By Gus Trompiz and Naveen Thukral

PARIS/SINGAPORE, April 27 (Reuters) - Farmers around the world are facing the second surge in fertiliser prices in four years due to the Iran war. But with grain prices too low to cushion the blow from the deeper supply crunch this time around, many are rethinking planting plans, putting global food production at risk.

The Middle East is a leading fertiliser production hub, and much of the global fertiliser trade typically passes through the Strait of Hormuz, which has seen traffic brought to a standstill by the conflict.

The latest developments in the Middle East war:

- Iran FM meets Putin -

President Vladimir Putin told Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi that Russia would do everything it could to halt the Middle East war, as the two met in Saint Petersburg.

"For our part, we will do everything that serves your interests, the interests of all the people of the region, so that peace can be achieved as soon as possible," Russian state media quoted Putin as telling Araghchi.

- Iran demands over Hormuz -

An American woman who has accused Mohamed Al-Fayed of sexual assault after being recruited in Paris has spoken of the "pain" of the late Egyptian-born businessman never being held to account.

Pelham Spong, a 42-year-old from South Carolina, says Al-Fayed assaulted her in London when she was in her twenties.

She has told The Times she went to British police in 2017, several years before his death in 2023 aged 94, but claims he was not even questioned.

The White House said on Monday that it was examining Iran's latest proposal to unblock the Strait of Hormuz, two months after a US and Israeli offensive sent shockwaves through the global economy.

Peace talks between the United States and Iran to end the Middle East war and fully reopen the vital strait have so far proven inconclusive since a ceasefire came into force.

By Michael Holden and Suzanne Plunkett

LONDON/WASHINGTON, April 27 (Reuters) - Britain's King Charles and Queen Camilla arrive in the United States later on Monday for a four-day trip, a tour which has taken on even greater prominence after the White House Correspondents' dinner shooting and amid acrimony between the close allies.

The state visit, by far the most high-profile and consequential of Charles's reign, marks the 250th anniversary of the U.S. declaration of independence from British rule, and is the first to the country by a British monarch for two decades.

By Steve Holland and Asif Shahzad

WASHINGTON/ISLAMABAD, April 27 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said Iran could telephone if it wants to negotiate an end to their two-month war, as Tehran's foreign minister landed in Russia on Monday to seek support from President Vladimir Putin.

ANKARA, April 27 (Reuters) - Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan offered his support for U.S. President Donald Trump in a phone call following a shooting at the White House Correspondents' Association dinner, the Turkish presidency said late on Sunday.

"Erdogan said he saw the incident as a heinous act against democracy and press freedom," the presidency said in a statement on X.

Earlier, Erdogan had condemned the incident in a separate statement on X, saying he was happy that Trump and first lady Melania Trump were unharmed.

Images of bareheaded women sipping coffee in cafes in Tehran, in apparent defiance of the Islamic republic's strict dress rule, have stirred interest outside Iran -- but for Elnaz, 32, it is no breakthrough.

"It is not at all a sign of any change in the government in my opinion. Because no achievement has been made regarding women's rights," said Elnaz, a painter in Tehran, who like other women in the capital and elsewhere contacted by AFP in Paris asked that her full name not be published.

Stuck for over a year behind a perimeter fence on a defunct American base on Doha's edge, 1,100 former Afghan allies of US forces and their families have escaped Afghanistan with their lives only to find themselves trapped in uncertainty.

"We are all living in extreme anxiety, we feel that we are in limbo, not only me and my family, but other people here," Rasouly, a former interpreter for US forces in Afghanistan, and now a 19-month resident at Camp As Sayliyah (CAS) in Qatar, told AFP by phone.

April 26 (Reuters) - Iran through Pakistani mediators gave the U.S. a new proposal on reopening of the Strait of Hormuz and the ending of the war, with nuclear negotiations postponed for a later stage, Axios reported on Sunday, citing a U.S. official and two sources with knowledge of the matter.

(Reporting by Akanksha Khushi in Bengaluru; Editing by Tom Hogue)