Netanyahu says Iran can no longer enrich uranium; America tries to calm energy markets, and more
The World in Brief from The Economist
The Economist
4.1 • 1.2K Ratings
🗓️ 20 March 2026
⏱️ 5 minutes
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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 or visit our espresso app to start listening. Here's today's |
| 0:29.5 | free edition. |
| 0:35.1 | This is the world in brief from The Economist. |
| 0:41.7 | Our top stories. |
| 0:44.6 | Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel's prime minister, claimed Iran no longer has the capability to enrich uranium or make ballistic missiles. |
| 0:59.5 | He dismissed accusations that Israel had pulled America into the war as fake news and said Israel would hold off on future attacks on Iranian gas fields at Donald Trump's request. |
| 1:06.8 | America's president, meanwhile, insisted he was not putting troops anywhere when asked about |
| 1:12.5 | deploying forces to the Middle East. |
| 1:16.3 | Scott Besant, America's Treasury Secretary, said the Trump administration would consider |
| 1:22.0 | easing sanctions on Iranian oil at sea as it tries to quell volatile energy markets. The comments came as Iran |
| 1:30.7 | warned it would expand strikes on energy infrastructure across the Gulf. Brent Crude, the global |
| 1:37.2 | oil benchmark, jumped above $118 a barrel before falling slightly. Gas prices also surged. Meanwhile, America's war secretary, |
| 1:49.5 | Pete Hegseth, said the aims of the campaign in Iran were unchanged and that the operation |
| 1:55.2 | would end at the president's choosing. He also confirmed his department would ask for $200 billion in additional funding for the |
| 2:03.6 | military operation from Congress. General Dan Cain, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, |
| 2:10.5 | said that Iran still has some military capability. Mr. Trump said Japan was stepping up support in the Iran war, unlike NATO, during a friendly |
| 2:21.1 | meeting in Washington with Tchaichi Sanai. He did not elaborate. Japan's prime minister |
| 2:27.6 | condemned Iranian strikes and warned the global economy would take a huge hit from the conflict. |
| 2:36.4 | But things took an awkward turn after Mr. Trump compared America's attack on Iran to Japan's bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941. |
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