🇨🇳🇬🇧China criticises UK warship's patrol in Taiwan Strait
China's military has called a British warship's recent passage through the Taiwan Strait a disruptive act of "intentional provocation" that "undermines peace and stability".
The British Royal Navy says HMS Spey's patrol on Wednesday was part of a long-planned deployment and was in accordance with international law.
The patrol - the first by a British naval vessel in four years - comes as a UK carrier strike group arrives in the region for a deployment that will last several months.
China considers Taiwan its territory - a claim that self-ruled Taiwan rejects - and has not ruled out the use of force to "reunify" the island.
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🇿🇦🇬🇧South Africa's firebrand MP banned from entering UK
A controversial South African opposition MP, central to a row over race relations in the country, has been denied entry to the UK.
The Home Office said Julius Malema had been deemed "non-conducive to the public good" and that it was "undesirable" to grant him entry.
In a letter released by Malema's party, the Home Office cited his vocal support for Hamas, including a speech he made after the 7 October attacks in which he said his own party would arm the group if it came to power.
The UK said Malema had made "statements calling for the slaughter of white people [in South Africa] or hinted that it could be an acceptable option in the future", and also cited this as a reason for its decision.
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👀Watch: A trade deal, a family photo and the Middle East - Trump's short G7
US President Donald Trump has cut short his trip to attend the Group of Seven (G7) summit in Kananaskis, Alberta, Canada, citing the Middle East conflict.
The summit, being hosted by Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, includes leaders from France, Germany, Italy, United Kingdom, United States, Japan, and the European Union.
Trump is not expected to sign the G7 statement on the Iran-Israel conflict, despite other leaders' plan to call for de-escalation and protection of civilians.
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🇺🇬Uganda leader signs new law allowing military trials for civilians
Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni has signed into law an amendment that will allow, once again, civilians to be tried in a military court under certain circumstances.
A previous law permitting such trials was ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in January.
Before that ruling, civilians could be taken to a military tribunal if they had been found with military equipment like guns or army uniforms. Activists had complained that the law was used to persecute government critics.
Parliamentarians passed the amendment last month amid a heavy police presence and a boycott by opposition lawmakers, who argued that it violated the ruling by the country's highest court.
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🇺🇸US to partially evacuate embassy in Iraq as Iran tensions rise
Non-essential US embassy staff and their dependants in Baghdad are to be evacuated from Iraq due to heightened security risks, US government sources have said.
Officials did not say exactly what prompted the removal, however, on Wednesday, US officials were told Israel was ready to launch an operation into Iran, the BBC's US partner CBS reported, citing officials familiar with the matter.
The officials said this was part of the reason the US advised some Americans to leave the region, and that the US anticipated Iran could retaliate on certain US sites in Iraq
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🇵🇱Polish PM Donald Tusk wins confidence vote
Poland's Prime Minister Donald Tusk has won a vote of confidence in his pro-EU government after his political camp narrowly lost the recent presidential election.
Some 243 parliamentarians voted in favour of the coalition government, with 210 voting against and no abstentions.
This vote has been seen by some as a piece of political theatre on the part of Tusk - a way of showing his broad coalition still has a mandate despite the presidential election defeat.
Wednesday's vote was also a formality. Tusk's coalition has a 12-seat majority in the lower house, the Sejm, and only a simple majority in the presence of half the 460 parliamentarians was required to win.
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🇨🇴Colombia presidential hopeful shot in head at rally
A Colombian presidential candidate has been shot three times - reportedly twice in the head - at a campaign event in the capital, Bogota.
Miguel Uribe Turbay, 39, was attacked while addressing a small crowd in a park on Saturday. Police arrested a 15-year-old suspect at the scene, local media say.
Uribe's wife, Maria Claudia Tarazona, called on the nation to pray for his survival. "Miguel is currently fighting for his life. Let us ask God to guide the hands of the doctors who are treating him," she said.
Uribe's Centro Democratico party condemned the attack, saying it endangered "democracy and freedom in Colombia".
