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Middle East crisis live: Trump says ceasefire is ‘on massive life support’ after rejecting Iran’s response to US peace proposal

Donald Trump on Monday said that Iran’s response to the US peace plan was a “stupid proposal” and “a piece of garbage” that he didn’t finish reading. He said he still believes a diplomatic solution is possible and that his ““best plan ever” is very simple: “Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon and they won’t have a nuclear weapon”,” Trump said. Trump also described the current ceasefire as “unbelievably weak”. “I would say the ceasefire is on massive life support, where the doctor walks in and says, ‘Sir, your loved one has approximately a 1% chance of living’,” Trump said. Iran is ready to support Xi Jinping’s four-point plan for the Gulf region, said Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli, Iran’s ambassador to China. The announcement came ahead of Trump’s visit to China this week to meet with Xi. EU has adopted sanctions on Israeli settlers, with EU’s foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, declaring: “Extremisms and violence carry consequences”. Israel has already condemned the move, with foreign minister Gideon Sa’ar saying on X that it was adopted in “an arbitrary and political manner”. The UK has sanctioned 12 individuals and entities linked to Iran, accusing them of involvement in hostile activity including plotting attacks and providing financial services to groups seeking to destabilise the UK and other countries. The measures include asset freezes, travel bans and director disqualification orders. The Lebanese health ministry has updated its death toll to 2,869 people killed in Israeli attacks that began on 2 March, Lebanon’s state-run national news agency reports. Many of those killed were women and children and 8,730 have also been injured. Two soldiers photographed desecrating a Christian statue in southern Lebanon were sentenced to military prison, the IDF said. The soldier who was photographed sticking a cigarette in the mouth of a statue of Mary, was sentenced to 21 days of military prison, the Associated Press reports. The soldier who photographed the incident was sentenced to 14 days, according to the IDF. Iranian authorities on Monday hanged a postgraduate student from a university in Tehran on charges of espionage, with the Iranian judiciary’s Mizan Online website accusing him of collaborating with the CIA and the Mossad. Erfan Shakourzadeh, 29, was a student at Tehran’s prestigious Iran University of Science and Technology and had written a message before his execution rejecting the charges as fabricated, said the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights. The UK and France will host on Tuesday a multinational meeting of defence ministers to discuss plans to restore trade flows through the strait of Hormuz, the British defence ministry said. The meeting will involve 40 countries and comes one day after Iran threatened to strike British and French warships in the strait if they try to help reopen the strategic waterway. Trump’s rejection of Tehran’s response to the US’s peace proposal caused a jump in Brent crude by as much as 4% on Monday to $105.50 a barrel, before easing back slightly.

Putin is in a ‘weaker position than ever before’, says EU’s Kallas – as it happened

… and on that note, it’s a wrap for today! Russia’s president Vladimir Putin is “in a weaker position than he has been ever before,” the EU’s foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas suggested, after talks among the bloc’s foreign ministers over the latest suggestions that the Russian war against Ukraine could be nearing an end (16:45). Kallas said Ukraine is now “in a much better position than a year ago,” as “the dynamics of the war are changing” (16:30). Separately, she urged for all accession negotiation clusters between the EU and Ukraine to be opened by summer (16:32), which she later specified as August (16:40). In other news, Several European leaders dismissed the idea that the Kremlin-friendly former German chancellor Gerhard Schröder could serve as a European mediator in peace talks aimed at ending the war in Ukraine (10:11, 10:37, 11:24, 14:17). EU foreign ministers adopted new sanctions against individuals and entities in Russia or occupied Ukrainian territories over “systematic unlawful deportation of Ukrainian childrem” (13:48), and additional sanctions on Israeli settlers (15:44). Polish prosecutors are investigating how a former justice minister wanted on multiple criminal charges managed to flee to the US from Hungary, where the former prime minister Viktor Orbán had granted him political asylum (12:10, 17:32). If you have any tips, comments or suggestions, email me at jakub.krupa@theguardian.com. I am also on Bluesky at @jakubkrupa.bsky.social and on X at @jakubkrupa.

