Global News Podcast - US reinstates naval blockade on Iran

Episode Date: July 14, 2026

Washington and Tehran continue to exchange strikes, President Trump restores the US blockade of Iranian ports and unveils a new levy on cargo shipped through the Strait of Hormuz. Also: the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, is again hit by Russian ballistic missiles after Ukraine launches a european defence system in Paris; Hungary's new government pushes through an amended constitution; US states sue to block the Paramount-Warner Bros. merger; British counter-terrorism police take control of the investigation into the killing of the former government minister, Ann Widdecombe; the legal and ethical rows over euthanasia in Spain; the travails of the diamond industry; and Dua Lipa teams up with a Portuguese bookstore to promote banned literature.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]: United States President Donald J Trump in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, USA, 13 July 2026. Credit: EPA/Shutterstock

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 Odo.com to book a demo. It's ODbolo.com. 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,

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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 from the BBC World Service.

I'm Charlotte Gallagher, and in the early hours of Tuesday, the 14th of July, these are our main stories. Tensions over the Strait of Hormuz continue to escalate with further strikes and demands from President Trump for a 20% charge to use the waterway. And a new European anti-ballistic missile defence initiative is launched as Kiev suffers another night of Russian attacks. Also, in this podcast, Hungary's new government pushes through an amended constitution in order to rapidly remove several figures linked to the previous administration. And? The law in Spain recognizes euthanasia as an intensely personal decision. It isn't appropriate for someone else to call that decision into question.

We hear about the division in Spain over its euthanasia laws. We start in Iran, where the conflict over the conflict over the war. the Strait of Hormuz continues to escalate, and President Trump says he'll reinstate a naval blockade. For a third night in a row, the U.S. military says it has successfully struck military targets across the country. Tehran says there have been explosions in several locations, including islands in the Gulf. Meanwhile, Iran's revolutionary guards say they've been hitting oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz and American targets in Bahrain. President Trump, told journalists in the Oval Office that the U.S. will act as a guardian of the strait in return

for a 20% charge on all cargo shipped through the waterway. We're hitting them very hard. We are just going forward. We're attacking them tonight. We're taking out all of their capability for anything having to do with the strait, with the heartland strait. And I think in the end we will end up discontinrolling the whole thing. we're putting the blockade back. The blockade was probably more effective even than hitting them, but I think the combination is the thing that really does. But you think a deal is still possible? Do you think they'll return to that? Yeah, I think a deal is possible. Sure, I do. They are crazy. And we're not going to put it up.

Yeah, I want to be reimbursed because we're protecting a very rich portion of the world. We're spending money. And so what we've done is we are going to be reimbursed for protection. Well, Iran has responded by saying those comments, justify its demand to be able to control traffic and also charge a tariff. Oil prices have risen once again too. I got more from our correspondent Tom Bateman in Washington. It's unclear just how quickly the Americans can get the blockade up and running again, although we've heard from US Central Command in the region there that this is effectively underway.

And I think out of all the things Donald Trump has been saying over the last day or two, this is one of those that will be seen on the Iranian side as, one of the most provocative because the naval blockade was causing significant problems for Tehran in terms of what they need and want, which is financing money for reconstruction. And it's, you know, it's one of the biggest pressure points on the regime because people have been suffering, not just because of the war, because of years of sanctions. And so it was a vital interest for the Iranians to get that naval blockade lifted, which was part of the discussions going into this memorandum of understanding about a month

ago. And it's another way in which I think this whole situation is now deteriorating and it's just a further kind of rung on the ladder of escalation as this entire situation moves back closer to something like a full-blown conflict. Because Iran's reaction to this was quite sarcastic, but do you think in reality they will be very worried about this? The sarcasm from Abbasarachi, the foreign minister, was largely around this issue about charging ships' money to pass through the Strait of Hormuz. Because remember, The Iranians have been saying for a long time it was their right to charge what they'd called a fee for ships passing through the strait. The Americans had always said, no, this is a toll, it's completely illegal under international law, you can't do that.

