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Parents could face bigger fines for child's crimes under youth justice shake-up
In the most extreme cases, parents could face jail if they fail to take action to address their child’s behaviour.
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Middle East crisis live: Trump warns ‘clock is ticking’ for Iran to reach peace deal | US-Israel war on Iran
Trump warns ‘clock is ticking for Iran’ to reach peace deal
We are restarting our coverage of the US-Israeli war on Iran and Israel’s war on Lebanon. Donald Trump has issued an extreme warning to Iran to quickly agree to a peace deal with the US or face devastation.
As Washington struggles to break an impasse on ending the war, the US president said on his Truth Social platform on Sunday: “For Iran, the Clock is Ticking, and they better get moving, FAST, or there won’t be anything left of them. TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE!”
Trump is expected to meet top national security advisers on Tuesday to discuss options for military action on Iran, according to a report in the US outlet Axios.
It came as a drone strike in the United Arab Emirates caused a fire at a nuclear power plant – which the country called a “dangerous escalation” and blamed on Iran or its proxies – and Saudi Arabia reported intercepting three drones.
Tehran has demanded a lasting ceasefire in Lebanon before any broader peace deal with Washington.
Israel’s airstrikes killed seven people in Lebanon on Sunday, including an Islamic Jihad commander, Lebanese authorities and state media said, despite the fragile ceasefire as Hezbollah called US-brokered talks between the two countries a “dead end”.
In other key developments:
-
Iranian media said the US had failed to make any concrete concessions in its latest response to Iran’s proposed agenda for negotiations to end the war. The Fars news agency said on Sunday that Washington had presented a five-point list that included a demand for Iran to keep only one nuclear site in operation and transfer its stockpile of highly enriched uranium to the US.
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Islamic Jihad commander Wael Abdel Halim and his 17-year-old daughter were killed in an Israeli missile strike on an apartment in eastern Lebanon on Sunday, Lebanese state media said. Israeli strikes on towns in southern Lebanon earlier killed five people, including two children, and left at least 15 people injured, the Lebanese health ministry said, despite Israel and Lebanon agreeing to extend their ceasefire by 45 days.
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Hezbollah had fired about 200 projectiles at Israel and its troops over the weekend, an Israeli military official said on Sunday.
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Israel’s cabinet approved a plan to build a defence compound on the site of the recently demolished premises of the UN Palestinian refugee agency (Unrwa) in East Jerusalem. Israel seized the site last year in an act the agency condemned as a violation of international law.
Key events
The Israeli military has ordered residents of three towns and villages in southern Lebanon to evacuate immediately by a “distance of no less than 1000 meters to open areas” in advance of attacks against the locations.
The affected towns and villages are: Harouf, Burj Al-Shamali and Dibal, according to a social media post by the IDF’s Arabic-language spokesperson, Avichay Adraee, who claimed the attacks are being launched due to Hezbollah, the Iranian backed Lebanese militant group, violating the US-mediated ceasefire agreement Israel signed with the Lebanese state in mid April.
International law experts say Israel’s warnings are inconsistent and often overly broad and open-ended. Sometimes there is no warning at all before the airstrikes. More than one million people have already been displaced by the renewed Israeli war on Lebanon which started when Hezbollah launched missiles at Israel on 2 March after the US-Israeli bombing of Iran in late February.
In its latest update, the Lebanese health ministry said since 2 March Israeli attacks have killed at least 2,988 people, including many women and children.
Friedrich Merz has been embroiled in a row with Donald Trump over his war on Iran ever since the German chancellor suggested the Trump team was being outplayed in its negotiations with Tehran and said he would not advise his children to study or work in the US in the current climate.
The Guardian’s Berlin correspondent, Deborah Cole, has looked at the declining relationship between the two leaders in this story. Here is an extract:
Disputes over trade and military aid for Ukraine have fuelled tensions between the US and its European allies and tested the Nato alliance.
Merz is struggling to revive an anaemic German economy and has said the impact of the US-Israeli military action in Iran and the ensuing closure of the strait of Hormuz has been severely damaging to European interests.
Late last month he stunned listeners in Germany as well as the US with blunt comments stating that the Americans were being “humiliated” by Iran’s leadership in the current conflict, angering Trump.
Days later, Washington announced a partial troop withdrawal from Germany, where it has about 36,000 military service members, and tariff hikes on cars imported from the EU, a sector crucial to the German economy.
Merz, whose popularity ratings are plumbing record depths in German polls, has since then said he was “not giving up on working on the transatlantic relationship”, while declining opportunities to retract his criticism of Trump.