Britain is failing to protect victims of modern slavery | Letter

Your article (Modern slavery at record levels in UK and expected to worsen, report warns, 5 May)( reflects a deeply troubling reality also seen by the UK’s modern slavery helpline. Cases of exploitation climbed to their highest level on record with a 41% increase in 2025, according to a recent helpline report. As a consortium of leading anti-slavery organisations has warned, the UK is failing to keep pace with the scale of exploitation, leaving too many victims without protection and too many perpetrators beyond reach. The UK is increasingly becoming a low‑risk, high-reward environment for traffickers and exploiters. A shared vision for the next decade sets out practical steps: stronger corporate accountability, a more effective criminal justice response, a survivor‑centred system and a coordinated national strategy to tackle child exploitation. This is not about incremental reform but a coordinated, system-wide shift backed by political will and sustained investment. The picture is bleak, but not without hope. With decisive leadership, the UK can move beyond mismanaging modern slavery to ending it. Andrew Wallis CEO, Unseen • Have an opinion on anything you’ve read in the Guardian today? Please email us your letter and it will be considered for publication in our letters section.

Evacuated US and French MV Hondius passengers test positive for hantavirus

A French woman and an American national evacuated from the cruise ship at the centre of a deadly hantavirus outbreak have tested positive for the virus, as the complex operation to repatriate those onboard continued on Monday. The French woman was one of five French passengers who disembarked from the ship in Tenerife on Sunday before being flown to a hospital in Paris. The French health minister, Stéphanie Rist, said the woman was in a serious condition on Monday. Rist said the woman had started to feel very unwell on Sunday night and “tests came back positive”. Rist told France Inter radio: “Unfortunately, her symptoms worsened overnight.” She is being treated in a specialised infectious diseases unit of a hospital in Paris. An American passenger who was flown to Nebraska along with 16 others on Sunday evening also tested positive but had no symptoms. The US health department said one American national evacuated from the ship had tested positive for the Andes strain – the only hantavirus strain that is transmissible between humans – and another had “mild symptoms”. Personnel in full-body protective gear and breathing masks began escorting the travellers from ship to shore in Tenerife in the Canary Islands on Sunday, in an effort that was continuing on Monday. More than 100 people of 23 nationalities are being evacuated in less than 48 hours, in an operation described by Spanish authorities as “complex” and “unprecedented”. Spain’s health ministry said on Monday that “all possible measures had been adopted from the start in order to cut possible chains of transmission”, adding that passengers underwent a health check and had their temperatures taken when the ship arrived off Tenerife on Sunday. It also said the French woman who had developed a fever on the evacuation flight had not had a high temperature when she was examined onboard the MV Hondius. Three passengers from the MV Hondius – a Dutch couple and a German woman – have died and others have fallen sick with the rare disease, which usually spreads among rodents. No vaccines or specific treatments exist for hantavirus, which is endemic in Argentina, from where the ship departed in April. But health officials have said the risk for global public health is low and have played down comparisons with the Covid-19 pandemic. Rist said 22 French nationals had been identified as having come into potential contact with the virus, including eight people who had travelled on a 25 April flight between Saint Helena and Johannesburg, and 14 more on a flight between Johannesburg and Amsterdam. The Dutch woman who died was on the flight to Johannesburg and later briefly boarded a flight to Amsterdam but disembarked before takeoff. Health authorities in several countries have been tracking passengers who had already left the ship, plus anyone who may have come into contact with them. The French prime minister, Sébastien Lecornu, was due to hold a meeting of medical advisers and ministers on Monday afternoon to follow the issue. The French government spokesperson, Maud Bregeon, told BFMTV that it was important not to spread a sense of “panic”. She said: “We’re following the situation with the greatest vigilance, on the basis that it is a virus that we know, that a 42-day isolation period has been decided and the objective remains the same: protecting the French people.” The repatriation operation had evacuated 94 people of 19 different nationalities on Sunday, said the Spanish health minister, Mónica García. Of the 54 people who remained aboard – 22 passengers and 32 crew - 28 will disembark today and evacuate on two flights to the Netherlands. The MV Hondius will then depart for the Netherlands with the 26 crew members on Monday evening. A separate flight that was intended to fly passengers back to Australia was abandoned because of timing problems. The six passengers who were due to travel on it – four Australians, one Briton who is resident in Australia, and a New Zealand national – will instead return home via one of the Netherlands flights. The captain of the MV Hondius has praised the crew and passengers for their behaviour on the ship. “I’ve decided to take this time to thank every single guest and crew member onboard here, as well as our colleagues back home,” Jan Dobrogowski said in a video message. “The past few weeks have been extremely challenging to us all. What touched me the most, what moved me the most, was your patience, your discipline, and also [the] kindness that you showed to each other throughout.” Passengers wearing blue medical suits began disembarking the Dutch-flagged vessel on Sunday to reach the small industrial port of Granadilla on Tenerife. They boarded Spanish army buses and travelled to Tenerife South airport in a convoy before boarding their repatriation flights. The World Health Organization recommends a 42-day quarantine and “active follow-up”, including daily checks for symptoms such as fever, the UN body’s lead for epidemic and pandemic preparedness and prevention, Maria Van Kerkhove, said in Geneva.

