04-04 00:02 · 国际,新闻,BBC,国际
It appears to be the first ship owned by a major European firm to go through the strait since the conflict began.
French-owned ship passes through Strait of Hormuz
A French-owned ship has passed through the Strait of Hormuz, more than a month after the US-Israeli war with Iran effectively closed the vital transport route.
The Malta-flagged container ship owned by French company CMA CGM crossed the strait, media organisation BFM TV - which is owned by the shipping company - confirmed on Friday. CMA CGM declined to comment.
It is the first ship owned by a major Western European firm to go through the strait since the conflict began, shipping analysts Kpler confirmed.
Tracking data showed the French-owned ship passed close to the coast of Oman on the opposite side of the waterway to Iran. It is unclear what the ship was carrying.
A Japanese ship carrying natural gas also made it out of the Strait of Hormuz, Japanese shipping giant MOL confirmed.
"The safety of the vessel and all crew members have been confirmed," MOL said. "We will continue to place the highest priority on ensuring the safety of our crew, cargo, and vessels as operations proceed."
US President Donald Trump has said the US could reopen the strait, but has expressed frustrations with allies for not providing assistance in doing so.
"With a little more time, we can easily OPEN THE HORMUZ STRAIT, TAKE THE OIL, & MAKE A FORTUNE," he wrote on Truth Social. "IT WOULD BE A 'GUSHER' FOR THE WORLD???"
About a fifth of the world's oil and liquid natural gas is transported through the Strait of Hormuz from the Gulf countries.
But when the conflict began in late February, shipping was suspended, leaving about 200 vessels stranded in the surrounding waters according to Lloyd's List.
While traffic is down about 95% compared to before the conflict, shipping through the narrow waterway has not stopped altogether.
Roughly a third of those ships had links to Iran, Verify confirmed, while other vessels were linked to countries such as Pakistan and India.
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04-04 00:02 · 国际,新闻,BBC,国际
Capt Ibrahim Traoré, who seized power in 2023, says democratic rule would not work for his country.
Burkina Faso must 'forget' about democracy, military leader says
Democracy "kills" and the people of Burkina Faso must "forget" it, the country's military ruler has said in an interview aired on state television.
Capt Ibrahim Traoré, who seized power in a coup three years ago, suggested most Africans do not want the system of democracy and that Burkina Faso had its own, alternative approach, without giving details.
Traoré initially pledged to restore democratic rule to the West African country by July 2024, but two months before this deadline, the junta announced it would extend its rule for another five years.
In January, the authorities announced a ban on all political parties as part of a plan to "rebuild the state".
In Thursday night's interview, Traoré said: "People need to forget about the issue of democracy. Democracy is not for us.
"Look at Libya, this is an example close to us," said the 38-year-old, who casts himself as a revolutionary leader standing up to Western imperialism.
Libya was ruled autocratically for four decades by Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, who oversaw a brutal regime while also providing Libyans with subsidised housing, free education and free healthcare.
He was killed during a rebellion assisted by Western military intervention. The north African country has since failed to hold elections and is split between two rival administrations, along with numerous armed groups.
"Wherever they [Western powers] try to establish democracy in the world, it's always accompanied by bloodshed," Traoré said in his interview.
While there has been a spate of military takeovers in recent years, most African countries do still hold regular elections, even if some are criticised as being rigged in favour of incumbents. Two military leaders - in Gabon and Guinea - have organised elections which they have gone on to win.
Traoré also addressed the dissolution of political parties, saying he considered them to be divisive, dangerous and incompatible with the revolutionary protect.
"The truth is, politics in Africa – or at least what we've experienced in Burkina - is that a real politician is someone who embodies every vice: a liar, a sycophant, a smooth-talker," he said.
The junta leader did not propose an alternative system, but said: "We have our own approach. We're not even trying to copy anyone else. We're here to completely change the way things are done."
He emphasised building a new system rooted in sovereignty, patriotism and revolutionary mobilisation, with traditional leaders and grassroots structures playing a central role.