German chancellor Friedrich Merz has posted the following statement on his X account:
We strongly condemn the renewed Iranian airstrikes against the United Arab Emirates and other partners. Attacks on nuclear facilities pose a threat to the safety of people throughout the entire region. There must be no further escalation of violence.
Iran must enter into serious negotiations with the USA, stop threatening its neighbours, and open the strait of Hormuz without restrictions.
Merz’s comments come after a drone strike caused a fire on the edge of the UAE’s only nuclear power plant on Sunday in what authorities called an “unprovoked terrorist attack” (see post at 08.48 more details).
Iran announces new body to manage strait of Hormuz
Iran’s top security body has announced the formation of a new body to manage the strait of Hormuz, which Tehran has effectively closed to countries it deems hostile to it – and wants to charge ships to traverse.
On its official X account, the Supreme national security council shared a post for the Persian Gulf Strait Authority (PGSA) saying it would provide “real‑time updates on the Hormuz Strait operations and latest developments”.
Gaza’s health ministry said in its latest update that at least six people were killed and 40 others injured in Israeli attacks across the territory over the past day.
The health ministry says 877 people have been killed in Israeli attacks since the ceasefire in October 2025.
It says that 72,769 people have been killed in Israeli attacks across Gaza since October 2023, when Isreal launched its assault on the territory following the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed.
Israel has widely been accused of committing genocide against the Palestinian population of Gaza, including by human rights groups. Amnesty International has said Israel is still committing genocide in Gaza during the ceasefire by continuing to target Gaza’s now mostly destroyed civilian infrastructure and restrict access to medical supplies and humanitarian relief. Israel denies the charge of genocide.
The October 2025 ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas explicitly required the immediate resumption of humanitarian aid. Over half a year into the ceasefire, the amount of aid being let into Gaza is still wholly inadequate to meet the needs of the population, despite a small increase from before the agreement.
“Israel’s intermittent closure of crossings, restrictions on the flow of humanitarian aid, and continued ban on the entry of essential supplies have produced chronic shortages of food, medicine, and basic goods across Gaza,” a recent reliefweb report noted.
Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has accused Israel of manufacturing a malnutrition crisis in Gaza. “The malnutrition crisis is entirely manufactured,” Mercè Rocaspana, MSF medical adviser for emergencies, said.
“Before the war, malnutrition in Gaza was almost nonexistent. For two and a half years, the systematic blockade to humanitarian aid and commercial goods, on top of insecurity, have severely restricted access to food and clean water. Healthcare facilities have been forced out of service and living conditions have profoundly deteriorated. As a result, vulnerable groups of people are placed at heightened risk of malnutrition.”
Israel has repeatedly claimed that Hamas has systematically diverted aid supplies for military or political purposes and infiltrated aid organisations but has provided limited evidence to support the allegations.
Israeli forces were intercepting a Gaza-bound aid flotilla on Monday after it set sail from Turkey last week.
“Military vessels are currently intercepting our fleet and IDF forces are currently boarding the first of our boats in broad daylight,” the Global Sumud Flotilla posted on X.
“We demand safe passage for our legal, non-violent humanitarian mission. Governments must act now to stop these illegal acts or piracy meant to maintain Israel’s genocidal siege on Gaza. Normalisation of the occupation’s violence is a threat to us all.”
About 50 ships had departed from southwestern Turkey on Thursday as part of the flotilla that set off for Gaza to challenge Israel’s naval blockade of Gaza and attempt to reach the territory – devastated by relentless Israeli attacks – with humanitarian aid. On Monday, Israel had vowed to block the vessels.
“Israel will not allow any breach of the lawful naval blockade on Gaza,” the foreign ministry posted on X. “Israel calls on all participants in this provocation to change course and turn back immediately.”
Israel and Egypt have imposed varying degrees of a blockade on Gaza since Hamas seized power from rival Palestinian forces in 2007. Israel claims the blockade is needed to prevent Hamas from importing arms, but many say it amounts to collective punishment of Gaza’s Palestinian population.
Revised Iranian proposal to end war shared with US – report
The Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei also confirmed in the news conference that Tehran had responded to a new US proposal aimed at ending the war.
“As we announced yesterday, our concerns were conveyed to the American side,” he told journalists.
Baghaei said exchanges were “continuing through the Pakistani mediator”, without providing details.
Citing a source, the Reuters news agency reported this morning that Pakistan had shared a revised peace proposal from Iran with the US.
“We don’t have much time,” the source told Reuters when asked if it would take time to close gaps, adding that both countries “keep changing their goalposts”.
It is not immediately clear what is in the revised proposal but Iran’s previous demands have reportedly included compensation for war damage, an end to Israel’s war on Lebanon and the US’s blockade of Iranian ports, guarantees of no further attacks on Iran and a recognition of Iranian sovereignty over the strait of Hormuz, something the US has rejected.
