Gizem Nisa Demir
11 May 2026•Update: 11 May 2026
Here’s a rundown of all the news you need to start your Monday, including escalating US-Iran tensions after President Donald Trump rejected Tehran’s response to a peace plan, Iran dismissing Trump’s criticism as irrelevant, and a cargo ship struck by an “unknown projectile” off the coast of Qatar.
TOP STORIES
- Trump rebuffs Iranian response to latest US proposal to end war
US President Donald Trump rejected Iran’s response to the latest American proposal for ending the war between the two sides.
“I have just read the response from Iran’s so-called ‘Representatives.’ I don’t like it -- TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE!” Trump said on his social media platform Truth Social.
The post came hours after Iranian state-run media reported that Tehran had sent its response to the latest US proposal through Pakistani mediators.
- Iran says Trump’s rejection of its response to US peace plan ‘doesn’t matter at all’
US President Donald Trump’s rejection of Iran’s response to an American peace plan designed to end the war “doesn’t matter at all,” Iran’s semi-official Tasnim News Agency reported, citing an informed source.
“No one in Iran writes proposals to please Trump,” the source said, stressing that Iran’s negotiating team drafts plans solely based on “the rights of the Iranian people,” according to Tasnim.
The source added that if Trump was dissatisfied with the Iranian proposal, “then it is naturally better.”
- Cargo ship in Gulf hit by 'unknown projectile' off Qatari capital: UK maritime agency
A cargo vessel was struck by an "unknown projectile" 23 nautical miles northeast of the Qatari capital Doha, according to the UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) Center.
"There was a small fire that has been extinguished, there are no casualties," UKMTO said in a statement released on the US social media platform X.
Authorities have been investigating the incident, it noted, adding that no environmental impact has been reported.
NEWS IN BRIEF
- Israel released two activists of the Gaza-bound Global Sumud Flotilla, Brazilian Thiago de Avila and Spanish activist of Palestinian origin Saif Abukeshek, and deported them following their extended detention.
- A spokesman for the Iranian army said that countries enforcing US sanctions against Tehran will "certainly face difficulties in passing through the Strait of Hormuz,” according to local media.
- Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan called the movement for the unification of Azerbaijan’s Karabakh region with Armenia “a fatal mistake.”
- The Kuwaiti Defense Ministry said "a number of hostile drones" were detected in the country's airspace as tensions continue to escalate between Iran and the United States.
- The United Arab Emirates said its air defense systems “successfully engaged” two drones from Iran amid a regional escalation.
- Iran sent Pakistani mediators its response to the latest US proposal for ending the war, Iran's state-run IRNA news agency reported.
- The US has the site of Iran’s nuclear materials "very well surveilled," President Donald Trump said in remarks released Sunday, threatening to take military action against anyone attempting to access it.
- Iran warned that the presence of French and British naval vessels in or around the Strait of Hormuz would trigger a “decisive and immediate response” from Iranian armed forces.
- The Iranian army said its air defense systems downed an “enemy reconnaissance drone” in the country’s southwestern region.
- Iran’s latest counterproposal to a US peace plan calls for compensation from the United States and stresses Tehran’s sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz, Iranian state broadcaster Press TV reported.
- Venezuelan acting President Delcy Rodriguez arrived in the Netherlands ahead of a final hearing at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on a decades-long dispute between her country and Guyana over the resource-rich Essequibo region, according to a US daily.
- US President Donald Trump will visit China from May 13-15 at the invitation of Chinese President Xi Jinping, China’s Foreign Ministry announced.
- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the war with Iran is “not over” because Tehran still possesses enriched uranium that must be removed.
- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has postponed the discussion of a controversial bill seeking to scrap the Oslo Accords, the Israel Hayom daily reported, amid growing pressure from some ministers to formally abandon the framework underpinning Palestinian self-rule.
- Hezbollah said that it carried out 24 attacks targeting Israeli army positions, troops and military vehicles in southern Lebanon over the past 24 hours.
- At least 21 people were killed in an attack by suspected Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) rebels in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo’s Ituri province, authorities said.
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Ukraine pushed "a little” to bring his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to a potential meeting, adding that the format of any talks still needs to be agreed on.
BUSINESS & ECONOMY
- China, US to hold trade talks in South Korea ahead of expected Trump visit to Beijing
Senior trade negotiators from China and the United States will hold economic and trade consultations in South Korea ahead of an expected visit by US President Donald Trump to China.
China’s Commerce Ministry said Vice Premier He Lifeng will lead a delegation to Seoul on Tuesday and Wednesday for the talks, according to the state-run Xinhua News Agency.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent will represent the American side.
- French pessimism over economy hits 91% as inflation rises, growth stalls: Survey
The vast majority of the French public is pessimistic about the country’s economic outlook as inflation accelerates and growth stalls amid soaring energy prices linked to tensions in the Middle East, according to a new poll.
An Ipsos-BVA survey done for La Tribune Dimanche found that 91% of respondents were pessimistic about France’s economic situation, while 88% expressed concern over the future of the global economy.