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🇺🇦🇷🇺Biggest drone strike hits Ukraine's second city
Russia has hit Ukraine's second-largest city, Kharkiv, with a massive drone and bomber attack, killing four people and injuring nearly 60, officials say.
Two people were also killed in Russian strikes on Kherson, in southern Ukraine, local authorities said.
Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov said 48 drones, two missiles and four glide bombs had been used against his city on Friday night, while more glide bombs were reportedly dropped on Saturday.
Earlier, Moscow said a massive wave of drone and missile attacks across Ukraine on Thursday night was in response to "terrorist attacks by the Kyiv regime", after attacks on Russian railway infrastructure and air bases last weekend.
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🇨🇦Canada proposes sweeping immigration and security bill
The Canadian government has proposed a bill to restrict some asylum claims and give authorities more power to halt the processing of immigration applications.
Canada's immigration minister Lena Diab said the Strong Borders Act is meant to curb organised crime and the flow of illegal drugs and weapons, while boosting the "integrity" of the country's immigration system.
It includes provisions that would give police more power to monitor Canada's shared border with the US.
It could also bar those who have been in Canada for more than year from filing a claim for asylum. But critics said the bill, which seeks to expand authorities' ability to open and inspect mail, would breach civil liberties.
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🇰🇷Record turnout in South Korea election after failed martial law bid
Turnout hits record high at 4pm.Voter turnout has reached a record high of over 71% as of 16:00 local time, according to South Korea's Election Commission. Voting will run through to 20:00.
There are about 44.4 million eligible voters nationwide.
The total turnout at the last presidential election in 2022 was 77%.
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🇨🇦Canada to expedite nation building projects to counter Trump
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said his government will start pushing legislation that would fast-track ambitious national projects to boost Canada's economy, now faced with Donald Trump's tariffs.
Carney outlined his plan on Monday after a meeting - described as "very productive" - with the leaders of Canada's provinces and territories.
"This has been the best meeting we've had in 10 years," Ontario premier Doug Ford told reporters.
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🇦🇺Australia asks 🇨🇳China to explain 'extraordinary' military build-up
Australia's defence minister Richard Marles has called on China to explain why it needs to have "such an extraordinary military build-up".
He said Beijing needs to provide greater transparency and reassurance as it is the "fundamental issue" for the region.
Meanwhile, the Philippines defence minister Gilberto Teodoro Jr has called China "absolutely irresponsible and reckless" in its actions in the South China Sea.
The ministers had separately addressed reporters on the sidelines of an Asian defence summit held in Singapore.
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🇺🇸Joe Biden says he's 'feeling good' in first comments since cancer diagnosis
Former President Joe Biden has given his first public remarks since his office announced he was diagnosed with prostate cancer. Speaking to reporters after an event marking Memorial Day, Biden said he's "feeling good" and he expects to "be able to beat this".
In the announcement of his diagnosis, the cancer was categorised as having a Gleason score of 9 (Grade Group 5), meaning his illness is classified as "high-grade" and the cancer cells could spread quickly, according to Cancer Research UK.
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🇨🇳🇺🇸China hits back after Trump claims it is 'violating' tariff truce
US President Donald Trump has accused China of violating a truce on tariffs struck earlier this month, a claim China has responded to with its own accusations of US wrongdoing.
Washington and Beijing agreed to temporarily lower tit-for-tat tariffs after talks in Geneva.
But Trump said on Friday that China had "totally violated its agreement with us". He did not give details but US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer later said China had not been removing non-tariff barriers as agreed under the deal.
Beijing's response on Friday did not address the US claims directly but urged the US to "cease discriminatory restrictions against China".
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🇺🇸Trump administration to 'aggressively' revoke visas of Chinese students
President Donald Trump's administration says it will "aggressively" revoke the visas of Chinese students studying in the US.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the move would include "those with connections to the Chinese Communist Party or studying in critical fields".
Relations between Beijing and Washington have plummeted in recent months as a tit-for-tat trade war erupted between the two superpowers sparked by Trump's tariffs.
There were an estimated 280,000 Chinese students studying in the US last year. It is not clear how many of them could be affected by the latest move.
