President Trump has insisted the ceasefire with Iran is holding, after U.S. forces exchanged drone, missile and gun fire with Iranian vessels in the Persian Gulf. U.S. Central Command said it was responding to what it called “unprovoked” attacks, while Iran said it had retaliated after U.S. Navy ships targeted an oil tanker in Iran’s territorial waters. A spokesperson for Iran’s armed forces said U.S. airstrikes hit civilian areas in southern Iran. Meanwhile, air defenses were activated in the capital Tehran, where multiple explosions were reported overnight.

In a call with ABC, President Trump described the U.S. bombings as a “love tap” and insisted that the ceasefire was still ongoing. Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi condemned the attacks, writing, “Every time a diplomatic solution is on the table, the U.S. opts for a reckless military adventure.”

Meanwhile, the United Arab Emirates says it intercepted several drones and missiles launched from Iran.

A new report finds authorities in the UAE have arrested and deported up to 15,000 Pakistani workers, many of them Shia Muslims, without formal charges. New Lines Magazine reports many of the workers were deported with little more than the clothes on their backs, without being given the opportunity to withdraw funds from banks or settle their financial affairs — even after spending years or decades working in the UAE.

Meanwhile, an estimated 20,000 seafarers remain stranded in the Persian Gulf amid the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. This is an Indian sailor who returned to India Thursday after he spent weeks trapped at an Iranian port while U.S. and Israeli missiles and drones exploded around his ship.

Tithi Chiranjeevi: “We did not have internet, and there was no way to communicate with our families back home. We were quite tense, and our relatives also were under a lot of duress back home. Subsequently, even getting food became difficult. Around 200 people, Indians, are still stranded there.”

We’ll speak to representatives of two maritime workers’ unions later in the broadcast.

An Israeli airstrike has targeted an ambulance in southern Lebanon, killing one paramedic and leaving another wounded. The killing was one of 12 reported by Lebanon’s Health Ministry on Thursday, with two children among the dead. Meanwhile, Israel has issued forced evacuation orders to a dozen more villages in southern Lebanon. The U.N. warns over half of Lebanon’s 5.8 million people are in need of humanitarian aid, after Israeli strikes since March killed at least 2,700 people and displaced over a million from their homes.

The Trump administration has imposed more sanctions on Cuba, ignoring warnings from the United Nations, which denounced the U.S. fuel blockade on the island as “energy starvation.” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Thursday the new sanctions target an enterprise group linked to the Cuban military that oversees significant portions of Cuba’s economy.

Meanwhile, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva met with President Trump at the White House Thursday. Lula later spoke from the Brazilian Embassy in Washington, D.C., where he said Trump privately signaled he had no plans to launch a U.S. military operation on Cuba.

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva: “If he needs help to discuss Cuba’s situation, I am at his disposal, because I heard, if the translator is right, that he said he is not thinking of invading Cuba. That was said by the interpreter, and I think it’s a great sign.”

In Mali, at least 30 people were killed in a series of attacks reportedly carried out by al-Qaeda-affiliated fighters. This comes after armed Tuareg separatists last month joined fighters with an al-Qaeda-linked affiliate in a massive, coordinated attack on the capital Bamako, as well as four other cities across Mali.

Tennessee’s Republican-dominated state Legislature on Thursday approved a new congressional map that breaks up a decades-old district in the majority-Black city of Memphis into three Republican-leaning districts. Governor Bill Lee promptly signed the legislation into law. Republicans believe the new map will help their party sweep all nine of Tennessee’s House seats. The legislation passed after Democratic lawmakers linked arms and walked out of the Tennessee House chamber, as protesters shouted slogans including “No Jim Crow!” and “Black votes matter!” Three protesters were arrested, including KeShaun Pearson, the brother of state Representative Justin J. Pearson. This follows last week’s Supreme Court ruling gutting Voting Rights Act protections for majority-Black districts.

New York state is preparing to ban federal agents from wearing face masks as part of a sweeping package of immigration protections included in the state’s budget deal announced Thursday. The measures would also prohibit state and local officials from collaborating with ICE, ban ICE from using New York jails to detain immigrants, and prohibit agents from searching hospitals, schools and churches without a warrant signed by a judge. In response, Trump’s so-called border czar Tom Homan threatened to flood New York and other cities and states nationwide with federal agents if they refuse to collaborate with Trump’s mass deportation campaign. Homan spoke Tuesday from a Border Security Expo in Phoenix, Arizona.

