Newshour

The US is working to get ships through the Strait of Hormuz as a "favour to the world," The US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said in the news conference.Also in the programme: Why staff at Google DeepMind in Britain are unionising over Google's policies on artificial intelligence; and the frontman of the band Iron Maiden opens up about the future of heavy metal and life on tour.(Photo: US Secretary of State Marco Rubio briefs reporters on Iran war at White House, Washington, USA - 05 May 2026. Credit: Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA/)

US Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth says the ceasefire in the Gulf is 'not over' despite attacks in Strait of HormuzAlso in the programme: Son of last and only Lebanese leader to meet an Israeli premier, says current Lebanese President Joseph Aoun should meet with Benjamin Netanyahu, despite the risks; and Chinese Wu Yize becomes second youngest winner of snooker's world championship.(Photo: US Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth holds briefing on the Iran war, at the Pentagon in Washington. Credit: Reuters/Kevin Lamarque)

There's been an escalation of the conflict in the Gulf after the US said it had sailed two destroyers through the Strait of Hormuz. Iran said it had fired warning shots at one warship and denied US claims that two US-flagged merchant ships had transited the waterway. Iran has retaliated. The UAE says four cruise missiles were fired towards its territory and a drone hit the Fujairah Oil Industry Zone.Also, Cape Verde has refused docking permission to a cruise ship with a suspected outbreak of hantavirus; and Samsung pays a massive inheritance tax bill in South Korea - but do some super-rich companies dodge tax bills?(Photo: Vessels in the Strait of Hormuz near Bandar Abbas, Iran, 4th May, 2026. Credit: Amirhosein Khorgooi/ISNA/WANA via Reuters)

The US military's Central Command says two US-flagged merchant ships have passed through the Hormuz strait with its assistance.But a huge number of vessels and crew remain stranded. Can Donald Trump deliver on his promise to break the Iranian blockade?Also in the programme: The leaders of Europe and Canada stress a new unified approach to security, amid strained relations with the US; pet rescue scammers in Uganda; and the multi-billion dollar bid to buy eBay.(Photo shows vessels in the Strait of Hormuz near Bandar Abbas, Iran on 4 May 2026. Credit: Amirhosein KhorgooiWest Asia News Agency via Reuters)

Iran says US has responded to its latest peace proposal. Iran says President Trump must now choose between an impossible military operation and a bad deal if he wants to end the war. We hear from the brother of the jailed Iranian Nobel peace laureate Narges Mohammadi. He says she and other prisoners are dying as a result of deliberate medical neglect.Also on the programme: Ukraine's been stepping up its offensive against Russia's oil infrastructure in recent days; and ahead of the 2026 Met Gala, British fashion designer Zandra Rhodes and Elizabeth Way, curator at the Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York, discuss if fashion is art. (Photo: Iranians walk past a huge anti-US billboard referring to US president Donald Trump and Strait of Hormuz at Valiasr square in Tehran, Iran, 02 May 2026. Credit: ABEDIN TAHERKENAREH/EPA/Shutterstock)

The Nobel Peace Prize Committee has urged the Iranian authorities to release the jailed human rights campaigner, Narges Mohammadi, to her dedicated medical team. Her health has deteriorated sharply and she has been moved to a prison hospital. We speak to her brother, Hamidreza Mohammadi. Also in the programme: Ukraine says it has struck two oil tankers off Russia's Black Sea coast, as it continues its campaign against the energy exports that fund Moscow's war effort; a manufacturer of the United States' most widely used abortion pill has asked the Supreme Court to allow postal deliveries of the medication, a day after a lower court halted them; and Chinese-Icelandic singer, Laufey, on making jazz cool again!(Photo: Narges Mohammad. Credit: Getty Images)

The Republican chairmen of the US congressional armed services committees have said they're very concerned about the Pentagon's decision to withdraw five thousand troops from Germany. Senator Roger Wicker and Representative Mike Rogers warned that prematurely reducing America's forward presence in Europe risked undermining deterrence and sending the wrong signal to Vladimir Putin. NATO says it's seeking clarification from Washington about the plan.Also in the programme: FIFA will allow a team of Afghan women refugees to represent their country in international tournaments; and we look back on the life of a former racing driver and Paralympian.(Photo: A soldier pilots a drone during the 'Combined Resolve' exercise at 7th Army Training Command's Joint Multinational Readiness Center in Hohenfels. More than 3,800 personnel participate in the exercise series, which is a reoccurring U.S. Army Europe and Africa exercise held several times throughout the year for its rotationally deployed troops. US-led army exercise

