The leaders of North Korea and China adopted a "far-reaching blueprint" for bilateral ties during a visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping to Pyongyang, according to the state-run Korean Central News Agency. Xi made a rare visit to diplomatically isolated North Korea on Monday (June 8) after hosting a series of world leaders, including US President Donald Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin, in Beijing. The trip also came at a time of unusually warm relations between North Korea and Russia, where Pyongyang has sent soldiers and munitions to assist Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.

Xi said the two countries "share a common destiny" and that he had reached an "important consensus" with his North Korean counterpart Kim Jong Un, Chinese state media reported. This year marks the 65th anniversary of a key defence pact between the two countries - which was referenced by both leaders during the visit. Xi also pushed to strengthen diplomatic, law enforcement and military ties, according to Beijing's state media.

The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Karim Khan, has been suspended after a disciplinary process triggered by sexual abuse allegations against him reached a conclusion. The ICC's governing body announced the decision on Monday evening after its executive committee voted to refer the proceedings against Khan to a special session of the court's member states for them to consider his future. According to a document seen by British newspaper the Guardian, the committee of 21 of the court's member states voted by qualified majority to determine that Khan had committed serious misconduct in connection to the sexual abuse claims.

Khan, a prominent British lawyer, has repeatedly denied the allegations which first emerged in 2024 and threw his tenure leading the court's prosecution department into disarray. The claims were brought by a woman who worked for him at the court's headquarters in The Hague. The decision to refer the proceedings to the ICC's 125 member states is an unprecedented move.

Pakistan launched new airstrikes on Afghanistan early Wednesday (Jun. 10), in a further escalation of months of fighting between the two neighbours that has killed hundreds. The strikes, which Afghanistan said hit the eastern provinces of Khost, Kunar and Paktika, shattered more than a month of calm between the two sides. Afghan government spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said 13 people had been killed - 11 children, one woman and an elderly man - and that 14 other civilians were wounded.

Pakistan confirmed it had carried out strikes, saying it targeted militant hideouts and infrastructure linked to recent attacks inside Pakistan, and that 26 militants were killed. The two sides often give widely differing casualty figures. Pakistan and Afghanistan have engaged in deadly fighting since late February, when Afghanistan launched a cross-border attack on Pakistan in retaliation for Pakistani airstrikes inside Afghanistan. Several rounds of internationally mediated peace talks have failed to produce a lasting truce.

The US said it carried out a series of strikes on Iranian military and surveillance sites in response to the downing of an American helicopter in the Gulf. Air defence systems, ground control stations and radar sites were targeted near the Strait of Hormuz, the US military Central Command (Centcom) said. In response, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said it launched strikes on 21 targets at US bases in the region, one in Bahrain and the other in Jordan, while Kuwait's army said it was also intercepting an attack.

The US has described its strikes as "a proportional response" for the downing of an Apache helicopter earlier in the week, while the IRGC described the attacks as "vicious". US President Donald Trump had earlier accused Iran of shooting down the helicopter and said the US "must, of necessity" respond. The two crew members survived and were rescued by an American sea drone.