing kicking balls in the background, but they're not pupils here. These are children who've come here with their families from southern Beirut and from southern Lebanon. They've been displaced by the war. Now there are 5, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 stories in this building. Every single classroom is full of children, full of families. So they've had to on the ground floor down here, they've had to put up tents to accommodate the families. Virtually every school in Beirut now is full of families just like these. The UN children's agency UNICEF says that 700,000 people, including 200,000 children, have been forced to leave their homes under the threat of Israeli evacuation orders. Ahmad El Halabi, a technician and father of two from the Dahia area of south Beirut, had to flee here with his extended family in the middle of the night as missiles were hitting nearby.
- [11:33]
Celia Hatton
We were running away from the bombing.
- [11:35]
Sardar Pashe
There is no safety.
- [11:37]
Celia Hatton
I have little kids and the living
- [11:39]
Sardar Pashe
conditions were already bad. You can only imagine how it is during wartime. I just want to keep my kids safe.
- [11:48]
Donald Trump
Israel is expanding the scale and the scope of its campaign in Lebanon, not only targeting Hezbollah's leaders and fighters. Later, we went on to the site of an airstrike against a bank, a financial institution called Al Qarat al Hasan in south Beirut. At least 5 of the bank's offices in the capital have been destroyed. Today, Hezbollah says it's a bank that provides financial and social services to clients across the country, but Israel accuses it of directly financing and funding Hezbollah's military activities in Lebanon and beyond.
- [12:23]
Celia Hatton
Weira Davis still to come in this podcast, the AI firm Anthropic says it's suing the US Government after the Trump administration designated the company a supply chain risk.
- [12:43]
Grainger Advertisement Female Voice
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- [13:13]
Grainger Advertisement Male Voice
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- [13:44]
Grainger Advertisement Female Voice
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- [14:14]
Grainger Advertisement Male Voice
This is the story of the 1. As a maintenance tech at a university, he knows ordering from multiple suppliers takes time away from keeping their arena up and running. That's why he counts on Grainger to get everything he needs, from lighting and H vac parts to plumbing supplies, all in one place. And with Fast, dependable delivery. He's stocked and ready for the next tip off. Call 1-800-GRAINGER, click grainger.com or just stop by Grainger for the ones who get it done.
- [14:48]
Celia Hatton
This is the global news podcast to Australia now. After days of speculation about their safety, five members of Iran's women's football team have been granted humanitarian visas by Australia. The team had been accused of treason by supporters of the Iranian regime. After all, the players refused to sing the national anthem before their opening match at the Asian cup last week. They were eliminated from the tournament on Sunday and were due to fly home. But as they continued to gather attention, supporters grew increasingly worried they'd face punishments from Tehran when they arrived home. The BBC's Katie Watson is on the Gold Coast. She actually saw the five women leaving the oversight of their handlers and crossing over to take refuge with the Australian authorities. When I spoke to Katie, she told me how this all began, when they
- [15:40]
Katie Watson
remained silent in their opening match against South Korea. It was a bit of a statement. Certainly some people I've spoken to since then were very surprised in the Iranian community that they did that because they
- [15:50]
Celia Hatton
knew it would be a big step.
- [15:51]
Katie Watson
But what was interesting, the subsequent two matches, they then did take part in the national anthem. So there were concerns from people here in the Iranian Australian community that they had perhaps been forced to comply, and there was pressure on them from the delegation. And in that delegation, there are people within the regime. So there were, you know, huge fears about their safety if they went back to Iran, but also if they felt that they might want to seek asylum here in Australia, what would that mean for their families back in Iran? So this whole conversation kind of snowballed over the course of a week. And then, I mean, I'm at the hotel now where the women's team is. The majority of them are still here, but those five did escape the hotel. In fact, I saw. I saw it happen. But it was a very odd situation where there were some activists talking to some players. They were all. It was all very informal, but it was such a kind of engineered process. They then walked out of the lobby and at that point it was the Australian Federal Police who then took them to a safe location. But within. It didn't take long, for suddenly I saw several people from the delegation run across the lobby, go down a stairwell trying to get hold and try and find these players who had disappeared, but to no avail because they were taken to a safe place. Their visas have been issued and the Australian government has said that they ensure that the women are safe and offered that support to any remaining players who
- [17:20]
Celia Hatton
wanted Katie Watson on the Gold Coast. While the other Iranian team members have now boarded a bus, they're thought to be heading for the airport, the start of their journey back to Iran. As their coach departed the hotel, local Iranian activists chanted, save our girls. With some of the players seen putting their hands over their ears. The Iran women's football team are not the first Iranian athletes to get caught up in a controversy after protesting against the regime. Sardar Pashe is a former world youth wrestling champion and national wrestling coach. He fled Iran in 2009 after criticizing the government. He's now based in the US and is the head of a human rights organization called Hiwa. He spoke to Leila Nasu and began by giving his reaction to the women's decision to stay in Australia.
