🗺️ AROUND THE WORLD

1. 🇰🇷 South Korea: Japanese and South Korean officials will meet in Seoul today (Monday) for the first bilateral security summit since 2018. Despite their adversarial history, the two increasingly see opportunities to cooperate on regional security issues (such as China’s growing heft).

2. 🇫🇷 France: A court upheld the government’s plan to raise France’s retirement age from 62 to 64 on Friday. Streets surrounding the court were barricaded ahead of the decision, as protests against the plan continued across the country.

3. 🇱🇦 Laos: A 1,000 kilometre rail line between Laos and southern China began cross-border passenger services for the first time last week. The China-led project is part of Beijing's massive Belt and Road Initiative.

4. 🇵🇪 Peru: A former presidential candidate and army general has been jailed for 12 years over his role in the 1988 murder of a journalist, who was covering human rights abuses during Peru’s civil conflict.

5. 🇬🇭 Ghana: In a world first, Oxford University’s malaria vaccine has been approved for use in Ghana. Oxford’s partners built a factory in Ghana’s capital, Accra, that can produce up to 200 million doses per year.

🇸🇩 SUDAN | MILITARY CLASHES

Sudan’s rival generals battle for control

Briefly: Africa's third largest country plunged into chaos over the weekend as rival generals fought for control of key strategic sites across the country.

The backstory here is more complicated than a Christopher Nolan film, but in short, dictator Omar al-Bashir ran Sudan for 30 years until jubilant mass protests led to a 2019 coup that ousted him.

Following another coup in 2021, two generals ran Sudan jointly: the country’s military chief was leader, while a powerful warlord (head of the Rapid Support Forces, or RSF) was deputy. The plan was to return Sudan to civilian rule this month, but the two generals couldn’t agree on how to incorporate the RSF into Sudan’s military.

And those tensions boiled over into military clashes this weekend, leaving dozens of civilians dead in the capital Khartoum and across Sudan. Despite a brief humanitarian pause on Sunday, the rival factions vow they’ll fight to the end.

Intrigue’s take: The one thing potentially worse than a brutal dictator is the anarchy that can emerge after they’re gone. Here, however, the power struggle between rival generals doesn’t necessarily reflect broader divisions across Sudan, where support for a path to democracy remains high.

But there’s a geopolitical angle here too: external powers have long been drawn to Sudan’s resources and strategic location. And this time around, Egypt is close to Sudan’s military, while the Saudis and Russians prefer the RSF. If these external players try to help their preferred general prevail, things could get even messier.

Also worth noting:

• In February, Sudan's military endorsed a proposed Russian naval base which would grant Russia a foothold on the Red Sea (home to 30% of global container trade). The RSF had already endorsed the proposal.

• The ICC issued two arrest warrants for former dictator Bashir in 2009 and 2010 over alleged war crimes in Darfur. He’s still serving a jail term in Sudan for corruption after $130M in cash was found in his home.

Today’s briefing is sponsored by Babbel

🇰🇵 NORTH KOREA | WEAPONS

North Korea tests a key new missile type

Briefly: North Korea says it tested its ”most powerful” missile to date last Thursday, a claim substantiated by South Korean sources. The launch, which caused Japan to issue a brief evacuation order, likely involved a solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM).

Solid-fuel missiles are easier to store, quicker to deploy and need less logistical support, making them harder to detect. This means they can maintain a high state of readiness, with the potential to launch within minutes rather than hours.

Intrigue’s take: The world already knew North Korean leader Kim Jong-un was working to build a solid-fuel ICBM: he rocket-teased us in December and February. But few observers expected to see a successful test launch so soon.

Leaked US intel this month suggests Kim may be overstating his weapons capabilities a little. But he’s clearly still making headway. And that gives him more leverage abroad, while helping him cling to power at home.

Also worth noting:

• Thursday’s missile launch comes shortly after the US and South Korea completed their biggest military drills in 5 years.

• North Korea is one of the poorest countries in the world, but commits around a quarter of its GDP to military spending.

👀 EXTRA INTRIGUE

It wouldn’t be an Intrigue Monday without a roundup of the world’s more ridiculous news.

• In the US, Arnold Schwarzenegger accidentally filled in an active service trench he thought was a pothole.

• In the UK, a man was spotted walking a seagull on a leash.

• In Argentina, a mother asked forensic police to fingerprint her identical twins to figure out who’s who.

• Back in the UK again, a performance of The Bodyguard musical was halted when rowdy fans wouldn’t stop singing along to I Will Always Love You.

• And in Spain, an extreme athlete who lived in an underground cave for 500 days said she didn’t want to come out.

📊 CHART OF THE DAY

According to new data from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, America’s share of global arms exports grew from 33% to 40% between 2013-17 and 2018-22, while Russia’s share fell by six percentage points to 16% over the same period.

🗳️ POLL TIME!

Thursday’s poll: Do you think the economic costs of geopolitical fragmentation are worth the gains?

🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 ⛓️ Yes, decoupling from unfriendly countries must be a priority (58%)

🟨🟨🟨🟨⬜️⬜️ 🔫 No, it's like shooting yourself in the foot (39%)

⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ 🖋️ Other (write in!) (3%)

Your two cents:

•  🔫 C.C: “It's just inevitable, unlike Thanos.”

• 🖋️ E.H: “The difficult thing is that a lot depends on what type of economic position you're in – for the economically fragile third-world country I come from, I must admit that money and the suffering its loss causes is front in my mind. I'm all for ethical geopolitical decisions, but the thought of hungry neighbours might matter more.”