The Briefing
A pacy round-up of the day’s main news stories, anchored from London by a Monocle editor. The show features informed reporting, prescient business analysis and invaluable industry reports covering everything from technology to aviation and retail to media.
Episodes
US secretary of state Antony Blinken meets with China’s leader, Xi Jinping, TikTok’s parent company insists that it has no plans to sell the social-media company and Boeing burns through $4bn (€3.7bn). Plus: what to watch this weekend in our TV and film Friday wrap.
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Polish broadcaster TVP World will begin broadcasting in Russian, China doubles the presence of its military vessels in the Philippine exclusive economic zone, shares slump in Facebook’s parent company, Meta, and how the rise of artificial intelligence will have a lasting effect on how we work. Plus: ‘The Global Countdown’ heads to Ireland.
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We detail the US aid package approved by Congress last night, join celebrated novelist Monica Ali as she reveals the Women’s Prize for Fiction shortlist and discuss why shares in Gucci’s parent company, Kering, have plunged. Plus: we talk about Caravaggio’s last painting, “The Martyrdom of Saint Ursula”.
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UK prime minister Rishi Sunak’s bill to send illegal migrants to Rwanda has been approved in parliament – but could the courts still get in his way? Also in the programme: we have the business headlines, discuss the opening arguments of Donald Trump’s first criminal trial in New York and explore whether German and British spies for China are just the tip of the iceberg. Plus: a look at the future of Chinese-owned app T...
After the US finally approves its latest foreign-aid package for Ukraine, we discuss how Russia might respond to a seizure of its assets to help the invaded country. Meanwhile, we look to the Philippines, where the US is launching a series of military drills in the South China Sea, and hear from a former US ambassador to Kosovo. Plus: the top stories in the Americas.
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As Israel launches retaliatory strikes against Iran, we consider whether this week’s escalation has come to an end. Then: the US vetoes a United Nations Security Council resolution that would recognise Palestine as a full UN member state. Plus: why there’s a private funding effort for Ukraine in Slovakia, the latest film and TV releases and a report from Milan’s Salone del Mobile.
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We look ahead to India’s elections before voters head to the polls for the six-week-long democratic exercise on Friday. Plus: we examine Germany’s arrest of two German-Russian saboteurs, bring you the second part of our special spring edition of ‘The Global Countdown’ and head back to Milan to join the Monocle team at Salone del Mobile.
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After Western allies flock to protect Israel from Iran, we look at how Ukraine, which remains highly vulnerable to Russian missile and drone attacks, has reacted. Plus: the Council of Europe’s parliamentary assembly votes to approve Kosovo’s application for membership and a check-in from this year’s Venice Biennale.
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As Republicans in the US House of Representatives attempt to split funding to Israel and Ukraine despite Kyiv’s urgent pleas, we look ahead to Friday’s vote. Then: as Israel’s war cabinet debates how to retaliate against Iran, the regime in Tehran assesses its own capabilities. Plus: a fire breaks out at Copenhagen’s former stock exchange and the latest business news.
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As the escalation between Israel and Iran continues, we hear the latest on the ground in Jerusalem and look at the risks of contagion in the wider region. Then, to the UK, where MPs are set to vote today on the government’s controversial Rwanda bill and, finally, to New York, where Donald Trump will become the first former US president to stand trial in a criminal case. All that, plus a report from this year’s Salone del Mobile.
As Israel confirms that it is prepared to act both defensively and offensively if Iran were to attack, we look at US attempts at deterrence. Then: Olaf Scholz’s visit to China as he hopes to bolster Germany’s faltering economy. Plus: we hear about Europe’s battle with populism from the Delphi Economic Forum, as well as Paris’s new Olympic museum.
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Joe Biden hosts the first trilateral White House summit with Japan’s prime minister, Fumio Kishida, and president Ferdinand Marcos Jr of the Philippines. Then: outnumbered on the battlefield, Ukraine scraps demobilisation plans for long-serving soldiers. Plus: we sit down with Stefan Löfven, former prime minister of Sweden, to talk about Nato and more.
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We discuss exit-poll results from South Korea’s national assembly elections. Plus: Monocle’s Andrew Mueller checks in from the first day of the Delphi Economic Forum, a court rules South Africa’s former president Jacob Zuma is allowed to run in next month’s general election and highlights from the Miami Film Festival.
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What does David Cameron’s US charm offensive tell us about the UK’s foreign-policy strategy? Plus: we discuss whether Ireland’s new taoiseach, Simon Harris, will help to boost Fine Gael’s electoral prospects and why Germany’s chancellor, Olaf Scholz, has joined Tiktok.
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As hundreds of thousands of people take to the streets in more than 50 locations across Israel to protest Benjamin Netanyahu’s handling of the war, we look at the mounting pressure on the government to change its strategy. Plus: will Japan be the next country to join the Aukus security pact? And why the security of Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant is again a cause for concern.
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The latest as Israel announces that it’s opening new routes for aid into Gaza following a warning from Joe Biden that it must protect civilians. Plus: the Czech Republic warns that Russia has made “thousands” of attempts to interfere with European rail networks. Also in the programme: why three cities are vying to be the home of Josip Broz Tito’s remains.
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As Nato celebrates its 75th anniversary, Finland and Ukraine have signed a long-term security agreement. Charly Salonius-Pasternak and Olga Tokariuk discuss the new pact and Nato’s support for Ukraine. Also in the programme: how has the Italian city of Bolzano managed to largely avoid the country’s demographic plunge? Plus: the White House instructs Nasa to develop a time zone for the moon and ‘The Global Countdown’ wi...
A major earthquake strikes Taiwan. We discuss what this means for business as markets brace for a supply-chain aftershock. Plus: a look at the health of Nato as the alliance marks its 75th anniversary and the latest fashion news.
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Europe’s largest economy, Germany, is hit by new inflation figures. We examine what this means for the continent and the path of interest rates. Plus: The Hague hosts a conference on holding Russia to account for war crimes in Ukraine and Poland’s government investigates its predecessor’s use of Pegasus software to spy on its citizens. Also in the programme: what the closure of a small bookshop in Hong Kong means for t...
The last in a series of special live editions recorded at the Sustainable Cities in Action Forum at Expo City Dubai. Tom Edwards hosts a discussion on “the living city”, featuring insights from director of ESG and innovation Middle East and Africa at AECOM, Farah Naz; founder and director of Future Places, Juan Carlos Belloso; associate urban planner and Middle East sustainability leader at Arup, Ghaith Tibi; and Monoc...
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