Washington is reportedly losing patience with Iran’s negotiators and is weighing up a resumption of military operations if Tehran does not make the sort of concessions on its nuclear programme it wants.
The Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei has been speaking at a news conference.
He told reporters that Iranian and Omani technical teams have met in Oman to negotiate a mechanism for safe transit in the strait of Hormuz, a strategic stretch of water located between Iran, the UAE and Oman at the heart of the impasse in the peace talks, Al Jazeera is reporting.
About a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas usually passes through the strait. But Iran closed the shipping route to so-called “hostile” countries in response to being attacked by Israel and the US on 28 February, causing global energy prices to surge and raising bills for consumers around the world.
Iran effectively closed the strait by attacking – or just threatening to attack – some ships and told others not affiliated with the US or Israel that they could pass through the waterway if they paid a toll.
Donald Trump imposed a counter-blockade of ships using Iranian ports on 13 April to try to pressure Tehran into accepting concessions to bring an end to the war – but this failed. The US has said repeatedly there can be no permanent solution to the blockade that involves the payment of a toll to Iran, and claims that Oman holds a similar view.
Oman’s foreign ministry has condemned the drone strike that caused a fire at the perimeter of UAE’s Barakah nuclear power plant on Sunday.
In a statement shared to X, the ministry expressed its solidarity with the UAE but stressed that it rejected all “hostile and escalatory acts” as it urged for dialogue to address regional issues and called for international law to be respected by all parties.
The UAE did not say who launched the attack and there was no immediate claim of responsibility. No injuries were reported and officials said there was no impact on radiological safety levels.
Trump warns ‘clock is ticking for Iran’ to reach peace deal
We are restarting our coverage of the US-Israeli war on Iran and Israel’s war on Lebanon. Donald Trump has issued an extreme warning to Iran to quickly agree to a peace deal with the US or face devastation.
As Washington struggles to break an impasse on ending the war, the US president said on his Truth Social platform on Sunday: “For Iran, the Clock is Ticking, and they better get moving, FAST, or there won’t be anything left of them. TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE!”
Trump is expected to meet top national security advisers on Tuesday to discuss options for military action on Iran, according to a report in the US outlet Axios.
It came as a drone strike in the United Arab Emirates caused a fire at a nuclear power plant – which the country called a “dangerous escalation” and blamed on Iran or its proxies – and Saudi Arabia reported intercepting three drones.
Tehran has demanded a lasting ceasefire in Lebanon before any broader peace deal with Washington.
Israel’s airstrikes killed seven people in Lebanon on Sunday, including an Islamic Jihad commander, Lebanese authorities and state media said, despite the fragile ceasefire as Hezbollah called US-brokered talks between the two countries a “dead end”.
In other key developments:
-
Iranian media said the US had failed to make any concrete concessions in its latest response to Iran’s proposed agenda for negotiations to end the war. The Fars news agency said on Sunday that Washington had presented a five-point list that included a demand for Iran to keep only one nuclear site in operation and transfer its stockpile of highly enriched uranium to the US.
-
Islamic Jihad commander Wael Abdel Halim and his 17-year-old daughter were killed in an Israeli missile strike on an apartment in eastern Lebanon on Sunday, Lebanese state media said. Israeli strikes on towns in southern Lebanon earlier killed five people, including two children, and left at least 15 people injured, the Lebanese health ministry said, despite Israel and Lebanon agreeing to extend their ceasefire by 45 days.
-
Hezbollah had fired about 200 projectiles at Israel and its troops over the weekend, an Israeli military official said on Sunday.
-
Israel’s cabinet approved a plan to build a defence compound on the site of the recently demolished premises of the UN Palestinian refugee agency (Unrwa) in East Jerusalem. Israel seized the site last year in an act the agency condemned as a violation of international law.
UK News
Europe should pick negotiator for possible Russian talks, says Zelenskyy – Europe live | Ukraine
Morning opening: Who’s going to speak for Europe?
Jakub Krupa
Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy suggested last night that the time has come for Europe to pick its preferred negotiator for eventual peace talks with Russia.
After talking with the European Council president, António Costa, Zelenskyy said they agreed that “Europe must be involved in the negotiations,” and to “have a strong voice and presence in this process.”
“It is worth determining who will represent Europe specifically,” he said.
Easier said than done.
While the EU has no shortage of presidents – of the European Commission, of the European Council, of the European Parliament, to name a few – it still lacks a single figurehead that would make an obvious candidate for any tricky talks with Moscow.
Vladimir Putin’s cheeky suggestion of pro-Russian former German chancellor Gerhard Schröder was quickly shot down for his links with Moscow, but Europeans will have to reflect on who could represent its interests if and when the talks actually progress to that stage.
