Oliver Conway

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You're listening to the Global News Podcast from the BBC World Service.

Hello, I'm Oliver Conway. We're recording this at 16 hours GMT on Monday the 16th of March. Germany and Britain reject President Trump's demand for NATO to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Iran carries out more attacks in the Gulf, killing at least one person in the UAE. And Ukraine's capital Kiev comes under rare daytime attack by Russia. Also in the podcast, what do the Oscars tell us about the future of film?

After pulling its minesweepers out of the Middle East earlier this year, the US says it needs help to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, where Iran has reportedly laid mines as part of its strategy to stop oil tankers getting through. President Trump wants NATO allies to help clear the waterway, and has warned that if they don't, the organisation faces a quote, very bad future. Japan and Australia have already said they are not willing to send warships to patrol the strait.

The British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said reopening the waterway was not a simple task. He said the UK would do what it could, but would not be drawn into a wider war.

First, we are working with others to come up with a credible plan for the Straits of Hormuz to ensure that we can reopen shipping and passage through the strait. Let me be clear, that won't be, and it's never been envisaged to be, a NATO mission. That will have to be an alliance of partners, which is why we're working with partners both in Europe, in the Gulf and with the U.S.,

For its part Germany pointed out that at the start of the war the US said European assistance was neither necessary nor desired. And the German defence minister Boris Pistorius rejected the US president's latest demands.

What does the world expect? What does Donald Trump expect from a handful or two handfuls of European frigates in the Strait of Hormuz, that the powerful American Navy cannot accomplish there on its own? That's the question I ask myself. And before we make a decision, outside of NATO territory by the way, we would need both an international framework and a mandate from the German Bundestag.

I would think about that very carefully before we take that step. And I see absolutely no reason to do so. It's not our war. We didn't start it. We want diplomatic solutions and a swift end. Our chief international correspondent Lise Doucette told us more about the difficulties facing the US in getting help from its allies.

And that's a very, very dangerous shift in an already dangerous war. Yeah, and there have been more reports of heavy bombing in Tehran. Do we have any idea of when this might end?

Liis Doucette. As well as pressurising NATO, President Trump also called on China to help reopen the strait, saying the country gets 90% of its oil from there, and hinting he might delay his summit with the Chinese president Xi Jinping if he doesn't get what he wants. In response, the Chinese foreign ministry said both sides were in communication about the expected visit. Trade talks are already underway between the US and China in Paris. This assessment from our Beijing correspondent Stephen McDonnell.

The problem for Donald Trump is that he doesn't have the same leverage with China in terms of bullying that he does with other countries. I think most analysts would say that, again, he seems to have overestimated the extent to which he can push Beijing around. His problem here is basically twofold. One, China might say, well, we didn't start this war. Why would we go and help you sort it all out?

And number two, already there are signs that Chinese ships are going to be let through. And so why risk sending the Chinese Navy anywhere near a dangerous place like that or any other Chinese assets to come to the USA, even if it is?

to keep these talks alive. I mean, Beijing definitely wants Donald Trump to come. We know this because of the sort of soft peddling of the rhetoric here, so as to not upset Washington to keep the momentum going towards this visit. And we're seeing these discussions still going on in Paris right now.

between Scott Besant and Hurley Fong as if the visit is going ahead. They're trying to nut out the various sticking points when it comes to trade, the supply of rare earths, the supply of chips, finding ways they can cooperate with one another. But in yet another indication that I think the US doesn't have the same leverage with China, we've got these trade figures that have come out showing that while Chinese companies

Tämä on tärkeä asia.

Kiitos, että katsoitte.

And Benjamin Netanyahu says the bombing campaign is already achieving some of his aims. Our Middle East correspondent Lucy Williamson has this report. Israel's wartime routine is now so familiar. Even the hospital entertainment continues in underground car parks turned into temporary wards.

Several floors above, sirens sound daily as Iranian missiles are intercepted by Israel's air defenses.

This underground car park at Sheret Zedek Hospital in Jerusalem is now a fully functioning hospital. It's not the first time that Israel's hospitals have moved patients underground during war. And what many Israelis are now asking their prime minister is whether this war with Iran will put an end to Israel's conflicts. It's become very difficult, the situation. Each time we have the bombs here, we want to finish this issue.