And they had suggested that under the memorandum of understanding, the Iranians would not do this. But we then saw very clearly the Iranians seeming to suggest they would press ahead with this, perhaps at the end of the 60-day period. What we've had from President Trump is President Trump saying the Americans are going to charge. He says a 20% fee on ships to pass the Strait of Hormuz, and he says it is the Americans in control of it. Now, that is objectively clearly untrue. The Americans do not have complete control of the Strait of Hormuz. And the idea of charging this vast sum for ships passing through

appears to be for the birds. But the reality is what it does is to affect endorse the concepts that the Americans were saying the Iranians simply couldn't do as a breach of international law. So there's again a lot of contradiction in the American position here. And I think the situation on the ground or on the water now is really serious. I mean, you know, you're seeing almost daily attacks now by both sides. Gulf countries are being struck again by the Iranians.

The Americans are escalating the form of military attacks on the Iranians. So I think we're now locked into a cycle where, to be honest, I think Tehran is testing to see how far President Trump will go. But the scope now for miscalculation on either side, I think is very severe. and has the potential to lead to a far more grave escalation of the conflict. Tom Bateman in Washington. The Ukrainian capital Kiev has been hit again by Russian ballistic missiles, sending residents to air raid shelters, with initial reports saying cars and warehouses have been set on fire.

Kiev's mayor said the city's air defences were operating, but Ukraine has been open about its struggles encountering Russian missiles because of its lack of US-made patriot interceptors. In France on Monday, President Zelensky agreed to develop, along with nine European countries, new air defences. We have launched an anti-ballistic program, comprising of the Freya anti-ballistic system and missile, which can become one of our shared major contributions to protecting lives, strengthening Europe and enhancing Europe's global capacity to prevent conflicts. You can all see the threat that ballistic missile,

now pose in Russia's war against Ukraine. Ballistic missile strikes have become Russia's last resort. Effectively, its final means of prolonging this bloody war. It was part of a meeting of the so-called Coalition of the Willing, taking place in Paris alongside Western allies, led by President Emmanuel Macron, and the British Prime Minister, Keir Stama. Now Putin is on the back foot.

He will try to intimidate us once again, with more talk of escalation and hybrid attacks. Today, with EU partners, we are attributing last year's attempted attack on Poland's energy infrastructure to Russia's security services. It is another example of their reckless attempts to undermine European security. So we need to be absolutely clear

that whilst we do not seek confrontation with Russia, these tactics will not deter us from our support to Ukraine. President Macron also announced that the multinational force for Ukraine due to be deployed once the fighting has ended will hold exercises in the coming months in Ukraine's neighbouring countries. Three months ago, Peter Major secured a huge election victory in Hungary, ending Viktor Orban's 16-year grip on power and what many had seen as his increasingly ongoing,

authoritarian rule. On Monday, the new government pushed through an amended constitution in order to remove several figures linked to that past administration. And top of the list is the president, Tomash Shuyok. He now just has a few days to sign the amendment or face impeachment. But there are concerns about the speed in which this is all happening. Zhugeana, Selangyi, a former MP for the Liberal-Hungarian Together party, said the new government had limited options. Very few countries in the word is going through a so-called post-illiberal restoration of democracy. Actually, there is no any other country really in Europe doing this after 16 years. There are a huge number of autocratic holdover appointees, basically nominated by Viktor Orban's regime

for nine, 12 years over several cycles. These appointees may, subverse a new democratic regime. David Vig is the Hungary Director for Amnesty International. Tim Franks asked him what he thought about the amended constitution. It is really justifiable that changes are needed, some key figures that were cemented into as late as 2037, they are obstacles to the restoration of rule of law. But while these aims are justified,

some methods that were used that were chosen are, pretty problematic because they violate due process. Give me an example of how due process is going to be violated in your view. There is an existing procedure, for example, to remove the president of the country. There is an impeachment procedure that, in our view, could have been used and it's an existing procedure. But the governing majority did not choose to use this procedure, but basically by law, just write one sentence in a constitutional amendment that, in fact, terminates the mandate of the president who is the current mandate order without any due process, basically. One of the arguments that Peter Modja might make is that, look, you know, we've got a mandate.

