Oil and gas prices surge after energy plant strikes

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1:06We focus on the part of the internet that most people don't know about. It's called the dark web. Undercover in the furthest corners of the dark web, U.S. special agents are on a mission to locate and rescue children from abuse. Move in now. Police! From the BBC World Service, World of Secrets, The Darkest Web follows their shocking investigations. Listen on bbc.com or wherever you get your BBC podcasts. This is the Global News Podcast from the BBC World Service. I'm Janet Jaleel and at 16 hours GMT, these are our main stories. Energy prices have surged after strikes on key gas facilities in Qatar and Iran as the Middle East war continues to escalate.

1:57The US Defence Secretary, Pete Hegseff, insists that the US is on track in the war as he criticises allies and parts of the media. We hear how in the middle of the conflict, the Iranian regime is still executing people who took part in protests earlier this year. Also in this podcast, President Tenubu becomes the first Nigerian leader to make a state visit to the UK in nearly four decades. It's a long time coming, but I think that the king chose the right time. Virtually every fabric of our national life is all linked to the United Kingdom. But what was on the menu at the state banquet?

2:42The war in the Middle East has escalated dramatically. The price of oil and natural gas has soared and stock markets have fallen after tit-for-tat attacks on crucial energy sites in Iran and Qatar. This latest escalation began when Israel attacked Iran's South Pars gas field on Wednesday. Iran then retaliated by hitting a crucial energy complex in Qatar at Ras Laffin, an attack that could severely disrupt future gas supplies if the plant is badly damaged. Qatar's Prime Minister, Mohammed bin Abdurrahman Al Thani, condemned the attack at Ras Laffin. Unfortunately, this sabotage act only indicates an aggression policy and lack of responsibility and a very dangerous escalation by the Iranians against the state of Qatar.

3:33This attack will have huge repercussions on oil or energy supplies around the world. President Trump took to social media to warn that the US would blow up Iran's southpast field if Tehran carried out any further attacks on Qatar's energy facilities. But Iran has continued to carry out strikes on energy facilities across the Gulf. Speaking to the BBC, Hossam Zaki, the Assistant Secretary General of the Arab League, urged the US to do more to de-escalate the conflict. This is madness. What is going on is pure madness. Someone has got to stop it. And we cannot think of anyone better than the US president to stop this whole war.

4:18Our business correspondent Theo Leggett explained why these latest strikes are having such a big impact on energy prices. One, the fact that these oil facilities and gas facilities now no longer seem to be out of bounds, and also the physical effects of the attack. So if we look at the attack on the Ras La Fan facility in Qatar, that facility accounts for about a fifth of the world's liquefied natural gas under normal circumstances. The gas is produced from the ground, it's liquefied, refrigerated, and then placed aboard ships for transport mainly to East Asia. Now, the plant had suspended production a couple of weeks ago because the ships simply couldn't get out and storage facilities on site were full.

5:00But you still had the prospect of it being reopened relatively quickly. It would have taken several weeks, but if there had been a ceasefire, the plant could be up and running relatively quickly. The problem now is that according to Cater Energy, which runs the plant, it suffered extensive damage. And in particular, the liquefaction plant has suffered extensive damage. We don't know how extensive, but that's what's been said in the statement so far. Now, that raises the prospect that the plant could be out of action for an extended period. So we're talking months, possibly even over a year. We don't know.

5:33And that's what markets have been reacting to this morning. That is why the price of gas in European trading so far today spiked at more than 25 percent. It's currently still up more than 20 percent. It's uncertainty and fears of an extended choke on supplies. And let's say this worst case scenario was to happen, that this goes on for months and months. What could the impact on countries be? Which countries are likely to be hardest hit? Well, it means higher energy prices all around, particularly for countries in terms of gas. You know, a lot of the gas that's produced in Qatar is exported to the Far East, to East Asia.

6:09Now, that gas has to be replaced, which means there would be more competition for supplies from the United States, which would kind of create a competition for those supplies between Europe and East Asia. And that pushes up prices. In terms of crude oil, which let's not forget have also been going up remarkably. You know, crude oil was trading, Brent crude was trading at$72 a barrel before the conflict. It's now up to$114 a barrel. That cost filters through into a huge number of things. So motor transport, so anything that's transported becomes more expensive. Manufactured goods become more expensive.

6:44And the most vulnerable countries are the ones which are heavily reliant on energy imports, but which do not have any production themselves. And it's often poorer countries which are very heavily reliant on this kind of stuff. Theo Leggett. And we have more on this on our YouTube channel. Search for BBC News on YouTube and you'll find Global News Podcast in the podcast section. There's a news story available every weekday. Well, nearly three weeks into this war, the U.S. Defense Secretary, Pete Hegseth, has given his latest press briefing on what's happening in Iran. He insisted that the conflict was on track and he lashed out at traditional U.S.