In a wide-ranging interview, he also emphasised the importance of economic and military self-reliance, as well as hard work, saying that working six- or eight-hour days would not enable Burkina Faso to catch up with richer countries.
Traoré has suppressed dissent during his rule, cracking down on the opposition, media and civil society groups. His government has even been accused of punishing critics by sending them to the front-lines of the war against Islamist militants.
Despite this, Traoré has gained a huge following across the continent for his pan-Africanist vision and criticism of Western influence.
Burkina Faso, like its junta-led neighbours Mali and Niger, has moved away from working with Western countries, especially France, in its fight against Islamist militants, which have waged a decade-long insurgency in the region.
All three have instead turned towards Russia for military assistance, but the violence has continued unabated.
The publication attributes two-thirds of the killings to the military and allied militias, with the rest blamed on Islamist militants.
Additional reporting by Omega Rakotomalala
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04-04 00:02 · 国际,新闻,BBC,国际
The snap was taken aboard the Orion capsule by its commander, Reid Wiseman, as the crew head towards the Moon.
Artemis II crew take 'spectacular' image of Earth
Nasa has shared the first high-resolution images of the Earth taken by the Artemis II crew as they head on their trip around the Moon.
The mission's commander, Reid Wiseman, took the "spectacular" images, Nasa says, after the crew completed a final engine burn that set them on a trajectory towards our closest celestial neighbour.
The first image, called Hello, World, shows the vast expanse of blue that is the Atlantic Ocean, framed by a thin glow of the atmosphere as the Earth eclipses the Sun and green auroras at either pole.
The Earth appears to us as upside down, with the western Sahara and Iberian peninsula visible to the left and the eastern portion of South America to the right.
Nasa identified the bright planet to the bottom right as Venus.
The images were taken after the crew successfully completed a trans-lunar injection burn in the early hours of Friday.
The burn took the Orion spacecraft out of Earth orbit as the four astronauts aboard aim to travel the more than 200,000 miles to the Moon.
Artemis II is now on a looping path that will carry the crew around the far side of the Moon and back again. It is the first time since 1972 that humans have travelled outside of the Earth's orbit.
The crew should pass around the far side of the Moon on 6 April and return to Earth on 10 April.
After the burn was completed, the crew were "glued to the windows" taking pictures, mission specialist Jeremy Hansen told mission control in Houston.
"We are getting a beautiful view of the dark side of the Earth, lit by the Moon," he said.
Wiseman later called back down to mission control in Houston to ask how to clean the windows, as the astronauts' enthusiasm to see into space had left them dirty.
The commander had initially found it difficult to take pictures of our planet from the spacecraft, saying taking photos at such a distance made it hard to adjust exposure settings.
"It's like walking out back at your house, trying to take a picture of the moon," he told mission control. "That's what it feels like right now."
But that is no longer an issue.
Another view captured by Wiseman shows the Earth divided by night and day. That frontier between light and darkness is known as the terminator.
Later, Nasa published another image showing the Earth in near-complete darkness, with the electric lights of humankind twinkling in the nighttime.
It also produced a side-by-side comparison of 2026's view of the Earth and a similar one taken by the Apollo 17 team in 1972 - the last time humans set foot on the Moon.
"We've come so far in the last 54 years, but one thing hasn't changed: our home looks gorgeous from space!" it wrote.
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04-04 00:02 · 国际,新闻,BBC,国际
Air force pararescue units who specialise in CSAR missions are among the most highly trained in the US military.
How elite US teams tackle combat rescue missions
Early reports indicate that the pilot of a US F-15 fighter aircraft downed over Iran was rescued - which, if confirmed, would be the latest in the long history of US combat search-and-rescue missions over decades.
The search operation is ongoing deep inside Iran for a second crew member, according to CBS, the BBC's US partner.
Combat search and rescue, or CSAR, missions are considered among the most complex, time-sensitive operations that US and allied militaries prepare for.
