Global News Podcast - US demands Iran guarantee Strait of Hormuz is open

Episode Date: July 11, 2026

The US demands a public guarantee from Iran that the Strait of Hormuz is open and that ships will not be targeted as they pass through, to ensure that talks can move forward. President Trump says both sides have agreed to continue talks, despite the escalation in hostilities. Mediators from Qatar are travelling to Iran to try to salvage the fragile peace deal. Also: there's relief in Nigeria after all the children and teachers who were kidnapped from a school in Oyo State in May are rescued. We have a special report about the increasing number of Russian drones and bombs that are killing civilians and causing severe damage in the Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia. Apple files a lawsuit against OpenAI, accusing the artificial intelligence company of stealing trade secrets. Deforestation is slowing down in the Brazilian Amazon, but the presidential election in October could be crucial in determining its future. Spain beat France to reach the semi-final of the men's football World Cup. Palaeontologists in Thailand discover a new species of dinosaur, and we visit a Buddhist temple in South Korea that's hosting dating retreats to help boost population growth.The Global News Podcast brings you the breaking news you need to hear, as it happens. Listen for the latest headlines and current affairs from around the world. Politics, economics, climate, business, technology, health – we cover it all with expert analysis and insight. Get the news that matters, delivered twice a day on weekdays and daily at weekends, plus special bonus episodes reacting to urgent breaking stories. Follow or subscribe now and never miss a moment. Get in touch: [e-mail] Photo: Map of the Strait of Hormuz and Iran taken June 22, 2025. Credit: REUTERS/Dado Ruvic

This BBC podcast is supported by ads outside the UK. Your sales order says one thing. Your inventory says another. Your spreadsheet says, good luck. Odu brings your business together on a single platform, from sales and accounting to inventory and marketing. Visit Odu.com to book a demo. It's ODbolo.com.

Is the American dream still possible? I'm Asma Khaled, one of the hosts of the global social. Story podcast from the BBC. One of the most successful exports of the United States has ever sold the world is the American Dream, that tantalizing promise of a better, freer, richer life. But is it still attainable?

I feel like the American dream is alive, but not well. For more, listen to the Global Story on BBC.com or wherever you get your podcasts. This is the Global News podcast from the BBC World Service. I'm Keith Adams and in the early hours of Saturday the 11th of July, these are our main stories. The US demands that Iran publicly acknowledges the Strait of Hormuzes open and pledges to stop firing on commercial ships. There's relief in Nigeria over the rescue of more than 25 schoolchildren and their teachers

who were abducted by gunmen in May. And new figures show that deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon has slowed. Also in this podcast, we'll have the latest from the World Cup, and we listen in on a matchmaking retreat in South Korea. I think I want to have some baby and family. I really like to care somebody, and that's why I came here with some cookies. And I really want to wish to make a family with good people. All that and more to come.

When the US and Iran signed their memorandum of understanding around three weeks ago, it was meant to extend the ceasefire between the two countries. countries while talks continued on a final agreement. One of the key points was that the Strait of Hormuz would reopen to traffic. But it hasn't been that simple. There have been several exchanges of fire, and it sometimes seemed that the war was breaking out again. Now senior officials in Washington are demanding that Iran's leadership publicly state that the Strait of Hormuz is open to commercial ships.

Our North America correspondent Peter Bowes told us more about what they said. This all emerged, Keith, from a briefing call by senior US officials with a small group of reporters, including a colleague from the BBC's US partner CBS, and they were talking about the current state of play with Iran. The officials said that we are in a wait-and-see moment and that the next couple of days will be interesting, but they said that they won't wait forever. And crucially, they said a message had been sent to Iran's leadership

conveyed through regional mediators, and that message demands that Tehran publicly acknowledges that the Strait of Hormuz is open and that it also promises to stop firing on commercial ships. And that, of course, was the reason why the US launched two nights of strikes back on Iranian sites in the south of the country earlier this week. The Trump administration saying that Iran had violated

