What happened
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps said it had taken control of two commercial vessels near the Strait of Hormuz, according to state-linked reports. The seizures “add uncertainty” to a ceasefire Donald Trump extended on Tuesday, said The New York Times.

The seized vessels were identified as the MSC Francesca and the Greek-owned Epaminondas, reportedly targeted for failing to comply with new Iranian transit requirements, including permits for designated routes. Reports also suggested that a third ship, the Euphoria, came under fire and altered its course during the passage.

Who said what
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt accused Iran of acting “like a bunch of pirates”, but said the incident had not breached the ceasefire. “These were not US ships,” she said. “These were not Israeli ships.” Greece’s Foreign Minister Giorgos Gerapetritis said one vessel had suffered “extremely wide damage”.

What next?
The Strait of Hormuz has been “one of the main sticking points” preventing a new round of negotiations from commencing in recent days, said Almigdad Alruhaid on Al Jazeera. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Tehran wanted “dialogue and agreement”, but that “breach of commitments, blockade and threats are the main obstacles to genuine negotiations”.

What happened
An extensive clinical trial of an mRNA vaccine against bird flu has been announced, with participants to be recruited at 26 sites across England and Scotland. Half of the expected 3,000-strong UK test group will be over the age of 65, with about 1,000 more people taking part in the US.

Although the threat to humans from bird flu remains low – with only about 100 global cases since 2024 – using mRNA technology, the same as was used in the Covid immunisation, will allow for a quicker and more changeable vaccine.

Who said what
Although bird flu does “not yet move easily between humans, we have to treat human-to-human transmission as a real possibility” in the future, said Dr Rebecca Clark, the trial’s national co-ordinating investigator. The H5N1 strain, which the trial will target, is “evolving and spreading across animal species”, and can affect mammals.

“A flu pandemic is the most likely future pandemic,” said Richard Pebody at the UK Health Security Agency. “It’s really critical that we ensure we’re properly prepared.”

What next?
Backed by the National Institute for Health and Care Research, and sponsored by Moderna, the trial will run for seven months.

A Derbyshire cattle farmer wants to make his cows look uglier in order to try and stem a tide of social media influencers who have been stampeding across his land to film viral content with the animals.

Alex Birch is planning to crossbreed his Highland cows to make them “less photogenic”, he told the BBC, as TikTokers’ interest in them means they “don’t get any peace”.

Highland cows, which look like an “unholy hybrid of Boris Johnson and [a] delivery bicycle”, have also attracted many admirers in Kent, said The Guardian. When they were brought to the Hothfield Heathlands nature reserve near Ashford, videos of the cows went viral on TikTok, prompting a “flood” of camera-wielding visitors.

Eventually, Kent Wildlife Trust, which manages the site, had to “remove the cows” because they were becoming “distressed” and might “react out of fear”, potentially injuring human interlopers.

The Highland Cattle Society has told people not to treat cows as “selfie props” and the Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals told The National that Highland cows, although “often perceived as calm and approachable”, were “still large, powerful livestock animals”. So “like any animal, their behaviour can change if they feel stressed or threatened”.

With the average UK dairy cow weighing 620kg (98st), “even a gentle knock” can seriously injure a human, said Wayne Owen from the Health and Safety Executive. The best advice, according to The Guardian, is to exercise “extreme caution”.