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The World in Brief from The Economist

Donald Trump delays China talks; claims Iran’s regime is “obliterated”, and more

The World in Brief from The Economist

The Economist

Global News, Daily News, News, News & Politics

4.11.2K Ratings

🗓️ 17 March 2026

⏱️ 5 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Donald Trump said he asked China to delay his much-anticipated meeting with Xi Jinping “because of the war” and needing to stay in Washington.

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Transcript

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0:00.0

Hello, you're listening to the free edition of the world in brief from The Economist.

0:11.2

As a reminder, if you subscribe to The Economist, you'll get access to a deeper look at the day ahead, updated three times a day.

0:20.1

If you're already an Economist subscriber,

0:22.6

visit Economist.com slash espresso

0:25.1

or visit our Espresso app to start listening.

0:28.7

Here's today's free edition.

0:35.0

This is the world in brief from The Economist.

0:41.7

Our top stories.

0:44.6

Donald Trump said he had asked China to delay his much-anticipated meeting with Xi Jinping,

0:50.7

quote, because of the war and needed to stay in Washington. Mr. Trump had previously suggested

0:57.3

suspending the summit after saying China should also help reopen the strait of Hormuz.

1:04.1

But on Monday, Scott Besant, America's Treasury Secretary, said that any delay would be

1:09.9

only because of logistics.

1:13.6

Mr. Trump said America had hit more than 7,000 targets in Iran and, quote, literally obliterated the regime.

1:22.6

He said America was ready to negotiate, but that he had, quote, no idea who Iran's leaders were,

1:29.9

claiming that they are all dead and that nobody's seen Meshaba Harmoné, Iran's new supreme leader.

1:37.1

Masoud Pasekian, Iran's president, said it was meaningless to speak of ending the war

1:43.0

until there were, quote, no more attacks in our land.

1:48.6

America's president also denounced his allies for refusing his earlier request for assistance

1:54.6

in reopening the Strait of Hormuz. Officials from Germany, Italy and Spain have ruled out participating in military

2:03.6

missions. Australia, France and Japan do not intend to send warships. Britain's Prime Minister

2:09.6

said he was pursuing a viable plan for the strait but would not be drawn into the wider

...

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