that memorandum of understanding that it signed, as you say, three weeks ago by repeatedly attacking those vessels in and around the state. It seems as if now officials want some sort of guarantee, and they want it quickly, that this won't happen again. So this is an effort to get the talks back on track. Where have we got to with the talks? Do we know if they've achieved anything? Well, from this briefing, they said that the talks will indeed continue,

although the ceasefire is no longer in place, and the president made that clear earlier in the day. and officials said that the US is making progress in negotiating with senior Iranian leaders, and the hope is that if there is a continued de-escalation of tensions, that that will help these talks make further progress. However, the officials implied that they don't have a great confidence in Iran's ability to honour a nuclear deal, which is ultimately why President Trump says this war started in the first place.

No confidence in agreeing that. if they can't even stop shooting at ships. But according to these officials, the US is hopeful that, to quote them, sensible people will prevail. What's the consequences if Iran refuses to make this public statement, Peter? Do we know? That wasn't immediately spelt out if there isn't any kind of public statement in the coming hours or coming days.

But it's been very clear from what President Trump has been saying over the last two or three days, that if there is a repeat of shooting at commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, that the US will attack back and strike. I think the phrase was, if they strike once, we will strike 20 times. So the president making it pretty clear that the United States is in no mood for these attacks on vessels continuing and that it will respond. Peter Bowes in Washington.

There's some good news from Nigeria. The presidency says all the children and teachers who were kidnapped, from a school in Oyo State in May have been rescued. The incident caused particular concern because the authorities in the southwestern region blamed the attack on jihadists. Most jihadist violence has historically been concentrated in the country's northeast.

A video shared online appears to show a large group of children and a teacher thanking the security forces and President Bolotinubu for their rescue. We understand your commitment to our safety. And we appreciate all you did for us. Thank you very much. And every security operating, they tried so much. And that is why we are still alive now.

We are very grateful to you. Thank you. Thank you. God bless you, sir. Well, bless you, sir. While our West Africa reporter Macuachi Okafo is in Lagos, he told me more about their release. The numbers we have from the police says over 25 kids

were adopted and about seven teachers. Now, from the videos and pictures that's been put out, they were quite young. Some of them were actually younger than seven years old or thereabout. These are just school children who had gone to school on a regular day and were adopted, and now we're hearing that finally they have been released. How did the release come about? They didn't give us so much detail, but the way it seems, it seems like it was more military. And that's because the president's spokesperson said there was no ransom paid and there was no agreement. made between the government and their adopters. He also noted that seven people, part of their adopters,

were having captured and they are now in custody. And even the kingpin of the kidnap gang have also been captured. So this is a sort of big win for the president, I'm guessing. Oh, it is. And that is because this particular school adoption that happened in Oyosstates became quite a huge rallying call for the critics of the presidency because it happened in a region that is the southern part of the country where we hardly hear of such attacks

and particularly not even by jihadists as the authorities had said it happened. You know, we hear lots of school reductions happening up north and this spreading down south became quite a huge concern causing protests in the country and even riot groups demanding

for more protection for schools and for school children. Right now, the entire presidency definitely very happy because this is coming just a few months to the next presidential election. It is, as you say, it's at the other end of the country from Borno State. Are there other schoolchildren and teachers being held there still?

You're absolutely right. On the day of this adoption that happened in New York, three schools in Borneo State were struck. Over 30 school kids were taken. Some of the parents who were spoken to said some of them were as young as three years old, and even some teachers were also taken. Up until now, we haven't heard any news of their really. And just a few weeks ago in the same local government area, some secondary school children were

writing their national exams. Their school was attacked and over 30 of them were taken. Some of them got released like about 10 of them, but the other 30 have remained in captivity. And do people think that the government is doing enough now to tackle these attacks? There's been lots of criticism mounted on the government. However, after this or your school adoption happened, military were deployed to the affected areas both in Borneo and in New York. The government have said over and over that they are doing more and more and they are ranking up operations, including working with international partners like the United States and carrying out airstrikes and land operations in the region.