EU preparing to offer key concession to UK in new post-Brexit agricultural deal

Brussels is preparing to offer Keir Starmer a key concession in talks over an agricultural deal, giving the beleaguered prime minister an important victory in his efforts to move closer to the EU. European officials have conceded that the UK can keep its ban on live animal exports as part of any joint deal on food and agricultural products, according to sources on both sides of the talks, even though the EU has not imposed such a ban. The carve-out will be a significant fillip for Starmer’s efforts to negotiate closer EU ties in a series of areas including emissions trading and youth mobility. The prime minister listed his prospective EU deal on Monday as one of three examples of his government’s progress, as he fights for his political career in the face of growing calls from his own MPs for him to quit. One British official said of the agricultural deal: “We’re confident on this and don’t think it’s going to be an issue but of course negotiations are ongoing.” Neither the Cabinet Office nor the European Commission, which are leading the negotiations, would comment while talks were still ongoing. But one Brussels source pointed out that, according to a framework agreement signed by both parties last May, the UK can be exempted from EU regulations if the UK rules are stricter than the EU’s. European officials say because the ban would only apply to UK farmers, it would not negatively affect farmers in the EU. Starmer is hoping to sign an agricultural trade deal as one of three key elements of a new EU agreement to be announced at a summit this summer. He pinned significant political hopes on the deal as he tried to persuade Labour MPs to back him after the local elections last week. During a speech on Monday billed as a “make-or-break” moment in his premiership, Starmer said: “The last government was defined by breaking our relationship with Europe; this Labour government will be defined by rebuilding our relationship with Europe.” So far, negotiations are mainly being held up by a standoff over whether European students should pay the same university tuition fees as part of a youth mobility scheme. An agricultural deal is expected to be easier to agree, though negotiators say there are important areas where the UK will want to opt out of EU rules. One such area is on the export of live animals, including cows, sheep and pigs, for fattening or slaughter. The EU is the world’s largest live farm animal exporter, but animal welfare campaigners say the practice causes overcrowding, exhaustion, dehydration and stress. Rishi Sunak’s government imposed a ban on such exports in 2024, in a move it said was “capitalising on a post-Brexit freedoms and bolstering the UK’s position as a world leader in animal welfare standards”. Lawyers and animal welfare experts said that without a specific carve-out, the UK would have to drop the ban altogether. Catherine Barnard, a professor of European law at the University of Cambridge, said: “There would need to be an express carve-out in the SPS [sanitary and phytosanitary] agreement. People in the UK care very much about this, so while in the EU the UK tried and failed to stop exports in the past.” David Bowles, the head of public affairs at the RSPCA, said: “It is vital – in the interests of these animals – that this successful ban is protected. An exemption is vital, and will help protect things like the prohibition of live exports, puppy imports, and bans on cages for farmed animals.” The UK has had to give way on other animal welfare rules during the negotiation process. The Guardian revealed last month the EU was likely to block ministers from enacting their manifesto commitment of banning the import of foie gras, and similarly will not allow the UK to ban fur imports. In a recent interview with the Guardian, the environment secretary, Emma Reynolds, defended these compromises. “The prize is big,” she said. “We can talk about the detail, but the overall prize here is to bring down the barriers at the border.”

