๐ŸŒ Malaysia’s 5G review is worrying the West


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Hi there Intriguer.ย You mightโ€™ve heard the coronation of King Charles is this Saturday, continuing a tradition going back a thousandย years. But did you know his first-ever crown featured *checks notes* a ping pong ball? Yep. It was decked in gold and diamonds, of course. But still, it was a ping pong ball.

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Todayโ€™s briefing is a 4.4 min read:

  • ๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡พ The battle for Malaysiaโ€™s 5G network.

  • ๐Ÿ‡ท๐Ÿ‡บย Russia starts refilling its coffers.

  • โž• Plus: An epic flag, how the papers are covering an AI pioneer questioning his lifeโ€™s work, and some intriguing facts about 5G.

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๐ŸŽง Todayโ€™s Intrigue Outloud: Is one of Europeโ€™s longest-running conflicts ending?

๐Ÿ—บ๏ธ AROUND THE WORLD
  1. ๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡ซย Afghanistan: The UN Security Council has agreed to let the Talibanโ€™s sanctioned foreign minister travel to Pakistan next week to meet with his Pakistani and Chinese counterparts. UN sanctions mean several senior Taliban officials need special permits to leave Afghanistan.

  2. ๐Ÿ‡ท๐Ÿ‡บย Russia: According to US intel, more than 20,000 Russian soldiers have been killed and 80,000 injured in Ukraine since December. That suggests Russiaโ€™s casualty rate is accelerating.

  3. ๐Ÿ‡ณ๐Ÿ‡ฟย New Zealand: Prime Minister Chris Hopkins shared on Monday that he supports New Zealand becoming a republic, but itโ€™s not a change heโ€™ll push as leader. Barbados was the last country to cut formal ties with the British monarchy in 2021.

  4. ๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡ทย Brazil: Lawmakers will vote on a โ€˜Fake News Billโ€™ as soon as this week. Major tech companies have critiqued the proposed law, which imposes fines on platforms that fail to remove unlawful material.

  5. ๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ฑย Israel: Palestinian and Israeli forces have exchanged fire after a leader of Palestinian Islamic Jihad (a Western-designated terrorist group) died in Israeli custody. The detainee was on his 87th day of a hunger strike.

๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡พ MALAYSIA | TECH

The West is worried about Malaysia and 5G

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Briefly: European and US officials are reportedly worried Malaysia could include Chinaโ€™s telecoms giant Huawei in its 5G infrastructure rollout.

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Swedish firm Ericsson won the $2.5B tender to build Malaysiaโ€™s 5G network in 2021, but Malaysian officials recently decided to review the decision. And thatโ€™s got the West sweating like a balloon seller at a jousting tournament.

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Whatโ€™s the Westโ€™s issue with Huawei?

  • ๐Ÿ“ก The nature of the tech makes securing 5G more difficult

  • ๐Ÿ‘ฌ Huawei reportedly has close ties with Chinaโ€™s military and intel

  • ๐Ÿ“– A 2017 law in China requires firms to cooperate with Beijing, and

  • ๐Ÿ’ป China has allegedly used Huawei kit to conduct espionage already

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So Huawei is now effectively blacklisted across much of the West.

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For its part, Huawei says the West is just using national security as a fig leaf to protect its firms from foreign competition. Huaweiโ€™s been lobbying hard for a piece of the Malaysian pie, and Kuala Lumpurโ€™s surprise review suggests it may be working.

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Intrigueโ€™s take: Being caught in the middle of a game of great powers is never fun, but itโ€™s particularly annoying when it threatens your download speed.

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So, like many others, Malaysia is now having to make a call: keep China happy (involve Huawei) or keep the West happy (exclude Huawei). The nature of 5G tech – and US-China relations – suggests thereโ€™s no easy middle ground here.

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Also worth noting:

  • The EU has around โ‚ฌ25B invested in Malaysia. Malaysiaโ€™s prime minister says China recently made a single pledge to invest $39B.