Macquarie Ocophore. There has been a dramatic increase in Russian attacks on the southeastern Ukrainian city of Zaporisia. Drones and bombs have inflicted severe damage to infrastructure. structure, residential housing and have killed many civilians. Our correspondent Vitali Shavchenko has this report. Tuesday, the 30th of June, was a very busy and stressful day for Anna Holowchenko, an IT specialist in Zaporizia. It started early, very early.

I woke up at 5 in the morning because of explosions. Glide bombs were hitting the suburbs. I had a look at what was going on, cursed, and turned over to go back to sleep because it was so early. Then there was another wave. At about six, Shahed drones started flying overhead, and they started to shoot them down. It got pretty loud. That's when I realised I'm not getting any more sleep and started to get ready for work. And things did not get easier for Anna from then on. The internet disappeared at work after a drone strike cut a cable. A Shahed crashed nearby with a massive bang, and then there were more bomb strikes. That's just another.

Ordnur Dane Zaporasia, she told me. Over the past few weeks, security there has deteriorated sharply. Numerous buses, petrol stations, schools, government offices and residential houses have been hit by Russian drones and bombs. The local council has had to meet in an underground bunker. Zaporasia's acting mayor, Rejina Kharchenko, told me that the authorities are building more shelters, putting up anti-dronets and applying anti-shatternets,

and applying anti-shatter film to windows and schools, hospitals and other public buildings. Personally, I'm very afraid. I was sitting here in my office last Monday, listening to all the explosions. My window was shaking. When it got too loud, I took cover in the toilet. That's how we live. I live in an ordinary high-rise on the seventh floor. I've got no personal bunker with ten bodyguards in it,

with drone detectors. People are trying to stay in safe locations. If we know the night is going to be tough, we sleep on the floor in the corridor with no windows. Attacks on Zaporizia intensified in early June, even though Ukrainian forces had pushed Russian troops a few kilometers away from the city. The Russians appear to have found better ways of getting their drones to Zaporizia and avoiding Ukrainian jamming. Towards the end of my conversation with Anna, I asked her if she has ever considered leaving her city. The thought has occurred to me. It may sound strange, but I don't think the situation is critical yet. We've got food, fuel, everything. Why would I leave? Maybe I'm not easily scared. We're just trying to

stay safe and we're doing all we can to survive until our victory. Hundreds of thousands of local residents like Aungel. Anna are staying put for now. They're hoping that Zaporizia will not become yet another city, like Bahmoud or Avdyevka, destroyed by Russia. Vitaly Shivchenko, next to a legal row between two giants of the tech world. Apple has filed a lawsuit against Open AI, accusing the artificial intelligence company of stealing trade secrets. Our North America technology correspondent, Lily Jamali gave me the details. Apple is saying that some of its former employees took confidential company information to OpenAI

as part of the AI giants push into consumer devices. So some of the people named in this suit include former Apple executives, including someone named Tang Tan, who now heads up hardware at OpenAI. Apple claims he directed the iPhone maker's employees who were interviewing at OpenAI to bring actual parts of things they were working on at Apple with them. Another allegation I saw is that some of these Apple employees who knew they were going to be leaving, going to Open AI, emailed themselves confidential documents as they were on their way out the door. A spokesperson for OpenAI did get back to us. They say they have, quote, no interest in other companies trade secrets.

But what is so striking is that it's Apple, whose commitment to keeping their unreleased products under wraps is really the stuff of Silicon Valley lore. And what we're seeing here is an allegation of a flagrant breach of trust. But these two companies, they were in a major partnership, weren't they just a couple of years ago? How was that kind of gone wrong? They were. Absolutely, they were. The partnership had Apple integrating OpenAI's flagship product, chat GPT, into the iPhone operating system. This was a really big deal because it happened as Open AI was riding high

where their reputation was really peaking. Remember that they kicked off this whole AI thing in 2022 with ChatGPT. So Apple picking them was a big vote of confidence. Two years later, that partnership has fizzled. When Apple, they're set to launch their new Siri voice assistant in a couple of months, when that comes out, it will be powered by Google's AI product, Gemini, not ChatGPT. And this lawsuit leaves little doubt about how Apple feels about Open AI as a company. Can you tell us what's at stake here?

