International Intrigue

09/09/2023

When you know you’ve made it in DC. Our very own Ethan Plotkin went viral this week for his Pete tweet 🐣!

02/14/2023

Happy St Valentine’s Day!

To celebrate International Intrigue style here’s a collection of the most tender (& awkward) moments shared between world leaders.

😊 Starting off strong with Barack Obama (US) and Aung San Suu Kyi (Myanmar) in 2014.

😊Narendra Modi (India) is that relative you haven’t seen in 10 years but still insists on hugging. Left, Mark Zuckerberg (US), 2015.

😊The US and France have history, and it's on full display in this embrace between François Hollande (Fr) and John Kerry (US) in 2015.

😊Viktor Orban (Hungary) shares a loving hand kiss with Angela Merkel (Germany), in 2011.

😊 And how could we ever forget the historic hug between Kim Jong-un (North Korea) and Moon Jae-in, in 2018.

07/19/2022

In today’s briefing on the global supply chain we quoted the IMF’s Managing Director, Kristalina Georgieva, saying “It is going to be a tough 2022 - and possibly an even tougher 2023, with increased risk of recession.” 💸💰

What is the ? We’ve got you covered!

07/18/2022

Karen Miga, assistant professor of biomolecular engineering at UC Santa Cruz, has been named one of the 100 most influential people of 2022 by . 🏆

Miga and her colleagues, Adam Phillippy, Evan Eichler, and Michael Schatz, led an international team of scientists — the Telomere-to-Telomere (T2T) Consortium — to complete the first, gapless sequence of the human genome. 🧬🔬👩‍🔬

Parts of the human genome are now available to study for the first time, allowing researchers to better understand genetic diseases, human diversity, and evolution. 🧫🧪🥼

07/12/2022

The (aka the IEA - not to be confused with the International Atomic Energy Agency or IAEA) released a new report last week, detailing how China now manufactures and supplies more than 80% of the world’s solar panels. ☀️⚡️

We read the 126-page solar energy report so you don’t have to! Head to your inbox for the TLDR in today’s newsletter and here we’ve got a on the IEA itself! 🤓

07/05/2022

What do you get when you put Brazil, Russia, India, China and South America together? 🇧🇷🇷🇺🇮🇳🇨🇳🌎

An acronym for the powerful grouping of the five major emerging market economies.

06/28/2022

This week’s covers the U.S Supreme Court. What is it? What does it do? Who runs it? We’ve got you covered! 🧑‍⚖️📜👩‍⚖️

06/21/2022

The European Central Bank (ECB) has said it will hike interest rates from July to combat rising inflation in the eurozone. The era of cheap money is coming to an end after more than a decade of extremely low interest rates. 💶📈💸

Here’s a look at what the European Central Bank is and what else it is responsible for! 🧠

06/20/2022

Ana Brnabić is a Serbian politician serving as the prime minister of Serbia since 2017. She is the first woman and first openly gay person to hold the office. 🏳️‍🌈🇷🇸

In 2019, Brnabić was ranked by magazine as the 88th most powerful woman in the world and as the 19th most powerful female political and policy leader. 🏆🚀

This quotation comes from ‘National Digital Transformation: A Conversation with Serbia’s Prime Minister Ana Brnabić’ with Forbes magazine. 📚🗣

06/20/2022

Here’s some of what you might have missed in last week’s newsletters! 🌎📩

Including - 🤝🇪🇺📈🍃🛑

06/14/2022

Last week in the newsletter we did a deep dive on the being worried about Iran’s nuclear program. 🤿 Today, we’ve got a for you about the IAEA itself ☢️

06/13/2022

Happy Monday, Intriguers! It’s time again 🚀

Geraldine Batista Roman, , is a Filipina journalist and politician serving as the Representative of Bataan’s 1st since district as of 2016. She is the first transgender person elected to the Congress of the Philippines. 🏳️‍⚧️🇵🇭

She was named as one of the 100 Leading Global Thinkers of 2016 by and one of “13 Inspiring Women of 2016” list by magazine. 🏆

06/07/2022

Have you heard of the ? 🗺 We’ve got you covered with todays ! 🧠📝

06/06/2022

With the 50th anniversary of London Pride just around the corner, this comes from Peter Tatchell. 💪🏳️‍🌈

Not only has he got a human rights foundation celebrating its 10th anniversary this year, a documentary about his life and career in activism, but was also present at the first ever Gay Pride March in the U.K. that took place on 1 July 1972. 📺🏳️‍🌈🎤

05/31/2022

Last week in the regional spotlight of Southeast Asia and the Pacific in the newsletter, we wrote about the US and its new trade agreement, the Indo-Pacific Economic Agreement.

today is a what’s what and who’s who on the IPEF 📑🌎

05/30/2022

With Pride Month coming up, we’re starting a little early here with our Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir.

Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir, the first female Icelandic Prime Minister and the first openly gay head of state, uttered these words during a speech at a 2014 Pride festival. This marked one of the first calls from a head of state to make LGBTQ rights the standard worldwide. 🏳️‍🌈🌍

Bonus facts - listed her among the 100 most powerful women in the world and she was also made into a Simpsons character. Swipe to see 👉

05/24/2022

🇨🇦🇫🇷🇩🇪🇮🇹🇯🇵🇬🇧🇺🇸

In an attempt to project an image of democratic unity amongst Western and non-Western countries, Germany has invited India, Indonesia, South Africa, and Senegal to the G7 summit in the Bavarian Alps.

With the 48th summit just around the corner, today’s is here to give you the low-down on the Group of Seven.

05/17/2022

One of the big stories in today’s newsletter is about the ‘US-ASEAN Special Summit’. Officials from the US and ASEAN nations met in Washington DC to discuss the future of their relationship. 🤝🗞🚨

We’re here with a to give you the 411 on what the association is, what its objectives are and a bit of info on the ASEAN summit (not to be confused with the US-ASEAN Special Summit 🤷‍♀️)

05/10/2022

Happy Tuesday, Intriguers! ☀️You may have seen the OAS cropping up over the past couple of weeks in the daily newsletter. Notably, Nicaragua’s ambassador to the Organization of American States (OAS) denounced President Daniel Ortega’s dictatorship in an online OAS session later posted on Twitter. We’re back again with another to keep you informed and in-the-know. 🧠📚

05/09/2022

This falls during Women’s Health Week and we’re spotlighting Kris Hallenga (). 🔦

She is a columnist, the founder of breast cancer awareness charity and a motivational speaker. The Guardian called her “the woman diagnosed with cancer at 23 who convinced a generation to check their breasts”. Though the charity is U.K. based, their work is invaluable in getting people to check their chests and be informed about their personal health. 🩺🏥

05/03/2022

🌍🔦Did you see in the regional spotlight of today’s newsletter that the head of the EU’s border and coast guard agency Frontex has resigned amid criticism for human rights abuses?

Fabrice Leggeri is under investigation by the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF). 🇪🇺 Although details of his alleged wrongdoing have not been made public, for this week’s we’re giving you the run-down on OLAF itself.

What is it? How does it work? How is it structured? We’ve got it covered! 👉

04/26/2022

Which court tries individuals charged with the gravest crimes against the international community?

This week’s is about the (not to be confused with the International Cricket Council 🏏) - what it is and how it works. You may have heard about it this week as the ICC’s chief prosecutor is set to join an EU investigations team to investigate possible international crimes committed in Ukraine.

04/21/2022

Team Intrigue: Bank Holiday Camera Roll Edition 📸

Get a look at how Helen, Valentina, Aine and John spent their bank holidays! Swipe through to see where the team have been based and what they've been up to. 👉

Tbh, it's giving Mr. Worldwide. 🇦🇺 🇮🇹 🇬🇧 🇺🇸 Who would you most like to swap places with for a day?

04/19/2022

As world food prices hit an all-time high in March due in large part to the war in Ukraine, the geopolitics of food is as important as ever! 🍽 💸

Analysts are worried that sustained high prices could cause global food insecurity, which could, in turn, cause broader economic and political problems. That’s where this week’s comes in. 👉

Here’s the lowdown on the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and its main priorities. 🌾🚜

04/15/2022

This week’s roundup, minus one day! You may have missed us today, but we hope you’re enjoying some time away from your screens. We know we are!

04/12/2022

EU legislators have passed the Digital Markets Act, designed to reign in Big Tech. Chances are that you use the Big Tech Five - Google, Amazon, Apple, Meta or Amazon - almost, if not every day (that’s kind of the point of the DMA 👩‍💻). This week’s will get you up to date on what the DMA is and what its goals are. 👉

04/05/2022

This week the International Panel of climate Change are coming out with their third report on the current state of anthropogenic climate change. Spoiler alert - it’s not looking good. Here’s a quick overview of the IPCC and the reports they have published so far. The third report will be about the mitigation of climate change so the better!

03/14/2022

🌊 Former Australian Senator Larissa Waters made waves in 2017 when she breastfed her two-month old while filing a motion in Parliament. But, she doesn't see the big deal! It's all natural, after all.

Actions like Larissa's show women that they can and should be in any room they want to be. Bring your whole self to work, and your baby, too!

03/03/2022

Our daily coverage of the and crisis (sadly) continues. We update you on military developments, political considerations, and the potential ramifications of Western .

Here's the tl;dr on the three scenarios Putin might accept:

1. Ukraine gives up Crimea, Luhansk and Donetsk, demilitarises, and gives security assurances. This is dismissed as unrealistic.

2. Ukraine is carved apart. The western regions become European, with the rest comprising "New Russia" and "Small Russia".

3. The last scenario imagines that, owing to a catastrophic war, Ukraine ceases to exist. It is subsumed by Romania, Hungary and Poland, and of course Russia.

Get the rest here: https://daily.internationalintrigue.io/f6d3u7b0u4

 Hi Intriguer. According to one translation of Proust's novel In Search of Lost Time, the author observes the French mood during World War I:

02/22/2022

Does the cost to heat your flat seem to go up and up each month? What might be causing it? This week's explores how OPEC's oil target-to-output ratio is not quite hitting the 🎯 and what that means.⠀
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