Tom Homan: “So, what’s going to happen to places like New York and these other people that want to pass this ridiculous legislation not to work with us? We’re going to flood the zone. You’re going to see more ICE agents you ever seen before. So, congratulations, because when we send these teams out there, we’ll find a bad guy — most times we do — and when we find a bad guy, he’s with others, others who might not be a priority target, but they’re in the country illegally. They weren’t people we were looking for, but we found them during these operations. Well, guess what: They’re coming, too.”

An investigation by The Guardian has found that during the first seven months of Trump’s return to office, federal immigration agents arrested the parents of at least 27,000 children, including thousands of U.S. citizens. Advocates have warned of a new family separation crisis that could be far worse than Trump’s first term.

An Arizona judge has ordered the expedited deportation of the parents of an 18-year-old with terminal cancer who for weeks has pleaded to reunite with his mom and dad. Kevin González was born in Chicago and has Stage 4 colon cancer. He left Chicago and returned to Mexico after his parents were detained while attempting to cross back into the United States, after their request for a humanitarian visa was denied. The couple hopes to reunite with their son, who doesn’t have much time to live, but they have been held in ICE custody since mid-April. Illinois Congressmember Delia Ramirez, who represents Chicago, advocated for Kevin’s parents’ hearing to be fast-tracked in order for them to return to Mexico and reunite with their son in his final moments.

A series of leaked audio recordings has revealed the United States and Israel, with the support of Honduras, have been involved in a scheme targeting leftist governments in Latin America. The groundbreaking investigation was led by the news outlet Diario Red en América Latina and the website Hondurasgate. It exposes how former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández, with the support of current Honduran conservative President Nasry Asfura, President Trump and Argentina’s right-wing leader Javier Milei, had conspired to disseminate fake news with the intention to destabilize the leftist governments of Brazil, Colombia and Mexico. Trump pardoned Juan Orlando Hernández in December after he was convicted of drug trafficking and sentenced to 45 years in a U.S. prison.

The independent Central American outlet El Faro said Thursday the assets of two of its staff members, including a bank account, were frozen by the government of Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele. Since Bukele came to power, El Faro has published massive investigations into allegations of corruption and the Bukele administration’s relation with some of El Salvador’s most powerful gangs. Several of El Faro’s journalists have been forced into exile due to threats and surveillance from Bukele’s government. El Faro Director Carlos Dada said, “These are not fiscal measures. They are political measures trying to silence us.”

In related news, the U.S. State Department has canceled the tourist visas of several board members of Costa Rica’s leading national newspaper La Nación over its critical coverage of Costa Rican President Rodrigo Chaves, who is a close ally of President Trump. The newspaper has reported on allegations of sexual harassment and illegal campaign financing by Chaves.

The U.K.'s Health Security Agency says it has identified another suspected case of hantavirus in a British national who traveled on a luxury cruise ship hit by the virus. Three people have died since April from the hantavirus outbreak aboard the MV Hondius; four others with confirmed cases remain hospitalized. Hantavirus infections are often fatal in humans. The disease is usually spread by rodents, though in rare cases can be transmitted among people. The World Health Organization's director of pandemic preparedness tamped down concerns over a global public health emergency, saying, “This is an outbreak on a ship and we do not anticipate a large epidemic.”

The Shell oil company has reported its highest profits in years, after Trump’s war of choice against Iran sent global oil prices skyrocketing. On Thursday, Shell reported $6.9 billion in profits during the first quarter, exceeding shareholder expectations. Collectively, the six largest European fossil fuel companies reported $22 billion in profits during the first three months of 2026.

This comes as a new report by the office of Senator Ed Markey finds the average U.S. family with two cars can expect to pay an extra $1,750 at the pump this year compared to what they were paying before the war. Meanwhile, U.S. auto loan debt has hit a record high of nearly $1.7 trillion. On Wednesday, President Trump’s senior economic adviser Kevin Hassett boasted to Fox Business that U.S. credit card spending is “through the roof.”

Kevin Hassett: “In fact, I had the head of one of the big five banks in my office yesterday going through the credit card data. And just as Secretary Bessent said, credit card spending is through the roof. They’re spending more on gasoline, but they’re spending more on everything else, too.”