We made it very clear going into the election that we wanted to sweep the old system away. We got a huge majority, a super majority. Opinion polls seem to suggest that, you know, the overwhelmed, majority of people surveyed do want the president to be removed from office. We're sort of affecting the democratic will in order to set up a more robust system. I mean, what do you make of that argument? Yeah, I think that's correct that the majority of the people actually want this president to be gun. But in order to set a precedent where the production of human rights and the system of checks and balances can be restored in a way that it actually respects the rule of law is a very important precedent going forward. This new governing majority does have the

necessary public support to undertake these measures. The previous consecutive four urban governments that have undermined human rights and rule of law so many times used the exact same arguments that Peter Möder is making right now referring to the view of the public. So I think when we talk about due process and when we talk about the protection of human rights, it is really important to understand that while the majority in a country may wish a process to be very quick, sometimes it really pays off on a long run to respect your process. I guess there could be another arbiter of this, which would be the European Union. I mean, they in the past, withheld billions of dollars of funding to Hungary

because they've been concerned about the rule of law and about human rights. The EU has pretty much unlocked, I think about $19 billion worth of funding to Hungary. Since Peter Modja came to power, do you think that they've acted a bit too hastily? I think they were a little bit too quick in approving these measures, as I think it is very important to learn from lessons from the past, where some legislative measures were not properly implemented as they should be in practice. So I think it was a little bit too early. David Vig, speaking to Tim Franks.

Why are a collection of US states getting involved in a potential media takeover that's been given the green light by the Department of Justice? California, along with 11 other states, says if Paramount takes over Warner Brothers' discovery, it would weaken competition and have negative repercussions. percussions for the industry and consumers. Stephanie Prentice has this report. The Clayton Anti-Trust Act was put in place in the US in 1914, designed in part to block anti-competitive mergers. And now stood in front of the Hollywood sign in L.A. California Attorney General Rob Bontor used it to explain why he's leading a legal bid to freeze a deal

between Warner and Paramount. It prevents mergers that may substantially lessen competition or tend to create a monopoly. The states opposing it say it would extinguish competition in Hollywood and threaten jobs across film, TV and journalism. The latter, they say, will have a negative impact for viewers, an act, in Rob Bontas words, as a death knell for democracy. This merger will mean fewer journalists. informing the electorate.

It'll mean fewer opportunities for Americans to hear the full breadth of information and opinions on a subject and then come to their own conclusions. It'll mean fewer documentarians, filmmakers, showrunners, producers, writers, and artists shedding light on important stories that too often go untold. Paramount and Warner have been competitors for a long time and the $110 billion deal, the largest of its kind in Hollywood,

could give them power on the ground that's never been seen before. Now all of a sudden, that will give them negotiating power and allow them to dictate terms with movie theaters. And it will also give them incredible negotiating power when it comes to licensing of basic cable channels. And they will be able to raise prices, set dictate terms with cable companies. And that means higher prices for people who have satellite or cable channels.

cable TV, higher prices at movie theaters. The deal will now face delays, but can it be stopped? Rebecca Horland's-Aldensworth is chair of law at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee. In the arguments they bring are serious, they will definitely be taken seriously by the court. And I think it's always hard to win an antitrust lawsuit, especially over the last 40 years, the law has really been narrowed by the court's interpretation. So I don't want to say that they will win this lawsuit, but I would say they have a all fighting chance.

Paramount CEO has said the scaled-up organization will have more money to commission projects and vowed to vigorously defend the merger. Stephanie Prentice. Still to come in this podcast. We do have lots of books that have been censored that have been banned from schools, for example, The Handmaid's Tale or the satanic verses from Salman Rushdie. How a music megastar has teamed up with a port. Portuguese bookshop to promote band literature.

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 podcasts 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. British counter-terrorism police have taken control of the investigation into the killing

of the former government minister, Anne Whittaker. The authorities had previously insisted the attack was not politically motivated. A 28-year-old British man arrested on suspicion of murder at the weekend is now also suspected of commissioning or preparing acts of terrorism. Anne Whittaker, who was 78, was found dead at her remote home on Thursday. In a statement in Parliament, the Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood addressed the reality that this is the third British politician attacked and killed in recent years. I know this raises questions about the security of those in public life. I will not be the only one here thinking also of two other beloved members of this House.

