Daily flyovers
Latest news for 28 May 2026
Quick hits of consequential news from all corners of the world.
- 01
IRAN
Latest developments.
The US and Iran have again exchanged fire in their second tit-for-tat in three days. Meanwhile, President Trump has dismissed Iranian claims of an imminent deal that’d restore Hormuz traffic under joint Iranian-Omani oversight. (EuroNews)
Comment: We wonder if Iran’s regime is now taking a page out of Trump’s playbook, leaking “almost there” drafts to tilt momentum and international pressure in its favour.
- 02
SOUTH KOREA
Joining the club
Seoul has unveiled its first formal plan to develop its own nuclear-powered attack subs, using low-enriched uranium to comply with non-proliferation rules. (Reuters)
Comment: The strategic rationale (counter North Korea’s sub-launches) is familiar, but the specifics are new and significant: that 2030s timeline plus full-domestic design-and-build all reflects a confident tech and industrial power. Becoming the world’s 7th country to run nuclear-powered subs will also give the democratic South greater range and endurance across the region, something Beijing will watch closely.
- 03
KAZAKHSTAN
Loco with my motives.
The Kazakh national railway operator (KTZ) is planning an IPO this year with triple-listings in London, Hong Kong, and Kazakhstan. (Central Asian Times)
Comment: KTZ sits on one of the most important overland corridors in the world — its triple IPO aims to a) fund upgrades to capture more traffic, b) get both Western legitimacy and Eastern capital, and c) signal that Kazakhstan is open for business.
- 04
THAILAND
BFFs.
Vietnam’s Tô Lâm is in Bangkok this week, signing a new 2026-31 action plan across defence, intelligence, supply chains, green energy, and beyond. (Bloomberg $)
Comment: Vietnam loves a good action plan, but this one has substance: both players want to dilute their China reliance, boost their China-US hedge, and curb exile dissent from each other’s soil. Expect more of these middle power pacts (plus battening down internal security) as US-China tensions simmer.
- 05
CHINA
Woah there.
Benchmark aluminium prices have now hit their highest levels in four years. (mining.com)
Comment: It’s driven both by a) Hormuz hitting ~8% of global supply, and b) China’s new emissions probes, after temporarily allowing its energy-intensive smelters to ramp up and chase those higher prices. China wants to prevent disruptive oversupply, enforce energy rules, and free up power for its industrial heartland.
- 06
UNITED STATES
Gold finger.
The FBI has arrested former CIA official David Rush after finding $40M of gold plus dozens of luxury watches stashed in his Virginia home! He reportedly told investigators the gold was for “work-related expenses” (that’s a lot of taxis?), and now also faces claims he’s been lying about his credentials. (NBC)
Comment: Intelligence agencies often use gold to pay assets in denied, unstable, or easily-traceable environments. Beyond the sheer “you can’t make this up” energy here, it points to either astonishingly weak internal controls, or the kind of institutional complacency that only gets exposed by something this cartoonish.
- 07
DR CONGO
Ebola spreads.
The Bundibugyo strain has now spread beyond its initial eastern DRC hotspot into turf now held by rebels like the Rwanda-backed M23, plus over into neighbouring Uganda. In response, Uganda has now closed parts of its border, while both the US and Canada have restricted entry from DRC, Uganda, and South Sudan. (BI Africa)
Comment: By setting up its own health measures, the Rwanda-backed M23 is effectively positioning itself as a functional authority in eastern DRC, turning this outbreak into yet another arena for DRC-Rwanda proxy conflict. Meanwhile, the US-Canada response is likely linked to their FIFA hosting duties as much as epidemiology.