Israel says it's bombed Iran's biggest petrochemicals plant and it's no longer operative.
It's World Business Express from the BBC World Service.
I'm Gideon Long.
Plus, another company distances itself from American rapper Kanye West.
Find out which one and which film enjoyed a bumper Easter weekend at the box office.
Israel says it attacked Iran's largest petrochemical plant, knocking it out completely.
It follows a similar attack last week.
The Israelis say the two facilities account for 85% of Iran's petrochemical exports.
Meanwhile, Japan's Prime Minister has said her government is arranging summit talks with Iran, as the Middle East war continues to disrupt fuel supplies.
Sanei Takeuchi didn't give many details, but said the talks would be at the leadership level and at an appropriate time.
I spoke to Seijiro Takeshita, a professor at the School of Management at the University of Shizuoka.
We rely 94% on Middle East oil and 75% comes from passing through the Strait of Hormuz.
And we've always had good relationship with Iran.
So I think she wants to secure the oil provision.
This is crucial for us, particularly considering the fact that Japan needs oil.
We did have a fairly high amount of nuclear energy until the 2011 great earthquake.
We relied 30% on that.
We're creeping back to eight, but that's still far away from what we're targeting, which is 20%.
And if you look at our industry, it's semiconductors, precision machinery.
These things need stable energy.
We cannot utilize other sources like wind or solar in these industries.
So this is crucial for survival, to say the least.
And what's the impact been in Japan of the war so far?
Have you seen petrol prices rise, for example?
Well, it's been going up and down because there's been an announcement of government subsidy, etc.
It's kind of settled down, but of course...
These things are like body blows in boxing.
It takes a little bit of time to really start hitting you, because it's not only directly on oil but all related products, which includes chemicals and all sorts of things that we can think of.
So it really hasn't hit us yet.
But you know, this is something that we're all bracing ourselves in.
Give us one of the reasons why, Ms.
Takaichi wanted to secure a good procurement of these issues, in spite of the fact that we have the highest number of reserves amongst all OECD nations.
Yeah, Japan has oil reserves of around 45 days' worth of domestic consumption.
Has it had to dip into them yet?
They've already released it, and that was one of the reasons why the oil prices are being stable.
But this is a very tricky move because, as you know, we have 130 US base here.
So it's a very difficult position where Ms.
Takaichi, I think, is in because...
She really doesn't want to irritate the American authorities, Trump and his administration.
But at the same time, you know we're so much reliant on, you know, oil that comes from Australia or Hormuz.
It's a very, very difficult balance that she has to deal with.
It's the economy versus security.
So Chiro Takechita there.
More than a month into the Middle East war, Iranians are struggling with one of the longest internet blackouts ever recorded, and it's impacting business.
The state has imposed a near total shutdown, making it either impossible or very expensive to connect to the web.
The BBC's Persian service spoke to a woman and a man in Iran about the blackout.
We've voiced over their comments to protect their identities.
My partner and I work in web design for a few Canadian clients.
There is no bombing here in the north.
The biggest issue for us started three months ago, when the internet was shut down by the government because of the protests and we lost all our income overnight.
I have no hope that internet will be back anytime soon and using VPN is so expensive.
It's impossible to do any serious work like that.
The internet has become expensive.
There are people on both Telegram and Rubika who sells each gigabyte for nearly one million tomans.
That's around six or seven dollars, which is a lot for us.
But even the regular data has become unaffordable.
Two voices from Iran there.
The global drinks firm Diageo is the latest company to cancel its sponsorship of a big music festival here in the UK after American rapper Kanye West was announced as the headliner.
Diageo's joined Pepsi and PayPal in pulling out of the Wireless Festival in London.
West, who's now known as Ye, has been widely condemned for making anti-Semitic and pro-Nazi remarks in recent years.
He issued an apology for his comments in January.
Now, amid heightened geopolitical tensions in the Arctic, the United States has ordered a new fleet of icebreakers that will potentially open a new summer route through the region's seas.
The US has turned to Finland for the vessels signing deals with two Finnish shipyards in recent weeks.
Reporter Adrienne Murray visited the capital Helsinki to find out more.
Navigating through thick sea ice and sailing in extreme cold, icebreakers are ships like no other.
And the lion's share of this special fleet are designed and made here in Finland.
In this large tank that mimics the Arctic and Baltic seas.
The latest designs for these vessels are undergoing rigorous testing.
Inside this lab, they've recreated the freezing conditions that icebreakers would face out at sea, and they're putting models through their paces.
It's not cutting, it's not slicing.
The movements are very small.
Mika Hovjelainen is the chief executive of Railo Tech.
You had to have a hull form which is suitable to break ice by bending the ice downward.
And where these icebreakers operate, the conditions are extreme.
In the Baltic, 20-metre-thick ice bridges can form, while in the Arctic everything on board must withstand the nosediving temperatures.
Ice thickness is only part of the challenge.
You had to design the ship to work under minus 50 centigrade temperatures.
As geopolitical rivalries in the high north only get frostier, these ice-going ships are increasingly sought after.
And as climate change opens up polar waters, they're needed as pathfinders for the growing shipping traffic transiting the Arctic as an alternative to the Suez Canal, a route that's vulnerable to regional tensions and conflict.
There's a commercial interest and there is security interest.
And the last is the science.
And all these are now creating the boom for icebreakers.
US President Donald Trump wants to revamp the small and ageing American fleet.
Last October he announced plans to order 11 new icebreakers, and the first four will be built in Finland.
We're buying the finest icebreakers in the world, and Finland's known for making them.
Moored in Helsinki's dock is Polaris, the newest of Finland's fleet.
Climbing aboard.
Manu Visari, the president and CEO of Arctica, which operates the eight icebreakers, showed me around.
The fleet play a vital role, keeping Finland's ports open during wintertime and guiding big cargo ships.
Finland is the only country in the world where all the harbours may freeze.
Between 95 to 97% of the Finnish import and export goes via the shipping lanes.
So it's really a necessity for Finland.
And for that reason, the country's maritime industry has kept up its know-how.
Over 100 years we have practiced this and you've got this cycle of designers, operators, builders.
And every cycle you learn something new.
So that's why we like to say that Finland is the superpower of icebreakers.
Adrian Murray reporting.
Hey Luigi!
What's up Mario?
Behold!
The trailer there for the latest Super Mario film based, of course, on the long-running Nintendo game.
The Super Mario Galaxy movie was out at the weekend and, despite mixed reviews, scored the biggest opening of the year so far for a Hollywood film.
It earned more than 130 million over the weekend and 190 million in its first five days in North American theatres.
That's it for this edition of world business express.
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I'm gideon long.
Thanks very much for listening.