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🇪🇸Spain's embattled PM Sánchez defies clamour for resignation
Seven years after taking office by ousting corruption-ridden conservatives from government, Pedro Sánchez is fighting for his political life amid investigations into alleged graft in his Socialist party (PSOE).
On June 12, an ashen-faced prime minister apologised to Spaniards after audio gathered by civil guard investigators was made public and appeared to show the PSOE secretary, Santos Cerdán, discussing commissions paid by companies in exchange for public contracts.
Sánchez has not himself been directly implicated, but the Socialist leader who came to power promising to clean up politics is now facing calls to resign from an invigorated opposition.
Cerdán, who was party number three, has resigned from the PSOE and stepped down as a member of parliament. He is due to appear before the Supreme Court on 25 June. He maintains he has never committed a crime nor been implicit in one.
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🇷🇼🇨🇩Rwanda and DR Congo agree draft peace deal to end conflict
Officials from Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo have reached a draft agreement aimed at ending decades of conflict.
The breakthrough, mediated by the US and Qatar, provides for the "disengagement, disarmament and conditional integration" of armed groups fighting in eastern DR Congo.
Rwanda denies widespread accusations that it backs one of those groups, the M23, which has seized large parts of the region this year.
It also includes provisions for a joint security mechanism to prevent future flare-ups. The peace deal is expected to be formally signed next week.
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🇺🇸🇬🇧Trump signs order confirming parts of UK-US tariff deal
A deal removing some trade barriers between the UK and US has been signed off by President Donald Trump.
The move will bring into force parts of an agreement agreed between the two countries last month, and reduce tariffs on UK cars being shipped to the US.
It comes after weeks of talks to implement parts of the pact, which the UK government hopes will shield British businesses from the impact of Trump's tariffs.
But the deal includes a 10% levy on most UK goods, including cars, and did not address the expected removal of charges on steel imports.
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CIA analyst who leaked Israel strike plan sentenced to three years
A former CIA analyst who leaked classified documents about Israel's plans to strike Iran has been sentenced to 37 months in prison.
Asif William Rahman, 34, pleaded guilty in January to two counts of willful retention and transmission of national defence information under the Espionage Act.
Authorities say that, using his high-level security clearance, Rahman printed, photographed and sent out top secret documents. They later ended up being circulated on social media.
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🇬🇧UK agrees post-Brexit deal over Gibraltar
The UK has agreed a deal with the European Union over Gibraltar's status after Brexit.
Talks on rules governing the border between Spain and the British Overseas Territory have been ongoing since the UK left the EU in 2020.
The UK said the agreement would avoid the need for checks on people and goods crossing the Gibraltar-Spain border.
For travellers arriving at Gibraltar airport, passport checks will be carried out by Gibraltar and Spanish officials.
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🇰🇷🇰🇵South Korea turns off propaganda loudspeakers to North
South Korea's military says it has suspended its loudspeaker propaganda broadcasts across the border to North Korea, as part of a bid to "restore trust" between both countries.
The move comes a week after the country elected its new president Lee Jae-myung, who had campaigned on improving inter-Korean ties.
Pyongyang considers the loudspeaker propaganda broadcasts an act of war and has threatened to blow them up in the past.
They were paused for six years but resumed in June last year in response to Pyongyang's campaign of sending rubbish-filled balloons across the border to the South.
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🇺🇸Trump says relationship with Musk is over
US President Donald Trump has said his relationship with Elon Musk is over.
"I would assume so, yeah," Trump told NBC News on Saturday, when asked if he thought the pair's close relationship had ended. He replied "No" when asked if he wished to mend the damaged ties.
The comments were Trump's latest since the epic fallout between him and Musk unravelled on social media.
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🇺🇸Trump's 50% tariffs on metals come into effect
US President Donald Trump has signed an order doubling tariffs on steel and aluminium imports from 25% to 50%.
The move hikes import taxes on the metals, which are used in everything from cars to canned food, for the second time since March.
Trump has said the measures, which came into effect on Wednesday, are intended to secure the future of the American steel industry.
