Latest news for 12 November 2025

UNITED STATES

Not sharing is caring.

The UK has reportedly stopped passing intelligence on Caribbean drug traffickers to its US allies, amid concerns the intel could facilitate US strikes London sees as unlawful. (CNN)

Comment: While it makes for explosive headlines when leaked, this kind of intelligence throttling for legal reasons is actually pretty common among allies. The more common driver is America’s use of the death penalty, which can sometimes shape the kinds of intel its allies share if there’s a risk of capital punishment. In this instance, the US is effectively meting out the death penalty, but skipping the trial.

JAPAN

Sell, sell, sell.

Nvidia shares have dropped 3% after it emerged influential Japanese tech investor SoftBank sold its $5.8B stake in America’s AI chipmaker last month. (Fortune)

Comment: Nvidia’s Jensen Huang periodically jokes about Softbank’s Masayoshi Son selling his $4B Nvidia holding back in 2019 (it’d be worth ~$150B today). Masayoshi denies losing faith in Nvidia this time around, and is framing the sale as necessary to finance his pledged $30B investment in OpenAI.

GEORGIA

Turkish crash.

A Turkish military cargo plane has crashed in Georgia minutes after taking off from Azerbaijan, killing all 20 onboard. An investigation is underway. (Euronews)

Comment: There’s no immediate talk of foul play, but C-130 crashes are relatively rare, and the region has been more of a hotspot since Putin invaded Ukraine.

FRANCE

We’ll be your editor.

President Macron has revealed France will help the Palestinian Authority draft a new constitution, announcing a joint legal committee and $116M in aid after meeting Mahmoud Abbas in Paris. (Al-Monitor)

Comment: A smart-ass might point out that maybe France is really good at drafting constitutions because it’s had ~15 constitutions since the 1789 revolution. But we’re not smart-asses so we will not point that out.

INDONESIA

Cute and cuddly finances.

Indonesia is mulling its first “panda bonds” (overseas borrowing in China’s renminbi via mainland markets), after issuing its first “kangaroo bonds” earlier this year. (FT $)

Comment: This is partly just about Indonesia diversifying its currency exposure, but it’s also about China pushing to both internationalise its RMB and curb its USD exposure. Stretched borrowers seem to like China’s lower rates, but the fact its currency is still not fully convertible (you need Beijing’s approval for certain cross-border moves) will put a ceiling on how popular these bonds get for now.

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

Darkness at last.

A possible grid transmission failure has plunged the Dominican Republic into a nationwide blackout, with power still only gradually returning. (AP)

ETHIOPIA

Your turn.

While Turkey continues to duke it out with Australia (and its Pacific neighbours) for the rights to host next year’s COP climate talks, delegates gathering in Brazil have now named Ethiopia as the summit host for 2027, beating a rival bid from Nigeria. (Africanews)

Comment: This Australia v Turkey race has dragged on longer than normal, with neither side seemingly backing down: for Australia, co-hosting with the Pacific would help blunt criticism of its climate policies, and solidify its ties with islands getting courted by China. For Ankara, it’s more about Erdogan’s vision for Turkey as a global powerbroker. But if the two competitors can’t come to some sort of deal this month, hosting duties revert to the UNFCCC secretariat in Bonn, Germany.