Xi Jinping is the most authoritarian and longest serving Chinese leader since Mao - and probably the most powerful man on earth. But what makes him tick, and what does is upbringing tell us about his behaviour today?

Joseph Torigian spent nine years researching this question. The result is The Party's Interests Comes First - a biography of Xi's father, Xi Zhongxun. Torigan sat down with Roland Oliphant to discuss what he discovered about Xi's family history, and how it's shaping China and the world today.

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TNT, the unglamorous but indispensable ingredient of modern warfare, is now in critically short supply and Britain is feeling the consequences. A new parliamentary report warns that the UK’s war-fighting readiness is being eroded not only by dwindling stockpiles but by its failure to meet Nato Article 3 obligations to maintain the capacity to resist armed attack.

The shortage of TNT is particularly alarming: Europe and the United States currently rely on a single Polish factory, a fragility that exposes the entire alliance to strategic risk. Ministers insist they are responding, with Defence Secretary John Healey outlining plans for up to 13 new British factories to produce munitions and explosives. But the pace remains slow.

In this episode, Venetia speaks to Joakim Sjöblom, CEO of Sweden Ballistics, about his bid to build Europe's next TNT plant and gets reaction from The Telegraph’s acting defence editor Tom Cotterill on how serious the crisis really is.

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More children are being killed by explosive weapons than at any other time in history, according to a major new report by Save the Children and Imperial College London.

It’s clear there has been a shift in the way wars are being fought, and children are being caught in the crosshairs. 

In this exclusive interview, Arthur and Paul ask George Graham, Executive Director for Global Impact at Save the Children, and Shehan Hettiaratchy, from the Centre for Paediatric Blast Injury Studies at Imperial College London why have wars become so much more deadly for civilians and children in particular? 

Producer: Sophie O'Sullivan

Executive Producer: Louisa Wells

Studio Operator: Meghan Searle

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America is flexing its muscles in the Caribbean and the world is holding its breath. Washington has trained its sights on Socialist-run Venezuela, and the arrival of the colossal USS Gerald Ford has sparked the biggest military buildup since the Cuban Missile Crisis. Operation Southern Spear is now under way: a dozen warships, thousands of troops, and a barrage of so-called “anti-narco” strikes that have already left scores dead. The White House insists it’s about drug traffickers, but few believe that. With President Nicolás Maduro about to be officially labelled a terrorist and Trump accusing him of heading a major cartel, the scent of regime change is hard to ignore. Maduro says America is inventing a war. So what’s really happening? Venetia is joined by former British Royal Navy officer Tom Sharpe and RUSI Senior Research Fellow Carlos Solar.

Three possible scenarios: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2025/11/13/donald-trump-venezuela-nicolas-maduro-options/

Tom Sharpe on his time fighting drug smugglers in the Caribbean: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/09/08/ive-gone-up-against-drug-smugglers-in-the-caribbean/

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The Syrian civil war raged for years, wrecked a nation, and then quietly vanished from the headlines. Last December, a jihadist faction once aligned with Al-Qaeda toppled Bashar al-Assad’s dictatorship. Their leader, al-Sharaa is now President of Syria and he met Donald Trump this week in the Oval Office, yes, really.

Al-Sharaa is calling it a “new era” for Syria, no enemies, just friends. He’s courting everyone: Russia, Israel, Iran, the Gulf, even Turkey. But can a man with blood on his hands truly change? Or is this a master of reinvention pulling off the biggest PR stunt in modern history?

So who really is Ahmed al-Sharaa? Joining Roland for Battle Lines we have Jerome Drevon, co-author of “Transformed by the People Hayat Tahrir al-Sham’s Road to Power in Syria” and The Telegraph’s very own Adrian Blomfield.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2025/11/10/ahmed-al-sharaa-syrian-president-donald-trump-white-house/

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For more than two years a vicious civil war has been raging in Sudan. It’s been defined by massacres, rapes, displacement, and starvation. 

As the UN has long said, it is one of the worst humanitarian crises of the 21st century.

