Rubio: US trying to reopen strait as a 'favour to the world'

Newshour in Baltimore

With important midterm elections happening later this year, we look at immigration in Baltimore. It's a defining domestic issue in President Trump's second term. One of his boldest pledges was for mass deportations - to send anyone who'd entered the US illegally back to their home country. We meet one Guatemalan woman facing that prospect. Also in the programme: how some of Baltimore's derelict housing is being spruced up; and the US broadcasting mogul Ted Turner has died at the age of 87. (Photo: Zoila Guerra Sandoval, living in Baltimore but facing deportation to Guatemala. Credit: BBC)

Hantavirus strain 'can be passed between humans' - health officials

The World Health Organisation has confirmed that the strain of hantavirus that's killed three people on board a cruise ship from Argentina can be passed between humans. The ship, currently off Cape Verde, is sailing to the Canary Islands after Spain gave it permission to dock. We'll speak to someone who was on board when the outbreak began. Also in the programme: We'll have a special report into what happened when Israeli unleashed a barrage of airstrikes on Lebanon last month; and hard rock and existential angst from the lead singer of Iron Maiden. (Photo shows the cruise ship MV Hondius docked off Cape Verde port on 4 May 2026. Credit: Reuters)

Rubio: US trying to reopen strait as a 'favour to the world'

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/)

Hegseth: Strait of Hormuz shipping lane is clear

US Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth says the ceasefire in the Gulf is 'not over' despite attacks in the Strait of Hormuz. Also in the programme: The son of the last and only Lebanese leader to meet an Israeli premier, says the current Lebanese President Joseph Aoun should meet with Benjamin Netanyahu, despite the risks; and Chinese Wu Yize becomes the 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)

Tensions spike in the Strait of Hormuz

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)