In the US, elite units of the air force are specially trained for CSAR missions and are often pre-emptively deployed near conflict areas where aircraft could be lost.
What is Combat Search and Rescue?
Put simply, CSAR missions are military operations aimed at finding, aiding and potentially rescuing personnel in need, including downed pilots and isolated troops.
In contrast to conventional search-and-rescue efforts - which could take place during humanitarian operations or after disasters - CSAR missions occur in hostile or contested environments.
In some cases - as in Friday's reported recovery effort in Iran - the operations may happen deep in enemy territory.
The missions are extremely time-sensitive, as enemy forces would likely be deployed in the same area to try and locate the same US personnel the CSAR teams are trying to rescue.
In modern times, CSAR missions are often conducted by helicopters, with refuelling aircraft in support and other military aircraft on hand to conduct strikes and patrol the area.
Notably, verified video that emerged from Iran on Friday appeared to show US military helicopters and at least one refuelling aircraft operating over Iran's Khuzestan province.
The history of CSAR missions
Airborne, wartime rescue missions have a long history, dating back to World War One pilots conducting impromptu landings in France to rescue downed colleagues.
The US military's pararescue units trace their lineage back to a 1943 mission in which two combat surgeons parachuted into then-Burma - now Myanmar - to help wounded soldiers.
The world's first helicopter rescue took place a year later, when a US lieutenant rescued four soldiers from behind Japanese lines, according to Smithsonians Air & Space Magazine. The incident also marked the first operational use of a helicopter in combat.
Formal search-and rescue units were first established in the US in the immediate aftermath of the conflict. But modern CSAR began during the Vietnam War.
One mission, known as Bat 21, led to the loss of several aircraft and multiple US casualties while attempting to recover the pilot of an aircraft shot down behind North Vietnamese lines.
The war required a vast expansion of CSAR missions with increased scope and complexity. The experience helped the military refine tactics and procedures that have helped form the foundation of rescue operations since.
The US Air Force's pararescue teams
While each US military branch has their own limited CSAR capabilities, the US Air Force has the primary responsibility for finding and rescuing military personnel.
This work is primarily conducted by what are known as pararescuemen, part of the military's broader special-operations community.
The official pararescue motto is "These Things We Do, That Others May Live", and their work is considered part of a broader promise to US service members that they will not be left behind.
These personnel are highly trained as both combatants and paramedics, and go through what is widely considered one of the hardest selection and training pipelines in the US military.
The selection-and-training process - which takes approximately two years from start to finish - includes parachute and dive training, as well as basic underwater demolition, survival, resistance and escape training, and a full civilian paramedic course.
They also received specialised courses in battlefield medicine, complex recovery operations and weapons.
Historically, about 80% of potential pararescuemen wash out of the course, although it is often more, according to military news site Sofrep.
On the ground, these teams are led by specialised Combat Rescue Officers, who are fully trained pararescue operators responsible for planning, co-ordinating and executing the recovery missions.
Recent US rescue missions
Pararescue teams deployed extensively throughout the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, conducting thousands of missions to rescue US and allied troops that were wounded or required extraction.
In 2005, for example, air force pararescue teams were involved to recover a US Navy Seal who was wounded and seeking shelter in an Afghan village after his team was ambushed and its other three members killed - an incident later made into the film Lone Survivor.
Missions to recover downed US pilots have been rare in recent decades.
In 1999, the pilot of an F-117 stealth fighter shot down over Serbia was found and recovered by pararescuemen.
In an highly publicised in
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04-03 04:03 · 国际,新闻,BBC,国际
The mission's last, big push on its lunar journey takes humans out of the Earth's orbit for the first time since 1972.
Artemis II leaves Earth's orbit on track for far side of the Moon
The four astronauts on the Artemis II mission have now left the Earth's orbit, after their Orion spacecraft fired its main engine for a final push towards the Moon.
The five minute and 55 second engine burn, known as the translunar injection (TLI), went "flawlessly", Nasa's Dr Lori Glaze said afterwards.