7:24allies and the media. The world, the Middle East, our ungrateful allies in Europe, even segments of our own press should be saying one thing to President Trump. Thank you. Thank you for the courage to stop this terror state from holding the world hostage with missiles while building or attempting to build a nuclear bomb. Thank you for doing the work of the free world. Mr. Hegseth was also asked by a journalist in that news conference about a report that the Pentagon had asked the White House for$200 billion in additional funds for the war. This was his response. As far as$200 billion, I think that number could move, obviously.

8:11It takes money to kill bad guys. So we're going back to Congress and folks there to ensure that we're properly funded for what's been done, for what we may have to do in the future, ensure that our ammunition is, everything's refilled, and not just refilled, but above and beyond. I mean, President Trump, as he said, rebuilt the military in his first term, didn't think he'd use it as dynamically in his second, but he had. So thank goodness he did that. And an investment like this is meant to say, hey, we'll replace anything that was spent. And now that we're reviving our defence industrial base and rebuilding the arsenal of freedom and cutting deals like our great deputy secretaries here is doing, long lead times on exquisite munitions, we're going to be refilled faster than anyone imagined.

8:54Well, Julia Manchester is a White House correspondent at The Hill, and she watched the US defence secretary's briefing. We heard Pete Hegseth essentially backing President Trump and his statement. To be honest, I don't think he went – the big news, I think, from an American perspective out of that press conference was the$250 billion the Pentagon is planning on asking Congress for in this war. And, you know, Pete Hegseth not really giving a definitive answer as to when the war will be ending. But Pete Hegseth predictably backing and echoing President Trump on that statement about the gas field.

9:36The Pentagon is asking for 200 billion dollars in terms of how easy it will be to get through Congress. It seems that Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican, is on board. He said yesterday that Iran supplemental funding is needed. However, we know that Mike Johnson has a very, very narrow Republican majority and it doesn't seem like Democrats want to play ball on this. So you have a number of fiscal hawks and Republicans who are somewhat critical of the president's war in Iran. So the big question is, can Mike Johnson really unite his conference to vote for this funding? The Hill's White House correspondent, Julia Manchester.

10:20Well, President Trump also claimed on social media that the US wasn't informed about Israel's attack on Iran's South Pass gas field. This is reportedly being disputed by Israeli officials who are quoted as saying it was coordinated with the US. This is just the latest indication that America and Israel may not be on the same page when it comes to the war on Iran. On Tuesday, the US's top counter-terrorism official, Joe Kent, resigned, saying that his country had gone to war because of pressure from Israel. This was a reason for the war that was also given by the US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, before he hastily withdrew it.

11:02Our North America correspondent, Gary O'Donoghue, has this assessment. Israel has always seen this war, or seemed to see this war as about its existence. This is an existential threat that it's talked about for a long time in the region and has wanted help from the Americans to have this threat dealt with over years. And, of course, Donald Trump has talked about Iran repeatedly over the years, but stopped short in his first term of taking that action. He's crossed that line, if you like, with the attacks last year and now this war this year. But we are starting to see, I think, some differences.

11:39And in particular, we're starting to see some differences over the kinds of targets that are being chosen. And this extraordinary post that the president made in the last few hours, where he's drawn attention to the targeting of a gas field by Israel, an Iranian gas field. He says the Americans knew nothing about this strike. And he said it won't happen again. And I think that's where you're starting to see some of the differences between what the Americans want and what Israel wants out of this conflict. But the president is also, I think, indicating here that he wants to maintain control over the sort of nature of this war and its direction because he has his own domestic concerns, particularly about things like the price of gasoline, which has risen hugely.

12:26He's also facing some criticisms from part of his own support base over this war who never wanted a conflict with Iran in the first place. So the pressures on him are also from home as well as from the international community. I think you'll see a huge attempt, public attempt, to remain in some kind of lockstep over their war aims. America is Israel's most important partner, of course, and America regards itself as being Israel's greatest partner in the region. So you will, I think, see some sort of emphasis on trying to make that work. in the longer run, they may want different things. And that could create huge tensions, I think, with the way this war is conducted, in particular, how it ends, and when it ends.

13:14And that's a question that's repeatedly being asked here. What is the end game here? How does it look when this is over? Gary O'Donoghue. Even as the Iranian regime continues to fight the war on many fronts, it's also going after Iranians who were involved in the nationwide anti-government protests that erupted at the start of the year. They only ended after the security forces killed thousands, possibly tens of thousands of demonstrators, machine gunning some of them on the streets. Now Tehran has executed several protesters. Baran Abasi from BBC Persian told us more. Repression inside Iran has intensified massively since the start of the war.

