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Hi there Intriguer.ย We just found out Australia is wider than the moon and we havenโt stopped thinking about it sinceโฆ
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Todayโs briefing is a 4 min read:
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โ๏ธ What went down at this weekโs NATO summit.
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๐ย India goes all in on the space race.
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โ Plus: Egyptโs embassy in Lisbon, how the papers are covering the ASEAN ministerial meeting, and which world leader was pumped about poetry (and mangoes)?
โฑ๏ธ Around the world in sixty seconds
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๐จ๐ณย China: A China-based hacker group has gained access to the emails of 25 US organisations, including government agencies, according to Microsoft. China denied any involvement, calling the US a โglobal cyber thiefโ.
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๐ช๐ธย Spain: A heatwave is bearing down on much of southern Europe and northwest Africa, with land temperatures in Spain surpassing a 60ยฐC (140ยฐF) record. Temperatures in the Italian islands are forecast to reach 48ยฐC (118ยฐF).
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๐จ๐บย Cuba: Havana is calling a US nuclear-powered submarineโs stop at the Guantanamo Bay military base earlier this month a โprovocative escalationโ. The US has permanently leased the base since 1903 (in protest, Cuba reportedly hasnโt cashed the US rental cheques since 1959).
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๐น๐ญย Thailand: The leader of Thailandโs reformist Move Forward Party, Pita Limjaroenrat, has lost an initial parliamentary vote to become the countryโs next prime minister. Pita says heโll re-strategise ahead of next weekโs expected follow-up vote.
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๐ฎ๐ทย Iran: President Ibrahim Raisi kicked off his Africa tour by meeting his Kenyan counterpart William Ruto on Wednesday. The two signed a series of trade agreements to strengthen bilateral ties.
โ๏ธ NATO | Geopolitics
Highlights from this weekโs NATO summit
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The annual NATO summit wrapped up on Wednesday, amid a flurry of photo ops and eager hand-shaking. Leaders from 37 countries + the EU attended the conference in Lithuania, including almost-member Sweden, plus non-members Australia, Japan, New Zealand, Georgia, South Korea and Ukraine.
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Although brief, the two-day summit was pretty eventful:
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๐ธ๐ชย Turkey finally let Sweden join, though President Erdoฤan is now saying Turkeyโs lawmakers wonโt be able to rubber-stamp it all until theyโre back from break in October (gotta love that work-life balance).
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๐บ๐ฆ Ukraine was frustrated by NATOโs reluctance to provide a firm timeline for its accession, so President Zelensky fired off a rather fiery tweet which reportedly left the US delegation furious.
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๐ขย And the summitโs epic 11,000 word statement devoted plenty of text to Russia (the regionโs โmost significant and direct threatโ)ย and China (due to its โstated ambitions and coercive policiesโ). NATO has become pretty direct in calling out adversaries in recent years.
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Intrigue’s take: The alliance has an โopen doorโ policy, but that doesnโt mean you walk in like itโs a Walmart. Ukraineโs biggest (though not only) hurdle is the fact itโs at war with a nuclear power right now; and NATO members donโt want to take on a treaty obligation to enter that war directly.
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So for now, NATO is supporting Ukraine in other ways. And notwithstanding some summit fireworks this week, that pledge still looks pretty rock solid.
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Also worth noting:
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From January 2022 through to May 2023, Ukraine has received about $184B in military and humanitarian aid.
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China has promised to deliver a โresolute responseโ to any NATO โeastward movement into the Asia-Pacific regionโ.
๐ฐ How newspapers coveredโฆ
This weekโs ASEAN foreign ministers summit
Hong Kong |
โChinaโs Wang Yi, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken meet for second time in a month, signalling further thawโ |
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โASEAN, China agree on guidelines to accelerate South China Sea code of conduct negotiationsโ |
London, UK |
โASEAN struggles for unity on Myanmar conflictโ |
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Intrigue Outloud: Season One
All your favourite episodes in one place!
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Weโve compiled all eighteen special edition episodes from our inaugural season of Intrigue Outloud. Weโre taking a break from special editions for the summer, but you can still listen to our regular news rundowns on Tuesdays and Fridays.
๐ India | Tech
India wants to be a space power
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India is scheduled to launch an unmanned lunar spacecraft today (14 July) thatโs designedย “to demonstrate end-to-end capability in safe landing and roving on the lunar surface.”
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Success is no guarantee. The $73M spacecraft, known as Chandrayaan-3 (aka โmoon vehicleโ), will undertake Indiaโs third mission to the Moon, and its second attempt to soft-land there (Chandrayaan-2 crash landed).
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Intrigueโs take: This is mostly about prestige. Only three players – the US, the Soviet Union, and China – have ever soft-landed a rover on the Moon. Others, like Israel and Japan, have tried and failed in recent years.
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So thereโs a solid gulf between the have-landed-on-the-moons and the have-nots. And India sees a lunar landing as its ticket to exit the pantheon of middle powers and take its place among the big dogs.
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Also worth noting:
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The Chandrayaan-3 aims to be the first spacecraft to land on the Moonโs south pole, which may hold the majority of the Moonโs ice.
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Russia plans to launch its Luna-25 lunar lander in August; the US next plans to send astronauts to the Moon in 2025.
๐ง Today on Intrigue Outloud
Protests in Tel Aviv last week. Credits: Oren Ziv/EPA
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Israelโs judicial overhaul is restarting. Will it pass this time?
โ Extra Intrigue
Aaaandโฆ weโre back with a crossword! This weekโs theme is world leaders of our time.
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Across:
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1. The richest acronym around
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3. The cigar guy
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5. The one who pivoted
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6. Loved his mangoes… and poetry
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Down:
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2. The first female President elected in Africa
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4. Collective misrememberings
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6. Afraid of dogs
๐ก Embassy of the day
Credits: Joรฃo Morgado
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The Egyptian embassy in Lisbon, Portugal
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Built in 2017 and constrained by local building codes, Egyptโs Lisbon embassy sits on a narrow plot in the affluent neighbourhood of Restelo. Its patterned walls are designed to evoke ancient Egyptian geometric motifs, and its kaleidoscopic skylight is inspired by Islamic art. Pretty, pretty, pretty good.
๐ณ๏ธ Quiz time!
1) How many moons does Jupiter, the biggest planet in the solar system, have? |
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2) What does Moon dust reportedly smell like? |
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3) Which of the following is not impacted by the moon? |
Crossword answers:
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1. MBS – The richest acronym around
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2. Sirleaf – The first female President elected in Africa
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3. Castro – The cigar guy
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4. Mandela – Collective misrememberings
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5. Obama – The one who pivoted
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6. Mao – Loved his mangoes… and poetry
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6. (down) Merkel – Afraid of dogs
Quiz Answers: 1-d, 2-c, 3-d.