Tensions in the Strait of Hormuz escalated Monday after US President Donald Trump announced Washington was beginning "Project Freedom," to help "guide" ships stranded by Iran's closure of the crucial waterway. Iran said the US had "disregarded" its warning shots and that it had struck a US frigate with 2 missiles. Washington outright denied this, saying it had managed to transit the Strait, which again Tehran rebuked, triggering a war of words in which both sides traded claims of attacks.

Speaking with FRANCE 24's Mark Owen, Emma Salisbury, Senior Research Fellow on the National Security Programme at the Foreign Policy Institute, says that "America has confirmed everything that Iran has been telling its population", explaining that "the Iranian regime tell their population constantly that the US, the great Satan, is out to destroy Iran and its people and Trump has done absolutely nothing to disabuse them of that notion".

Monday the Met Gala is happening in New York. This year, the star-studded event is being sponsored and co-chaired by the billionaire Jeff Bezos and his wife, Lauren Sanchez Bezos. That has prompted a series of unique protests against the affair, including a proposed boycott. FRANCE 24's Monte Francis explains.

Fire ​broke out at a major UAE oil industry zone on Monday after a ​drone attack originating from Iran, authorities said, as the Gulf state's military separately intercepted three Iranian missiles over its waters and a fourth crashed into the sea. Hoda Abdel Hamid reports for FRANCE 24 from Doha.

Russia threatened on Monday to launch a "massive missile strike" on Kyiv if Ukraine breached a two-day truce initiated by Russian President Vladimir Putin to coincide with World War II commemorations. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky responded to Moscow's threats saying Kyiv would observe its own ceasefire between May 5 to May 6.

A car ploughed into a crowd on a street in Germany's eastern city of Leipzig on Monday, killing at least two people and injuring several others, authorities said. Germany has been shaken by a series of car-ramming attacks in recent years, including one targeting a Christmas market in 2024 in Magdeburg, and also in Berlin and Munich. FRANCE 24's Nick Holdsworth reports from Berlin.

European leaders talked up independence on defence and closer ties with Canada Monday, as they gathered in Armenia for a summit clouded by US threats to cut military support. US President Donald Trump loomed large over the meeting of the European Political Community (EPC) in Yerevan, which was for the first time attended by a non-European leader: Canada's Mark Carney. FRANCE 24's international affairs commentator Douglas Herbert has more.

The ceasefire in the Iran war abruptly faced its most perilous moment Monday after the United States began trying to open the Strait of Hormuz to allow hundreds of stranded commercial ships sail out. The United Arab Emirates said it came under attack for the first time since the early April ceasefire, and a British military monitor said two cargo vessels were ablaze off the UAE. There had been warning signs around the U.S. military-aided effort to guide ships through the strait, as Iran called it a violation of the fragile, three-week ceasefire. FRANCE 24's Reza Sayah reports from Tehran.

Just as Europe frets over fresh Trump tariffs, a U-S troop drawdown announced for Germany and the message it sends to a hostile Russia…how about not one, but two summits in former Soviet state Armenia. Before a first-ever gathering of EU leaders in Yerevan Tuesday, the European Politicial Community - a talk shop with regional players which also includes Ukraine and many NATO heavyweights like the UK, Norway and an outside guest who shares superpower proximity problems.

Demi Moore, Chloé Zhao and Stellan Skarsgard are among the jurors who will decide the Palme d'Or at this year's Cannes Film Festival, organisers announced Monday. 

French university canteens began offering one-euro meals to all students regardless of income on Monday, in a measure designed to address financial hardship.

Nadia Massih is pleased to welcome Adam Taylor, Professor of Anatomy at Lancaster University. Global health fears can spread faster than viruses themselves, and so clarity becomes as vital as containment. Professor Taylor, a specialist in the hantavirus, offers an evidence-based perspective on a concerning outbreak aboard a cruise ship near Cape Verde. Balancing scientific rigor with public concern, the professor resists alarmism. He underscores that “this virus is not known for human-to-human transmission” and insists that “the risk is incredibly low,” even as investigations continue.