13:57Three people have been executed just today over protest in January. And yesterday, a Swedish Iranian national was executed. And there have been concerns about the situation of those arrested during protests, because the regime is accusing them of collaborating with the enemy during the war. And dozens of people are at risk of being executed. Hundreds of people have been arrested over the past few days, accused of sending videos of sites that have been damaged in the bombings or the bombings themselves, sending them to international media. And the government has warned them that the militia on the streets, their fingers are on the trigger and they are ready to kill if they see any signs of an uprising or protest against the regime.

14:50The situation in the prisons are very difficult. Many prisoners now don't have access to food or medicine because prison guards have left. And the attack on the South Pass gas field has really changed the support of the people inside of the country, those who supported the killing of the officials who had a hand in the crackdown on protesters. But this gas field is usually for domestic consumption, for electricity and gas inside of the country. 70 % of the production in South Park goes to the people's homes. And the Iranians were already suffering from frequent electricity and gas shortages, and this is going to even make it worse.

15:36Baran Abbasi. The Iran war has had all kinds of unforeseen horrific consequences. In the Israeli-occupied West Bank, falling rocket fragments tore through a beauty salon, killing three women. A fourth woman, who was six months pregnant, died later in hospital. They were all at the salon getting ready for the start of Eid al-Fitr, the day of celebration that marks the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Around a dozen other people were wounded. The authorities couldn't confirm if the shrapnel came from an Iranian missile or an Israeli interceptor used to shoot it down. Our Middle East correspondent Yolande Nell visited the site.

16:17This is where women had come ahead of the Eidle Fittah holiday to get their nails fixed, to look their best, just at the end of Ramadan when an Iranian missile struck. The women who were killed here are the first Palestinians in the occupied West Bank to have been killed as a direct result of the Iran war. And locals in the village of Bet-Aww have told us that a bomb or part of a bomb landed here. It then ricocheted off. You can see all the damage on the door. And it's really upsetting inside. There's a lot of blood. There's nail extensions on the floor, cosmetics, things like that. Right now, people are just trying to clear up.

16:59But what people have been telling us is that because there are no warning sirens in the Palestinian areas in the same way that you get in the Israeli settlements nearby, they don't have any advance alerts of these bombs coming and they don't have protected shelters to go to either. The women here told us that there was a group of women, about a dozen of them who were injured, who were just here gathered on the steps and they were waiting to have their nails done too. Yolande Nell. Still to come in this podcast, a study finds that designer doodle dogs are more difficult to deal with than traditional breeds.

17:38She's been on medication since September gone, trying just to keep her calm and be a bit more sedate. She's not as needy. It is working with her, but how long do you medicate a dog for? Like, I just don't know.

17:59We focus on the part of the internet that most people don't know about. It's called the dark web. undercover in the furthest corners of the dark web. US special agents are on a mission to locate and rescue children from abuse. Moving in now. From the BBC World Service, World of Secrets, the darkest web follows their shocking investigations. Listen on bbc.com or wherever you get your BBC podcasts.

18:32You're listening to the Global News Podcast. Indonesia's richest man, Michael Bambang Hartono, has died. He was 86. The billionaire was the co-owner of the tobacco giant Jarum and was also a successful bridge player. Bernadette Keogh reports. Michael Hartono built a vast business empire. With his brother, he turned a company founded by their father into a major producer of clove cigarettes, known locally as Kretek. It became one of Indonesia's largest conglomerates with interests in technology, consumer goods and crucially banking, which they moved into after the Asian financial crisis in the late 1990s.

19:11He was a philanthropist and also had another passion in life, playing bridge, proudly representing Indonesia in the 2018 Asian Games and helping the national team to secure a bronze medal. Unlike many tycoons, Hartono rarely spoke to the media or appeared in public, preferring to work quietly behind the scenes. Bernadette Keogh. In South Africa, water shortages are causing misery for millions of people. The problem is mainly down to poorly maintained infrastructure. But there's a darker side to the issue, the so-called water mafia. Criminal gangs have infiltrated the water industry, snapping up water tankers to supply communities that have no running water, charging people for water that should be free and even reportedly sabotaging regular supplies in order to boost their illegal business.

20:02The BBC's Africa correspondent, Myni Jones, sent this report from Johannesburg.

20:11A large group of protesters are waving placards and banging empty plastic bottles together. They're in northern Johannesburg, a part of town known for its plush leafy suburbs. But after years of intermittent water shortages, they say they're fed up. Some have had no running water for over a month. Our pipes have been bone dry and no water coming through at all. It's not very healthy because everyone can get sick. According to the constitution, it's our right to have water. I am here today because it is an absolute disgrace. We are reduced to begging and protesting for water. A few years ago here in Johannesburg, South Africa's economic hub, electricity shortages known as load shedding were disrupting the lives of ordinary South Africans and businesses.

