i'm steve lai. let's begin with boeing. they have been under scrutiny at the us senate. the plane—maker faces allegations of safety failures after a series of incidents — including a mid—air blow out on one of its jets. boeing has defended its fleet, saying billions of travellers have flown safely. from new york, michelle fleury reports. this was damaging testimony for the plane maker. boeing engineer turned whistle—blower, sam salehpour, claimed boeing used short cuts to reduce bottlenecks during the assembly of its 787 dreamliner planes. he said he faced retaliation for raising safety issues. and after the threats and after this, you know, it's like, you know, it really scares me, believe me. but i am at peace. you know, if something happens to me, i am at peace because i feel like by coming forward, i will be saving a lot of lives, and i'm at peace.

another boeing engineer, ed pierson, accused the plane—maker of a criminal cover up after a door blew out of a 737 max plane shortly after take—off. and a preliminary investigation revealed the door was missing four bolts. the ntsb chair reiterated to congress last week that boeing has said there are no records documenting the removal of the alaska airlines door. i'm not going to sugar—coat this. this is a criminal cover up. records do, in fact, exist. i know this because i've personally passed them to the fbi. boeing, which is one of the world's two major producers of commercial planes, insists its jets are safe. as for its culture, in a statement to the bbc, boeing said it was taking steps to foster a safety culture that empowers and encourages all employees to raise their voices. it said retaliation was strictly prohibited. the plane—maker's ceo, david calhoun, didn't appear today, but lawmakers said they expect him to testify in the future.

united airlines says it will receive compensation from boeing over the grounding of it 737 max 8 planes. united did not specify the amount it will receive in a us regulatory filing, it previously said it had lost $200 million this year so far. the planes were grounded after an unused doppler blue out of midair on an alaska airlines flight in january. —— door plug. us presidentjoe biden has called for sharply higher tariffs on steel and aluminium imports from china. he's expected to propose raising the rate from 7.5% to 25%. mr biden�*s remarks were aimed at pleasing steelworkers — a key voting block — in the swing state of pennsylvania. he also promised steelworkers he would block the sale of us steel to a japanese firm — which has been controversial. the us house speaker says he plans to include the tiktok bill in a package of bills that are being fast tracked through congress. lawmakers want tiktok�*s owner bytedance to divest its us assets or face a ban.

the bill needs to go to the senate, and if it passes there, president biden says he will sign it. shipping companies across the globe are keeping a close eye on the conflict in the middle east. freight costs have already gone up significantly due to escalating tensions and volatile oil prices. those costs could increase further, if there's any disruption to the strait of hormuz. just last weekend, iran's revolutionary guards seized a cargo ship linked to israel, along the narrow waterway. our business reporter david waddell has more. here's that scene aboard the msc ares filmed on saturday. it appears to show two people understood to be iranian revolutionary guards descending onto the vessel. the ship's leased by msc, the world's biggest container shipping company, but she's partially owned by an israeli businessman, eyal 0fer, which may have made her vulnerable to iranian attention. that took place at the strait of hormuz, one of a number

of major global trade chokepoints, often an anxious passage for western traders. there are tensions to add other choke point locations. this video shows houthi militants storming a british registered cargo ship in november. that was on an approach to the babur mandeb strait, a gateway to the red sea with suez canal to the north. it's often been in the news with ships targeted by those militias or drone attacks from yemen, according to the international monetary fund. suez canal trade fell by half in the early months of this year compared to the beginning of 2023. it's driven traders around the cape of good hope at enormous cost in time and money, and it's come at a huge cost to the egyptian economy, highly reliant on the canal for billions of dollars of income. further west, one more choke point, the panama canal. water shortages there have led the authorities to reduce the volume of shipping travelling between the atlantic and pacific 0ceans. the imf reckons that trade on that route has fallen

by nearly a third over the past year. although tensions are high, the closure of the strait of hormuz is unlikely. that's according to peter from zanatta, is unlikely. that's according to peterfrom zanatta, which specialises in shipping logistics. i specialises in shipping logistics-_ logistics. i think the likelihood _ logistics. i think the likelihood of - logistics. i think the likelihood of an - logistics. i think the - likelihood of an outright blockage of the strait of hormuz is quite limited. that doesn't mean that shipping will continue to do business in an out of the area. from the most recent exchange of fire from iran. this is an area that had been haunted in the maritime industry for decades. so everyone trading in the area often have contingency plans for when events like this happen. but for the time being it seems as if everyone is waiting and they are waiting