And from the Orion capsule, Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen said the crew was "feeling pretty good up here on our way to the Moon".
Artemis II is now on a looping path that will carry the crew around the far side of the Moon and back again. It is the first time since 1972 that humans have travelled outside of the Earth's orbit.
On the livestream from Orion, Earth is slowly shrinking, as the capsule moves further and further into space.
Hansen, who is the first non-American to travel to the Moon - told Nasa's mission control that the crew "firmly felt the power" of those who have persevered and worked so hard on this mission.
"Humanity has once again shown what we are capable of," he said. "It's your hopes for the future that carry us now on this journey around the Moon."
After spending roughly a day in a stretched‑out "high Earth orbit", Orion's engines, navigation and life-support systems were checked, while the capsule looped our planet.
At last, the final approval was given, and the engine burn could begin - the mission's last, big move towards the Moon.
Behind the crew's seats, the service module lit its single main engine in a long, steady push that added thousands of kilometres per hour to Orion's speed.
The TLI propelled the spacecraft on a journey that is expected to carry the crew farther from Earth than anyone has been before - more than 4,700 miles (7,600 km) beyond the Moon - before gravity swings them back.
Nasa estimates that this could edge past the record set by Apollo 13 in 1970, depending on the fine details of the timing and trajectory.
TLI is not a point of no return for Orion - even after the big burn to the Moon, controllers can still carry out the equivalent of a handbrake turn in space and bring the crew back to Earth if something goes seriously wrong.
In the event of an emergency, the U-turn is the fastest way home in the first 36 hours after the TLI. After that it can be just as quick, and often simpler, to stay on course around the Moon and fall back to Earth, Orion programme manager Howard Hu said before the launch.
He added that the team have "run hundreds of thousands of [simulations] to ensure that we are able to get the crew home safely."
At a briefing after the successful engine burn, he was all smiles, telling reporters: "What a great couple of days!"
As Orion surges into deep space, the views through its windows will become steadily more inspirational: the Earth shrinking to a small blue and white marble behind them, while the Moon grows from a bright disc into a heavily cratered world filling the frame.
On about the sixth day of the mission, as Orion cruises beyond the Moon, the astronauts will get to see a total solar eclipse.
The Moon will slide directly in front of the Sun so its bright face is completely covered to reveal its normally concealed shimmering halo, with Earth hanging off to one side.
There's a lot of astro-jargon involved in space missions, and TLI is the latest space lingo many of those following this mission have come to know. Hopefully it will be remembered as the giant push that took humanity one small step closer to walking on the lunar surface again.
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04-03 00:00 · 国际,新闻,BBC,国际
Lawmakers in the Brazilian Congress view the law change as a reflection of pets' importance for their owners.
New Brazil law allows separated couples joint custody over pets
Courts in Brazil will be able to determine shared custody arrangements for the pets of separating couples under new laws.
Lawmakers in the Brazilian Congress viewed the law change as a reflection of the importance people place on their pets.
The legislation means that, if a couple separates without reaching an agreement regarding their pet, "a judge will determine the shared custody arrangement and the equitable distribution of the animal's maintenance expenses between the parties".
Currently, the country of 213 million people has about 160 million pets, according to the Instituto Pet Brasil.
For the law to apply to separating couples, the animal must have spent the majority of its life with the pair.
Shared custody will not be granted in cases in which one of the parties has a prior criminal record, or a history or risk of domestic violence.
Members of Congress said there had been an increase in pet custody disputes in courts, while noting the law responds to "changes that have occurred in Brazilian society in recent decades", according to a statement accompanying the law.
The statement added that couples with fewer children tend to have closer relationships with their animals, "often considered true family members".
Currently in the UK, dogs are legally seen as inanimate objects akin to cars, houses or other personal items, meaning custody cases come down to determining who the sole owner is.
In 2014, France changed its law so pets were considered "living and feeling beings" rather than "moveable goods". That change meant couples would be able to fight for shared custody in divorce cases.