- [18:12]
Sardar Pashe
This is a very good news, and I'm proud of this brave woman because that's not an easy decision, especially when you are in that situation. I know a lot of athletes have been in that place and they debate themselves that what is the right decision because you leave your country behind, your family behind, and it's very difficult. But I'm proud of them. I think this is a good thing. And the whole point was Australian government give this opportunity to this athlete so they make decision about their future. Either they want to stay there or they want to go back. I'm sure both cases are very stressful. You really don't know what the right decision is. But I think those five athletes who decided to stay, that was a very courageous decision. And I'm very proud of them. And I just want to send this message to them if they hear me, you know, people are proud of you. Your people look at you like your hero. And this is a whole new world in front of you. So keep continuing and you're champion for your whole people.
- [19:18]
Katie Watson
You yourself have had some experience of making a decision to leave Iran after being under pressure for speaking out against the government. Does this take you back to when you had that choice before you?
- [19:32]
Sardar Pashe
Oh, absolutely. You know, each time you ask yourself when you go back, was it the right decision? Not because you don't see your family. Me, myself, my both parents both passed away two years ago. I could not go back to their funeral because I would be arrested. So these are like difficult times in your life that you face or, you know, you miss all of your city, your hometown, your people, you want to be there. But when your government force you to go in that situation, to make a Difficult decision, leave everything behind. That's kind of like affect whole of your life. But when I go back and with all of the pain, all of the wound, I still proud of my decision. I think I could make a platform for my people, for those athletes that don't have a voice and outside of the world to tell the people this is what kind of regime we are facing, this is what look like even as an athlete and nothing is normal. And this is why the world should support those brave women, brave people and also stand against that barbaric regime.
- [20:46]
Katie Watson
It seems like from some of the reports that we're getting from Australia that the women had to actively escape their handlers or the people that were with them in order to get to a safe place. Before making this decision and having that confirmed by the Australian government. Can you just give us a sense of how difficult that might have been, the sort of structures and restrictions that are in place on athletes competing internationally for Iran?
- [21:15]
Sardar Pashe
Yeah. Before talking to you just a few minutes ago, I saw the picture of one of the members of either intelligence agency or Revolutionary Guard with this team in Australia. It again remind me their face, how they talk and speak to these people. They break their dignity, humiliate them and also controlling them. As an athlete you're not allowed to go out to dance, to drink, you know, and you have been watched. I remember they were walking behind our doors overnight. So no athlete go out and so they treat you like a slave and especially for women it's worse. So when there are situation athlete make decision. Because of all of that pressure, it's very difficult because you have to find the time at the midnight or like these athletes to just sneak away and find a safety place to, to be safe to, you know, to go introduce themselves to police. So not an easy situation. But as I said, I'm proud of these brave athletes.
- [22:22]
Celia Hatton
Sardar Pashe, Iran's former World youth wrestling champion and national wrestling coach who fled Iran in 2009 after criticizing the government. It lets bring you the latest chapter in the ongoing battle between the AI developer Anthropic and the Trump administration. In a first for an American firm, Anthropic has announced it's suing the US government for calling it a supply chain risk. That's after the company refused to update its contract with the US Department of Defense. The Pentagon wanted to use Anthropic's technology without any restrictions for things like mass domestic surveillance and fully autonomous weapons. Our North America technology correspondent Lily Jamali told me more.
- [23:07]
Lily Jamali
Well, this case is significant because it could really affect the way that artificial intelligence models are used on the battlefield in these very sensitive military contexts. So you mentioned Anthropic refused to update this contract that it had with the US Department of Defense and that Anthropic refused to grant unfettered access to its AI models. So about two weeks ago, Pete Hegseth, the Secretary of Defense, told Anthropic it needed to remove any restrictions by adapting deadline that he gave them if it wanted to keep doing business with the military. That deadline passed. Anthropic did not capitulate. And right around the time of the deadline, President Trump accused Anthropic of being what he called a radical left woke company, saying he wouldn't let it dictate how military operations are done. Anthropic's lawsuit today accuses the administration basically of blackballing them, trying to destroy its economic value as an enterprise, and that it did so in Anthropics, telling of things on ideological grounds because the administration just doesn't like this company.
- [24:09]
Celia Hatton
So have we heard any response from the government?
- [24:13]
Lily Jamali
Well, the Pentagon are not offering comment right now because this is now in inactive litigation. But the White House has said that under the Trump administration, you know, the military will obey the constitution and a spokesperson actually said and will not abide by any woke AI company's terms of service. So there again, you have that, that term woke. There is a real ideological lexicon being deployed here. Pretty clear they're digging in for a fight.
