US to loan 53.3 million barrels of oil from Strategic Petroleum Reserve

The ⁠Trump ⁠administration ​said on ​Monday it will loan energy companies 53.3 ​million ‌barrels ⁠of crude ‌from the US Strategic Petroleum ⁠Reserve as part of ​a global ‌agreement to calm oil markets ‌that have spiked ​on the US-Israeli war with Iran.

The ​Department of ​Energy last ​month offered up ​to 92.5 million barrels from the reserve.

• Iran demanded end to war, release of assets in its response to US
• UK and France to host defence talks on Hormuz shipping mission
• Netanyahu says Iranian enriched uranium must be removed before war can end
• World weeks away from ‘humanitarian crisis’ over Hormuz fertiliser blockade, UN says
• Trump says US-Iran ceasefire on ‘life support’
• UAE has been secretly carrying out attacks on Iran, WSJ reports

UAE has been secretly carrying out attacks on Iran, WSJ reports

The ⁠United Arab ​Emirates has ​carried out military strikes on Iran, the ​Wall ‌Street ⁠Journal reported on Monday, ‌citing people familiar with ⁠the matter.

The strikes, which the ​UAE has ‌not publicly acknowledged, included an attack ‌on a refinery ​on Iran’s Lavan Island in the Persian Gulf, ​WSJ said, ​adding that ​the attack took place ​in early April.

US issues new Iran-related sanctions, Treasury website shows

The ​United ​States has issued fresh ​Iran-related ‌sanctions ⁠targeting ‌three people and ⁠nine entities, including ​four ‌entities based in ‌Hong Kong, ​according to a posting on ​the ​US ​Treasury Department’s website.

Parliament speaker says Iran ready to ‘teach a lesson’ if attacked

Trump says he will reduce the federal gas tax

President ​Donald Trump has said he will reduce ​the ‌federal ⁠gas tax, ‌seeking to blunt the impact ⁠of rising pump prices caused by the 10-week-old conflict ​with Iran continuing to paralyze ​shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.

India’s Modi to begin five-nation tour including UAE amid Middle East crisis

Indian ⁠Prime ​Minister ​Narendra Modi will embark on a ​five-nation ‌tour ⁠taking ‌in the UAE ⁠and Europe from May ​15-20, India’s ‌foreign ministry has said ‌in a ​statement, as the Middle East ​crisis ​drives ​up global ​oil prices and strains India’s foreign currency ⁠reserves.

Trump says US-Iran ceasefire on ‘life support’

President Donald Trump has said the US ceasefire with Iran is on “life support” after rejecting Iran’s latest proposal for not including nuclear concession, and that he is still aiming for “complete victory” in the war against Iran despite growing pressure to reach a peace deal.

“We’re going to have a complete victory,” Trump told reporters, adding that Iran thinks “I’ll get tired of this. I’ll get bored, or I’ll have some pressure. But there’s no pressure.”

Israel jails soldiers for desecrating Virgin Mary statue in Lebanon

The Israeli military said it has sentenced two soldiers to imprisonment after one of them was photographed placing a cigarette in the mouth of a statue of the Virgin Mary in southern Lebanon.

According to the military, the incident took place several weeks ago in southern Lebanon and was investigated by commanders on the ground.

“At the conclusion of the investigation, the soldier documented carrying out the act was sentenced to 21 days of military prison, and the soldier who filmed the incident was sentenced to 14 days of military prison,” the military said on Monday.

A photo released on social media on May 6, 2026, shows an Israeli soldier smoking and pushing another cigarette onto the mouth of a statue of the Virgin Mary in Debel, Lebanon. (© social media via Reuters)

In a separate post on X, military spokeswoman Lieutenant Colonel Ariella Mazor said: “The IDF views the incident with utmost severity and emphasises that the conduct of the soldier completely deviates from the values expected of its personnel.”

It is not the first time the Israeli military has come under criticism in recent weeks over its soldiers’ conduct surrounding Christian statues in southern Lebanon.

In late April, the military said two soldiers would receive 30 days of military detention and be removed from combat duty over the destruction of a statue of Jesus Christ in the southern Lebanese village of Debl.

Lithuania should send military personnel to aid US in Strait of Hormuz, president says

Lithuania ​should ​send up to 40 soldiers ​and ‌personnel ⁠to ‌aid the United ⁠States in the ​Strait of Hormuz, ‌the Baltic country’s ‌State Defence ​Council, which is chaired by the ​president, ​said ​in a ​proposal to parliament onMonday.

Iran-US ceasefire grows shaky after Trump rejects Tehran’s latest proposal

US President Donald Trump has rejected Iran’s response to his latest peace proposal as “unacceptable”, but the Washington may not have many cards left to play in negotiations with Tehran.

“the Iranians are well aware that Trump is faced with some difficult and unpleasant options,” says FRANCE 24’s Angela Diffley from our Paris studio.

UK sanctions 12 people and firms linked to Iran over hostile activity

Britain ​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, set ​out in ​a government ​sanctions notice, include ​asset freezes, travel bans and director ⁠disqualification orders.