Australia currently has no legislation on how the courts should navigate living arrangements for pets after a break-up.
The most recent example of a pet being given joint custody was in Spain in 2021. A judge granted joint custody of a dog to a separated couple who went to court to determine who the pet should live with.
The Madrid court considered that both parties were "jointly responsible" and "co-caretakers" of Panda the dog.
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04-03 00:00 · 国际,新闻,BBC,国际
The judge left in place three allegations against Baldoni, meaning the civil trial will go ahead next month.
Judge dismisses most of Blake Lively's claims in harassment lawsuit against Baldoni
A federal judge has dismissed most of the claims in a sexual harassment lawsuit that actress Blake Lively filed against her It Ends with Us co-star Justin Baldoni.
Judge Lewis Liman threw out 10 of 13 allegations in Lively's case, including harassment and defamation.
He left in place three claims against Baldoni - breach of contract, retaliation, and aiding and abetting in retaliation - which will now go to a civil trial in New York on 18 May.
The Hollywood legal battle began in 2024 when Lively sued Baldoni, accusing him of harassment and a smear campaign on the set of their hit movie. He denied it and counter-sued.
A member of Lively's legal team, Sigrid McCawley, told the BBC's US partner CBS the case "has always been and will remain focused on the devastating retaliation and the extraordinary steps the defendants took to destroy" the actress' reputation.
She noted that the sexual harassment claims were dropped, "not because the defendants did nothing wrong", but because of a technicality.
Lively plans to testify during the trial, McCawley said, and would continue "to shine a light on this vicious form of online retaliation".
The BBC has contacted Baldoni's lawyers for comment.
A judge last year dismissed Baldoni's $400m (£295m) counter-lawsuit against Lively, which alleged civil extortion, defamation and invasion of privacy.
The case stems from interactions between Baldoni and Lively on the set of It Ends With Us, an adaption of a best-selling Colleen Hoover novel.
The film features Lively as the main character, Lily Bloom, a young woman who grew up witnessing domestic abuse and finds herself in the same position years later.
Lively's legal team have accused Baldoni and his film studio, Wayfarer, of planning to wreck her reputation, including by social media manipulation and using friendly journalists to sow certain narratives.
She shared details of the allegations in a New York Times article published before her lawsuit.
Lively filed a lawsuit against Baldoni's Wayfarer Studios in December 2024, alleging he sexually harassed her on set and retaliated against her for bringing those complaints, among other allegations.
In his 152-page opinion on Thursday, Judge Liman listed a host of reasons for dismissing the many allegations against Baldoni.
For one, he said, harassment claims Lively brought against Baldoni under California law did not hold up because the filming - where the misconduct allegedly occurred - took place in New Jersey.
"None of these acts or occurrences provides the 'substantial connection' to California needed to sustain Lively's sexual harassment claims," Liman wrote.
The judge also said Lively was ineligible to bring certain claims of harassment and retaliation because she was an independent contractor rather than an employee.
Lively had also accused Baldoni's lawyer, Bryan Freedman, of defaming her in a series of statements.
But Liman said that because those statements and others directly referred to the allegations Baldoni was facing in court, Lively's claim of defamation did not hold up.
"To be sure, much of what Lively complains about is not actionable. The Wayfarer Parties were entitled to engage public relations and crisis management specialists to protect their reputations," Liman wrote. "However, certain conduct at least arguably crossed the line."
The judge said some of the retaliation claims Lively brought, in which she accuses Baldoni of engaging in a "co-ordinated campaign" to attack her character and reputation, were worthy of trial.
Shortly after Lively's lawsuit, Baldoni brought defamation cases against Lively, her husband Ryan Reynolds and their publicist, claiming they were aiming to ruin his career and reputation with the allegations, as well as the New York Times.
He alleged that Lively "stole the film" from him and Wayfarer by threatening not to promote it, and that she and others perpetuated a false narrative that Baldoni had harassed her and launched a smear campaign against her.
