Japan’s ruling party chooses a successor for Shinzō Abe and Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko heads to Russia looking for support. Plus: Monocle’s Chiara Rimella on the week’s culture news.

As tensions rise between London and Brussels, we ask if the UK has a Brexit strategy. Plus: the Afghan government is due to start talks with the Taliban and what we learned this week.

We look at the accusations that Donald Trump downplayed reports on Russian interference in the presidential election as well as the severity of coronavirus. Plus: why other countries might have to look to Sweden for lessons on fighting the pandemic, and the top singles in the Colombian charts.

Why this might be the time for governments the world over to rethink their approach to fighting the pandemic. Plus: a wine row between Slovenia and Croatia, and is organising the Tokyo Olympics for next year a good idea?

ABC’s Australian journalists leave China following a tense diplomatic standoff. Plus: the opposition in Belarus seeks support in Poland, Palestinian concerns about Arab-Israeli pacts and the latest business news with Bloomberg’s Yuan Potts.

The British plan to escape what was promised as part of the EU withdrawal deal with Brussels, a spat between Serbia and Russia, and a round-up of the most interesting goings-on at Helsinki Design Week.

The UK business community voices its alarm as a no-deal Brexit looks ever likelier. Also in the programme: the prospects for nationwide elections in Libya, plus what we’ve learned this week.

Would Joe Biden’s administration attempt police reform in the US? Plus: Monocle 24’s Dr Chris Smith tells us about the Russian nerve agent Novichok; Alexei Korolyov on the reopening of Vienna’s opera houses; and the best of Ukrainian pop music.

Are Islamic State militants using the coronavirus pandemic as an opportunity to regroup? Plus: an update from Finland, the latest on Japan’s leadership race and Monocle’s Nic Monisse joins us for a round-up of the week’s most interesting urbanism stories.

How the Czech senate president’s visit to Taiwan is angering Beijing; Saudi Arabia fires its top commander in Yemen; and the history of reporting in Russia from Lenin to Putin.