  • Huawei controls 20% of the telco equipment market outside China. Swedish firm Ericsson and Finnish firm Nokia each have an 18% share.

๐Ÿ“ฐ GLOBAL PERSPECTIVES

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How different newspapers covered: AI pioneer Geoffrey Hinton quitting Google and speaking out against his lifeโ€™s work.

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Links: SCMP, Fortune, The Times.

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Todayโ€™s briefing is sponsored byย Wander

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๐Ÿ‡ท๐Ÿ‡บ RUSSIA | GEO-ECONOMICS

Russiaโ€™s economy limps on

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Briefly: Russia is reportedly preparing to restock its foreign currency reserves for the first time since its invasion of Ukraine. This pivot from burning cash to stashing it suggests Moscow is managing to mend its budget, which has buckled under massive wartime spending.

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Howโ€™s Moscow doing this?ย 

  • ๐Ÿ›ข๏ธ It changed its tax rules, forcing oil producers to pay more tax, and

  • ๐Ÿ“‰ Its weak ruble means taxes paid in foreign currencies stretch further

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Countries use foreign reserves to stabilise their currency and ensure payment for imports. But of course, Western sanctions mean Moscow canโ€™t just stock up on US dollars or euros like everyone else. So itโ€™ll likely buy Chinese yuan instead.

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Intrigueโ€™s take: Huge Chinese and Indian purchases have helped push Russian oil exports to their highest volumes since early 2020. But Western sanctions have suppressed Russian oil prices, so its revenues are still 43% lower than a year ago.

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So all in all, the market seems to be telling us that Western sanctions are biting, just not enough to end Russiaโ€™s war machine. At least, not yet.

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Also worth noting:

๐Ÿ‘€ EXTRA INTRIGUE

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Some intriguing figures on 5G and roaming networks around the world:

  • 5 billion: the number of people with 5G subscriptions by 2028

  • 2: the number of years it takes for global mobile data traffic to double

  • 100: the multiplier between 4G and 5G speeds, in optimal conditions

  • $1.3T: the total contribution 5G will make towards global GDP by 2030

๐Ÿย FLAG OF THE DAY

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Central Asiaโ€™s flag game is ๐Ÿ”ฅ๐Ÿ”ฅ๐Ÿ”ฅ, and Kyrgyzstan’s banner might take the cake. The red symbolises bravery, and the sunโ€™s 40 rays represent the 40 Kyrgyz tribes that united to fight the Mongols in the 9th century. As for that criss-cross image? Itโ€™s the roof of a traditional Kyrgyz yurt. Pretty, pretty, prettyโ€ฆ good.

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Our rating: 9.1/10.

๐Ÿ—ณ๏ธ POLL/QUIZ TIME!

If you could live comfortably in any city in the world, which city would you choose?

Login or Subscribe to participate in polls.

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Yesterdayโ€™s poll: Do you think the banking crisis is over?

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๐ŸŸจ๐ŸŸจ๐ŸŸจโฌœ๏ธโฌœ๏ธโฌœ๏ธ ๐Ÿค“ Yes, at least the worst of it (32%)

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๐ŸŸฉ๐ŸŸฉ๐ŸŸฉ๐ŸŸฉ๐ŸŸฉ๐ŸŸฉย ๐Ÿค• No, it’s just warming up (65%)

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โฌœ๏ธโฌœ๏ธโฌœ๏ธโฌœ๏ธโฌœ๏ธโฌœ๏ธ โœ๏ธ Other (write-in!) (3%)

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Your two cents:

  • ๐Ÿค“ย E: โ€œ[โ€ฆ].Three banks failed and the FDIC/Federal Reserve handled it excellently. If anything, this bank crisis has increased my faith in the US banking system (and its ability to handle crises) rather than decreased it.โ€

  • โœ๏ธ M.M: โ€œCrisis probably isn’t the right word, maybe more of a banking slow burn over the next couple of years as economies adjust to the end of the era of cheap money.โ€