Why does Open AI want to get into the hardware market? AI is so competitive right now. And hardware is one way to create what's known as a walled garden. People might recognize that term from Apple, which has done this very well. They keep you in their devices as well as some of their software, too. It's all integrated. So I think for most of us, there's not a big difference between the latest version of AI tools offered by different companies. But hardware can keep customers loyal.

There's big money at stake. And Open AI wants a piece of that. Lily Jamali in San Francisco. Still to come in this podcast. It belongs to a group known as the Momentchi Sorods, which actually had the longest necks of any sauropods. So it's one of the longest neck of the long-necked dinosaurs. We'll hear about a new species of dinosaur discovered in Thailand. Is the American dream still possible?

I'm Asma Khaled, one of the hosts of the Global Story podcast from the BBC. One of the most successful exports of the United States has ever sold the world is the American dream, That tantalizing promise of a better, freer, richer life. But is it still attainable? I feel like the American dream is alive but not well. For more, listen to The Global Story on BBC.com or wherever you get your podcasts. The 26 World Cup started with 48 teams and we've now reached the knockout stage. Records have been broken.

The way that Messi has been able to score all these goals late in his career. He's happy to play football. and broken records is the consequence for him. And new heroes have emerged. This country's caught the fever. Casual fans are now die-hard fans. And The More Than the Score podcast is bringing you the stories beyond the score lines. More than the score from the BBC World Service.

Listen now, wherever you get your BBC podcasts. How did the United States build the largest soft power empire in the world with the help of some tiny, metal objects. I'm Tristan Redmond, one of the hosts of the Global Story podcast from the BBC. To mark 250 years of the United States, we speak to Roman Mars of 99% invisible. This soft power, this influence, was an incredible invention. For more, listen to the global story on BBC.com or wherever you get your podcasts. This is the Global News podcast. Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon is slowing down.

It fell in the first half of this year to its lowest level in a decade. The President Louis Inasio Lula de Silva has vowed to stop it altogether by 2030 if he's re-elected, but he'll be running against Flavio Bolsonaro, the son of the former president, Jayao Bolsonaro, and his plans for the rainforest are much more radical. Our global affairs reporter Mimi Swaby told me how this reduction in deforestation had been achieved. President Luis Inasio Lula Silva came in to office promising to really cut down on illegal deforestation and protect indigenous lands and reserves. And he has achieved many of those goals through increasing enforcement of environmental agencies, increasing inspections, increasing satellite monitoring. So basically increasing efforts on all fronts to protect these areas.

He has also protected indigenous lands and reserves. But he still is kind of working towards that promise he has to over. eradicate illegal deforestation by 2030. Deforestation legally has been managed to some degree, but the illegal aspect is harder to control and also harder to quash. And it's a big political issue, isn't it? It is. The current president, Lula de Silva, is very much kind of on the green agenda, whereas his main rival for the upcoming elections, Flavio Bolsonaro, is pushing for increased land development as well as mining. And this is something we saw with his father, Jaire Bolsonaro in 2022, an area around 13 times the size of New York City was cleared.

That is massive. In the first six months of this year, an area nearly double the size of New York City was cleared. So that is a huge, huge difference. Jares Bolsonaro really was the mindset of cut the trees down, get all the resources from the Amazon and capitalize on it. And it's thought that his son, Flavio, will have the same agenda. So these October elections really do carry quite a large, weight when it comes to both political aspect of Brazil and also the environmental. But the Amazon, I mean, I've heard it described before as the lungs of the world. So it's a massive global issue, isn't it, as well?