The US says it will withdraw five thousand of its troops from Germany, as a rift widens between the two countries over the war in Iran. The German Defence Minister, Boris Pistorius, says Washington’s decision was foreseeable, but that the continuing presence of American forces was in German and US interests. We speak to a German member of the European parliament. Also on the programme: British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer tells the BBC that he wants tougher policing of protests in the UK after the stabbing of two Jewish men in London; and we hear from two Afghan female footballers about their hopes of competing internationally. (Photo: Badge of a soldier is seen during the 'Combined Resolve' exercise at 7th Army Training Command's Joint Multinational Readiness Center in Hohenfels, Germany, 30 April 2026. Credit: Photo by ANNA SZILAGYI/EPA/Shutterstock)

The interruption to supplies of fertiliser and its key ingredients due to the war in Iran could cost up to 10 billion meals a week globally and will hit poorest countries hardest, according to the boss of one of the world's biggest fertiliser producers. Svein Tore Holsether, chief executive of Yara, told the BBC that hostilities in the Gulf, which have blocked shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, are jeopardising global food production.Also in the programme: Ukraine has been stepping up its campaign against Russia's oil industry; and is fish fraud affecting one of Britain's national dishes?(Picture: Workers carry fertiliser bags to be mixed with water at a farm's irrigation centre. Credit: REUTERS/Rula Rouhana/File Photo)

The head of one of the world's biggest fertiliser manufacturers has warned that the continued closure of the Strait of Hormuz - as a result of the war on Iran - could cost the world up to ten billion meals a week. Svein Holsether, who runs Yara, said farmers in the poorest countries would be hit first by the interruption to production and supply caused by the ongoing hostilities. We hear from two countries particularly affected by the shortage in industrial fertiliser.Also in the programme: despair then relief for the Oscar winner who thought an airline had lost his award; and for the first time the nose of a mouse has been mapped showing us more about the way mammals smell.(Photo: Farmers in Aceh labour amid possible fertilizer shortage due to war in Middle East. Indonesia, 28 March 2026. Credit 2026 Shutterstock Editorial. EPA/Shutterstock )

The UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, has said the closure of the Strait of Hormuz is strangling the global economy. He said that even if the restrictions were lifted immediately, supply chains would take months to recover. We ask what options the US has now and what it's likely to cost. Also in the programme; two coins dating from the reign of English King Ethelred, known as the Unready for his failure to defend his country against the Vikings, come to light in Denmark; and why Saudi Arabia needs to cut its costs, by pulling out of LIV Golf. (Photo: A ship in the Strait of Hormuz, Oman Credit: REUTERS/Stringer)

Following reports that President Trump is to be briefed on new plans for further strikes on Iran, Brent crude reached more than $126 a barrel.Also in the programme, an Australian inquiry has said a Jewish group warned of a 'terrorist attack' before last year's antisemitic mass shooting at Bondi Beach, and how barbaric were the Barbarians?(Photo: A display shows fuel prices in euro at a petrol station in Berlin, Germany, 30 April 2026. Credit: Filip Singer/EPA-EFE)

A man's been arrested after two Jewish men were stabbed in London, in what the police are calling a terrorist attack. It's the latest in a series of violent antisemitic attacks in the UK. We hear some reaction from a local resident.Also in the programme: the US defense secretary faces questions on the cost of the war against Iran, when it'll end, and about the investigation into the bombing of a school; plus how filling the sticker album for this expanded World Cup might be expensive - but could pay dividends down the line.(IMAGE: Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Sir Mark Peter Rowley (C) gives a statement at the scene where two Jewish men are seriously injured after being stabbed in Golders Green, north London, Britain, 29 April 2026. / CREDIT: Photo by TOLGA AKMEN/EPA/Shutterstock (16851496bd))