- [24:39]
Celia Hatton
And what about other US Tech companies? Are they signing contracts with the Pentagon?
- [24:45]
Lily Jamali
They are. And for, you know, the same kind of work that Anthropic has been doing in these classified military settings. This is work that is basically done to try to analyze data, to sort it. They, you know, intelligence agencies end up collecting a lot of this stuff. So you have xai run by Elon Musk now getting into this type of work as well as OpenAI, the maker
- [25:07]
Celia Hatton
of chat GPT, Lily Jamali. the Winter Paralympics in Italy, Russia has won its first gold medal since its state sponsored doping ban came to an end. Victory for skier Varvara Veronikina meant the Russian national anthem was played and its flag raised at the medal ceremony. A symbolic win for Russia ending its Paralympics exile. Oliver Conway heard more from BBC Sports, Katie Falkingham in Cortina.
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Katie Falkingham
This was obviously the day that we had been anticipating the first Russian gold at a Paralympics since 2014. Veronikina, she'd won bronze on Saturday for Russia's first medal of the Games and then won The Super G today, it was quite an eerie moment as she was announced as Paralympic champion. A real silence kind of dropped over the crowd. You could almost hear a pin drop, that type of silence. It was almost as if everyone was anticipating a reaction, but there wasn't really one. Nothing really happened. There was just some polite applause and then, yeah, it was quite surreal hearing that anthem and seeing the flag raised
- [26:07]
Nick Marsh
and just remind us of why Russia was banned and why it's been allowed back.
- [26:12]
Katie Falkingham
Yes. First after Sochi in 2014, there was the massive state sponsored doping scandal that came to light. And then on the eve of the Winter Paralympics in 2022, of course, Russia invaded Ukraine and the IPC had no choice but to ban Russia from those Games. And the Games going, that ban was put in place not because of the invasion itself, but more because the IPC felt Russia was using its athletes and the Games as a, as a bit of a propaganda tool. Now, they don't think that's the case. And so in September last year, the General assembly of the IPC voted to allow them back in. And, yeah, six Russian athletes are here in Italy.
- [26:49]
Nick Marsh
Now, this is the Paralympics, not the Olympics. But will this win and medal ceremony today, will it pave the way for Russia to compete in Olympics and indeed other sports?
- [27:02]
Katie Falkingham
It's hard to say, really. It kind of feels as if there will be a lot of eyeballs on these Games. It's almost the guinea pig event, seeing how they go, seeing what the reaction's been, and that might inform decisions going forward. Last month, during the Olympics, IOC President Kirsty Coventry, she said that sport is for neutrals and athletes shouldn't be held back by the politics of their country. But that would certainly be a huge decision for the IOC to make.
- [27:25]
Celia Hatton
Katie Falkingham. And to end this edition, the White House aide who revealed the existence of President Nixon's secret recording system in the Watergate scandal has died. At his home in San Diego at the age of 99. Alexander Butterfield oversaw the installation of the secret taping system which the President ordered for the White House. When questioned at a televised Senate Watergate hearing in 1973, the president's deputy assistant admitted he was aware of the listening devices. Mr. Butterfield's testimony was a key factor leading to Nixon's resignation.
- [28:01]
Donald Trump
I don't have the technical knowledge, but I will tell you what I know about how those devices were triggered. They were installed, of course, for historical purposes, to record the President's business, and they were installed in his two offices, the Oval Office and the EOB officer Alexander Butterfield.
- [28:23]
Celia Hatton
In a 1975 interview with People magazine, Mr. Butterfield said Richard Nixon often forgot about the recorders and disregarded advice to destroy the tapes because he never thought the Watergate affair would reach a point where he would have to surrender them. And that's all from us for now. If you want to get in touch, you can email us at global podcastb BBC.co.uk you can also find us on X@ BBC World Service. Use the hashtag global newspod. And don't forget our sister podcast, the Global Story, which goes in depth and beyond the headlines on one big story. This edition of the Global News Podcast was mixed by Chris Lovelock. The editor is Karen Martin. I'm Celia Hatton. Until next time, Goodbye.
- [29:14]
Katie Falkingham
Foreign.
- [29:18]
Grainger Advertisement Male Voice
If you work in university maintenance, Grainger considers you an MVP because your playbook ensures your arena is always ready for tip off. And Granger is your trusted partner, offering the products you need all in one place, from H VAC and plumbing supplies to lighting and more. And all delivered with plenty of time left on the clock so your team always gets the winner. Call 1-800-GRAINGER visit grainger.com or just stop by Granger for the ones who get it done.