🌍 Mongolia’s in again thanks to its rare earth riches

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🗺️ AROUND THE WORLD

1. 🇨🇳 China: Beijing has banned China’s key telecom firms from buying Micron chips, citing national security risks. The US-based firm earned around 11% of its total revenues in China last year.

2. 🇬🇷 Greece: The ruling conservative party won Sunday’s election in Greece, but fell short of a majority in parliament. So instead of forming a coalition government, it’ll likely head to secondary elections in June to try and pick up a few extra seats.

3. 🇮🇳 India: After a summit with 14 Pacific Island nations in PNG, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has landed in Australia. Members of Australia’s large Indian community are chartering planes and buses from across the country to see Modi speak in Sydney tonight (Tuesday).

4. 🇧🇷 Brazil: President Lula said his meeting with Volodymyr Zelensky fell through after the Ukrainian president “did not show up”. Lula has previously suggested Ukraine shares blame for the Russo-Ukraine war, and hasn’t joined Western nations in imposing sanctions on Moscow.

5. 🇧🇭 Bahrain: Bahrain says it’ll restore full diplomatic relations with Lebanon after a year and a half of frostiness. Ties deteriorated after a senior Lebanese official criticised the role of Saudi Arabia (a close Bahrain partner) in the war in Yemen.

🇲🇳 MONGOLIA | GEO-ECONOMICS

Mongolia finds a new friend: France

Briefly: French President Emmanuel Macron stopped in Mongolia on Sunday en route home from the G7 Summit in Japan. The visit was the first ever by a French president.

Mongolia isn’t just landlocked – it borders China in three directions, and Russia in the other. So it’s no surprise Mongolia sends 86% of its exports to China, while cooperating with Russia on a key new natural gas pipeline (to China).

But the world’s most sparsely populated nation (3 million folks in an area twice the size of Texas) is catching the eye of outside powers. It’s sitting on $1T to $3T worth of minerals, including elements like copper that are vital for the green transition.

And countries like France want in on that action. A French nuclear firm is already working to develop a uranium mine there, and Macron pitched a broader critical minerals supply deal while in town.

Intrigue’s take: One of the most intriguing moments was when Mongolian President Ukhnaagiin Khurelsukh called France his country’s “third neighbour”. Mongolia has had a third neighbour policy for decades as it’s tried to find new friends and reduce its reliance on China and Russia.

Sitting on such staggering wealth, Mongolia will have no shortage of willing ‘new neighbours’. The question is how its actual two neighbours (China and Russia) might respond.

Also worth noting:

• Macron is the second European leader to visit Mongolia this year, after

  the first-ever visit by a Polish leader took place in April.

• Macron’s was the first official visit by a French president, but President Chirac reportedly made a secret visit to Mongolia back in 1975. Relations date back as far as the 13th century, when the Mongol king wrote to the French king proposing they conquer Damascus together.

   

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Today’s briefing is sponsored by Meco

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🇸🇩 SUDAN | CONFLICT

Sudan’s duelling factions agree to a new ceasefire

Briefly: Sudan’s warring parties started a weeklong ceasefire yesterday (Monday) to allow the delivery of much-needed humanitarian aid. If the truce holds, it’ll be the first extended ceasefire in more than six weeks of fighting.

This latest development has been a team effort. The US and Saudi Arabia have worked together to mediate and monitor the deal between the Sudanese military and the rival paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.

Intrigue’s take: The international community is hoping this truce succeeds where the last few attempts have failed. The fighting has so far:

• displaced over a million Sudanese people

• destroyed civilian sites like hospitals, UN aid warehouses and churches

• and spread beyond the capital to the war-torn region of Darfur.

Also worth noting:

• Journalists and media workers say they’re being intimidated for reporting on the hostilities in Sudan.

• US President Joe Biden signed an executive order earlier this month, authorising future sanctions on the warring parties in Sudan. The US hasn’t yet listed anyone for sanctioning under Biden’s order.

👀 EXTRA INTRIGUE

We’re very online, so you don’t have to be.

• Rebel or bandit? Inside Ethiopia’s hidden insurgency ($)

• Two weeks at the front in Ukraine

• What is the ‘Biden Doctrine’?

• Africa’s right to use its natural gas ($)

• How Japan got its swagger back

💬 QUOTE OF THE DAY

Can the Turkish opposition mount a comeback in the election’s second round this Sunday? Turkish political analyst Gönül Tol isn’t so sure. Check out Intrigue Outloud on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever to hear her take.

🗳️ POLL TIME!

Yesterday’s poll: Do you think summits such as the G7 are effective at addressing global issues?

🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 👍 Yes, any occasion for dialogue is welcome! (58%)

🟨🟨🟨🟨⬜️⬜️ 👎 No, it’s too exclusive to really tackle global problems (39%)

⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ 🖋️ Other (write in!) (3%)

Your two cents:

• 👎 J.M.F: “The decline of the G7 in terms of economic and demographic power is set to continue, which is part of the reason why alternative and more inclusive forums which include large developing nations such as the G20 or the SCO will continue to gain traction when it comes to addressing global issues.”

• 🖋️ D: “Often the big public statements are less important than the quiet work that happens on the sidelines at these events.”