🌍 Syria’s (nearly) back in the fold

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🗺️ AROUND THE WORLD

1. 🇹🇼 Taiwan: Taiwan’s ruling party has selected Vice President William Lai as its candidate for next year’s presidential elections. Lai’s nomination is likely to anger China due to his outspoken stance on Taiwanese independence.

2. 🇮🇹 Italy: Rome has declared a six-month state of emergency over a spike in migrant arrivals via the Mediterranean. Maritime authorities conducted sea rescue operations for more than 3,000 people over the Easter weekend.

3. 🇹🇭 Thailand: Apple is reportedly in talks to move part of its MacBook production to Thailand as it diversifies away from China. Thailand may seek to follow the example of India, which now accounts for 7% of Apple’s total iPhone production.

4. 🇺🇸 United States: The FBI has arrested a 21-year-old national guardsman in connection with the recent online leak of highly classified US intelligence. As we foreshadowed, initial media reports suggest the suspect, Jack Teixeira, may have been motivated by bravado.

5. 🇧🇭 Bahrain: After six years of deep freeze, Bahrain and Qatar have announced they’ll resume diplomatic ties. The two countries have had a long-running rivalry with disputes over borders, fishing, and allegations of Qatar becoming too close to Iran.

🇸🇾 SYRIA | GEOPOLITICS

Syria’s return to the Arab fold is almost complete

Briefly: Today (Friday), foreign ministers from Arab League countries are meeting in Saudi Arabia to discuss Syria’s return to the regional organisation, more than a decade after its membership was suspended.

Some context: Syrian president Bashar al-Assad became an international pariah after his crackdown on a popular uprising turned civil war that broke out in 2011. Several countries in the region even sent cash and arms to support Assad’s opponents.

But February’s devastating earthquake opened the door to re-engagement:

1. Syria’s neighbours sent planeloads of aid, and the foreign ministers of the UAE, Jordan, and Egypt quickly visited in person

2. Assad then made rare visits to the UAE, Oman and Egypt

3. And Tunisia and Saudi Arabia formally restored ties with Syria this week

Intrigue’s take: After years of getting fewer invites than a jazz bassoonist, Assad’s calendar is now filling up. But given his track record, not everyone’s on board. Qatar has said dealing with him would be a “betrayal” of his regime’s victims, a view echoed by others like Yemen, Kuwait and Morocco.

Still, ten years on, it’s now pretty clear Assad isn’t going anywhere. And that leaves his neighbours with a choice: deal with the world as it is, or as it ought to be. It seems most of Syria’s neighbours are now going with option A.

Also worth noting:

• A decade of civil war has left over 300,000 Syrians dead, with the Assad regime accused of carrying out several war crimes.

• Aides to US President Biden say the US doesn’t support the region’s normalising of ties with Syria, but isn’t opposing it either.

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Today’s briefing is sponsored by Policyware

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💾 ISRAEL | TECH

New spyware is picking up where Pegasus left off

Briefly: Multiple governments have purchased advanced spyware from Israel-based QuaDream, according to a new report from Microsoft and Citizen Lab. QuaDream’s proprietary product, Reign, is a “zero-click” software that allows users to hack iPhones without any action from the target.

QuaDream was founded by former employees of the now-notorious NSO Group, whose Pegasus spyware was a favourite for governments all over the world. Some clients deployed Pegasus to support law enforcement; most didn’t.

For example, NSO clients targeted dozens of Mexican journalists with the spyware, and in one case, hitmen used Pegasus to geo-locate and assassinate an anti-corruption reporter. By 2021, the US had blacklisted NSO, and last month it blocked US agencies from using spyware as a law enforcement tool.

Intrigue’s take: Be honest: if you were offered Reign’s power of omniscience (for the low price of around $2.2M per year), would you take it? It seems plenty of folks out there are answering yes, and not all of them are as benevolent as you.

So, if this spyware is both objectionable and yet irresistible, then Big Tech might be our best hope: staying ahead of spyware to render it obsolete. Otherwise, there’s not much stopping Reign from reigning supreme.

Also worth noting:

• Apple says it’s aware of spyware like Reign and has hardened its security protections.

• Clients in Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Ghana, Israel, Mexico, Romania, Singapore, the UAE and Uzbekistan have all allegedly purchased Reign.

👀 EXTRA INTRIGUE

Here are some recommendations from Team Intrigue to get you back-flipping into your weekend. If you have:

• 5 mins: Read / watch the Washington Post’s pretty remarkable interview with a teen who was in the infamous group chat where highly classified US intelligence first leaked.

• 20 mins: Listen to this episode of ‘Asia Geopolitics’, discussing the risks of the new AUKUS nuclear-propelled submarine plan.

• 90 mins: Espionage isn’t always grim and scary. If you have a bit more time, check out Burn After Reading to see the lighter side of spycraft.

🗺️ MAP OF THE DAY

Where in the world has Google Street View gone?

There’s no better way to see the world than from the comfort of your couch, but some places are easier mapped than others. Google Street View isn’t available in Germany or China, and hasn’t managed to traverse much of Africa. As for all that space over Australia’s Outback? There just aren’t that many streets out there.

🗳️ QUIZ TIME!

This week’s Intrigue quiz is on rivers. Dive in!

Answers: 1-b, 2-b&d, 3-e.