Hugely, any rainforest holds a lot of carbon, and that plays a vital role in regulating the climate. So climate change and deforestation go hand in hand, along with many other factors. Okay, so two New York cities being deforested is better news than it was, but we need new trees, right? Many people say, yes, more trees neatly planted in Amazon to preserve it. Many will also see it as just as a pot of wealth waiting to be used. That was Mimi Swaby. Now let's get an update on the men's football world cup. Spain had been among the favourites since the tournament kicked off.

And on Friday, they really lived up to that billion. They beat Belgium 2-1 and will now go on to face France in the semi-finals. In what promises to be a cracking match. I asked our correspondent Shima Khalil if Belgium had put up a good fight. Belgium really did not make it very easy for the European champions to get their way. The Red Devils stayed organized. They were relentless. They punished a defense lapse with this beautiful header from Decaturallieri.

But, you know, Spain or Spain. They found another way. And for a second match in a row now, Mikhail Marino came off the bench and he scored the winner. There were two substitute appearances in a row, two hugely important goals in a row. And I think this is the magic of La Roja, the fact that they can open a game very, very late. And now this goal has put them in the semifinals again. And you were lucky enough to be in the stadium, Shai. What was the atmosphere like and after the match?

Do you know what? I think my hearing is recovering a little bit from all the cheering and the roaring. The thing about the Los Angeles Stadium is that the acoustics there are amazing and there's nothing to match that huge cheer and roar when a team scores and the fans are on their feet. And that winning goal from Mikhail Marino was just absolute magic to witness. But now La Roja fans know who they're up against. They know that France is an absolute force, led of course by Kilian Mbapest. So I asked a number of fans what they thought about the match,

but also the prospect of going up against France. We are so happy to want today, and we will for sure win against France. With one goal, we are going to win. I'm so sure of that. In Inbape is not going to let you win with one goal. I can say that right now. Who is Killian-in-N-Bappi? Who's Killian-N-Bappi?

We're going to be there. So it's going to be Laminemal against Kiliin Bapi in that Spain-France semi-final. Who's your money on then, Shimer? I was going to say, don't ask me who I think is going to be a favorite. And I'm sorry, you have to tell us right now who's going to win. Look, this is the boy wonder that is La Miniam-Mal against one of the game's biggest and most established superstars

that is Killian Babel. It's Spain's flowing possession against France's pace, their fluency, their devastating counter-attacks. I think what we're going to get is a lot of quality, and a lot of fans are telling me they need goals and they need lots of them. My money is on Spain. Shai Mehalil in Los Angeles. Paleontologists in Thailand say they've discovered a new species of dinosaur from fossils found in Carlesin province in the northeast of the country. The plant-eating dinosaur named Euragosaurus Carla Sincensis is thought to have lived about 150 million years ago.

It had an unusually long neck and measured up to 20 metres in length. Jack Lovegrove is a PhD researcher who studies dinosaurs at the Natural History Museum here in London. He told Paul Henley more about this new species. This new dinosaur, Eurasaurus, belongs to a group of dinosaurs known as the sauropods, which are the long-necked iconic dinosaurs like Diplodocus, sprontosaurus. It belongs to a group known as the Momenchi-saurids, which actually had the longest necks of any sauropods. So it's one of the longest necks of the long-necked dinosaurs.

So what's cool about this dinosaur is that despite only finding one vertebrae from the back, scientists have been able to figure out not just what group of dinosaurs it belongs to, but that is a new species and give it a new name. And it's significant as it's the first Mementi-sorid to be named from Thailand, and it's only the second one to be named from outside China. So it shows that this group that we previously thought might have been restricted to China, East Asia is actually more widely distributed. I know you weren't part of the team that discovered these remains or this fossil,

but you have read the paper in detail. Tell us about the paleontologist operation to find it. My understanding from reading about this is that actually initially the fossil site was discovered by a local farmer. So this is something that happens a lot in paleontology. paleontology, because there's not a huge amount of paleontologists and we can't be everywhere, that often it's members of the public find stuff, report it, and then paleontologists are able to come along and make these important discoveries. And what's cool about the locality that this

dinosaur comes from is that, as well as this one bone from this new dinosaur, there was a whole array of other things, so terrors, crocodiles, fish, all mixed together in this one locality. The dating is still a little bit up in the air based on comparisons with other fauners as I mentioned this is a group that we know from China from the end of the drastic, these moment you saw it. We think that this was probably latest drastic, but I don't think they yet have radiometric dating on this formation. But we're pretty sure it's late Triassic, maybe earliest Cretaceous.