Politics is a calling for those of us here. but it should not be a dangerous one. And so it is incumbent on the House and the government to work together to protect those who choose to serve. My colleague Valerie Sanderson has been speaking to our British Affairs correspondent, Rob Watson. I think the big development is the idea that over the weekend, when the police first said this was a murder, they said they had no information to suggest that it was politically motivated

or in some way anything to do with terrorism, that now we have the counterterrorism in the lead, but all the government are saying, all the police are saying, is that new information and evidence has emerged for them to give the lead to counterterrorism, but why on earth they've done that? We're still no clearer.

Well, it seems crucial evidence was taken from door cam footage from Anne Whittickham's home. Well, I mean, what has been quite striking is the door cam footage of the suspect, who was a 28-year-old, white male from the north of England from a long way away from Devon where the murder happened where Anne Whittaker lived and it seems to show him getting into a red car with a weapon in his pocket and to that extent I guess an awful lot of people who've been looking at it say

seems curious that counter-terrorism police would be involved in such a case but there you are Rob other political figures have been killed in the last 10 years I'm thinking of the MPs Joe Cox and David Amos, as the minister said in the House. There is growing concern, do you think, about the safety and security of those in public life, as she mentioned? I mean, growing concern would be an understatement, Valerie. I mean, one of the things that this murder has brought out is the level of concern that politicians have.

And it was interesting watching the debate, and I watched it quite carefully where Shabana Mahmoud was giving the statement about where the police investigation was, The number of politicians, including Shabana Mahmoud, to be fair, talking about the vast increase in threats that they face. And I know from talking to British politicians, they often tell me about the just exponential rise in the level of abuse and threats that they received, particularly in an area of social media. And so one of the themes in this debate was how could the security of MPs

and politicians be improved without somehow putting them behind barriers, them away from the public. But I mean, I think there is a real sense of crisis about the way politicians are treated in this country in terms of their personal security. Rob Watson, in March this year in Spain, Noelia Castillo died by euthanasia. She was just 25. A young woman who became paraplegic after a suicide attempt that followed a serious sexual assault. Her father fought for two years in the courts to stop the euthanasia but failed. Since then, the Supreme Court has ruled that those with a particularly close connection to the person wanting to die, a family member or a loved one may have the right to contest that death

wish. Our reporter Linda Presley traveled to Spain to meet two people with different takes on the law. We meet Monica on a cafe terrace in Madrid. She discovered quite by chance that her mother had begun the process of asking for euthanasia. I found out through another family member, that relative's pet dog had died from natural causes. She didn't have the dog put to sleep. And she said to me, not like your mother who's going to have euthanasia. Monica, who's in her 40s, didn't want us to meet her mom. She said she's too fragile. So this is solely Monica's version of events. Certainly her mother's health had declined. She'd spent time in hospital, had a stroke, and was dependent on carers. She'd invested a lot of, she'd invested a lot of

money in rehabilitation, but her soul, her heart, they were very sad. She started saying she wanted to die. Monica was used to reassuring her mother, telling her that with psychological support she'd feel better. Now, she challenged her mum about the decision to formally apply for euthanasia. Monica's a devout Catholic. She prayed. And then she made an appointment to see the doctor who was helping her mother make the request. I said my mother's mentally competent, but she's physically disabled and therefore vulnerable. The doctor said she couldn't tell me anything because of data protection. I said, my mom isn't eligible for euthanasia under the law.

She isn't suffering intolerably. The doctor said my mother freed the criteria perfectly and that as her doctor, she would make sure the euthanasia happened. If you see someone who's about to jump off a bridge, Do you offer them your hand or do you give them a kick? What comes naturally to us as human beings? It's to offer a hand. And that's what Monica did.

And her mum's still alive. She went on holiday with her daughter, withdrew from the euthanasia process and changed doctors. Monica wants Spain's euthanasia law repealed. But she thinks the Supreme Court's recent decision to allow a loved one to contest an adult's application for the right to die is a good first step. Since Spain passed the law legal,

legalizing euthanasia, the highest number of applications to die have been in Catalonia. The law in Spain recognizes euthanasia as an intensely personal decision. It isn't appropriate for someone else to call that decision into question. Dr. Chavier Busquette has overseen the euthanasia process for more than 20 patients and he's been present at the deaths of more than a dozen people. He believes it's wrong for the law to take into account the opposition of loved ones as may now happen. Either we truly believe in personal autonomy or we don't. Healthcare professionals were motivated by compassion. I see a profound cruelty in this legal change. The euthanasia process is already difficult. It's emotionally demanding. And now, on top of that, does this threat.

