🌍 Netanyahu heads to the US (soon)

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Today’s briefing is a 4 min read:

• 🇮🇱 Israel’s prime minister gets a POTUS invite.

• 🇨🇳 China’s foreign minister has vanished.

• ➕ Plus: A Catalan exclave, how the papers are covering China’s latest economic data, and why Colombians are googling condors.

1. 🇯🇵 Japan: Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is in Qatar for LNG supply talks, after brief stops in Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Kishida’s Gulf tour is focussed on securing Japan’s energy supplies.

2. 🇪🇺 EU: An EU-Latin America summit has returned after an eight-year pause. Delegates are hoping it’ll help finalise EU trade deals with Mexico, Chile and the Mercosur bloc.

3. 🇦🇺 Australia: The state of Victoria has pulled out of hosting the 2026 Commonwealth Games, saying it’s not prepared to spend ~$4.5B to host the sporting event. The games, attended by over 70 countries every four years, have only ever been cancelled during WWII.

4. 🇺🇸 US: A US soldier has been detained after crossing into North Korea during a tour of the border village of Panmunjom. The man reportedly “made a run” over the border, and it’s unclear if he’s defected to North Korea or hopes to return.

5. 🇹🇷 Turkey: Taxes on petrol tripled over the weekend as Turkey looks to replenish state funds after a spike in pre-election government spending. Part of the money raised will be used to fund the reconstruction of areas impacted by this year’s earthquake.

🇮🇱 Israel | Geopolitics

Bibi finally gets his Biden invite

US President Joe Biden has invited Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (aka Bibi) to meet in the US sometime before the end of the year.

The invite comes amid a renewed push from Netanyahu’s government to curb the influence of Israel’s judiciary, after a public backlash prompted him to suspend those reform efforts back in March.

Opponents to the judicial overhaul haven’t given up. On Tuesday (yesterday), they organised another “day of disruption” in which protestors:

• 🚧 Stopped traffic on major highways

• ⛔ Blocked entrances at the Israeli military HQ in Tel Aviv, and

• 📉 Briefly gate-crashed the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange.

And Biden shares their concerns, calling on Netanyahu to “walk away” from the plan earlier this year, before this month describing Bibi’s cabinet as having some of “the most extreme” members in decades.

His decision to then initially extend an invite only to Israel’s president (a ceremonial role) was largely seen as a snub to Bibi.

Intrigue's take: So, why the 180? It seems there’s no change in US policy towards Bibi’s reforms, nor in US concerns around members of Bibi’s coalition.

Rather, the US has probably assessed it needs to stabilise relations with its key Middle East ally, both to present a united front on Iran, and to curb the influence of China (which extended an invite to Bibi last month).

Also worth noting:

• Washington has declined to say where the meeting will take place, with some speculating it’ll happen on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly rather than at the White House.

• Israel’s President Isaac Herzog visited the White House yesterday (Tuesday) and will address a joint session of the US Congress later today (Wednesday).

• Netanyahu told Biden during a call on Monday (17 July) that the first part of Israel’s judicial overhaul will pass next week.

📰 How newspapers covered…

China missing its second quarter GDP forecasts

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🇨🇳 China | Politics

Where is China’s foreign minister?

China’s foreign minister, Qin Gang, hasn’t been seen in public in more than three weeks. His longest previous absence lasted just eight days (over the Lunar New Year).

Qin, who’s enjoyed a rapid rise through China’s system, has now missed key diplomatic engagements. And Beijing is scrubbing any speculation online, while offering only vague ‘health’-related answers when pressed.

So two main theories are filling the void:

• 🤒 A Hong Kong newspaper suggests he’s contracted Covid, and

• 🤫 There are rumours Qin was having an affair with a TV presenter (affairs are banned within China’s ruling Communist Party).

Intrigue’s take: Both of these theories are credible: China closely guards the health status of its top officials, and often cites extramarital affairs when charging cadres with corruption.

But ultimately, only Beijing can put these rumours to rest. And the longer it waits, the more likely Qin’s absence is about something beyond his health.

Also worth noting:

• Both US Secretary of State Blinken and US Treasury Secretary Yellen recently visited China (Qin was absent for both visits).

• A former state media chief in China has implicitly criticised Beijing’s silence on Qin (in Mandarin, but most web browsers can translate it).

➕ Extra Intrigue

Here’s what people around the world were googling on Tuesday 18 July:

• 🇺🇦 Ukrainians were searching for ‘Крымский мост’ (Crimean bridge) after an attack on the Kerch bridge shut down the occupied peninsula’s key link with Russia.

• Folks in 🇧🇪 Belgium looked up ‘Pommelien Thijs’ to get the latest news on her performance at the Gentse Feesten music festival.

• 🇨🇴 Colombians were wowed by incredible footage of a condor on top of a snowy perch.

🗳️ Poll time!

🗺️ Map of the day

How did part of Spain get stuck in France?

The good people of Llívia are separated from their compatriots in Catalonia, Spain, by 1.6km of French territory. This arrangement dates back to the Treaty of the Pyrenees in 1659, which ended the Franco-Spanish War and saw Spain cede its “villages” north of the Pyrenees. But since Llívia was considered a “town”, Spain got to keep it on a technicality. That’s some quality lawyering right there.

Yesterday’s poll: Despite his Wimbledon loss, is Novak Djokovic the greatest male athlete ever? If not, who is?

🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ 🎾 Novak Djokovic (6%)

🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 🏀 Michael Jordan (30%)

🟨🟨🟨🟨⬜️⬜️ ⚽ Lionel Messi (20%)

🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ ⛳ Tiger Woods (6%)

🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ 🏒 Wayne Gretzky (8%)

🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ 🏃‍♂️ Usain Bolt (9%)

⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ ⛸️ Yuzuru Hanyu (3%)

🟨🟨🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️ ✍️ Someone else (write in!) (19%)

Your two cents:

• ⛸️ H: “He’s beauty, he’s grace, he’ll triple-axle your face – it’s Yuzuru Hanyu.”

• ✍️ TW: “As great as those other men are, my vote will forever go to Terry Fox. Running 5,373 km — or 128 marathons — in 143 days? Truly remarkable.”

• Honourable mentions: Pelé ⚽, Roger Federer 🎾, James Anderson 🏏, Rafael Nadal 🎾, Michael Phelps 🏊‍♂️, and Eliud Kipchoge 🏃‍♂️.