But in June, Liman dismissed Baldoni's lawsuit, saying his team had "not adequately alleged that Lively's threats were wrongful extortion rather than legally permissible hard bargaining or renegotiation of working conditions".
Evidence in the legal battle has involved texts between Lively and Taylor Swift about Baldoni.
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04-03 00:00 · 国际,新闻,BBC,国际
The comments were an apparent jab at the US leader's sometimes contradictory stance on the US-Israeli war against Iran.
'Be serious... don't speak every day': Macron criticises Trump approach to Iran war
The Iran war requires a "serious" approach that does not change every day, Emmanuel Macron has said, in an apparent reference to US President Donald Trump's seemingly contradictory remarks about the conflict.
"This is not a show. We are talking about war and peace and the lives of men and women," the French president told journalists upon arrival in South Korea for a state visit.
"When you want to be serious you don't say every day the opposite of what you said the day before," Macron added.
"And maybe you shouldn't be speaking every day. You should just let things quieten down."
Macron was answering questions on the US-Israel war in Iran, which has now entered its second month. France and other European countries have supported some of the US operations in the region, but have so far resisted getting dragged into the war.
Trump and his administration have so far offered mixed messages on the conflict, at various times suggesting that a ceasefire was near, that the war had already been won or that the US was going to fight on.
"Alliances like Nato are valuable because of what is unspoken – meaning the trust behind them," Macron said, arguing that casting doubt on one's commitment to the organisation emptied it of its substance.
Partners sign agreements and show up if issues arise, Macron added, "rather than commenting on them every day to say that you will or will not respect them".
"I feel like there is too much chatter, it's all over the place," he said.
He added he was unwilling to comment on an operation that the US and the Israelis "decided on by themselves", Macron said. "They then lament that they are alone in an operation they decided on alone. It's not our operation."
However, in the wake of the February 2026 war the US president said it was the "last best chance to strike at Iran's nuclear weapons programme".
"I remind you that six months ago were told that everything had been destroyed and all had been sorted out," Macron noted.
He argued that international observers were needed to check the nuclear development situation in Iran, and a framework to prevent further enriching.
"You still have today and you'll still have in the future people who have the know-how, hidden laboratories, etc. So it's not targeted military action even lasting a few weeks which can sort out the nuclear problem for good."
Trump has been on the offensive against France, which he accuses of failing to help in the war on Iran.
At a private lunch on Wednesday, Trump mocked Macron by imitating a French accent and saying that his wife Brigitte "treats him extremely badly" and that Macron was still "recovering from the right to the jaw".
Trump was likely referring to a 2025 video which showed Macron being shoved in the face by Brigitte.
Macron dismissed the comments as "neither elegant nor up to standard".
"I won't respond to them, they don't deserve a reply," he said.
The comments on Macron's marriage have been exceptionally badly received in France, where even staunch Macron critics came to his defence.
"For Donald Trump to speak to him like that and to speak of his wife in such a manner - I find that absolutely unacceptable," said Manuel Bompard of hard-left France Unbowed party.
Tehran has retaliated to the strikes on its territory by closing the Strait of Hormuz, a key waterway which enables the passage of a large proportion of the world's energy supply. In the absence of a quick resolution to the closure, Trump has said the countries most affected by the disruption should solve the problem themselves.
Macron pushed back against the idea of a military operation to liberate the strait, saying it was "unrealistic" because it would take too long and be too dangerous.
"It would expose anyone crossing the strait to coastal threats from the [Iranian] Revolutionary Guards, who possess significant resources, as well as ballistic missiles, [and] a host of other risks," he said.
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04-03 00:00 · 国际,新闻,BBC,国际
Makers of plastic and glass bottles are struggling to access raw materials as the war squeezes supplies.
Fears cost of water and beer to soar as India's scorching summer hits
Indians are bracing for summer, with temperatures expected to cross 45C in some parts of the country. But the war with Iran is already putting India's $6bn bottled water industry under strain as manufacturers struggle to access crucial raw materials.