Meanwhile, Ukraine launched retaliatory strikes against Russia over the weekend, killing at least four, as it hit a number of strategic locations, including in Moscow.
“Our responses to Russia’s prolongation of the war and attacks on our cities and communities are entirely justified,” Zelenskyy said, adding that the strikes on Moscow showed Kyiv was “clearly telling the Russians: their state must end its war.”
But overnight Russia attacked again with over 500 drones and 20 missiles, with Zelenskyy urging Europe to do “everything possible to ensure reliable protection against this.”
I will keep an eye on this today.
Elsewhere, I will look at the US envoy Jeff Landry’s controversial visit to Greenland, bring you an update on the government formation talks in Latvia, and monitor several high-profile meetings of leaders across Europe, including new Bulgaria’s PM Ruman Radev’s visit to Germany.
It’s Monday, 18 May 2026, it’s Jakub Krupa here, and this is Europe Live.
Good morning.
Key events
Europe should ‘push forward’ with sanctions as Putin has few good options on Ukraine, Estonia’s spy chief says
Meanwhile, Estonia’s spy chief Kaupo Rosin told Reuters that Russian president Vladimir Putin has few good options in Ukraine with his armed forces unable to advance significantly on the battlefield while western sanctions are chipping away at his resources.
He told the agency that Russia was losing more men than it was recruiting in the fifth year of its full-scale war, and that a general mobilisation would be deeply unpopular and potentially undermine stability.
“All these factors together are creating a situation where some people in Russia including in the higher levels understand that they have a big problem. Hard to say what Putin thinks about it, but I think all these factors are starting to float into his decision-making.”
He said the west should “push forward” with sanctions.
This is not the time to hesitate, just let’s keep going.
Russian drones strike critical infrastructure of Ukraine’s energy firm Naftogaz
Back to Ukraine, Russian drones struck critical infrastructure facilities of Ukraine’s energy firm Naftogaz in the Dnipropetrovsk region overnight, the company said.
Among the targets was a filling station, Naftogaz said, adding that the station’s premises and equipment had been completely destroyed and two employees had been injured, as reported by Reuters.
The cruise ship was carrying 25 crew members and two medical personnel as it reached Rotterdam, AP noted.
An AP journalist saw occupants wearing masks on the deck as the boat was escorted through the port by a tug boat and a Dutch police boat. Authorities say that the crew will enter immediate quarantine.
Hantavirus-hit cruise ship MV Hondius arrives in Rotterdam for disinfection, quarantine
In other news, the hantavirus-hit cruise ship MV Hondius has just arrived at the Port of Rotterdam, where it will be disinfected and its crew members will go into quarantine.
Morning opening: Who’s going to speak for Europe?
Jakub Krupa
Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy suggested last night that the time has come for Europe to pick its preferred negotiator for eventual peace talks with Russia.
After talking with the European Council president, António Costa, Zelenskyy said they agreed that “Europe must be involved in the negotiations,” and to “have a strong voice and presence in this process.”
“It is worth determining who will represent Europe specifically,” he said.
Easier said than done.
While the EU has no shortage of presidents – of the European Commission, of the European Council, of the European Parliament, to name a few – it still lacks a single figurehead that would make an obvious candidate for any tricky talks with Moscow.
Vladimir Putin’s cheeky suggestion of pro-Russian former German chancellor Gerhard Schröder was quickly shot down for his links with Moscow, but Europeans will have to reflect on who could represent its interests if and when the talks actually progress to that stage.
Meanwhile, Ukraine launched retaliatory strikes against Russia over the weekend, killing at least four, as it hit a number of strategic locations, including in Moscow.
“Our responses to Russia’s prolongation of the war and attacks on our cities and communities are entirely justified,” Zelenskyy said, adding that the strikes on Moscow showed Kyiv was “clearly telling the Russians: their state must end its war.”
But overnight Russia attacked again with over 500 drones and 20 missiles, with Zelenskyy urging Europe to do “everything possible to ensure reliable protection against this.”
I will keep an eye on this today.
Elsewhere, I will look at the US envoy Jeff Landry’s controversial visit to Greenland, bring you an update on the government formation talks in Latvia, and monitor several high-profile meetings of leaders across Europe, including new Bulgaria’s PM Ruman Radev’s visit to Germany.
It’s Monday, 18 May 2026, it’s Jakub Krupa here, and this is Europe Live.
Good morning.
Gordon Smith described the scenes at Celtic Park on Saturday as “horrendous”.
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Middle East crisis live: Trump warns ‘clock is ticking’ for Iran to reach peace deal | US-Israel war on Iran
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