World Report - May 12: Tuesday's top stories in 10 minutes

Episode Date: May 12, 2026

US President Donald Trump heads to Beijing today for summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping. WHO head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus says there is no sign of a larger outbreak of hantavirus.Out-of-control wildfire burning near Whitecourt, Alberta forces dozens of people to flee their homes. Israeli parliament backs death penalty tribunal for Palestinians accused in Oct. 7 attacks. Ukraine and Russia reportedly exchange drone attacks as three-day ceasefire expires. Latvian and Canadian troops test battlefield ground drones during a major NATO exercise. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer tell his cabinet he will not resign. 70th anniversary of Eurovision Song Contest begins in Vienna, with 5 countries boycotting event. 

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The leaders of the world's largest economies will soon be face to face. US President Donald Trump is heading to Beijing today for a summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Trump has been focused on domestic issues as well as the war in Iran. But that changes this week as he tries to build bridges after escalating trade tensions. Nick Harper joins me from Washington. Nick, what do we know about this trip? Martin, Donald Trump is heading to Beijing, really with a laundry list of issues to discuss. Trade, of course, central to all of this.

Remember, there is that tariff truths still underway after both countries imposed levies in excess of 100% on others' goods. And backing up that idea that trade is so key to this visit, the CEOs of some of the biggest US companies, Apple, Boeing, Tesla, Meta, they're also taking part in this trip. There's even some speculation here in the US that Donald Trump is looking for a mega deal, wanting Xi Jinping to invest about a trillion dollars

in the United States to build factories. The US is also looking for China to buy more agricultural products, specifically soybeans and more US energy, and the US wants China to loosen restrictions on exports of Chinese rare earth materials. And in return, with AI competition being central to this trip as well, Beijing wants the US to ease export curbs that Washington has put in place on some of those advanced semiconductors. Well, Nick, as we all know, China-U-S relations are strained.

How could issues like the war in Iran affect this visit? Well, you know, President Trump was hoping to go into this, really, from a position of strength, hoping to have the Iran war wrapped up and hoping to play hardball with Xi on trade. And that's just not the case. Iran could completely overshadow this visit. The U.S. wants China to use its influence to, convince Iran to make a deal. Now, that is, in theory, in China's interest. It buys a lot of oil from Iran, but going on-bended knee to Beijing, asking for diplomatic help from Xi Jinping. That's not

the position that Donald Trump wanted to be in it. That is Nick Harper in Washington. Thank you, Nick. You're welcome. The World Health Organization says the hentavirus outbreak related to a Dutch cruise ship appears to be contained. There are now 11 reported cases. Nine are confirmed. Two are suspected. The head of the WHO, Tedros Adenum Gabriasis, says he's optimistic, but cautious. At the moment, there is no sign that we are seeing the start of a larger outbreak. But of course, the situation could change. And given the long incubation period of the virus, it's possible we might see more cases in the coming weeks. There are no suspected or confirmed hantavirus cases here in Canada, but nine people with links to the cruise ship are now in isolation in BC, Alberta, and Ontario.

An out-of-control wildfire is burning in north-central Alberta, forcing dozens of people to flee their homes. The fire is near White Court. That's about 180 kilometers northwest of Edmonton. As Katie Teeling reports, residents are eager for more information. It's affecting a lot of, you know, my home, my neighbors, my community, and the fire doesn't stop but community borders, so it doesn't take long for things to get out of hand. K.H. Trigg has lived in Woodlands County his whole life. When an evacuation order was issued, Trig only had time to grab his dog and a few important documents. Now, he's anxiously waiting to see if the wildfire will impact his home. To think that you might lose it all, well,

you can just pray, right? Evacquees are being sent to nearby White Court, just 3.5 kilometers northwest of the fire. As of late Monday evening, nearly 100 residents had registered at the town's reception Center. Dave Cush is the reeve of Woodlands County. He expects that number to increase in the coming days. There are a lot of trees in that area. Nothing's greened up. You still have a lot of the underbrush and the deadfall around the area. It just went up like a tinderbox. Cush adds that the wildfire exploded in size from one hectare to at least 55 hectares, driven by high winds and dry weather. And it's still growing. The extent of the damage from the wildfire is unclear. Alberta Wildfire says Night Vision equipped helicopters were deployed and an update is expected later this morning.

