Prince Andrew has been duped by an alleged Chinese spy, and is this milk additive to be avoided?

With Ash Sarkar and Michael Walker

Just two months before a general election, Germany finds itself in a precarious position. The European project is fragile, the country’s manufacturing innovation has stalled, and Germany’s dependence on Russian resources has become, quite obviously, disastrous.

So what will happen to this once deeply consequential world power, and what does its story tell us about the future of Europe and the upending of global power in the 21st century?

Wolfgang Münchau has a thorough understanding of this story. A writer for the FT on European and German matters for over 20 years, his new book Kaput tells us an awful lot about why Germany is in the state it currently is.

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Ed Miliband has set out the government’s plan to decarbonise the UK’s energy supply.

Plus: Tokyo’s upcoming implementation of a four-day week; and we speak to an expert about the risks of biological research.

With Michael Walker and NoJusticeMTG.

In the 2010s, we found out that we were all being watched. A series of leaks, from Wikileaks and others, revealed that our governments were conducting mass surveillance operations on their own populations. But what were the longer term consequences of those leaks? And why hasn’t something of equivalent size stepped in to replace Wikileaks since?

Stefania Maurizi is a journalist who worked with Wikileaks and Glenn Greenwald on the Edward Snowden revelations. She’s also the author of Secret Power: Wikileaks and Its Enemies.

She sat down with Richard Hames to explain how Wikileaks achieved so much, how the state tried to destroy them, and how they fought back and won.

Comments, questions, corrections? [email protected]

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Syria’s new administration has begun laying out its vision for the country’s future.

Plus: A shocking new report on the plight of children in Gaza; and we dissect the media’s blind spot.

With Dalia Gebrial and Steven Methven.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has spoken publicly for the first time since the fall of his ally, Bashar al-Assad.

With Michael Walker and Helena NoJustice(MTG)

Israel has launched hundreds of missiles into Syria since the fall of Bashar al-Assad.

Plus: A billionaire donor defects from the Tories to Reform UK; and the suspected killer of United Healthcare’s CEO is charged.

With Michael Walker and Kieran Andrieu.

[Updated file!] Moya has a theory for Ash about unhappy couples who will do anything except break up. Why are we sometimes so hesitant to pull the plug? Plus, advice for a special one dealing with guilt after the end of a relationship.

Email your missed connections and dilemmas to [email protected]

Music by Matt Huxley.

Bashar Al Assad has fled to Moscow, marking the end of his family’s 50-year dynasty in Syria.

With Michael Walker and David Wearing.

When the Taliban retook all of Afghanistan in 2021, it came as a shock to much of the West. The day after the last American soldier left, journalist and filmmaker Ibrahim Nash’at flew into Kabul to spend a year filming with the Taliban’s senior military leadership. What he found was a regime drunk on power, in control of far more territory and with better weaponry than ever – courtesy of the Americans, who left it all behind.

Ibrahim joins Ash to talk about the making of Hollywoodgate, which is currently available to watch in the UK on BBC iPlayer as part of the Storyville series.

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