However, critics say the protections could wreak havoc on steel producers outside the US, spark retaliation from trade partners, and come at a punishing cost for American users of the metals.
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🇰🇷South Korean opposition wins presidency after months of political chaos
South Korea has handed a decisive victory to opposition candidate Lee Jae-myung six months after his predecessor's martial law bid failed.
The brief yet disastrous move set off huge protests and ended former president Yoon Suk Yeol's career: impeached and removed from office, he still faces criminal charges for abusing his power.
But the political chaos that followed means victorious Lee's biggest challenge is still ahead of him. He must unite a polarised country that is still reeling from it all.
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🇲🇳Mongolia PM resigns after son's luxury holiday stirs public fury
Mongolia's prime minister has resigned after social media photos of his son's lavish lifestyle sparked an anti-corruption investigation and weeks of mass protests.
Luvsannamsrain Oyun-Erdene, who has denied wrongdoing, lost a confidence vote in parliament on Tuesday.
The viral photos purport to show Oyun-Erdene's son and the son's girlfriend flaunting a black Dior shoulder bag and several shopping bags while on their engagement holiday.
Protesters questioned how Oyun-Erdene's family could afford such luxurious living. Local media reported that the country's anti-corruption body had been looking into their finances.
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🇷🇺🇺🇦Russia and Ukraine fail again to agree ceasefire but commit to prisoner swap
A second round of direct peace talks between Russia and Ukraine have ended without a major breakthrough, and only a deal to swap more prisoners of war.
Ukrainian negotiators said Russia had again rejected an "unconditional ceasefire" - a key demand by Kyiv and its allies in Europe and the US - but the two committed to return the bodies of 12,000 soldiers.
The Russian team said it had proposed a two- or three-day truce "in certain areas" of the vast front line, but gave no further details.
At Monday's talks, which were held in the Turkish city of Istanbul and lasted just over an hour, the two sides did agree to exchange all sick and heavily wounded prisoners of war, as well those aged under 25.
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🇺🇸US sends nuclear deal proposal to 🇮🇷Iran
The US has sent Iran a proposal for a nuclear deal between Tehran and Washington, the White House confirmed on Saturday.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said he had been presented with "elements of a US deal" by his Omani counterpart Badr Albusaidi during a short visit to the Iranian capital.
It comes after a report by the UN nuclear watchdog said Iran had further stepped up its production of enriched uranium, a key component in the making of nuclear weapons.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Saturday it was in Tehran's "best interest to accept" the deal, adding: "President Trump has made it clear that Iran can never obtain a nuclear bomb".
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🇺🇸Supreme Court allows Trump to revoke legal status for 500,000 migrants
President Donald Trump's administration can temporarily revoke the legal status of over 500,000 migrants living in the US, the US Supreme Court ruled on Friday.
The ruling put on hold a previous federal judge's order stopping the administration from ending the "parole" immigration programme, established by former President Joe Biden. The programme protected immigrants fleeing economic and political turmoil in their home countries.
The new order puts roughly 530,000 migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela at risk of being deported.
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🇮🇱Israel announces major expansion of settlements in occupied West Bank
Israeli ministers say 22 new Jewish settlements have been approved in the occupied West Bank - the biggest expansion in decades.
Several already exist as outposts, built without government authorisation, but will now be made legal under Israeli law, according to Defence Minister Israel Katz and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich.
The issue of settlements - which are widely seen as illegal under international law, though Israel disputes this - is one of the most contentious areas of dispute between Israel and the Palestinians.
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🇨🇭Glacier collapse swallows part of Swiss village
A Swiss mountain village has been buried in a deluge of ice, mud and rock, after a big chunk of the Birch glacier collapsed into the valley below.
The village of Blatten, which was evacuated of its roughly 300 residents several days ago, was on Wednesday overwhelmed by thousands of tonnes of mud and ice.
Global warming is causing glaciers to melt more rapidly. Meanwhile, the permafrost – often described as the glue that holds high mountains together – is also thawing.
One person has been reported missing, and many homes have been flattened.
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