Valerie Sanderson

Tapahtuipa kerran, että pessimisti, optimisti ja saletisti grillasivat. Ja niinhän siinä kävi, että saletisti onnistui.

This is the Global News Podcast from the BBC World Service. I'm Valerie Sanderson and it's 16 hours GMT on Wednesday the 1st of April. These are our main stories. Stock markets rise as President Trump promises the end of the war with Iran within the next three weeks. We get access to the views of people living inside Iran. Also, India's census of its population of 1.4 billion gets underway.

Russian government doesn't want people to access things on the internet, free speech, doesn't want people to access western media. Russia clamps down on the social media messaging app Telegram.

As we record this podcast, President Trump is due to address the nation about progress on the war with Iran. Mr. Trump says he's achieved his aim of destroying all of Iran's nuclear capabilities and has promised an end to the conflict within two to three weeks.

Because of the effect of the US-Israeli war with Iran on the global economy, many countries are already facing economic difficulties and are being forced to bring in measures to try to reduce the impact of rising energy prices. The British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has become the latest world leader to outline a plan responding to the energy crisis, while also referencing long-term shifts in alliances. It is now clear that the impact of this war will affect the future of our country.

In the coming weeks we will announce a new summit with our EU partners. And I can tell you that at that summit the UK will not just ratify existing commitments made at last year's summit. We want to be more ambitious. Closer economic cooperation. Closer security cooperation. A partnership that recognises our shared values, our shared interests and our shared future.

In Australia, the Prime Minister Anthony Albanese acknowledged it's difficult to feel positive with the biggest spike in petrol and diesel prices in history. And he urged Australians to use less fuel while outlining new measures.

Markits in that region rallied after President Trump's latest comments. But how likely is Donald Trump's latest war timeline? I asked our diplomatic correspondent, Paul Adams.

Luulen, että Donald Trumpilla on erityinen liikkuvuus aikaa. Hän vastaa sitä, manipuloidaan sitä ja käyttää sitä. Hän laittaa lopuksi lopuksi lopuksi lopuksi lopuksi lopuksi lopuksi lopuksi lopuksi lopuksi lopuksi lopuksi lopuksi lopuksi lopuksi lopuksi lopuksi lopuksi lopuksi lopuksi lopuksi lopuksi lopuksi lopuksi lopuksi lopuksi lopuksi lopuksi lopuksi lopuksi lopuksi lopuksi lopuksi lopuksi lopuksi lopuksi lopuksi lopuksi lopuksi lopuksi lopuksi lopuksi lopuksi lopuksi lopuksi lopuksi

I mean, the problem we have at the moment is we don't quite know exactly what Donald Trump's ambitions are for this war. He seems to have moved away from the idea of regime change, and he seems also to have moved away from the idea of completely removing all trace of Iran's nuclear program.

Even though clearly the Americans believe that the damage that is being done will make it impossible for Iran to reconstitute any kind of weapons program in the near future. But as always with Donald Trump, you're never quite sure. And we'll have to wait until he speaks much later today to find out if he can put any more flesh on that particular bone. Do you think there's an element of reassuring people in the US and indeed financial markets in the timing of this?

Siellä on aina sellainen elementti, ja hän näyttää näitä näkökulmia hyvin lähellä. Petrol on nyt amerikkalaisissa puutteissa saanut $4 kalliota. Se on melko tärkeä näkökulma.

But the rhetoric that he has employed in the last few days does rather suggest that he wants this to be over sooner rather than later. And he's prepared, if necessary, to walk away from some of his sort of maximalist goals in the process. And talking about walking away in a newspaper interview with the British newspaper, Mr. Trump has said he's thinking of leaving NATO. Do you think that shows his dissatisfaction with Western allies?

I think it's clearly a fit of peak over the reluctance of many of those allies to get more closely involved and supportive of the war in Iran. I mean, the Trump administration seems to blithely ignore the whole premise for the NATO alliance, which was that it was a defensive alliance where members would spring to the defense of members when they were attacked.

And of course it is America that has done the attacking in this case. And that accounts for the extreme reluctance of a lot of European NATO allies to get more intimately involved. Paul Adams. And we have more analysis of the economic impact of the conflict on our YouTube channel. Just search for BBC News on YouTube and you'll find Global News Podcast in the podcast section. There's a new story available every weekday.

So, what do we know about the situation inside Iran itself? Daily bombardments have hit the country's infrastructure and civilians alike. More than 3,000 people are reported to have been killed. It's been difficult getting information out of Iran because of the internet shutdown since anti-government protests began in December. BBC Persians Gonchi Habibiazad gathered these recent voices.

I feel like I've been in a purgatory for a month. I can't do anything and everything is up in the air. I'm so tired of the war.

I want them to continue striking. I'm tired of this situation. I want the government to go. I got more details about the views of Iranians from Gonchi Habibiezad.

Jotkut ovat todennäköisesti erittäin huolta. He eivät tiedä, mitä tapahtuu, mitä Donald Trump sanoo, onko se loppu, vai onko se jatkuvasti. Eli nämä ihmiset, joiden puhun, ovat vain pieni osa mitä tapahtuu maailmassa. Se on hyvin vaikeaa kontaktia ulkomailla.

internet blackout and some people are connected via Starlink, which is satellite internet, but also using or possessing Starlink in Iran can lead to up to two years in prison. So these people are paying hefty prices to connect. The visa that I'm getting are mostly from the capital Tehran.