Katie Teeling, CBC News, Emmetton. Israeli lawmakers have approved a bill allowing a special tribunal to try and also sentence Palestinians accused of taking part in the October 7th attacks. That tribunal will be able to issue death sentences and the trials will be televised. The CBC's Cameron McIntosh is following developments from Jerusalem. Passing the Knesset, 930, a new law allowing Israel to hold special military. tribunals for Palestinians accused in the October 7th Hamas-led attacks, with the authority to impose the death penalty. Lawmaker Simcha Rothen sponsored the bill. This law will bring justice. This law will create the framework to punish those who did this. This law will tell the world the story of October 7th.

1,200 people died on October 7th, 23. Hundreds more were kidnapped. The tribunals will be live-streamed. Human rights groups are concerned they'll become show trials, including evidence obtained under torture. They'll also only apply to Palestinians. Muna Haddad is with the human rights group Adala. What this legislation does, it's a very specific legislation against a specific group. It's problematic because it contravenes the basic ideas of criminal law. But in a rare show of unity in Israeli politics, the tribunals are being supported across party lines. Shelly Talmurn is an opposition lawmaker.

I think the people of Israel are in complete agreement that this is what should happen. Meanwhile, a separate law will also allow the death penalty against Palestinians convicted of future murders of Israelis. Cameron McIntosh, CBC News, Jerusalem. Ukraine's president says Russia is resuming its attacks as a brief ceasefire expired at midnight. Volodymyr Zelensky says more than 200 drones were launched by Russia overnight. Russian officials say their military shot down more than two dozen Ukrainian drones. The truce was in place over the weekend while Moscow held its annual military parade. Latvian and Canadian troops are testing battlefield ground drones during a major NATO exercise this week.

They're drawing directly on recent Ukrainian tactics. And as Murray Brewster is learning in Riga, it's revealing how electronic warfare and unmanned systems are reshaping modern conflict. This is the first day when actually we are at the stage when the both forces are actually in face-to-face in the main battle area. Latvian lieutenant colonel Andrus Bruvaras, who alongside Canadian troops is putting remotely piloted vehicles through their paces. For instance, reconnaissance, I don't need to send people behind lines. I can use the drones for that. Many of the systems they're using are Ukrainian. President Volodymer Zelensky recently claimed that Ukrainian forces captured a Russian position, using nothing but uncrewed aerial and ground drones.

No ground troops. He heralded the achievement as the dawn of a new age of warfare. Canadian Lieutenant Colonel Dan Rochelle, who is part of the training exercise in Latvia, was more cautious, saying drones can't replace soldiers yet. I think they are a very important addition, but I do see UAS and the UGV as complementary systems. So maybe one day they'd get to the point where they can do these times,

of operations regularly. The exercise comes as Latvia deals with a different drone crisis. Two Ukrainian combat drones crashed in the Baltic nation last week, apparently nudged off course by Russian jamming and interference. The lack of air defense has cost the defense minister his job. Marie Brewster, CBC News, Riga, Latvia. Britain's prime minister is telling his cabinet he will get on with governing. Calls are growing within Kirstarmor's Labor Party for him to resign.

Last week, the party was pummeled in local elections across the UK. Close to 20% of his caucus colleagues are urging him to quit. However, other members are backing Sturmer. Darren Jones is a senior cabinet minister. The Prime Minister is Kirstama. That's the people elected at the last general election. And we can play fantasy politics as much as you like, but I just think it's right to recognize what the public care about is the future of our country,

and that is what the government is getting on with delivering. Now, three ministers have resigned from Sturmer's cabinet in protest. The Eurovision Song Contest is back. It's campy, sometimes cringy, always a good source for a power ballad. And tonight, the world's biggest song contest kicks off in Vienna. But the mood is somewhat subdued. Spain, the Netherlands, Ireland, Ireland, Slovenia, and Iceland are all boycotting, some are even refusing to broadcast it.

They say just as Russia was banned from Eurovision after its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Israel should be banned for its bombardment of Gaza following the October 7th Hamas attacks. This is this year's entry from the host country, Austria. That is the latest national and international news from World Report. I'm Martino Fitzgerald. This is CBC News. For more CBC podcasts, go to cBC.ca.ca slash podcasts.