UK slavery reparations must be top issue at Commonwealth summit, says former Caribbean leader

It is “inconceivable” that reparatory justice from Britain for the transatlantic trade of enslaved Africans will not be “front and centre” of the next Commonwealth leaders’ meeting, the former prime minister of St Vincent and the Grenadines has said. Ralph Gonsalves was in Jamaica to discuss the next steps of the “alive and growing” movement to advocate for reparations for hundreds of years of chattel slavery. The opposition leader was recently appointed an elder and adviser for the Repair Campaign, a social movement for reparatory justice founded by the Irish telecoms tycoon Denis O’Brien. Gonsalves was instrumental in setting up the Caribbean Community’s (Caricom) reparations commission to support Caribbean governments’ call for recognition of the lasting legacy of colonialism and enslavement, and for reparative justice from former colonisers. He said the leaders of the 56-country Commonwealth grouping, which includes 33 Caribbean and African nations, could not ignore the strong momentum towards a reparations resolution. Between the 15th and 19th centuries more than 12.5 million Africans were kidnapped, forcibly transported to the Americas and sold into slavery. The issue dominated headlines during the last Commonwealth heads of government meeting (Chogm), held in October 2024, when the British prime minister, Keir Starmer, resisted pressure from member states to include reparations in the summit’s agenda. Gonsalves said: “In the light of what transpired last time at Chogm, and the progress which has been made since then, and the activist agenda for the reparations movement, both in the Caribbean and Africa … it would be absolutely inconceivable that you wouldn’t have this being front and centre of the summit.” In March this year, the UK was one of several European countries that abstained from voting for a UN general assembly landmark resolution that described chattel slavery as the gravest crime against humanity. The resolution was passed after an overwhelming majority of 123 nations voted in its favour, with only the US, Israel and Argentina voting against it. Before the Commonwealth meeting in Antigua and Barbuda in November, a series of milestone events will be held across the Caribbean, Africa and the UK, Gonsalves said. Ghana, which led the March UN resolution, will host a reparations conference in June to agree coordinated next steps for the global movement. He added that, in the run-up to a Caribbean leaders’ meeting in St Lucia in July, the prime ministerial reparations subcommittee, chaired by the prime minister of Barbados, Mia Mottley, is likely to meet to agree updates to Caricom’s 10-point plan for reparatory justice. Gonsalves said that across the region there was a strong commitment to addressing the legacies of colonialism. On Saturday, the prime minister of Trinidad and Tobago, Kamla Persad-Bissessar, who also played a key role in setting up Caricom’s reparatory commission, announced that she would rename Nelson Island in honour of indentured immigrants from India, who were sent there by Britain between 1866 and 1917, in what she described as an “unjust and inhumane system” of human trafficking. Gonsalves said Persad-Bissessar had done “very good work” during her first term. “She was then chair of Caricom when I took the matter of reparatory justice to heads in 2013, 2014, and she supported it fully,” he said. “I expect her to continue that support in her second term because it’s a matter on which she has spoken, not just with passion, but more importantly with commitment, and I don’t think that that commitment has waned.” During his visit to Jamaica, Gonsalves met the country’s culture and gender minister, Olivia “Babsy” Grange, who is leading its reparation movement. Last year Caricom backed Jamaica’s decision to petition King Charles – its head of state – to request legal advice on reparations from the judicial committee of the privy council, the final court of appeal for UK overseas territories and some Commonwealth nations. Gonsalves said he hoped the king would support the Caribbean and Africa. He said: “To quote the current head of the Commonwealth, King Charles, this issue, reparations, is one whose time has come for a serious conversation. “Now, I don’t know what side of the conversation he would end up on. Knowing him, I am satisfied that he would come [down] on the side of the conversation which is in the interest of the bulk of the people in the Commonwealth, and which will be a progressive direction.”

