The Foreign Desk

As the deadline for the UK leaving the European Union draws ever closer Andrew Mueller looks back on yet another wild week in British politics.

A judge in Oklahoma this week ruled that pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson has to pay $572m for its part in the state’s opioid crisis. The firm is far from the only company embroiled in this ongoing and devastating problem that’s sweeping the US. But does this ruling, and a shift in the way law enforcement deals with those hooked on prescription medicine, show a country starting to come to terms with the severity of the issue – and even the beginning of the end? Andrew Mueller is joined by Anna Lembke, Sam Quinones and Beth Macy.

Question time is a key part of some parliaments that operate under the Westminster system, allowing MPs direct access to senior members of the government. As Australia considers reforms, Andrew Mueller explains why protecting it is so important for democracy.

*Special episode in association with the Nordic Council of Ministers*

'The Foreign Desk' has teamed up with the Nordic Council of Ministers for a series of five special episodes delving deeper into topics of global importance from the region. This episode looks at sustainability in the region’s cities. What happens when a capital goes car-free? How are Swedes reacting to the Greta Thunberg phenomenon? And which Nordic city is claiming to be the world’s ‘most functional’? Michael Booth finds out how Nordic cities are planning to save the world.

Last month authorities in Moscow disqualified dozens of opposition candidates from a city council vote due in September on apparently spurious claims that many of the signatures required for their candidacy applications were forged. This triggered an unprecedented protest movement in Moscow and Russian cities, which have been met with a violent crackdown by riot police. Monocle’s Alexei Korolyov reports.

As two new anti-Ebola treatments prove effective, making the disease potentially 90 per cent survivable, we ask how close we are to completely beating the virus, what a cure could mean for ending violence in the DRC and how big a role widespread diseases still play in restricting Africa’s development. Andrew Mueller is joined by Dr Ike Anya, Dr Margaret Harris and J Stephen Morrison.

As footage of Turkmenistan’s president Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov at a forum in Avaza appears, Andrew Mueller asks: what happened to the rumours of his death?

Description: Earlier this week, the special status that Kashmir had long enjoyed within India was revoked, communication was cut off, thousands of extra troops were deployed and politicians detained. Abolishing its special status was a promise made by Narendra Modi in this year’s election but what does it mean for the people of Kashmir? Andrew Mueller is joined by Kapil Komireddi, Muzamil Jaleel, Ayesha Siddiqa and Mirza Waheed.

It is not news that white nationalism has returned to the US’s political discourse, but at least one of last weekend’s mass shootings appeared to offer further proof of how dangerous it has become. Why has a movement that had been cast to the fringes for so long made a comeback?

*Special episode in association with the Nordic Council of Ministers*

The Foreign Desk has teamed up with the Nordic Council of Ministers for a series of five special episodes delving deeper into topics of global importance from the region, the first of which looks at the gender pay gap. The Nordic countries have taken radical steps to narrow the gap but “the last mile” to parity between pay for men and women is still proving tough. Michael Booth finds out what’s next from these world leaders in gender equality.