Jack Lovegrove talking there. Now, it's a problem that's left governments in parts of the world scratching their heads. How to deal with decreasing birth rates? Well, in South Korea, Buddhist temples have stepped in to help by hosting special dating retreats to boost population growth. These bimonthly matchmaking sessions started three years ago and today, births are bouncing back. Not only that, interest among young people in dating and marriage is soaring.

Our correspondent in Seoul, Jake Kwan, headed to a secluded mountainside temple to meet the singles looking for love. We're at Donghasa, a Buddhist temple in the south of the country. And here, there are 12 men and 12 women very busy talking to each other. This is Narnenzuela, or I'm Going to the Temple, a two-day matchmaking retreat, organized by the country's largest Buddhist group. It began in 2023, inspired by a hit dating show. That year, South Korea recorded the lowest birth rate in the world.

The host, Yu Chorzhu, made it his work to bring young men and women together. Buddhists have always been the first to take action when our country was in trouble. Low births are a national crisis. We had to do something about it. The day began with awkward introductions and ice-breaking round in the courtyard. I think I want to have some baby and family. I'd really like to care somebody. This is Enyo.

He surprised everyone with pastries he baked the night before. And that's why I came here with some. cookies and I really want to wish to make a family with good people. Another participant, Soniaji, says she always wanted to get married in her 20s. I used to work in a big city and had many friends and things to do, but since I moved to the provinces, it's not easy to date. Everyone at work is older. For lunch, it's the talent showcase time, and I'm in the room with 24 participants. And these people were selected out of the 1600 who were selected out of the 1600 who were

applied and organizers have selected them based on how serious they are about finding their partner. And I can tell. Enyo sings a love song while Soniaji dances to a K-pop number. One woman plays a flute she had learned just for this event. Everyone is sincere as if this is their only shot at love. And that's because dating can be hard in South Korea. People typically meet romantic partners through a school or sogeting, a blind date set up by friends. But failing that small talk in big cities is rare. Drinking is down and dating apps never

really took off. And before they can catch their breath, it's already time for women to pick their partner for the dinner date. Soniaji picked Mino, a 32-year-old civil servant whose soft-spoken demeanor proved quite popular with women, while Ennio, who had a strong start, did not get picked. I feel a little bit sad, you know, because the results are quite bad. Okay, you're not letting your spirit down. Yeah, probably my best. Yeah. The sun has gone down and we're nearing the end of the day.

The host reminds them that there is no bedtime, and the night in the temple can be full of surprises. To Sunyej's dismay, Mino is taken on a date by another woman, and in the morning, eight couples emerge. The organizer says he sees about 50 to 60 percent match rate, so today this is a success. Everyone was so interesting and nice. Oh, I loved it.

We stayed up until 3 a.m. last night just yapping. You're okay, you didn't find a husband today? Yeah, I made great friends here. Jake Kwan with that report. And that's all from us for now. If you want to get in touch, you can email us at Global Podcast at BBC.co.com. You can also find us on X at BBC World Service. Use the hashtag Global NewsPod.

And don't forget our sister podcast, The Global Story, which goes in depth and beyond the headlines on one big story. This edition of the Global News podcast was mixed by Darcy O'Bree and the producer was Emma Joseph. The editor is Karen Martin. I'm Keith Adams. Until next time, goodbye. How did the United States build the largest soft power empire in the world?

with the help of some tiny metal objects. I'm Tristan Redmond, one of the hosts of the Global Story podcast from the BBC. To mark 250 years of the United States, we speak to Roman Mars of 99% invisible. This soft power, this influence, was an incredible invention. For more, listen to the global story on BBC.com or wherever you get your podcasts.