Tell us: have you been affected by the cruise ship hantavirus outbreak?

Twenty Britons from a cruise ship hit by a hantavirus outbreak continue to be offered practical and emotional support as they isolate at a UK hospital. Along with the 20 British nationals, a German who is a UK resident, and a Japanese passenger, were taken to Arrowe Park Hospital on the Wirral on Sunday after the MV Hondius docked in Tenerife. Three passengers who boarded the cruise ship have died. Eight people no longer on the vessel have fallen ill, according to a World Health Organisation (WHO) tally from Friday, of whom six are confirmed to have contracted the virus. The WHO said its goal was to finish the ship’s evacuation, with the exception of 30 crew members remaining on board, by 7pm on Monday [11 May]. If you, a friend or a family member has been affected in any way by the outbreak, we would like to hear from you. If you’re having trouble using the form click here. Read terms of service here and privacy policy here.

Philippine presidential hopeful Sara Duterte impeached for second time

The Philippine vice-president, Sara Duterte, has been impeached over allegations she misused public funds, amassed unexplained wealth and threatened the lives of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr and his wife, in a case that could complicate her presidential ambitions. Duterte, the daughter of the detained former president Rodrigo Duterte, was impeached by an overwhelming majority of lawmakers in the House of Representatives, which is dominated by allies of Marcos. She previously ran to be vice-president in a joint campaign with Marcos, but they are now fierce enemies. The complaints against her will be passed to the Senate, where she will face trial. If found guilty, Duterte will be banned from public office, derailing her plan to run for president in 2028. She has denied any wrongdoing. In a statement, her defence counsel said: “The burden now rests on the accusers to substantiate their claims in accordance with the constitution, the law, and rules on evidence.” Duterte has led many early opinion polls ahead of the 2028 election, and her family remains a powerful force in Philippine politics despite the legal battles surrounding it. Her father was last year arrested and sent to the international criminal court in The Hague. There he faces charges of crimes against humanity in relation to his so-called “war on drugs”, which killed thousands of people during his 2016-22 presidency. It is far from certain that Sara Duterte will be found guilty by the Senate. A conviction in an impeachment trial requires the backing of two-thirds of its 24 members, and analysts point out that Duterte has stronger support in the Senate compared with the lower house, after candidates aligned with her family performed better than expected in midterm elections last year. Shortly before the impeachment vote, the Senate elected a longtime ally of the Duterte family, Alan Peter Cayetano, as its new president. Cayetano was a running mate of Rodrigo Duterte and served as foreign secretary under his administration. He denied his appointment was related to the impeachment vote. This is the second time Sara Duterte has been impeached by the lower house. She was also impeached on similar grounds last year but avoided a trial after she successfully petitioned the Philippine supreme court to declare the move unconstitutional on a technicality. The allegations against Duterte focus on claims she misused public funds while vice-president and as education secretary, a post she previously held, and include bribery. She is also accused of threatening Marcos, his wife, Louise Araneta-Marcos, and his cousin Martin Romualdez, a former house speaker. The threat was made during an online press conference during which Duterte said she would have Marcos, his wife and Romualdez killed by an assassin if she herself were killed. She later said she was not threatening the president and that her comments had been misinterpreted. Marcos, a son of the former president Ferdinand Marcos, has tried to distance himself from the case against his former ally. He also survived separate impeachment efforts in February, with his allies in the lower house voting to dismiss allegations against him, including claims of corruption. Marcos also denied wrongdoing.