5 things to know for May 13: Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Drug prices, Texas abortion, Sea levels

CNN

By Jade Walker, CNN

(CNN) — President Donald Trump has appointed Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche to serve as the acting librarian of Congress. Blanche represented Trump during his 2024 criminal hush money trial, which ended with the then-former president being found guilty on 34 felony counts. He will replace Carla Hayden, the first woman and first Black person to serve as librarian of Congress and the former president of the American Library Association.

Here’s what else you need to know to Get Up to Speed and On with Your Day.

1. Saudi Arabia

President Trump arrived in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, overnight on his first visit to the region during his second term. Administration officials said the president hopes to spend the trip making deals with the Saudis, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates that will enhance their investments in America. The US has already announced a $1.4 billion weapons sale to the UAE that includes Chinook helicopters as well as parts and support for F-16 fighter jets. Today, Trump is attending a more formal arrival ceremony with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman; eating lunch with the CEOs of Amazon, NVIDIA, Google, Boeing and Tesla; attending bilateral meetings; and then taking part in an agreement signing of the Royal Court. Despite what the White House is calling a “historic return to the Middle East,” a visit to Israel is not on the itinerary.

2. South Africa

Dozens of White South Africans who were granted refugee status by the Trump administration for alleged discrimination arrived in the US on Monday. Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau, who met the 59 Afrikaners at Washington Dulles International Airport in Virginia, claimed they had been “subject to very serious, egregious and targeted threats” and likened them to “quality seeds” that would hopefully “bloom” in America. However, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said he told President Trump that the persecution of the White minority group was not true. “They are leaving ostensibly because they don’t want to embrace the changes that are taking place in our country in accordance with our constitution,” Ramaphosa said. While the administration has expedited the processing of Afrikaners as refugees, it has suspended all other refugee resettlement, including for people fleeing war and famine.

3. Drug prices

President Trump signed an executive order on Monday that he said will lower drug prices in the US by basing the cost of certain medicines on their prices in other countries. Trump directed the Department of Health and Human Services to come up with price targets within 30 days and ordered drugmakers to start offering US patients the lowest price paid for a drug in a peer country. If drug manufacturers do not lower prices, the executive order outlined some potential ramifications, including allowing more drug imports and having the FDA modify or revoke approvals granted for drugs that may be “unsafe, ineffective, or improperly marketed.” It’s unclear what authority Trump has to demand certain prices, particularly in the private market. It’s also unknown when — or if — Americans will see lower prices.

4. Texas abortion

The fate of a woman suffering from a miscarriage may depend not just on the state where she lives, but the location of the hospital she visits. Texas enacted its abortion law in 2021, banning the procedure even in pregnancies that were no longer viable. The state also threatened to imprison doctors and punish hospitals for providing such care unless there was a life-threatening emergency. Since then, medical personnel have been restricted from helping women who were miscarrying until they could figure out a way to document that the patients were in mortal peril. Now, a new analysis by ProPublica showed that where the hospitals were located often determined if these women ended up suffering from sepsis, a life-threatening reaction to infection. Sepsis cases across Texas shot up more than 50% for women who lost their pregnancies in the second trimester after the state enacted its abortion ban. When these women went to hospitals in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, where doctors were empowered to intervene before it was too late, that number dropped to 29%. Whereas in Houston, where hospitals’ legal departments had advised doctors to delay treatment until they could document a serious infection, the sepsis rate surged to 63%.

5. Sea levels

The pace of global sea level rise is accelerating, and the US is hindering scientists’ ability to track it. According to a NASA analysis of satellite data, the annual rate has more than doubled over the past 30 years due to climate change. Here’s why: The oceans absorb roughly 90% of the excess heat primarily produced by burning fossil fuels, and when water heats up, it expands. Heat in the oceans is also causing the melting of Greenland and the Antarctic ice sheets. While melting ice sheets have driven roughly two-thirds of longer-term sea level rise, last year — the planet’s hottest on record — the two factors flipped, making ocean warming the main driver. As scientists were working to understand what this means for the future, the Trump administration cut funding and laid off more than 1,000 employees from NOAA, the nation’s top weather and climate agency. With such research stymied by the government, crucial climate data may be being lost.

BREAKFAST BROWSE

Jockey accused of violating horse-whipping rule
Junior Alvarado has been fined $62,000 and suspended for two racing days for the overuse of his whip during the Kentucky Derby. When Alvarado rode Sovereignty to victory, he hit the horse eight times with his riding crop. Regulations only allow riders to whip their horses six times per race.

Tory Lanez recovering from prison assault
The Canadian rapper was attacked at the California prison where he’s serving a 10-year sentence for shooting hip-hop star Megan Thee Stallion. According to his social media account, Lanez was “stabbed 14 times.”

Mavs win NBA draft lottery
The Dallas Mavericks secured the coveted top overall pick on Monday and the right to possibly select Duke University star forward Cooper Flagg next month. It was the first time the Mavericks had won the lottery.

Simu Liu puts a ring on it

The Marvel star and his girlfriend Allison Hsu have announced their engagement in a joint Instagram post. Based on the pictures, the proposal occurred in Paris. How romantic!

Well, that was close!
New Zealand cyclist Dion Smith was in the third stage of this year’s Giro d’Italia when he was almost knocked off his bike. The culprit? A goat.

TODAY’S NUMBER

83
That’s how many boxes containing Nazi files from World War II were found in the basement of the Supreme Court in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The court has moved the boxes to a more secure room so that researchers from the Holocaust Museum can examine their contents.

TODAY’S QUOTE

“There are no winners in tariff wars or trade wars. Bullying or hegemonism only leads to self-isolation.”

— Chinese leader Xi Jinping, in comments during a trade summit, one day after the US and China announced they would drastically roll back tariffs on each other’s goods for an initial 90-day period.

TODAY’S WEATHER

Check your local forecast here>>>

AND FINALLY …

Israeli-American hostage returns to Israel after Hamas release
Edan Alexander, 21, the last known living American hostage in Gaza kidnapped by Hamas, was reunited with his family on Monday. He spent 18 months in captivity after the militant group’s October 7 attack on Israel.

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