International from Wednesday, May 13th, 2026

Interior ministers of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) have held an emergency ministerial meeting in Riyadh, chaired by the Kingdom of Bahrain, according to the Saudi Press Agency.

Gunshots broke out in chaotic scenes at the Philippine Senate on Wednesday where troops had been deployed after a politician wanted by the International Criminal Court urged supporters to mobilise and thwart his imminent arrest.

US President Donald Trump and an entourage that included Nvidia's Jensen Huang and Elon Musk were greeted with a lavish welcome in Beijing on Wednesday as he prepared to ask China's Xi Jinping to "open up" to US business at the start of their two-day summit.

Keir Starmer faced his biggest challenge yet on Wednesday when his health minister was reported to be readying his resignation to try to trigger a contest to replace a British prime minister who had sought some respite to set out his government's agenda.

The chief enforcer in former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte's bloody "war on drugs" said on Wednesday his arrest was imminent and urged people to mobilise to prevent his handover to the International Criminal Court.

Israel has escalated its attacks in Gaza in the five weeks since halting its joint bombing with the US in Iran, redirecting its fire back on the ruined Palestinian enclave where the military believes Hamas fighters are tightening their grip.

Israeli airstrikes killed eight people on a highway south of Beirut on Wednesday, Lebanon's health ministry said, as conflict between Hezbollah and Israel continued on the eve of a third round of US-mediated talks between Lebanon and Israel.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned of possible waves of Russian drone attacks throughout Wednesday, saying that more than a hundred drones were in Ukraine's airspace, as Moscow has shifted tactics to strike increasingly during daylight hours.

A series of nine small earthquakes struck the Pardis area east of Tehran overnight, Mehr news agency reported on Wednesday, renewing fears among experts and residents that the Iranian capital could face a major seismic disaster.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has "significantly" cut the size of his motorcade to save fuel, a government source said on Wednesday, days after he urged citizens to tighten their belts amid a surge in energy prices triggered by the Iran war.

Britain will bring back 10 people from remote island territories, including cruise ship passengers and medical staff who had contact with confirmed cases in the hantavirus outbreak, for precautionary isolation.

US President Donald Trump has stated that he does not think he will need China's help to end the war with Iran, even as hopes for a lasting peace deal dwindled and Tehran tightened its grip over the Strait of Hormuz.