The Briefing Room

New weight loss drugs known commercially as Wegovy and Mounjaro have been demonstrated to have a big effect in helping people to lose weight, and have recently been approved for use in obesity treatment in the NHS in England. In total, 4.1 million people would meet the criteria to be eligible to take one of these drugs. That seems fantastic - an end to obesity in our time. The problem is can we afford these drugs without bankrupting the NHS? How badly do we need them? But will this work? Should we be more ambitious? Can this help the NHS? Or bankrupt it? Guests: John Wilding, Professor of Medicine at The University of Liverpool. Alfie Slade is Government Affairs Lead at the Obesity Health Alliance Naveed Sattar, Professor of Metabolic Medicine at the University of Glasgow. Daniel Susskind, Research Professor in Economics at King's College, London. Dr Ellen Fallows, GP and Vice-President of The British Society of Lifestyle Medicine.Presenter: David Aaronovitch Producers: Charlotte McDonald, Kirsteen Knight and Beth Ashmead Latham Sound engineers: Rod Farquhar, Neva Missirian Editor: Richard Vadon Production Co-ordinator: Gemma Ashman

In under two weeks Syrian rebels have moved through the country and taken Damascus - bringing to an end 50 years of rule by the Assad family. The country borders Israel, Lebanon, Turkey and Iraq, and in which Iran and Russia take the most active of interests. So why did the government of Bashar Al Assad fall so fast, who are HTS the rebels who toppled him, and what does it mean for the region and the world? Charles Lister, Senior Fellow and the Director of the Syria and Countering Terrorism & Extremism programs at the Middle East Institute in Washington DC. Lina Khatib, Director of the SOAS Middle East Institute. Chris Phillips, professor of international relations at queen Mary’s university, an associate at Chatham House and author of The Battle for Syria. Shashank Joshi, defence editor at The Economist.Presenter: David Aaronovitch Producers: Charlotte McDonald, Kirsteen Knight and Beth Ashmead Latham Sound engineers: Rod Farquhar, Neva Missirian Editor: Richard Vadon Production Co-ordinator: Gemma Ashman

North Korean troops are fighting Ukrainians in Russia, while Ukraine has finally been permitted to use US missiles deep into Russian territory. It’s over 1000 days since Vladimir Putin’s full scale invasion of his neighbour and the circle of those involved in the conflict seems to widen. But though the situation changes the central question doesn’t. That question being which side can best stay the bloody course of this war? Ukraine and the West or Russia and its allies? Where do things stand now? Michael Clarke, Visiting Professor in the Department of War Studies, King’s College, London and former Director of the Royal United Services Institute Elina Ribakova, Senior Fellow at Peterson Institute of International Economics in Washington DC Defence Editor of the Economist, Shashank JoshiPresenter: David Aaronovitch Producers: Charlotte McDonald, Kirsteen Knight and Beth Ashmead Latham Sound engineers: Rod Farquhar, Neva Missirian Editor: Richard Vadon Production Co-ordinator: Gemma Ashman

Our prisons are overcrowded, the Government recently released a group of prisoners early to ease the pressure. Britain seems to incarcerate more people per head of population compared to any other Western European country. Now the Government has announced there is going to be a Review of Sentencing to see what we can do to reduce the number of people in prison.Recently an eight week consultation period began, during which members of the public can send in their thoughts on how to tackle these issues.Why have prisons have become so over-crowded, and what we can do about it?John Podmore, former prison governor and prison inspector and author of Out of Sight Out of Mind: Why Britain's Prisons Are Failing Nicola Padfield, Emeritus Professor of Criminal and Penal Justice, at the University of Cambridge Catherine Heard, Director of the World Prison Research Programme, Senior Research Fellow, Institute for Crime & Justice Policy Research, Birkbeck, University of LondonPresenter: David Aaronovitch Producers: Charlotte McDonald, Kirsteen Knight and Beth Ashmead Latham Sound engineers: Rod Farquhar, Neva Missirian Editor: Richard Vadon Production Co-ordinator: Gemma Ashman