The Foreign Desk

As the Philippines’ Rodrigo Duterte awaits trial in The Hague, we consider the difficulties around prosecuting individual leaders. Does it work as a deterrent for governments? And what is it like to defend one?

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Hong Kong media mogul Jimmy Lai has been sentenced to 20 years in prison. Despite having a British passport, the UK’s response has been limited. Andrew Mueller explains China’s latest blow to free press. 

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From the 1979 hostage crisis to strikes on Iran’s nuclear sites, US-Iran tensions have simmered for decades. But are Trump’s latest threats against the ayatollahs serious? Or will imminent talks in Muscat cool the discord?

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Given Trump’s recent, more combative approach to foreign policy, it was surprising to see the US extend the hand of friendship to West Africa’s military dictators this week. So what’s behind this new alliance?

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One month on from US forces seizing the now former Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro, its impact still remains unclear. Will Caracas’s new leader bring any real change? Is Trump’s aversion to foreign entanglements over?

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This week, General Johnson Olony, deputy chief of the South Sudan People’s Defence Forces, ordered troops to “spare no one”. Andrew Mueller unpacks the two-man power struggle at the top and how it continues to fuel civil war.

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‘The Foreign Desk’ reports from Nuuk as Trump’s threat of force grips Greenland. Is Nuuk closer now to Copenhagen or is independence more important than ever? Can the damage done to Nato be repaired?

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Are Donald Trump’s designs on Greenland in any way explainable? Andrew Mueller does his best to try. 

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As President Trump completes the first year of his second term, we take stock. Is there a plan underpinning the chaos – or is chaos the plan? And what will the next three years hold?

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Only Malaysia and Indonesia have threatened a ban on X unless its AI assistant, Grok, stops producing sexually explicit content. Why is the rest of the world staying silent?

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