Latest news for 13 May 2026

MALAYSIA

Jho Low wants a Trump pardon.

The fugitive financier at the heart of one of history’s biggest frauds (Malaysia’s 1MDB sovereign fund pillaging) has now formally applied for a US presidential pardon! He’s been on the run (likely in Shanghai) for a decade. (CNA)

Comment: Anyone who’s read Tom Wright’s brilliant ‘Billion Dollar Whale’ will know this guy belongs in jail, not on a sweetheart list circulating the White House.

MEXICO

CIA’s cartel hit list?

CNN claims CIA operatives have directly participated in assassinations of mid-level cartel figures inside Mexico since last year, including a March car-bomb. (CNN)

Comment: What CNN describes here is classic deniable ops escalation in the drug war, usually calibrated to protect Mexico’s president from voter blowback. So the real question isn’t whether everyone’s furiously denying the story (they are), but whether (if true) it crosses Mexico’s secret red-lines around long-running US intel support.

SOUTH KOREA

AI dividend for all?

An advisor to the Korean presidency has proposed instituting an AI profits tax to fund a national dividend and redistribute Korea’s epic chipmaking windfall. (Yahoo)

CHINA

Room for one more?

President Trump is now aboard Air Force One en route to his high-stakes summit with China’s Xi Jinping, a first since 2017. Interestingly, his accompanying phalanx of CEOs now includes Nvidia’s Jensen Huang after all — so either Bloomberg’s snub-scoop was wrong, or it prompted a last-minute White House rethink. (Guardian)

Comment: With Huang back in the mix, history might reveal a bit of tension between a) Treasury Secretary Bessent now personally vetting who gets to use Nvidia’s latest AI chips, versus b) Huang personally now hoping to sell more AI chips that China would presumably use to close the chip gap in the first place.

PHILIPPINES

Hiding from the ICC.

A lawmaker has barricaded himself in Manila’s senate after police came to execute an International Criminal Court warrant over his alleged role in the deadly war on drugs waged by the former president, Rodrigo Duterte (now facing ICC charges in The Hague). (Al Jazeera)

EUROPEAN UNION

Hit follow!

The powerful Council of the EU is planning on inviting influencers to cover its meetings in an effort to better connect Brussels with the people. (Politico)

NIGERIA

Brain drain?

Nigeria has ranked third for outbound student mobility, with ~5% of all the world’s international students originating from Africa’s most populous nation. Only China (37%) and India (29%) send more abroad. (Punch)