BBC News Briefing

14 July, 2026

Alex has short blonde hair and blue eyes. She is smiling and wearing a black turtleneck

Alex Binley

Hello. We've got the latest on the situation in the Middle East as attacks between the US and Iran escalate. A British man living in Spain speaks to the BBC about how his wife and friends were killed by wildfire. And finally, find out what a bored pilot wrote in the sky.

TOP OF THE AGENDA

Strait of Hormuz dispute intensifies as US and Iran launch fresh strikes

A black and white image shows a building at the edge of water and a large explosion in front of it. At the top of the image in bright green letters is the word 'unclassified'.

The US said it carried out a strike on a maintenance facility in Bandar Abbas, Iran. Credit: Reuters

Hostilities between the US and Iran are escalating. In its third consecutive night of strikes, the US military said it launched attacks "to further degrade Iran's ability to attack commercial shipping", while Tehran hit two UAE tankers in the Strait of Hormuz. The UAE called the attacks "brazen" and said an Indian crew member was killed and eight others were injured. Iranian state media reported three people were killed in the US strikes. As the two sides both seek to assert their dominance in the strategic waterway, "tension" over the strait "will continue to plague efforts" to find a way out of this war, chief international correspondent Lyse Doucet writes.

Latest updates

Analysis: How realistic is Trump's 20% fee on Strait of Hormuz cargo?

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Watch: The US has released video which it says shows attacks from a five-hour mission overnight.

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Missile launches: Iran too has released footage of what it said are the strikes it carried out.

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BEYOND THE HEADLINES

Brit tells of surviving Spain wildfire in car as wife and friends died trying to run to safety