Plus: Podcast of the day
IN TODAY’S EDITION
1️⃣ Bangladesh PM flees in a chopper |
2️⃣ A Tesla boycott in Europe |
3️⃣ Podcast of the day |
Hi Intriguer. We’re back! Did we miss anything??!!
**Checks inbox. Stops smiling…**
Oh dear. Yep. Seems it’s been an (ahem) eventful few days. Just as we signed off for a quiet team retreat in Maryland last week, the world basically said “hold my beer”. Here’s just a snapshot of what then happened:
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Israel assassinated the most senior Hamas leader (in Iran)
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We saw the biggest Russia-West prisoner exchange since the Cold War
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Asian markets felt some of their biggest falls in years, and
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Weeks of mass protests suddenly culminated in the ousting of the world’s longest-serving female prime minister in Bangladesh.
If only there was a daily briefing to help make sense of it all, right? Ideally even one written by diplomats who’ve been in the room?
Well, we’re back: tanned, rested, and ready. So let’s dive in, shall we?
Harris announces VP pick.
Vice President Kamala Harris has chosen Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as her running mate, hours after officially securing the Democratic Party’s nomination. Walz is a former teacher, high school football coach, and National Guardsman. Btw – check out our very own Election Intrigue for a weekly briefing on what this election means for the world (and vice versa).
Yahya Sinwar named new Hamas political leader.
The Gaza-based Sinwar, a presumed mastermind of the Hamas October 7th attacks, has emerged as the group’s new top leader after Israel assassinated Ismail Haniyeh in Iran last week. Sinwar’s appointment and Haniyeh’s death could hinder progress to hammer out a ceasefire and hostage release deal.
China imposes fentanyl chemical restrictions.
The White House has announced that China will impose restrictions on three key substances used in the manufacturing of fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opioid responsible for an overdose epidemic in the US. The US is calling the development a “valuable step forward”.
Ukraine changes tactics.
Fighting has entered a second day in the Russian region of Kursk after what Russian officials are describing as an incursion into their territory by Ukrainian troops. Ukraine is remaining tight-lipped, though might be trying to draw Russia away from the solid advances it’s made in eastern Ukraine.
Mexico president-elect invites Putin to her inauguration?
Claudia Sheinbaum has invited Russian President Vladimir Putin to her October 1 inauguration, according to Russian media. That’s awkward for a few reasons, including the fact that Mexico is a member of the International Criminal Court, which has a warrant out for Putin’s arrest.
TOP STORY
Long-time Bangladesh prime minister flees
Former Bangladesh prime minister Sheikh Hasina.
It’s been an absolutely wild ride in Bangladesh lately.
Sheikh Hasina went to bed on Sunday night, still the world’s longest-serving female prime minister. The next day, she fled her own country by helicopter after protesters overran her compound.
How’d we get here?
Regular readers will have seen our periodic updates after student-led protests first broke out in June.
Students were angry after the country’s supreme court reinstated a controversial quota system that reserved a portion of government jobs for the families of people who fought in the 1971 Bangladesh War of Independence from Pakistan.
Fast forward to mid-July, and the protests had only heated up, meeting an escalating response from Hasina herself. After first deriding the students as descendants of “razakars” (pro-Pakistan collaborators), she:
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Closed schools and universities
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Imposed curfews with “shoot on sight” orders
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Restricted internet and cell services, and
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Presided over mass arrests, while police and pro-government groups killed hundreds and tear-gassed others.
But her heavy-handed response simply meant that, even after the supreme court pulled a U-turn and dismissed the controversial quota system once and for all, the unrest just morphed to encompass broader grievances against Hasina herself.
Sheikh Hasina, the daughter of Bangladesh’s founding father, first served as PM from 1996 to 2001 following the end of military rule. Then after a stint in opposition and prison, she returned in 2009 and earned plaudits for growth that peaked at 7.9% in 2019.
But along the way, she also revealed an autocratic streak, curtailing freedoms while authorities handed jail sentences to critics like Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus (aka, the ‘banker to the poor’).
Hasina then ✌️won✌️ her latest term earlier this year, but only after the beleaguered opposition had boycotted the process. And all the while, the country’s economy started to sputter while its reserves dwindled.
Which gets us to the events of this weekend. With a growing cross-section of society openly calling for Hasina’s resignation, record crowds then hit the streets until more clashes left 90+ people dead on Sunday. So on Monday, protestors stormed Hasina’s palace and she fled in a chopper to neighbouring India.
Her military chief then announced her resignation, and coordinated with the country’s president (a mostly ceremonial figure) to meet protestor demands, including dissolving parliament and forming a new transitional government.
Of course, many Bangladeshis are wary of their military getting political – it’s got a history of coups, and there are questions around its role in Hasina’s departure.
But tensions seem to have calmed now that the military has met another protestor demand: appointing Hasina critic and Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus to lead the transition government. He’s now returning home from Paris.
So just like that (😗🤌💨), a seemingly permanent fixture on the world stage is now gone, opening up a new political era full of unknowns. And for the 175 million Bangladeshis, that’s somehow both a daunting and exciting prospect.
