Russia fired 1,567 drones and 56 missiles at Ukraine across May 13-14, the war's largest 48-hour barrage, killing eight in Kyiv including a 12-year-old girl. At a Beijing bilateral Xi Jinping warned Trump that mishandling Taiwan could trigger 'clashes and even conflicts'; the White House readout omitted Taiwan but agreed the Strait of Hormuz 'must remain open'. London's Met chief told MPs 'British Jews are not currently safe' after a six-week antisemitic surge, as Trump's 'not even a little bit' remark collided with 6% wholesale inflation and a UN warning of a Hormuz-driven hunger crisis.

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Xi warns Trump of 'clashes and even conflicts' over Taiwan; White House readout omits the island

At a two-hour bilateral on Thursday morning at the Great Hall of the People, Chinese President Xi Jinping told US President Donald Trump that 'Taiwan independence' and cross-Strait peace are 'as irreconcilable as fire and water' and that mishandling the issue could trigger 'clashes and even conflicts', invoking the 'Thucydides Trap' framing he has used since 2014. The White House readout omitted Taiwan but reported the two leaders agreed the Strait of Hormuz 'must remain open', that Xi rejected its militarisation or transit tolls, and that 'Iran must never have a nuclear weapon'; Secretary of State Marco Rubio later told NBC News an invasion of Taiwan would be 'a terrible mistake' and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told CNBC the president 'understands the sensitivities' and would address Taiwan in coming days. Trump praised Xi as a 'great leader' and 'friend', invited him and First Lady Peng Liyuan to the White House on September 24, and travelled with a delegation that included Elon Musk, Tim Cook, Nvidia's Jensen Huang (a last-minute addition who called the summit 'one of the most consequential ... in human history'), BlackRock's Larry Fink, Boeing's Kelly Ortberg, Citi's Jane Fraser and Blackstone's Stephen Schwarzman.

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Russia hits Kyiv with record 1,567 drones and 56 missiles over 48 hours, killing 8 including a 12-year-old

Russia fired 1,567 drones and 56 missiles at Ukraine between the evening of May 13 and the morning of May 14, the largest 48-hour barrage of the war, partially collapsing a residential block in Kyiv's Darnytskyi district from the first to the ninth floor and killing at least eight people — including a 12-year-old girl — with 44 injured and around 20 still missing, according to the Kyiv City Military Administration and State Emergency Service. President Volodymyr Zelensky said air defence intercepted 94 percent of the drones and 73 percent of the missiles but flagged ballistic missiles as the central gap, ordering 'anti-ballistic systems and missiles for them' as the diplomatic priority for May and June and instructing the Defence Forces and intelligence services to prepare response options. Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha called for an emergency UN Security Council session, urged Donald Trump and Xi Jinping — meeting at the same hour in Beijing — to 'tell Putin to finally end the war', and reported a Russian FPV-drone double strike on a clearly marked UN OCHA humanitarian vehicle in the Kherson region.

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Macron and Merz call Russia's record 1,500-drone Kyiv barrage a rejection of peace talks

French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz condemned Russia's overnight strike on Kyiv — nearly 1,500 drones and missiles, the largest 24-hour barrage of the war — as a deliberate rejection of the peace process. Macron called the attack 'hypocritical' so soon after the May 9-11 ceasefire and said Moscow was 'bombing civilians' because it 'is running out of solutions on the military front.' Merz, speaking at the Charlemagne Prize ceremony in Aachen, said the strikes 'speak a different language' than negotiation, and rebuffed a Kremlin offer to deal with Europe only if former Chancellor Gerhard Schröder represented the bloc.

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Trump says he disregards US economic concerns in Iran policy, sparking political backlash

President Trump told reporters Tuesday he does “not even a little bit” think about Americans’ financial situation when dealing with Iran, a remark that threatens to undercut Republican midterm messaging on affordability. The comment came as the Labor Department reported wholesale inflation hit 6% in April, driven by the Iran war, and a CNN poll found 77% of Americans say Trump’s policies have raised their cost of living. Democrats are already using the clip in campaign ads, with Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) saying, “When the president of the United States doesn’t think about Americans’ financial situations … your prices go up.”

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