Most media didn’t pay attention until Yale’s Humanitarian Research Lab published satellite images of bodies and bloody sand. Suddenly, there was hard visual evidence of the scale of the slaughter.

This week, we speak to Nathaniel Raymond, Executive Director of Yale's Humanitarian Research Lab about how satellites are being used to track wars and war crimes from space.

We also hear from Shashwat Saraf, Norwegian Refugee Council's Country Director to get an on the ground update from near El Fasher.

Producer: Sophie O'Sullivan

Executive Producer: Louisa Wells

Studio Operator: Meghan Searle

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Sanctions, nationwide protests, even Israeli airstrikes haven’t broken the Iranian regime. Could a drought finally bring the Islamic Republic to its knees?

Iran is running out of water and now the president has warned that if the rains don’t come, all of Tehran may have to be evacuated. This isn’t a war fought with bombs or bullets, it’s far more devastating. Roland Oliphant is joined by The Telegraph’s Iran correspondent, Akhtar Makoii and former Iranian politician Kaveh Madani to unpack how things got so bad and what it might mean for the regime.

Credit: Geoff Pugh/The Telegraph

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Germany is rearming, and fast. A sentence that once sent shivers down Europe’s spine is now a shocking reality. This isn’t the Germany of old; it’s a nation powering up for a new era of danger. With Putin’s war machine grinding on, Berlin’s gone from pacifist to powerhouse, pledging a staggering 3.5% of GDP to defence by 2029, outpacing the UK. So what’s behind this dramatic transformation? And is it enough to protect Europe from another Russian rampage? Venetia is joined by The Telegraph’s Berlin correspondent James Rothwell and defence expert Ulrike Franke to find out about Germany’s great rearmament.

Read Matt Oliver's deep dive into Germany's rearmament: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2025/11/02/germany-wants-to-arm-itself-to-the-teeth-is-the-world-ready/

Credit: AFP/Genya Savilov

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In Ukraine, tens of thousands of soldiers have returned from the frontlines without limbs. Most of them will require support in some form for the rest of their lives. 

But not all of those amputations are purely the result of direct hits on the battlefield. Ukraine’s Chief Military Surgeon has said the improper use of tourniquets could be responsible for as many as one in four lost limbs. 

Have medics become too reliant on the tourniquet? And what does this enormous burden of injury mean for Ukraine in the long term?

To find out, Arthur and Venetia are joined by two former military medics, Captain Rom Stevens and Eddie Chanoler. 

Did you know, you can watch this podcast? Just click here to watch on on YouTube: https://youtu.be/YWbRNvfZhFs

Producer: Sophie O'Sullivan

Executive Producer: Louisa Wells

Studio Operator: Meghan Searle

Read more about this issue:

‘Cult’ of tourniquets causing thousands of unnecessary amputations and deaths in Ukraine, say surgeons

How Ukraine rehabilitates its war wounded will define it as a nation

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Picture credit: Jose Colon/Anadolu via Getty Images

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Donald Trump’s been on a triumphant tour of Asia, shaking hands, signing peace deals, and lapping up royal treatment fit for, well, himself. From Tokyo Tower lit in red, white and blue to 250 cherry trees gifted in his honour, it was a spectacle of ego and diplomacy rolled into one. In South Korea, they even played YMCA as he strutted past a military band. Trump’s “12 out of 10” meeting with Xi Jinping was big on smiles but is it enough to combat Beijing's increasingly confident posture in the Pacific?

Plus, beyond the fireworks and photo ops, what did this Asia trip actually achieve? Were the rare earth and critical mineral deals Trump struck enough to protect Western militaries from China’s stranglehold on this key industry? Venetia is joined by Ben Bland from Chatham House and Steve Tsang from The School of Oriental and African Studies to find out.

Trump may already be losing the economic war for the Asia-Pacific: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2025/11/03/trump-may-already-be-losing-war-china-asia-pacific/

Air Force One is stuffed with golden gifts but the promises remain paper-thin: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2025/10/30/air-force-one-stuffed-gifts-trump-trade-deals-uncertain/

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