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Hi there Intriguer.ย World leaders are really just like us: look at how peeved they get when someone leaks their private chats. Xi Jinping scolded Justin Trudeau over it, and Macron dunked on an Australian PM for doing it. Even close allies the US and Australia were briefly reduced to frenemy status over a leaked chat. So maybe itโs time for a truce: no leaked DMs.
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Note: Weโll be taking tomorrow (Friday) and Monday off, but weโll be back in your inboxes on Tuesday 11 April! In the meantime, weโd like to wish a happy Easter and Passover to our readers celebrating. See you soon ๐!
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Todayโs briefing is a 4.8 min read:
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๐ฒ๐ฝย Mexicoโs president calls on Xi Jinping to help stop the fentanyl trade.
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๐ต๐ฐย Pakistanโs supreme court rules against the government.
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โ Plus: The US enters WWI on this day in history, how the papers are covering a visit to China by Macron and von der Leyen, and a look into Syriaโs re-emergence on the global stage.
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๐ค PS: Intrigue co-founder Helen and the Lowy Instituteโs Hervรฉ Lemahieu are in the running to speak at SXSW Sydney this year! Weโd love it if you could help by voting (no sign-up required, just two seconds to hit โvoteโ).
๐บ๏ธ AROUND THE WORLD
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๐น๐ผย Taiwan: Continuing her tour of the Americas, Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen met with US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in Los Angeles yesterday (Wednesday). In response, China sent an aircraft carrier group off Taiwanโs coast.
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๐ด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ณ๓ ฃ๓ ด๓ ฟย Scotland: The husband of former Scottish first minister Nicola Sturgeon was arrested yesterday (Wednesday). Initial media reports suggest he may have misused party finances. Sturgeon unexpectedly resigned in February.
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๐ณ๐ฟย New Zealand: Former prime minister Jacinda Ardern delivered her final speech to Parliament yesterday (Wednesday), marking her official retirement from politics. She now plans to join the board of trustees of Prince Williamโs environmental non-profit.
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๐ต๐ชย Peru: Footballโs governing body FIFA said it would move its U-17 tournament to a new host country after it said Peru had failed to prepare adequately. Peru has been struggling with nationwide protests since December.
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๐ฎ๐ฑย Israel: Security forces arrested around 350 Palestinians during clashes at the Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem yesterday (Wednesday). The incident has raised fears of a wider escalation in violence.
๐ฒ๐ฝ MEXICO | NARCOTICS
AMLO asks Xi for help combatting drug trafficking
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Briefly: Mexican President Andrรฉs Manuel Lรณpez Obrador (aka AMLO) announced on Tuesday he had sent a letter to Chinese President Xi Jinping seeking Chinaโs help in controlling drug shipments across the Pacific.
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At issue is fentanyl: a synthetic opiate often produced in Mexico (something AMLO denies) with chemicals from China (something AMLO highlights) and consumed in the US (a crisis which AMLO partly blames on a lack of hugs).
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By publicising his letter, AMLO hopes to deflect mounting US criticism that Mexico isnโt doing enough to stem the flow of fentanyl to the US.
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But Beijing wonโt be happy about being dragged into the spotlight like this. As we flagged in todayโs intro above, a world leader publicly releasing a private letter is a little like screenshotting a private group chat: not cool.
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Plus Mexico already has a complex relationship with China: the two have long seen one another as competitors in the US market, and Mexican officials still fume over Chinaโs response to Mexicoโs H1N1 outbreak in 2009.
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Intrigueโs take: Xi Jinping has yet to respond to AMLOโs letter, which was dated 22 March. And how does one respond to such a letter? It blames China, while also describing US attitudes as โabsurd, manipulative, propagandistic and demagogic.โย
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Privately, Xi may well agree with the latter sentiment. But his advisors will likely remind him that AMLOโs audience here – as ever – was also domestic. His letter slips in a reference to Mexico historically resisting the US โwith courage, patriotism and dignity.โ AMLOโs voters might cheer this line, but itโs not exactly relevant to fentanyl.
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So yeah, AMLO has somehow managed to antagonise two world powers at once. But back home, heโs still one of the worldโs most popular leaders.
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Also worth noting:
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According to the US Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, 150 Americans die each day from overdoses related to synthetic opioids like fentanyl.
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In August 2022, China suspended all counternarcotics and law enforcement cooperation with the United States.
๐ฐ GLOBAL PERSPECTIVES
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How different newspapers covered: French President Emmanuel Macron and EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyenโs trip to China.
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Todayโs briefing is sponsored byย Likewise
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๐ต๐ฐ PAKISTAN | POLITICS
Pakistanโs Supreme Court sides with former PM Imran Khan
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Briefly: Pakistanโs Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday that the province of Punjabโs local elections will take place on 14 May, after the countryโs electoral commission sought to delay the vote until October.
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The ruling is a big victory for former prime minister Imran Khan, whose party used its numbers to dissolve several local assemblies in January. Under Pakistanโs constitution, voting for a new assembly shouldโve taken place within 90 days, but the electoral commission said the government hadnโt provided enough funds.
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So the Supreme Court declared the delay unconstitutional and ordered the government to unlock funds for a new round of voting in May.
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Intrigueโs take: Imran Khan may have perfected the art of mischief-making, giving off some solid Jack Sparrow vibes lately. And itโs working for him: he remains the most popular political figure in the country.
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But angry as he may be at how he was kicked out of office, each additional gambit tests Pakistanโs institutions in new ways. And in a country already on the brink, those tests could turn dangerous for all involved.
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Also worth noting:
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Khan said he would agree to an election delay if the government would share its plans to hold free and fair general elections in October.
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On Tuesday, Pakistanโs central bank raised its benchmark interest rate to 21%, the highest since 1956, in an effort to tame 35% inflation.
๐ EXTRA INTRIGUE
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What weโre reading about the Assad regimeโs diplomatic re-emergence.
๐ TODAY IN HISTORY
President Wilson addresses Congress in April 1917, calling for a declaration of war against Germany.
Credits: National Archives.
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The US declares war against Germany
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President Woodrow Wilson signed a congressional war resolution at 1.18pm on this day in 1917. The decision to enter WWI came after Germany had resumed attacks against US merchant ships. Germany had also explored drawing Mexico into the war by offering to help it retake Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas.
๐ณ๏ธ POLL TIME!
What do you think about AMLO’s letter to President Xi? |
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Yesterdayโs poll: What do you think regulators should do with ChatGPT and similar generative AI software?
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๐ฉ๐ฉ๐ฉ๐ฉ๐ฉ๐ฉ โ๏ธ Regulation is key (74%)
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โฌ๏ธโฌ๏ธโฌ๏ธโฌ๏ธโฌ๏ธโฌ๏ธ ๐ซ Ban them all! (8%)
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๐จโฌ๏ธโฌ๏ธโฌ๏ธโฌ๏ธโฌ๏ธ ๐จ Both regulation and bans just suppress innovation (15%)
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โฌ๏ธโฌ๏ธโฌ๏ธโฌ๏ธโฌ๏ธโฌ๏ธ ๐๏ธ Other (write in!) (3%)
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Your two cents:
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โ๏ธ C.C: โA blanket ban would stop the inevitable and destroy economic capability. Fast regulation, however, is a must. The Government cannot have another Big Tech situation where it’s years behind the game.โ
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๐จย R.V: โWhile governmental regulation should be avoided like the plague, entities that adopt AI for critical functions [โฆ] should be ready for the customer blowback and lawsuits resulting from [deploying] these under-developed systems.โ
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๐ซย T.L: โGenerative AI is just Intellectual Property theft with extra steps.โ