Three commercial ships were damaged by unknown projectiles in the Strait of Hormuz, escalating tensions in a vital global shipping route. In response to rising energy prices, 32 members of the International Energy Agency agreed to release 400 million barrels of oil from emergency reserves, marking the largest coordinated release in the agency’s history.

Israel announced new waves of strikes targeting infrastructure in Iran and sites linked to Hezbollah in Beirut. Iran retaliated with strikes on targets in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait, while Israeli territory was also hit in the widening confrontation.

The programme also reports on alleged Russian intelligence sabotage attacks against countries allied with Ukraine, and features warnings from computer scientists that future robots may reflect a predominantly male perspective due to the lack of women working in artificial intelligence design.