Last month, market leader Bisleri increased prices by 11%, making a box of 12 one-litre bottles costlier by 24 rupees ($0.26; £0.20). Brands like Bailley and Clear Premium Water have also increased their prices, Reuters news agency reported.
According to a study by Data for India, about 15% of urban households and 6% of rural households depend on bottled water for their drinking needs. Relying on bottled water is expensive, especially for people in rural areas. But access to clean water remains a challenge in many parts of India, especially in summer, due to reasons including water shortages, groundwater contamination and infrastructure gaps.
Brands and bottle manufacturers warn that a prolonged war will risk making a crucial commodity prohibitively expensive for many Indians. About 20% of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas usually passes through the narrow Strait of Hormuz, which is now almost completely blocked by Iran. The disruption in global shipping has sent global fuel prices soaring.
India, which relies heavily on oil and gas imports to meet domestic demand, is feeling the pressure.
Vijaysinh Dubbal, president of the Maharashtra Bottled Water Manufacturers Association, explains that the main reason bottled water - which is largely sold in plastic bottles - has become expensive is because of the surging costs of crude oil. The price of a barrel of Brent crude oil briefly hit $119 (£90) earlier this week, close to its highest since the start of the US-Israel war with Iran.
Crude oil is used to make Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) resin pellets - granules that are heated and passed through moulds to create PET preforms. These preforms, which look like plastic test tubes, are sold to brands and bottle manufacturers to be shaped into plastic bottles of the desired shape and size.
"The cost of preforms has increased from 115 rupees a kg to around 180 rupees per kg. There is also a shortage in the supply of preforms," Dubbal says, adding that about 20% of bottle manufacturing plants in Maharashtra state have temporarily shut operations.
While some companies have increased prices, Dubbal says many brands and vendors have absorbed them so far, shielding consumers.
So, the price of a one-litre bottle of drinking water, which sells for about 20 rupees, or that of a five-litre one, which sells for about 60-70 rupees, has largely remained unchanged.
"But absorbing extra costs is not a sustainable practice for companies. If things get worse, customers are likely to face the heat," he says.
He adds that the strain on supply couldn't have come at a worse time, since there's a surge in demand for bottled water and non-alcoholic beverages during April and May - peak summer months in India.
Vaibhav Saraogi, director of Chemco Plastic Industries Pvt Ltd, one of India's largest suppliers of PET preforms, says that a surge in the prices of preforms will impact the entire packaging industry and not just bottled water.
The size of India's PET packaging market was $1.5bn in 2024 and is expected to reach $2.2bn by 2033. Apart from bottled water and beverages, PET packaging is also used extensively in industries like beauty, pharmaceuticals and even in restaurants and food delivery as customers seek out convenience and affordability.
Makers of glass bottles too are bearing the brunt of the war.
Last month, the Brewers Association of India - which represents major global brewers like Heineken and Carlsberg - told Reuters news agency that glass bottle prices have surged around 20%, and that it has asked its member companies to approach states for a 12-15% increase in beer prices (alcohol prices are regulated by different states differently in India).
The Confederation of Indian Alcoholic Beverage Companies has also written to states to increase prices, the agency reported.
Vithob Shet, CEO of Vitrum Glass, a leading manufacturer and marketer of amber glass bottles - tinted bottles largely used by pharma companies and breweries - says that the price rise is a result of the fluctuating supply of natural gas.
Natural gas is used by glass manufacturers to run their furnaces, which melt sand, soda ash, limestone and recycled glass into molten glass blobs which are then shaped into bottles.
But India has tightened its natural gas regulations since the war began, prioritising supply for domestic use and some commercial industries.
Some, like Vitrum Glass, are using oil to make up for the shortage, but the high cost of crude is spiking production costs.
