🌍 North Korea showcases its friends and arms

Hi there Intriguer. A picture’s worth a thousand words, unless it’s this photo of a potato, which an Irish conceptual artist once sold to a cashed-up European for a cool million euros.

Today’s briefing is a 5 min read:

• 🇰🇵 North Korea finally invites the neighbours over.

• 🌍 Africa’s leaders speak their mind to Putin.

• ➕ Plus: The double-headed Albanian flag, how the papers are covering more Quran protest burnings in Northern Europe, and how to get free Subway for a lifetime.

1. 🇭🇰 Hong Kong: A top court has rejected a government request to ban the unofficial anthem of the 2019 pro-democracy protests. In its ruling, the court notes the chilling effect a ban would have on the right to free expression in Hong Kong.

2. 🇵🇱 Poland: Lawmakers narrowly approved a bill on Friday that the ruling party says will target Russian influence. Critics say it could instead be used to target opposition leader and former European Council chief Donald Tusk ahead of Poland’s elections later this year.

3. 🇭🇹 Haiti: The US State Department has ordered non-essential personnel (and the families of essential personnel) to leave Haiti as soon as possible. The State Department warns it won’t be able to provide services to US citizens in case of an emergency.

4. 🇯🇴 Jordan: Parliament passed a law last week (27 July) to crack down on online speech that “incites immorality” or “undermines national security.” Critics (and the US government) fear the law could be used to quash dissent.

5. 🇻🇳 Vietnam: More than 50 people, including a former deputy foreign minister, received jail sentences on Friday in a major corruption case. Prosecutors say the defendants accepted bribes to help facilitate flights for the wealthy during Covid.

🇰🇵 North Korea | Defence & security

North Korea showcases friends and arms

North Korea marked the 70th anniversary of the Korean Armistice Agreement with a late-night military parade on Thursday (27 July).

It was an intriguing evening for a couple of reasons. First, the parade’s audience included foreign dignitaries for the first time since 2018:

• 🇨🇳 China sent Li Hongzhong from the Communist Party’s 24-member Politburo, as Beijing’s first visitor to Pyongyang since COVID, and

• 🇷🇺 Russia sent Defence Minister Shoigu, the first ever such visit from present-day Russia (Soviet defence chiefs visited previously).

Second, the parade and surrounding festivities featured:

• 🛬 New drones, which look outwardly identical to the U.S. MQ-9 Reaper and RQ-4 Global Hawk, plus

• 🚀 North Korea’s latest Hwasong-18 ICBM, which uses solid fuel (quicker to launch) and is reportedly capable of reaching the US.

But it’s really the combo of the audience and content that turned heads: China and Russia are both permanent members of the UN Security Council, which has banned North Korean nuclear-capable ballistic missiles since 2006.

And yet here were senior reps from Beijing and Moscow, in downtown Pyongyang, applauding as nuclear-capable ballistic missiles rolled on by.

Intrigue's take: This is less about North Korea coming out of isolation, and more about Russia going further in. Moscow needs more ammo for its invasion of Ukraine, and Pyongyang seems one of the few willing sellers.

As for China, Li is less senior than Beijing’s last parade rep in 2018, and these reps have applauded North Korean ICBMs before. So sending Li was probably just a low-cost way for Beijing to signal support for its only formal ally, while signalling displeasure regarding US actions in the region.

And North Korea? It gets tacit Chinese and Russian endorsement of its weapons program, plus a dash of solidarity in its struggle with the West, both of which Kim Jong Un will leverage to boost his legitimacy at home.

Also worth noting:

• In North Korea, the Korean War (triggered by a Northern attack on the South) is known as the Fatherland Liberation War. In South Korea, it’s often the 625 War, reflecting the start date of 25 June. In China, it’s known as the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea.

• Russia and China held joint ‘Northern/Interaction-2023’ military drills in waters off the Korean Peninsula earlier this month. The US and South Korea held their largest ever live-fire exercises in May.

📰 How newspapers covered…

Further Quran protest burnings in Northern Europe

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🇷🇺 Russia | Geopolitics

Russia’s summit with Africa falls flat

Russia hosted 17 African leaders in St. Petersburg last week (27-28 July) for the second-ever Russia-Africa Summit.

The proceedings were dominated by one issue: Russia’s suspension of the Black Sea Grain Initiative. And Putin’s guests had plenty to say:

• 🇪🇬 Egypt’s President Sisi said it was “essential” to revive the deal

• 🇰🇲 Comoros leader Azali Assoumani (who also currently leads the African Union) warned that “the suspension of the grain deal may have some impact on our cooperation [with Russia]”, and

• 🇿🇦 South African President Ramaphosa said “we are not here to plead for donations”, rather, “the Black Sea should be open.”

Putin took a two-pronged approach in response, blaming Western sanctions for shortages, while offering up to 50,000 tonnes of free grain each to several at-risk nations in Africa.

Intrigue’s take: But the free grain won’t replace the 33 million tonnes that Ukraine exported through the Black Sea Initiative in the year it was running.

For a range of reasons, many of Africa’s leaders chose to remain silent when Putin first invaded Ukraine. But as Africa has felt the impacts of Putin’s decision, it seems more of its leaders are now willing to speak up.

Also worth noting:

• In East Africa, where 80% of grain was imported from Russia and Ukraine, some 50 million people are reportedly now facing hunger.

• Yevgeny Prigozhin of Russia’s Wagner mercenary group was spotted in St. Petersburg during the Summit, his first public appearance in Russia since leading a mutiny in June.

• 43 African leaders attended the last Africa-Russia Summit in 2019.

➕ Extra Intrigue

Your weekly roundup of the world’s more surprising news:

• Sandwich chain Subway is offering a lifetime supply of subs if someone commits to changing their first name to ‘Subway’.

• An Australian man has been charged after allegedly driving his lawnmower through a town centre while under the influence.

• British Airways crewmembers have done a KFC run in the Bahamas in order to serve their passengers some of the Colonel’s finest, after an onboard catering shortage.

• An ultra-rare pair of Apple trainers is currently on sale for ​​$50,000.

• And a Japanese chain is now offering The Ice Cream Fondue Pizza, featuring a raised crater full of vanilla ice cream for dipping purposes.

🗳️ Poll time!

🏁 Flag of the day

Albania’s flag is the only red-and-black banner of a recognised sovereign state. Albanian dynasties have used the black two-headed eagle since the Middle Ages. And as for all that red? It’s there for strength, valour, and courage on the battlefield. Pretty, pretty, pretty good.

Our score: 9.1/10

Thursday’s poll: What do you think about the recent whistle-blower claims regarding UAPs?

🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 👽 We're not alone in the universe (65%)

🟨🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ 🚀 They're just conspiracy theories (26%)

⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ 🖋️ Other (write in!) (8%)

Your two cents:

• 👽 A.J.K: “I hope we aren't alone; what a lonely universe it would be if we were the only ones! Whimsy and dreams aside, I have zero doubt that the US has things under its purview in those UAP-type programs that they don't want to share.”

• 🚀 C.A: “If it is true, why make it public? What's the end goal here? […] I think it's just a manoeuvre to get an even bigger budget. Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence, which is lacking here. “

• 🖋️ C: “The other two answers aren't mutually exclusive. It's pretty much a given that we're not alone in the universe, and it's also true that there's a lot of nonsensical conspiracy theories about aliens. “