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The Briefing
A fast-paced news round-up with expert reporting, business insights, and industry updates on technology, aviation, retail, and media. Anchored from London.
Latest Episodes
A moment of truth for Volkswagen and Germany’s wider car industry
Volkswagen’s CEO Klaus Blume and unions are clashing over massive job cuts. Plus: New York Mayor Mamdani takes on Fifth Avenue. And: The Global Countdown.
Spain vows to overhaul immigration laws as the Ceuta crisis persists
The Spanish government requests emergency EU funding as the cabinet holds an extraordinary meeting over the Ceuta crisis. Then: how to fail upwards in business. And: Australia bans AI-generated music from its charts.
A ‘path to prosperity’? The US removes Syria from list of state sponsors of terrorism
Washington says that it is recognising Damascus’s positive moves to distance itself from international terrorism. Syria’s foreign minister calls the decision a “historic step”. We look at what the Trump administration’s decision means.
Andy Burnham delivers secret missile plans on Ukraine’s Independence Day
The UK prime minister is in Kyiv on his first foreign trip, boosting Ukrainian missile production and defying Russian threats. Plus: Iran “D-Day” hyperbole shrugged off by markets and the Edinburgh International Book Festival.
Myanmar’s post-coup leadership’s diplomacy tour lands in Bangkok – what does legitimacy look like?
We head to Bangkok as Myanmar’s post-coup leadership arrives for a diplomatic push. What does it mean for a government to gain legitimacy? Then: Rail Baltica brings the Baltics ever closer. Plus: Rob Bound previews ‘Monocle on Culture’.
Can Ukraine’s new defence minister Yevhenii Khmara deliver what Kyiv needs most?
President Volodymyr Zelensky is under growing pressure as popular ex-defence minister Mykhailo Fedorov calls for wartime elections. How does the scandal affect his leadership and Ukraine’s wartime morale? And can the newly confirmed Yevhenii Khmara deliver what the country needs?
How do trade routes tip the balance of geopolitical scales?
China is launching an Arctic Sea route as an alternative to the fraught Middle East shipping lanes. How would this shift global ties? Plus: will Moldova and Romania merge? Then: Libyan reggae and Lebanese city-pop with Habibi Funk.
Oman, the inadvertent gate keeper
How has Oman found itself in the firing line of the United States? And what is its motivation to reach a deal with Iran in the Strait of Hormuz? Plus: chef-turned-CEO Hugo Worsley and shoe designer Yuki Matsuda.
Can the US get the Gaza peace plan back on track?
The US pushes to revive its Gaza peace plan as Jared Kushner meets Hamas and Israeli officials. Plus: Anita Riotta previews ‘The Foreign Desk’ and Fernando Augusto Pacheco tells us about ‘Monocle Meets’.
This land is my land: how should countries resolve small territorial disputes?
As Japan slams Putin’s recent visit to the disputed Northern Territories, we discuss what history tells us about how these matters are resolved. Then: the Gulf gears up for EVs and Eurovision proposes major voting changes.