India's government has stressed that the country's energy supplies are stable, but several commercial eateries across the country have shut since the war began du
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04-03 00:00 · 国际,新闻,BBC,国际
Ordinary people from various parts of Iran describe expanding strikes, economic pain and fear of repression.
'I haven't slept for days': Iranians describe mounting desperation after a month of war
Warning: this article contains details which some readers may find distressing.
Until that moment the war was something happening in other parts of Tehran.
It had not touched the lives of "Setareh" and her colleagues. Then she heard an ominous noise and vibrations reached into the office.
She called out to her workmates: "I think it's a bomb." They left their desks and climbed the stairs to the roof of the building.
"We saw smoke rising into the sky, but we didn't know what place had been targeted," she recalls.
"After that, everyone working in the company panicked. People were shouting and screaming and running away. For one to two hours the situation stayed like that complete chaos." That same day her boss shut the business and laid off his staff.
Despite strict state censorship, the BBC has been able to use trusted sources on the ground to obtain testimony from a range of Iranians in different parts of the country.
We cannot give Setareh's real name or say what kind of work she does - no detail that might possibly identify her to the regime's secret police. But we can say that she is a young woman from Tehran who loved going to work, where she could meet her friends, share stories of their lives and, of course, there was the guarantee of weekly wages.
Now the nightly bombing has stolen her ability to sleep naturally. She lies awake worrying about the present, and the future.
"I can honestly say I haven't slept for several nights and days in a row. I try to relax by taking very strong painkillers so I can sleep. The anxiety is so intense that it has affected my body. When I think about the future and imagine those conditions, I truly don't know what to do."
By "those conditions" she means economic hardship and her fear of future street fighting between the regime and its enemies. The war has cost Setareh her job and she is running out of money.
Millions of Iranians are in a similar position. Even before the war, the economy was in deep crisis, with food prices rising by 60% in the previous year. Setareh describes mounting desperation as people run out of resources to survive.
"We cannot afford even basic food. What's in our pockets does not match market prices... Iran has also been under sanctions for years, and the problems created by the Islamic Republic means that during this time we couldn't build any savings, at least enough to survive now or depend on something. To put it simply, the people I thought might have money to lend also don't have anything."
Economic hardship spurred the huge nationwide protests of late 2025 and early 2026, and Setareh believes it will happen again.
"I don't know how this massive wave of unemployment will be handled. There is no support system and the government will do nothing for all these unemployed people. I believe the real war will start if this war ends without any outcome." The outcome she wants is the end of the regime.
We received information from sources on the ground in six different cities. These were conversations with individuals from a cross-section of society - shopkeepers, taxi drivers, public sector workers and others.
All described growing economic pressure and most spoke of their hope that the war might bring about the fall of the government.
"Tina" is a nurse in a hospital outside Tehran and is worried about shortages of medicine.
"The shortage is not yet widespread, but it is starting," she says.
"The most important issue is that this war must not reach hospitals. If the conflict continues and infrastructure is targeted and medicines cannot be imported, then we will face very serious problems."
She is haunted by the images of war that she's witnessed in recent weeks. In the aftermath of bombings, bodies arrived at the hospital "that were not recognisable... some had no hands, some had no legs - it was horrifying".
A recurring memory is the pregnant young woman caught in an air strike early in the war.
"Because of bombardment in her area - her home was close to a military centre - their house was damaged. When they brought her to the hospital, neither the mother nor the foetus was alive.
"Both had died. She had been just two months away from giving birth but sadly neither she nor her baby survived. It was a very terrible situation."
It is an image made more poignant by stories from Tina's childhood. Her mother was pregnant with her during the Iran-Iraq war of the 1980s and told her of having to flee to bomb shelters as Iraqi missiles struck their city. Nearly a million people - Iranians and Iraqis, military and civilian - are estimated to have died in the conflict, with Iran suffering the greatest number of casualties.
The war's legacy made Tina want to work as a nurse.
"Hearing those stories always made me stop and think, to imagine myself in those circumstances and place myself in her situation. Now, I find myself in the same kind of situation my mother once face
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