with contingency plans already to avoid the area of such an escalation would also impact the maritime industry. but for the maritime industry. but for the time being it seems as if containers are moving in and out as with any other day, because, of course, not only on freight rates but insurance is going up by the day. ifiliip going up by the day. chip stocks are _ going up by the day. chip stocks are dire _ going up by the day. chip stocks are dire -- - going up by the day. chip stocks are dire -- down | going up by the day. chip stocks are dire —— down after the largest maker said bookings fell by 61% in the january to march quarter. asml is seeing a lull in advertisements adverse machines. the dutch company is hoping for a strong 2025 because of demand for al and memory chips. formula i returns to shanghai this weekend after five years. tickets were sold out in minutes when they went on sale in january. in 2019, when the race was last held, 160,000 people attended the grand prix. so what's driving excitement this year? there is some pent—up demand as

well as demand. says max gallagher. there is an aspect of that because the pandemic played havoc particularly with the grand prix in china, so it's the last grand prix to rejoin the championship in the of the pandemic but there are other factors as well. perhaps most importantly, the chinese driver on the grid from shanghai, a local hearo, he was only five years of age when the first formula i race came to china back in 2004, and there is huge interest in china in the fight they have a national driver racing in the global championship, and he is a very good driver by the way. so that really helps. and then of course, generally the growth in formerly one a liberty media took the championship over in 2017. —— formula one. huge growth on social media across the world and some

streaming platforms and all of this has helped drive the sport to new audiences and demographics, so i'm not surprised the tickets were sold out quickly. i can only imagine the pressure that nations driver must be under. he has this desctibed his experience in the sport is arduous, can you tell us about what the aspirations for those in china trying to achieve success in forming a one? when the first chinese grand prix to place in 2004, it's when china was laying out its capability to host global sporting events, the beijing olympics as well, and the result of that was been a surge in interest in motorsport in china so the motorsport landscape in china is very different from what it was 20 years ago. the country has its own racetrack and teams, its own championships

and talent and that i've known of talent of which zhou guanyu is an example, it's growing larger. as a large number of prospective racing treasure, racing drivers in china both men and women, which is been aided by computer games, because online recent games are popular among the younger and incredibly, in my generation, the gamer insert racing phenomenon is with us. people like max verstappen and others are big names in formula 1 today, they grew up with computer games and online gaming so this slightly democratises of the sport and it is definitely still in a sport with where it is beneficial to have money and wealth, so those coming from a well—off background are most likely to get through. mike gallacher there speaking ahead of the shanghai grand

prix. that takes place this weekend after a five year break due to covid. let's get you up to speed with some travellers in dubai. they have been stranded after the city was battered by more than a year's worth of rain in less than 2a hours. videos posted on social media showed roads being turned into rivers. the rain also submerged the runway of dubai's airport, that is the busiest in the world, causing hundreds of flight cancellations. more from me in the next hour. goodbye for now.

hey, i'm zoff with the catchup. tonight, flooding causes chaos in dubai, paris gears up for the summer olympics, and 500 ballet dancers on point. we start in dubai, where things are still very chaotic after the heaviest rain since records began 75 years ago. flights have been temporarily suspended, and dubai international airport has urged

people to stay away. cars were washed away in the streets and several buildings were also flooded. 0ne resident told us about the clean—up. the sunshine helps. there is a strong drainage in place, but also the tankers were out with the hose pipes and they were out just sucking all the water from the road and just getting the roads clear and safe for everybody to get moving again. next, things are hotting up in paris as it'sjust 100 days to go until the start of the olympics. hundreds of thousands of fans are set to attend the games, which begin onjuly the 26th. although security threats, pollution warnings and strike action are some of the issues facing organisers this year, they say they're confident the games will still be a success, though. it's the biggest event that france has ever organised. the venues are ready, the budget is balanced. we know that in this kind of event anything can happen in the last stretch. but i'm very satisfied with where we stand

at this moment. and time now to leave you with ten seconds of 500 ballet dancers from across the us gathering at new york's famous plaza hotel, breaking the world record for most dancers en pointe. at the same time. it's safe to say, as that saying goes, they were all definitely on point. you're all caught up now. see later. hello and welcome to sportsday. i'm gavin ramjaun. a thriller at the etihad, as champions league holders manchester city are knocked out penalties by real madrid. and they'll meet bayern munich in the semis.

the germans keep their season alive, after knocking out arsenal. and rafa nadal�*s comeback comes to an end in barcelona — in what could be his farewell at the tournament. hello there, and welcome along to the programme. and the semifinals for the champions league are complete after another evening of high drama which saw the holders manchester city go out on penalties to real madrid at the etihad. the game was level 1—1 on the night, and level on aggregate with the 14—time champions holding their nerve in the shoot—out. andy swiss was there for us. well, what a dramatic night here at the etihad stadium. real madrid and manchester city began with a teams all square at 3—3 after the first leg. real madrid took the lead during the first half with a goalfrom rodrigo.

with 15 minutes left, though, city equalised through kevin de