INTRIGUE’S TAKE
The sheer drama is worth your attention alone, dear Intriguer. But here are a couple of ways this will now ripple out over Bangladesh’s borders:
First, Bangladesh is the world’s second-largest textile exporter, and it’s now spooked its customers, with fast-fashion brand H&M going full EU and saying it’s “concerned”, while Hula Global (think Anthropologie, JCPenney, and TJMaxx) is redirecting its orders to India for the rest of the year.
And second, Bangladesh sits on the Indo-Pacific chessboard where major powers are openly vying for influence. So China, Russia and India were all quick to congratulate Hasina when she ‘won’ earlier this year, though arguably now tainting each of them with her legacy.
But interestingly, the US rebuked her at the time, and China snubbed her during a fundraising visit to Beijing last month, potentially leaving those same two players best placed for whatever comes next.
Also worth noting:
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Muhammad Yunus (the interim leader and Nobel laureate) has faced various fraud charges over the past decade. He denies the allegations, and claims Hasina was targeting him for political reasons.
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The US imposed visa restrictions on several Bangladeshi officials last year, describing them as “responsible for, or complicit in, undermining the democratic election process in Bangladesh”.
Diplomat salary report
Nobody gets into diplomacy for the money. At least, they shouldn’t. Or at least, we didn’t.
Most pursue a career in diplomacy because they want to serve their country, see the world, and do meaningful work. And you can’t put a price on that, right? Wrong! We’ve just compiled the first-ever comparison of diplomat salaries across the G20.
Why? Mostly for the LoLs. But also, the world is getting a little crazy, so it’s worth asking the question: are our diplomatic services still attracting and retaining the best talent, to help us avert disaster?
It’s free to read for all Intrigue subscribers!
MEANWHILE, ELSEWHERE…
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🇨🇳 China: China’s pharmaceutical industry is warning that recent foreign buyouts could pose a national security risk, according to the South China Morning Post. Since December, five China-based drug-makers have been sold to global pharma giants like AstraZeneca and Novartis.
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🇩🇪 Germany: Rossmann, a major German drugstore chain across Europe, has said it’ll no longer purchase Tesla cars for its corporate fleet after founder Elon Musk voiced support for US presidential candidate Donald Trump. A senior Rossmann executive cited an “incompatibility” between Trump’s views on climate change and Tesla’s environmental values.
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🇲🇾 Malaysia: Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has received an apology from US tech giant Meta after it deleted a video of him expressing condolences to an assassinated Hamas leader. The "operational error" is the second time Meta has deleted the PM’s posts mentioning Hamas.
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🇲🇽 Mexico: Oxxo, Mexico’s largest convenience store chain, will reopen 191 locations in the northern border city of Nuevo Laredo after reaching an agreement with authorities to provide “constant” patrol. Extortion efforts have often targeted smaller businesses, but gangs abducted two Oxxo employees as potential recruits last week.
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🇱🇾 Libya: Libya’s largest oil field, with a daily output of 270,000 barrels, has halted operations for unclear reasons. Local media reports have blamed unspecified protests, but the internationally recognised Libyan government has called the move “political blackmail”, noting the oil region is controlled by opposition forces.
EXTRA INTRIGUE
🤣 Your weekly roundup of the world’s lighter news
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Italian luxury brand Dolce & Gabbana has launched a €99 perfume… for dogs.
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Disneyland has honoured a free ticket from 1985.
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A whale has managed to photobomb a surfer during the Olympic semi-finals in Tahiti.
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The Ohio Supreme Court has ruled that ‘boneless’ chicken can contain bones.
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And a UK man has graduated 41 years late after the University of Bristol awarded him his degree but denied him his graduation due to an unpaid damage bill (caused by his flatmate’s parrot).
PODCAST OF THE DAY
Venezuelan autocrat Nicolás Maduro already has it all: a stolen election or two, a loyal military, and even a $15M US bounty on his head for partnering with a designated terrorist organisation to flood the US with cocaine.
So a few months ago, he did the one thing you do when you already have it all: that’s right, he launched a podcast. He’s not released a new ep since last month’s election, presumably because he’s been too busy violently quashing protests and calling for the arrest of opposition leaders.
DAILY POLL
Do you think Yunus can bring Bangladesh back from the brink? |
Last week’s poll: What do you think the international community's role is in a situation like Venezuela's?
🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ 🚫 Nothing, getting involved just makes things worse (11%)
🟨🟨🟨🟨⬜️⬜️ 💪 Provide support for the opposition (26%)
🟨🟨🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️ 👇 Isolation and condemnation (17%)
🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ 💸 More sanctions (7%)
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 🖋️ Negotiating an exit deal for Maduro (37%)
⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ ✍️ Other (write in!) (1%)
Your two cents:
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🖋️ B.P: “Negotiation is difficult, likely to take a lot of time, effort, and frustration but in the end, most resolutions come from negotiating.”
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👇 L.E: “Be loud and clear about what the truth of the vote actually is. Make it so obvious and beyond doubt that no honest person in the world can deny it.”
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🖋️ N.L: “While there are a lot of idealistic options, sometimes in light of the humanitarian needs a pragmatic compromise needs to be made.”
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