Will someone sue you or not? In only one of some 20, euthanasia cases has Dr. Bousquet seen opposition from a loved one. In the others, he says, family are integral to those final moments. The whole setting is chosen by the patient, and the family is there holding their hand. I don't think this will ever become a common way to die. It takes tremendous courage to face death like this, and the patient always says to us, thank you. The last words are always, thank you. Linda Presley. A diamond ring was once a non-negotiable purchase for a couple, but fewer and fewer people are now splashing out for the natural stones and the industry is struggling. The diamond giant De Beers is halting production at its biggest South African mine. James Campbell worked for De Beers and told us what's led to the decision. Firstly, there is the overall decline in the diamond market itself and that's caused by the advent of labs.

grown diamonds which have eroded much of the bottom end of the section and the cost of living crisis which most people are having throughout the world at the moment. And the second reason is very much linked to the first one is that not every diamond mine is the same. Some diamond mines produce small numbers of very high quality large diamonds, but others produce much larger qualities of smaller quality diamonds and Venetia is sadly one of them. So their prices have eroded much more than larger high quality diamonds and therefore, De Beers has made the decision to put Venetian mine basically on Keran maintenance for two years. And I think that maybe one or two other mines may also have to go on care of maintenance to allow the industry to recover.

I think it all goes to marketing to a large degree. It goes to what does the consumer want when the consumer buys a diamond. And for many, many years, diamonds were seen as the ultimate source of your expression of love. And when you're going to get engaged, you give your partner a diamond engagement. ring, but much of that market has been eroded by synthetic diamonds. However, many of us in the diamond industry do believe that if there is a resurgence in marketing, natural marketing around natural diamonds, that that will grow. If you look at Louis Vuitton handbags, for example, you can often not tell a Louis Vuitton handbag, which is made by a fake manufacturer from a genuine thing,

but the owner of that handbag actually knows that this is a real thing. And that's what the diamond market really has to focus on in order to resurrect itself. That was James Campbell. Finally, the Livraria Lello is one of the world's most renowned bookshops and a popular tourist attraction in the Portuguese city of Porto. They're now collaborating with the pop star Jewelie Piper to sell books that have been banned in some countries. Francesca Pedro Pinto is from the bookshop and has been telling Sean Lay more about the project.

So we expanded and we of course had to have an auditorium, a place where we could host our cultural programming. And we started thinking what books belonged on these shelves. Then we challenged Service 95 Book Club to create this project with us. And this is the book club that's run by the singer Duelipa. Yes. We wanted this to reach new audiences and we believe that Dua Lippa has the power to do that. Now, are these books that have been different places around the world at different times been banned or censored or indeed removed altogether from bookshelts?

Some of them have. Unfortunately, we're living strange periods. Just in the US in the past year, over 4,000 books have been banned. So that's the highest number ever documented. So we do have lots of books that have been censored that have been banned from schools. For example, the Handmaid's Tale or the Satanic Verses. from Salman Rushdie, other types of books that, for example, in the voice category, which are books but that maybe people haven't heard of.

And so we try to brother that voice and amplify it. And when you say voice, these are people's accounts of their own experiences. Yes. For example, Shimamanda, with the half of the Yellowson that talks us of the Bifurian War and how a million people have died of starvation. So these are stories that not many people know, and that we believe deserved a special category within this library. Are you hoping that maybe Duelipa herself will visit at some point?

I bet she will. This is now our home as well. These are the books that she helped select to be represented. I'm sure she will want to visit the Manifesto Library. Francesca Pedro Pinto. 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. Don't forget our sister podcast, The Global Story. This edition of the Global News podcast was mixed by Chris Cazaris, and the producer was Marion Strawn. The editor is Karen Martin. I'm Charlotte Gallagher. Until next time, goodbye. The United States is about to mark its 250th anniversary.

And so on the Global Story podcast from the BBC. we're telling surprising tales of American influence on the world stage and in ordinary people's lives all across the globe. We have this ability to export our story, and a lot of people have bought it. I feel like the American dream is alive, but not well. From the BBC, it's the United States at 250. Listen on BBC.com or wherever you get your podcasts.