The British government has for the first time formally acknowledged that a woman abused by the late owner of the luxury London department store, Harrods, was a victim of modern slavery. Rachael Louw was trafficked by the Egyptian businessman, Mohamed al-Fayed, and his brother Salah.Also on the programme, former US officials criticise the Pentagon for not releasing more information about the US attack in Iran that hit a school, and why temperatures are rising faster in Europe than any other part of the world. (Photo: Mohamed Al Fayed, Owner and Chairman of Harrods department store from 1985-2010)

On his US state visit, King Charles III will address both houses of congress later. He will be the first British monarch to do so since Queen Elizabeth did the same in 1991. We hear from a congressman about whether the visit could help warm UK-US relations amid tension due to the Iran war.Also on the programme: The latest on Mali as violence there continues to spread between jihadist militants and separatists; the United Arab Emirates is set to quit the oil cartel Opec on 1st May; and we hear from the parents of Kenyan runner Sabastian Sawe - who broke the world record at this weekend’s London Marathon.(Photo: Britain's King Charles III walks during a state visit to the United States at a Garden Party in the British Embassy in DC, 27th April 2026. Credit: Ian Vogler, Pool via Reuters)

Britain's King Charles III has delivered a historic address to the US Congress, saying the partnership between the UK and the United States is more important than ever. He also condemned political violence in a rare address to a joint meeting of the U.S. Congress in honor of the 250th anniversary of American independence.Also in the programme: the United Arab Emirates says it is leaving the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries; and the plan to ship Pablo Escobar's hippos from Colombia to India.(Picture: King Charles III addresses US Congress. Credit: BBC)

A court in Washington DC has charged a Los Angeles man with attempting to assassinate the US president. The White House hit out after what it says was the third attempt on Donald Trump's life in as many years. We hear from one of America's foremost experts on political violence.Also in the programme: insurgents make dramatic advances in Mali; can a new political party in Israel really unseat Binyamin Netanyahu? And as the naturalist and broadcaster David Attenborough approaches his century, we look back at one of his defining moments.(IMAGE: U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro speaks, flanked by acting Attorney General Todd Blanche and U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director Kash Patel during a press conference about the shooting at the White House Correspondents' Association dinner where U.S. President Donald Trump was present, at the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington, D.C., U.S., April 27, 2026 / CREDIT: ReutersKylie Cooper)

The suspect detained in connection with the attack at the hotel where President Trump was attending the White House correspondents’ dinner in Washington over the weekend is expected in court. Also on the programme: Ukraine's drone forces commander tells us they are killing 30,000 Russian soldiers a month and will continue to attack Russia's oil exports; and we hear from the man who came second in the London Marathon - but who also broke the iconic sub-two-hour barrier.(Photo: Law enforcement personnel patrol the venue, following a shooting incident during the annual White House Correspondents' Association dinner, in Washington DC, US, 26 April, 2026. Credit: Ken Cedeno/Reuters)

The acting US attorney general says the gunman at the White House Correspondents' Dinner was believed to be targeting Trump administration officials, having travelled to Washington from Los Angeles by train.Also in the programme: A man described as having chronicled the soul of India, the photographer Raghu Rai, has died aged eighty-three; Sabastian Sawe made history at the London Marathon by becoming the first athlete to run a sub-two-hour marathon in a competitive race; BBC visits Chernobyl ghost city 40 years after world's worst nuclear accident; and an update on the violence in Mali.(Photo: U.S. President Donald Trump is escorted out of the White House Correspondents' Association (WHCA) dinner in Washington. Credit: Reuters)

US President Donald Trump is unharmed after shots were fired at the White House correspondents’ dinner he attended. A 31-year-old suspect has been arrested and a security agent who was shot is now reportedly out of hospital. We speak to US mentalist Oz Pearlman who was with the president when the event unfolded.Also in the programme: The Iranian foreign minister meets with Oman’s sultan to discuss peace with the US; and why some board game are becoming more popular.(Photo: US President Donald Trump salutes during the annual White House Correspondents' Association dinner in Washington DC, 25th April 2026. Credit: REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst)