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UAE says air defences engaging with Iranian attacks – as it happened

We’re wrapping up this live coverage now but a full report is here and below is a recap of the latest in the Middle East crisis. Thanks for reading. The US and Iran exchanged fire on the strait of Hormuz in the most serious test yet of their month-long ceasefire. Iran accused the US of violating the truce by targeting two ships in the waterway and attacking civilian areas, while the US insisted it struck Iranian targets in retaliation for “unprovoked” attacks on three US warships transiting the strait on Thursday. The renewed hostilities cast doubt on the fragile ceasefire that had largely held for the previous month, but Donald Trump insisted it remained intact, describing the US strikes as a “love tap”. The president also said the US would knock out Iran “a lot harder and a lot more violently” if it didn’t quickly agree to a peace deal, and that negotiations with Tehran were continuing. Iranian state media also reported loud noises and what it called defensive fire in western Tehran, while in southern Iran explosions were heard near Bandar Abbas. The United Arab Emirates said its air defences were dealing with missile and drone attacks from Iran on Friday. The US and Iran offered conflicting messages over the state of negotiations to end the war, with Trump signalling the talks were “very good” and a deal “very possible” while Iranian officials sought to dampen expectations. Tehran says it is reviewing a US proposal. Stocks sank and oil prices leapt on Friday as the renewed US-Iran clashes in the Hormuz strait jolted hopes for a deal to end the war and reopen the waterway. Iran established a new government agency to approve transit and collect tolls from shipping in the waterway, shipping data firm Lloyd’s List Intelligence said on Thursday. The move has raised concerns about eroding the freedom of navigation on which global trade depends. About 1,500 ships and their crews are trapped in the Gulf due to the Iranian blockade in the Hormuz strait, the UN’s International Maritime Organisation said. Lebanon and Israel will hold a new round of talks on 14 and 15 May – Thursday and Friday of next week – in Washington on seeking a peace deal, despite a new Israeli strike against Hezbollah, a US official said. US secretary of state Marco Rubio held talks with Pope Leo at the Vatican. The US state department said the pair discussed “efforts to achieve a durable peace in the Middle East”, which are at the heart of the disagreement between Trump and the pontiff. The Israeli military said it would investigate after a soldier was photographed appearing to place a cigarette in the mouth of a statue of the Virgin Mary in southern Lebanon, in an image widely shared on social media.

Story of enslaved boy featured in 1748 Joshua Reynolds portrait emerges in new study

For hundreds of years, he was known only as “Jersey”, an enslaved boy of about 11 rendered in oil on canvas by the great 18th-century portrait painter Sir Joshua Reynolds. But now the life of the youngster, believed to be Reynolds’ earliest depiction of a person of colour, has begun to emerge, thanks to a research project. Details found in admiralty records and other archives have unearthed information about Jersey’s identity, his military service and even hint he may eventually have found freedom. The painting, thought to have been completed around 1748, shows the boy and his “master”, the naval officer and MP Paul Henry Ourry. While Ourry looks out into the distance authoritatively, the enslaved child gazes up at the officer tentatively. It was hung in the saloon at Saltram, a National Trust Georgian mansion, in Plympton, Devon, its title: Lieutenant, later Captain, Paul Henry Ourry, MP (1719-1783) with an enslaved child known as “Jersey” (dates unknown). Though the painting is considered an early Reynolds masterpiece and there was plenty of information about Ourry, almost nothing was known about the child. As part of an effort to highlight people whose voices and stories have been ignored or lost, the research project was launched by the National Trust, the National Gallery in London, and Royal Museums Greenwich, to try to find out more about Jersey. Mark Brayshay, a volunteer researcher at Saltram, said: “A key motivation for our research was to explore whether more could be discovered about Jersey than merely his supposed name. Could we acknowledge and honour him as a distinct individual?” Scouring admiralty records, letters, muster books (ships’ registers) and captains’ logs, Brayshay and Katherine Gazzard, a curator at Royal Museums Greenwich, found him named as “Boston Jersey” on ships that Ourry was attached to. They believe he may have been given the surname Jersey because Ourry was born in the Channel Islands. It is possible he had his first name because he once lived in Boston, Massachusetts. The researchers discovered Jersey was baptised as George Walker (possibly a name he had been known by earlier in his life) on 30 July 1752, probably in a chapel in Westminster. The baptismal certificate describes: “A Certain Black Boy Called Boston Jersey Baptised by the name of George Walker aged fifteen.” This would mean he was about 11 when he was painted by Reynolds. Another significant discovery was a muster in 1751 apparently describing him as being a member of the crew rather than Ourry’s servant. Brayshay said: “Later, his name appears as one of 10 crew members due for discharge ‘per paybook’. This could imply that Jersey was in receipt of Royal Navy pay, but it is also possible that the sums owing actually went to Ourry.” He was discharged from another ship in the summer of 1753 and then vanished from the records, not appearing on the musters of other ships Ourry served on. One theory is that he was sold on to someone else, another that he was given his freedom and joined another vessel. David Olusoga, a historian, broadcaster and National Trust ambassador, said the research had helped bring Boston Jersey out of the shadows. He said: “This project asks us to look more closely at a familiar past, revealing a life long obscured and reminding us that history is shaped as much by those rendered invisible as by those remembered. “To tell Jersey’s story is to confront the silences within our history, and to recognise the individuals whose lives have too often been hidden from view.” Alongside archival research, new technical examination of the portrait revealed details of Reynolds’ workings. He appears to have initially planned an elaborate natural setting, sketching in leafy branches, but this was abandoned for a plain brown background. Old layers of varnish and non-original paint were removed and “reversible inpainting” techniques used to fill in missing or damaged areas of the painting, while preserving the original materials and intent. Zoe Shearman, Saltram’s property curator, said this work meant details that had been lost could be seen again: “In particular, Jersey’s sensitively painted facial features are revealed more sharply, as are the beautiful details on his clothing.” Shearman said an aim of the project had been to try to understand the painting through a more contemporary lens. “We’ve been able to see Jersey more clearly – through what we now know of his life and naval career – but also through how he was portrayed on the canvas. In time we may discover more, but Boston Jersey is at last given recognition as a person and shown as more than just a trope.” The painting will be on show from 9 May in Saltram’s saloon. It is being hung alongside a companion Reynolds portrait, Captain the Honourable George Edgcumbe, 1720-95, until 1 November, bringing the two artworks together for the first time in two centuries. Both were commissioned by the Corporation of Plympton. The Edgcumbe portrait has HMS Salisbury – on which Ourry and Jersey served – at anchor in the distance.

From stalemate to strikes: A dizzying week of US-Iran negotiations over the strait of Hormuz

It has been a week of dizzying, whiplash news in the Iran war. Seven days ago, the US-Iran ceasefire was holding but negotiations seemed stalled, or inching forward at best. With the strait of Hormuz effectively choked off by Iran, and the US Navy blockading Iranian ports, there was talk of a one-page memorandum being passed between Washington and Tehran to break the stalemate. Where are we now? Friday, 1 May Iran ceasefire holds as war powers deadline expires The month begins with the US-Iran ceasefire still in place. With a war powers deadline looming, which would put pressure on Donald Trump to end the war or make the case to Congress for extending it, a Trump administration official declares that US hostilities against Iran have been “terminated”, citing the ceasefire. Meanwhile, Iranian state media reports Tehran has handed a new peace offer to Pakistan, to pass on to Washington. Trump says he is not “satisfied” with the terms of the deal, which aren’t specified. “Right now, we have talks going on, they’re not getting there,” he says. Adding some spice to the day, the Pentagon announces plans to pull 5,000 troops from Germany. Fuel prices across the US hit a four year high. Saturday, 2 May All quiet on the strait of Hormuz Trump tells a Florida rally that the US navy acted “like pirates”, while describing a recent US operation to seize an Iranian ship. “We … land on top of it and we took over the ship. We took over the cargo, took over the oil. It’s a very profitable business,” Trump says, in remarks reported the following day. A barrel of Brent crude trades for about $110, down from more than $126 a few days earlier. Sunday, 3 May Project Freedom launched by Trump and the US With the ceasefire, agreed on 7 April, seemingly at a stalemate, Trump says the US will launch a new effort to help guide stranded ships out of the strait. Trump calls the plan Project Freedom. Trump gives few other logistical details. Later, US Central Command provides some clarification, indicating the US role is to coordinate and guide trapped vessels, not to escort ships using US naval assets. Trump claims his representatives are engaged in “very positive” discussions with Iran, as the US blockade of Iran’s ports continues. Ebrahim Azizi, the head of the national security commission of the Iranian parliament, responds to Project Freedom with a warning: “Any American intervention in the process of the new Strait of Hormuz maritime system will be considered a violation of the ceasefire.” Monday, 4 May Ominous start to Project Freedom As the US operation begins, Hormuz crackles into life. The US military says its forces have destroyed six Iranian small boats and intercepted Iranian cruise missiles and drones, which Iran denies. After weeks of respite, the United Arab Emirates says it has again come under attack from Iranian missiles and drones, which again Iran denies. An angry Trump threatens that Iranian forces will be “blown off the face of the earth” if it attacks US vessels trying to reopen the strait. Brent crude rises to $114 a barrel. Tuesday, 5 May Mixed messaging, and Project Freedom paused US defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, is joined by Gen Dan Caine, the chair of the joint chiefs of staff, at a Pentagon briefing. Hegseth says the US has successfully secured a path through the strait and that hundreds of ships were lining up to pass through. “We know the Iranians are embarrassed by this fact. They said they control the strait. They do not,” he says. Caine acknowledges Iran has fired at commercial vessels and seized two container ships since the ceasefire was announced. But he says all the Iranian attacks have fallen below the threshold of restarting major combat operations. Later, the US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, tells a White House briefing the initial major US military operation against Iran has concluded. “The operation is over,” he says. “Epic Fury … We’re done with that stage of it.” Rubio says the US is now focused on Project Freedom. Hours later, an abrupt change of plan. Trump announces Project Freedom has been paused, just one day after it began. Trump writes the plan is on ice for “a short period” to give space for peace negotiations with Iran. The volte-face, he says, comes as “Great Progress has been made toward a Complete and Final Agreement with Representatives of Iran”. After Trump’s pullback, oil dips to about $109. Iran’s state broadcaster describes the latest US effort as a failure. Wednesday, 6 May A one-page memorandum and peace hopes Axios reports Washington and Tehran are close to agreeing on a one-page memorandum of understanding to end the war. It says the US expected Iran to respond to several key points in the next 48 hours. Officials in Pakistan tell the Guardian talks remain “difficult”. Trump logs on to Truth Social. “Assuming Iran agrees to give what has been agreed to, which is perhaps a big assumption, the already legendary Epic Fury will be at an end,” he writes. “If they don’t agree, the bombing starts, and it will be, sadly, at a much higher level and intensity than it was before.” Soon after, the US military fires on an Iranian-flagged oil tanker. Iran’s most senior negotiator, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, responds defiantly on Telegram. For the first time in weeks, Brent crude briefly drops below $100, before settling about $101. Thursday, 7 May Unhappy Saudis, and US and Iran trade fire in strait A possible explanation for Trump’s sudden pause of Project Freedom emerges. NBC reports Saudi Arabia was so unhappy about the US operation that it told Washington the US would no longer be welcome to use a key airbase or fly planes through its airspace. Trump failed to win over the crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, on a phone call, reports say. Brent crude drops to $96 amid reports out of Pakistan that the US and Iran are close to a temporary agreement to halt the war. “Both sides are now more amenable to suggestions, the distance between their proposals is reducing,” says a diplomat in Islamabad with knowledge of the negotiations. But hours later, US and Iranian forces trade fire in the strait. The US military says it intercepted Iranian attacks on three destroyers sailing in the strait. Iran’s state media, meanwhile, says Iranian forces exchanged fire with the US on Qeshm Island. Iranian media reports loud noises in western Tehran and southern Iran. In an interview with ABC News, Trump says the ceasefire remains “in effect”. He describes the skirmishes as “just a love tap”. In the hours after the strikes, Brent crude hovers above $101.

Former China defence ministers convicted of corruption in latest purge of military leaders

Two former Chinese defence ministers were given suspended death sentences for bribery on Thursday, after being convicted by China’s military court, in some of the most severe punishments to be handed down in a years-long purge of the military. Chinese state media Xinhua announced on Thursday that Li Shangfu and Wei Fenghe were both sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve, meaning that their sentences will probably be commuted to life imprisonment if Li and Wei demonstrate good behaviour. Xinhua said that no further parole would be allowed, and that the two men were stripped of their political rights for life and all of their personal property. The sentences are expected to serve as a warning to other generals in the armed forces that even seniority and connections can not serve as a protection from purges. Li was defence minister for seven months in 2023. His predecessor was Wei, who served in that post for five years. The position of defence minister wield little actual power in China, as military affairs are handled by the Central Military Commission of the Chinese Communist party. But both men previously held roles which gave them access to large budgets and sensitive equipment. Li was head of the military equipment procurement department between 2017 and 2022. Wei previously headed the Rocket Force of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), responsible for China’s nuclear arsenal. Chinese state media previously said that Li was guilty of “serious violation of Party discipline and the law”. It said that an investigation found that Li “sought improper benefits in personnel arrangements for himself and others, took advantage of his posts to seek benefits for others, and accepted a huge amount of money and valuables in return.” The two men were among the first and the most high profile military figures to be targeted in a sweeping crackdown on the armed forces, which has seen more than 100 senior military officers purged or potentially purged since 2022 according to a study by the Center for Strategic and International Studies. The tally includes people who have disappeared from public view with no explanation. Since coming to power in 2012, China’s leader Xi Jinping has made cracking down on corruption a central pillar of his rule. In the past few years, the anti-graft campaign has targeted the People’s Liberation Army, raising questions about the armed forces’ military readiness as the purges deplete the PLA’s high command. In January, Xi purged Zhang Youxia, the second-highest ranking commander in China’s military after Xi himself.

Ukraine war briefing: Distant strike on Russian missile ship in Caspian Sea

Ukraine’s military has struck a Russian Karakurt-class small missile carrier on the Caspian Sea off Russia’s distant Dagestan region, the Ukrainian general staff said on Thursday. The port of Kaspiysk where the ship was reportedly located is more than 1,500km from Kyiv – and closer to Tehran, the Iranian capital. The extent of the damage was being assessed, the Ukrainian general staff posted online. Among its armaments, the Karakurt class can fire Kalibr cruise missiles which Moscow has used to hit civilian targets in Ukraine. Voldoymyr Zelenskyy, the Ukrainian president, expressed satisfaction at the long-range attack and the second assault in eight days on a Lukoil-owned refinery in Perm, near the Ural Mountains. “In a mirror response to Russian strikes, we will continue our long-range sanctions. And in response to Russia’s willingness to move toward diplomacy, we will proceed along the path of diplomacy,” Zelenskyy said. Ukraine’s purchase of Saab-made Gripen fighter jets could be signed within months, Kyiv’s defence minister said on Thursday as he visited his Swedish counterpart in Stockholm. The countries last year signed a letter of intent that could see Sweden supply up to 150 Gripens. The first deliveries are estimated at three years away from any deal being finalised. “We have our plan how to finance it,” said Mykhailo Fedorov, the Ukrainian defence minister. The Swedish minister, Pal Jonson, said a deal to loan, sell or gift existing Gripens of an older model, to be delivered much faster, was progressing well. Moscow has issued increasingly shrill protests and threats as its Victory Day parade on Saturday approaches. Foreign ambassadors have meanwhile rebuffed Russian warnings to evacuate their staff from Kyiv in case Moscow decides to attack. Ukraine has never directly targeted Victory Day commemorations, which this year will not even feature military equipment. Russian authorities have demanded a ceasefire and threatened direct strikes on Kyiv if the parade is attacked. Britain’s Foreign Office said Moscow’s threats toward diplomats in Kyiv were “unwarranted, irresponsible and completely unjustified”, adding that any attack on a diplomatic mission would be a further escalation in the war. The German foreign minister, Johann Wadephul, told Bloomberg TV earlier that Berlin would not pull its embassy staff out Kyiv. Zelenskyy would stay in Kyiv over the weekend, a senior source close to the Ukrainian president told Agence France-Presse. Zelenskyy said on Wednesday that Moscow wanted a “permit” from Ukraine “to hold their parade, to go out on to the square safely for an hour once a year, and then continue killing, killing our people and waging war … The Russians are already talking about strikes after May 9. Strange and certainly inappropriate of the Russian leadership.” “We have also received messages from some states close to Russia, saying that their representatives plan to be in Moscow,” said Zelenskyy. “A strange desire … in these days. We do not recommend it.” Throughout the war, Ukrainian drones have regularly harassed the regions around Moscow and cause shutdowns of its airports. On Thursday morning the Moscow mayor, Sergei Sobyanin, said Russian air defence units intercepted more than 50 drones headed for Moscow over a period of about 15 hours. There was no way to confirm the claim. Zelenskyy said Russia had continued to flout a ceasefire starting from the night of 5-6 May that he had proposed in response to the self-declared Russian ceasefire for Victory Day. Ukraine, he said, had received “only new Russian strikes and new Russian threats”. Russia complained to Armenia for hosting Zelenskyy this week at a summit of the European Political Community, which was set up after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Maria Zakharova, Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman, said Russians were “accustomed to considering [Armenia] a friendly, fraternal country”. The Armenian prime minister, Nikol Pashinyan, told reporters on Thursday: “Back in 2022-2023 I already stated that, on the issue of Ukraine, we are not an ally of Russia.” Ukraine’s top negotiator, Rustem Umerov, arrived in Miami for meetings with US negotiators on moving toward a peace accord, Zelenskyy said. Achieving peace in Europe was the best way to honour those who fought against Nazi Germany, said Ukraine’s president. “Just as 81 years ago, so now America can help peace with a just and strong stance against the aggressor,” he said. “And it is important that the American people now view Russia precisely in this way – as an aggressor.”

US-Iran ceasefire under threat after exchange of strikes in strait of Hormuz

The US and Iran exchanged fire late on Thursday in the most serious test yet of their month-long ceasefire. Iran accused the US of violating the ceasefire by targeting two ships at the strait of Hormuz and attacking civilian areas, as the US insisted it struck in retaliation. The US military said it targeted sites responsible for attacking three US destroyers transiting the strait, in what it called “unprovoked” hostilities by Tehran. Iran’s Press TV reported that after several hours of fire “the situation on Iranian islands and coastal cities by the strait of Hormuz is back to normal now”. The United Arab Emirates said it had intercepted Iranian missile and drone attacks hours after the US said it thwarted attacks on the USS Truxtun, USS Rafael Peralta and USS Mason. The fresh skirmishes threw into question the viability of a shaky ceasefire that had largely held for the previous month. But Donald Trump, the US president, insisted it remained intact despite the strikes, which he described in an interview with ABC News as a “love tap”. “They trifled with us today,” Trump told reporters, during an evening visit to the Reflecting Pool in Washington DC. “We blew them away. They trifled. I call that a trifle.” Asked where this left hopes of a negotiated end to the conflict, Trump said a deal “might not happen, but it could happen any day”. “I believe they want the deal more than I do,” Trump claimed. Brent crude oil rose to trade about $101 a barrel on news of the attacks. Before the strikes, there were reports the US and Iran may be close to a temporary agreement to halt the war, with a one-page memorandum being shared between Washington and Tehran, though Pakistan. Senior Iranian officials have rejected concessions in recent days. Some favour dragging out the negotiations to closer to the November midterm elections in the US, when the Trump administration will be under intense pressure to settle the war and Iran may get a better deal. However, regional diplomats believe Iran could overplay its hand, with the current moment offering an opportunity to finish the war and claim a victory – something that could be harder if all-out fighting resumes. If there were no agreement, Washington could also unilaterally end the war and walk away, leaving Iran under suffocating economic sanctions, they said. In a statement on Thursday evening, US Central Command (Centcom) said Iranian forces had “launched multiple missiles, drones and small boats” at the three destroyers, but that “no US assets were struck”. Centcom said its forces eliminated “inbound threats and targeted Iranian military facilities” responsible for attacking US forces, including missile and drone launch sites, command and control locations, and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance nodes. “Centcom does not seek escalation but remains positioned and ready to protect American forces,” it added. Iran’s military accused the US of breaking the ceasefire agreement by targeting an Iranian oil tanker and another ship entering the strait of Hormuz. “The aggressive, terrorist, and pirate US military has violated the ceasefire,” a military spokesperson said. The spokesperson added the US carried out airstrikes on “civilian areas” along the coasts of Bandar Khamir, Sirik and the island of Qeshm – home to about 150,000 people and a water desalination plant – and that the strikes were launched “with the cooperation of some regional countries”. They said Iran’s armed forces responded by attacking US military vessels, “reportedly inflicting significant damage on them”. The US been pressuring Iran to reopen the strait, enforcing a naval blockade of Iranian ports. On Monday, the US military said it had destroyed six Iranian small boats, as well as cruise missiles and drones, after Trump sent warships to “guide” stranded tankers through the strait in a campaign he called “Project Freedom”. In a social media post on Thursday, Trump praised the crews of the destroyers for transiting out of the waterway while under fire. The US vessels sustained “no damage”, he said, while describing the “Iranian attackers” as having been “completely destroyed along with numerous small boats” as well as missiles and drones. Trump railed that the attack showed Iran was “not a normal country” and its “lunatic” leaders would not hesitate to use a nuclear weapon if they had one. Without swift diplomatic action, the US could respond “a lot more violently” in the future. The Pakistani prime minister, Shehbaz Sharif, had struck an optimistic tone prior to the exchanges of fire, saying in televised remarks: “I firmly believe that this ceasefire will turn into a long-term ceasefire.” Any agreement between the US and Iran could also help lower tensions in Lebanon, where a separate truce was under renewed strain after an Israeli strike on southern Beirut killed a commander from militant group Hezbollah on Wednesday. A US state department official confirmed on Thursday that the new Israel-Lebanon talks would take place on 14 and 15 May. It will be the third meeting in recent months between the two countries, which have technically been at war for decades and have no diplomatic relations. Additional reporting by Jason Burke and Saeed Shah

Two Britons evacuated from hantavirus-hit ship ‘improving’ in hospital

Two Britons who were medically evacuated from the hantavirus-hit cruise ship are improving, global health officials have said. A British passenger, understood to be a 69-year-old man, was taken to South Africa on 27 April and is receiving care at a private health facility in Sandton, Johannesburg. Another Briton, Martin Anstee, 56, an expedition guide, was taken off the MV Hondius on Wednesday and flown to the Netherlands to receive specialist medical care. Dr Maria Van Kerkhove, from the World Health Organization (WHO), said two patients – known to include a Briton – remained in hospital in the Netherlands and another Briton was in intensive care in South Africa. She told a WHO press briefing: “I am very happy to say the patient in South Africa is doing better, and the two patients in the Netherlands we hear are stable. So that is actually very good news.” As of Thursday there are eight suspected cases, five confirmed by lab tests as hantavirus, a rare family of viruses carried by rodents. The outbreak, linked to three deaths, has been connected to a birdwatching trip to Argentina, Chile and Uruguay that two of the passengers went on before boarding the ship. Spanish authorities have given permission for the ship to anchor in the Canary Islands, despite concerns from locals and officials, and the boat left the shores of Cape Verde at 3.15pm local time on Wednesday, the tour operator Oceanwide Expeditions said. It is estimated to arrive at the port of Granadilla in Tenerife in the early hours of Sunday. Morale on board has improved since the ship started its journey to Tenerife, the WHO said. Two doctors are on board along with infectious disease experts from the WHO and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, who are conducting a medical assessment of everyone on board. While the risk to the public is low, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director-general of the WHO, said there could be more cases due to the incubation period of the Andes virus – the variant of hantavirus linked to the outbreak – which can be up to six weeks. He said: “While this is a serious incident, WHO assesses the public health risk as low.” He thanked the ship’s operator for its cooperation, and the passengers and crew, “who are going through a very difficult and frightening situation”. The WHO is not expecting the outbreak to be an epidemic, according to Dr Abdirahman Mahamud, the director at the alert and response coordination department. He highlighted a similar outbreak in Argentina in 2018-19 which led to 34 cases. Seven British people were among 30 from 12 nations who left the ship when it docked in the remote South Atlantic island of Saint Helena, including a Dutch woman who became unwell during onward travel and died. The woman was accompanying her husband’s body, which was being repatriated after he died on the ship on 11 April. On Thursday, a woman in Amsterdam, reported to be a flight attendant who came into contact with the woman who died, came forward with potential symptoms. Oceanwide Expeditions said guests who had disembarked have been contacted. The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has been asked whether it can confirm it has been in touch with all seven Britons who left the ship on 24 April. It has previously announced that two Britons who had already returned from the vessel are isolating at home and do not have symptoms. Contact tracing is happening for anyone who may have sat next to them on the flight home. The two people contacted health officials when they heard about the cases on the ship. Nineteen British nationals were listed as passengers on the MV Hondius, which was sailing from Argentina to Cape Verde, with four British crew members. UK health experts said British passengers on board will be asked to self-isolate in the UK for 45 days. Prof Robin May, the chief scientific officer at the UKHSA, said: “For the broader public, not directly involved in this cruise ship, the risk here is really negligible.” The Foreign Office is arranging a charter flight so the remaining Britons on board the ship who are not displaying symptoms can be repatriated once they dock in Tenerife in the next few days. According to the UKHSA, none of the British citizens on board are reporting symptoms, but they are being closely monitored. May said the “most extreme case of incubation” of hantavirus “may be up to eight weeks”, but the general consensus was that people needed to isolate for “probably six weeks, and so that’s the period of isolation, 45 days, that we’re likely to be recommending”. Three people were taken off the ship on Wednesday to the Netherlands for treatment, including Anstee, an expedition guide and former police officer. Speaking from hospital, he told Sky News: “I’m doing OK. I’m not feeling too bad. There are still lots of tests to be done. “I have no idea how long I’ll be in the hospital for. I’m in isolation at the moment.”

US and Iran close to temporary truce, Pakistani officials claim

The US and Iran are close to a temporary agreement to halt the war in the Middle East, officials in Pakistan claimed on Thursday, as diplomatic activity gathered fresh momentum after a near breakdown of the current ceasefire earlier this week. Officials on Islamabad said a very basic “interim” deal could be reached as early as this weekend and that Tehran was reviewing a US proposal. However, Trump and Pakistan have consistently suggested a breakthrough was imminent, and weeks of previous efforts to negotiate a permanent end to hostilities have made little real progress. Recent days have seen wild swings from hope to despair as the US and Iran test each other’s resilience and will, seeking leverage in any talks through belligerent rhetoric, defiance and sporadic violence. Despite many observers’ scepticism – and continuing defiance in Tehran – the possibility of even a partial agreement that could lead to the reopening of the strait of Hormuz sent global stocks to near-record highs on Thursday as oil prices dropped steeply. The strategic waterway in normal times carries a fifth of the world’s supplies of oil and fossil gas. Pakistan has been the principal mediator in recent indirect contacts between Washington and Tehran after hosting a round of abortive face-to-face talks last month. “Both sides are now more amenable to suggestions, the distance between their proposals is reducing,” said a diplomat in Islamabad with knowledge of the negotiations. “That’s natural. They start off with maximalist positions and then soften.” On Monday, Iran launched missiles and drones at the United Arab Emirates when Donald Trump launched a short-lived effort to support shipping stranded by the Iranian closure of the strait of Hormuz. And on Wednesday the US military fired on an Iranian-flagged oil tanker hours after Trump issued a fresh ultimatum to Tehran, telling it to accept a deal to end the war or face a new wave of US bombing “at a much higher level and intensity than it was before”. Also on Wednesday, Trump said in an interview with PBS he was optimistic about reaching an agreement with Iran before a scheduled trip to China next week. “I think it’s got a very good chance of ending, and if it doesn’t end, we have to go back to bombing the hell out of them,” Trump told the broadcaster. Trump also insisted that under any deal Tehran would “export” its highly enriched uranium – necessary for making a nuclear weapon – to the US, a demand that experts say Iran cannot accept. The gaps between Tehran and Washington appear to make a broader settlement impossible for the moment, but a temporary arrangement set out in a one-page memo aimed at preventing a return to conflict and securing safe passage for shipping through the strait should be obtainable, officials said. “Our priority is that they announce a permanent end to war and the rest of the issues could be thrashed out once they get back to direct talks,” a senior Pakistani official involved in mediation between the two sides told Reuters. A spokesperson for Pakistan’s foreign ministry told a briefing in Islamabad on Thursday that “we expect an agreement sooner rather than later”. Control of the strait and the threat to restart attacks on nearby countries’ oil and other infrastructure in the Gulf are the two main cards Iran can play in negotiations. The US has blockaded Iran, stopping all Iran-linked shipping seeking to exit the Gulf, to put pressure on Tehran. Senior Iranian officials have rejected concessions in recent days. Some favour dragging out the negotiations to closer to the November midterm elections in the US, when the Trump administration will be under intense pressure to settle the war and Iran may get a better deal. However, regional diplomats believe Iran could overplay its hand, with the current moment offering an opportunity to finish the war and claim a victory – something that could be harder if fighting resumes. If there were no agreement, Washington could also unilaterally end the war and walk away, leaving Iran under suffocating economic sanctions, they said. The Iranian president, Masoud Pezeshkian, said on Thursday he had met the country’s supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, who has not been seen in public since his appointment in early March. Analysts saw the meeting as part of the attempt to align different factions and institutions within Iran behind a unified position for the negotiations. Abbas Araghchi, Iran’s foreign minister, also held a phone call on Thursday with Ishaq Dar, his Pakistani counterpart. Iran’s official IRNA news agency divulged no information about its content, saying merely that the two diplomats had reviewed the “latest developments and current trends in the region, emphasised the importance of continuing the path of dialogue and diplomacy”. Pakistani officials privately hope that an outline agreement could be ready to be signed by Trump next week in Islamabad, where he could stop before or after a scheduled visit to China. “We remain optimistic,” said Tahir Andrabi, the spokesperson of Pakistan’s foreign ministry. “We expect an agreement sooner rather than later.” The latest deal proposed by the US would be in two phases, with the initial accord ending the war and reopening the strait of Hormuz. Iran would also like to see its overseas assets unfrozen, including about $6bn held in Qatar. The second phase would seek to hammer out an agreement on Iran’s nuclear programme over the following 30 days. At the talks last month in Islamabad, Iran had argued for a moratorium on nuclear enrichment of between three and five years, while the US wanted between 20 and 25 years, according to a diplomat briefed on the discussion. Mediators believe the two sides may compromise on about 10 years. Iran is also opposed to handing over its stockpile of 60%-enriched uranium to the US, as Washington has demanded. “Things are moving, but we are not there yet,” said one diplomat in the region. “It sounds like the Americans want to be done with the war.” Iran is facing deep economic challenges, which may escalate if it begins to run out of storage capacity for its oil, but the Washington Post reported on Thursday that a confidential CIA analysis delivered to US officials this week suggested that the US blockade may need more than three or four months to inflict more severe economic hardship. Iran is likely to want to tie any definitive end to hostilities in the Gulf to Israeli strikes in Lebanon. Israel, which has also been fighting the Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon, said on Thursday it had killed a Hezbollah commander in an airstrike on Beirut a day earlier, the first Israeli attack on the Lebanese capital since a ceasefire was agreed last month. Hezbollah began its latest conflict with Israel by opening fire in support of Iran on 2 March.