20:57That's now been replaced by water shortages, which some say are worse because of how essential water is for good health. And Johannesburg isn't the only area that's affected.

21:09This is what is happening in Hamas Grand. There's no water. People are striving for water. Tsepo lives in Harman's Graal, more than 100 kilometres north of Johannesburg. Water is part of grocery now. We buy it at the shop. And unless the water tanks come, yes, the water tanks, we get it for free. But otherwise, nothing for free. It's a problem. It takes my humanity away. It breaks my heart. The residents of Harman's Graal have had no reliable access to clean water for over a decade on and off. The municipality has resorted to paying for tankers to deliver water to residents. It's meant to be free, but that's not always the case, as Eric tells me.

21:51With another truck, you see another truck, there's criminals everywhere. Some drivers, they sell us, they sell water. And then they say, when you say you want water, they say you must buy. We just give up. We don't do nothing because of those criminals. because everything here is money. When you have no money, you can't do nothing. Campaigners say a long-standing lack of investment in infrastructure is worsened by criminal gangs called water mafias. Dr. Ferial Adam is the executive director of WaterCan, a non-profit that works to safeguard South Africa's water resources. The water mafia are people that get tenders to do work for the municipality and then either they don't have the expertise or once they get hold of a tender to provide alternative supply of water, they don't want the tender to end.

22:48So they would damage and vandalise infrastructure so that they can continue working. And then you also have the ones that are charging people for water where they shouldn't be. How do these criminal gangs, how do they impact ordinary people's lives? It creates fear because this is now your supply of water. They're afraid to come out and say the kind of things that are happening because then they won't get water. They feel as if the mafia won't go to their streets anymore.

23:17In Harman's Kral, water tankers are filling up. We contacted the local authority to ask how they're tackling the issue, but got no reply. Last year, President Sil Ramaphosa urged law enforcement and local governments to put an end to criminal gangs running water tankers. But for residents here, that end can't come soon enough. That report by Mayeni Jones. King Charles and Queen Camilla have given a lavish welcome to the Nigerian president at the start of the first state visit to the UK by a Nigerian leader in nearly four decades. President Bola Ahmed Tanubu, who is Muslim, and his wife, who is Christian, were guests of honour at a state banquet also attended by Prince William and his wife Kate on Wednesday night.

24:02The King spoke of the country's shared values while delivering a speech at Windsor Castle. The friendship between our two countries, Mr President, is a partnership of equals that has brought us both enormous benefits. It has been described to me as a deeply spiritual connection beyond churches and mosques, a deep bond through which we have strengthened our shared security, ensured our economies are more prosperous, and empowered each other to believe in a more hopeful future. Daniel Bowala is a special advisor to the Nigerian president. Rob Young asked him first what was on the menu at the state banquet.

24:54I should rather say the menu is to have a lot in common, shared value, shared interest. Virtually every fabric of our national life, whether you look at the civil service structure, you look at the legal system, you look at the military setup, the security, it's all linked to the United Kingdom. And the king spoke a bit in Yoruba, is that right? How did he do? Can you give him a rating out of 10? No, I think I'll give him 9.5. He did very, very well. I think that this is the right time because it's a long time coming, but I think that the king chose the right time. A huge and growing economy. Some might argue why it took 37 years for there to be another state visit.

25:34I wonder as well. I wonder as well because I think the closest country outside of Africa to Nigeria is the United Kingdom. The United Kingdom is considered as an elder brother. So anybody who is coming out of Nigeria to anywhere in the world, it is believed that the first point, of course, should be the United Kingdom. In the speech of the president, he talked about the health care system in the United Kingdom, how Nigerians are playing a very good role in the NHS. He talked about sports, too, and mentioned a specific number of people who are British, but Nigerians as well. And that goes to show the kind of link that we have.

26:07That was Daniel Bowala, a special advisor to Nigeria's president, Bola Tinubu. And just in case you were interested, the menu at the banquet included soft-boiled quail egg tartlets, fillets of turbot, lobster mousse wrapped in spinach and a beurre blanc sauce. And for dessert, there was iced blackcurrant souffle. And a mocktail was created for the occasion using a West African beverage, with the king wishing President Dhanubu Ramadan Mubarak to mark the end of the holy Muslim month of fasting. Now, doodle dogs have become an increasingly popular choice for pet owners in recent years. We're talking about Cockapoos, Carverpoos and Labradoodles, so-called designer crossbreeds.