World weeks away from ‘humanitarian crisis’ over Hormuz fertiliser blockade, UN says

Tens of millions of people could face hunger and starvation if fertilisers are not soon allowed through the Strait of Hormuz, the head of a UN task force aimed at averting a looming humanitarian crisis told AFP on Monday. 

“We have a few weeks ahead of us to prevent what will likely be a massive humanitarian crisis,” Jorge Moreira da Silva, executive director of the UN Office for Project Services (UNOPS) and leader of the task force, told AFP in an interview. 

“We may witness a crisis that will force 45 million more people into hunger and starvation.”

Amnesty calls for Israel to be excluded from Eurovision

Rights group Amnesty International has called for Israel to be suspended from the Eurovision Song Contest due to its “apartheid against Palestinians”.

The annual music contest is set to take place in Vienna on Saturday.

Read more about the controversy over Israel’s inclusion on FRANCE 24: Eurovision hopes 70th anniversary celebration outshines Israel controversy

Lebanon urges US ambassador to pressure Israel as it pounds country

Lebanese leaders have urged the US ambassador to Beirut to pressure Israel to halt its attacks as it pounded the country from the air despite a truce in the Israel-Hezbollah war.

Lebanese authorities on Monday raised the overall death toll from Israeli strikes since March 2 to 2,869 people.

That toll includes dozens killed since the truce went into force on April 17.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam met separately with ambassador Michel Issa in preparation for a third direct meeting between Lebanese and Israeli representatives set to take place in Washington on Thursday and Friday.

Salam said he asked Issa to “exert pressure on Israel to stop the ongoing attacks and violations, in order to consolidate the ceasefire”.

(Rescuers work at the site of an Israeli strike in the Kfar Jouz district of Nabatieh in south Lebanon © Stringer, Reuters)

The appeal followed a weekend of intense Israeli strikes that stretched beyond the country’s south and reached as close as 20 kilometres (12 miles) from the capital Beirut.

The Israeli military on Monday issued an evacuation warning for nine Lebanese towns, seven of them in the south and two in the West Bekaa region in the east.

Israel and Iran-backed armed group Hezbollah have been trading fire in southern Lebanon despite a ceasefire in place since April 17 between Israel and Lebanon that aimed to halt the fighting.

Iran’s internet blackout enters 73rd day, online monitor reports

Aramco could reach oil production capacity of 12 million barrels per day in three weeks, CEO says

Saudi state ​oil giant ​Aramco could reach a maximum sustainable oil production capacity ​of ‌12 million ⁠barrels per day in ‌three weeks if required, ⁠CEO Amin Nasser said.

He said ​that the ‌energy supply shock that began in ‌the first-quarter was the largest ​the world has ever experienced, and that if disruption ​of shipping ​in the Strait ​of Hormuz – linked to the US-Iran ​conflict – continues for a few more weeks, normalization in the oil ⁠market would not happen until ⁠2027.

Iran seizes assets of ex-football captain turned exiled critic

Iranian authorities on Monday announced the seizure of six properties allegedly linked to the former captain of the national football team, Ali Karimi, who now lives in exile and is vehemently critical of the Islamic republic.

The judiciary has repeatedly warned that people deemed to be acting against national security face asset seizures in the wake of January protests and against the backdrop of the war against Israel and the United States.

Karimi, who played for Bayern Munich during his career and was dubbed the “Asian Maradona” for his wizardry on the pitch, has in social media posts backed protests against the clerical authorities and also voiced support for the monarchy ousted by the Islamic revolution.

The Iranian judiciary’s Mizan news agency described Karimi as “one of the traitors to the homeland who has been extensively active in supporting the enemy in recent years”.

It said two commercial units and four residential units belonging to Karimi “have been identified and seized by judicial order for the benefit of the people”.

Karimi, who is now believed to be based in the Gulf after leaving in Iran in 2022, has yet to comment.

Trump rejects Iran’s response to US peace proposal as ‘unacceptable’

US President Donald Trump on Sunday branded Iran’s terms for ending the Middle East war “totally unacceptable,” raising the prospect of renewed conflict after weeks of negotiations.

Iran responded to Washington’s latest peace proposal earlier in the day, while warning it would not hold back from retaliating against any new US strikes or permit more foreign warships in the Strait of Hormuz.

Second Qatari LNG tanker heads through Hormuz to Pakistan, data shows

A second Qatari liquefied natural gas tanker is transiting the Strait of Hormuz days after the first such cargo crossed under ​an arrangement ‌involving Iran and Pakistan, highlighting how cargoes are crossing the waterway on ⁠a case-by-case basis amid ongoing conflict risks.

The vessel, Mihzem, with a capacity of 174,000 cubic metres, departed Ras Laffan and is ‌heading northeast toward Port Qasim in Pakistan, where it is expected to arrive ⁠on May 12, according to LSEG shipping data.

This would be the second successful passage through Hormuz for a Qatari LNG tanker since the start of Iran ​war.

On Saturday, LNG tanker Al Kharaitiyat started crossing Hormuz via the ‌Iranian-approved northern route and on Sunday it managed to cross the strait.

The LNG is being sold by Qatar to Pakistan – a mediator in the war – under a government-to-government deal, two sources told Reuters. They said Iran had approved the shipment to help build confidence with Qatar ​and Pakistan.