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UBS Narrator
Craft matters in small ways like how a coffee is brewed, and in not so small ways like how your money is cared for. Which is why for 160 years, UBS has elevated banking to a craft, tailoring unique strategies that combine human expertise with the latest technologies, all happening across 24 time zones and and 12 key financial hubs. With you at the heart of it all, UBS advice is our craft.
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Georgina Godwin
You're listening to the Globalist, first broadcast on 30th March 2026 on Monocle Radio. The Globalist in association with U. Hello, this is the Globalist broadcasting to you live from Midori House in London. I'm Georgina Godwin. On the show ahead, we'll begin by joining our Guelph correspondent to catch up with the latest from the war in the Middle East. Then Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky was in Saudi Arabia.
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Jacob Parakilis
I think that in Russian interest to help Iranians and I not believe I
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Natasha Linstadt
know that they share information.
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Georgina Godwin
We'll examine how Kyiv and Riyadh could work together to deepen security ties. We'll cross to our Zurich studio to have a flip through the front pages. And then we'll hear how the US Vice president has won a straw poll to take the top, top job at the CPAC conference this weekend. Then to Jakarta, where Indonesia's become the first Southeast Asian country to enforce a ban on social media for under 16s.
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Philippe Asis
Plus, this is the first time that we are doing a show in the public space which will be in the Fadi Alima Avenue. It has like 500,000 people passing by every day.
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Georgina Godwin
We'll be in Brazil to hear from cultural entrepreneur Philippe Asis, founder of Eberto and the exhibition that brings architects spaces to life. And finally, just prior to the Artemis 2 mission around the moon, we'll get the latest news from space. That's all ahead here on the Globalist. Live from London. First, a look at what else is happening in the news. Pope Leo has condemned leaders who wage war, saying God rejects the prayers of those with blood on their hands. As tensions also fled in Jerusalem. Jerusalem over access to a major Christian holy site. Myanmar's military leader Ming Ong Khliang has been nominated for a senior political role in a parliamentary process set to choose the country's next president following a widely criticized election. And French authorities have arrested three people after foiling a suspected bomb plot near the bank of America's headquarters in central Paris. With investigators examining possible links to wider geopolitical tensions. Do stay tuned to Monacle Radio throughout The day for more on those stories. Now, the conflict centered on Iran widened over the weekend. Yemen's Houthi forces fired ballistic missiles at Israel, opening a new front while Iran struck major industrial targets in Bahrain and the UAE in what looks like a deliberate escalation against Gulf economies. At the same time, Pakistan brought together Saudi, Turkish and Egyptian ministers in Islamabad and is positioning itself as a channel for possible U S Iran talks. On top of this, there are reports that Washington is preparing options for limited ground operations inside Iran despite public signals that this should remain a short contained campaign. Well, from Dubai I'm joined now by Inzima Rashid, who's Monocle's Gulf correspondent. Hindsi, it's always lovely to speak to you. What's changed over this weekend?
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Inzima Rashid
Yeah, nice to speak to you, Georgina. Look, on one hand, when you've got talks taking place, as we saw, as you mentioned, the foreign ministers of those countries in Islamabad discussing things with the Pakistan Foreign Ministry and the Prime Minister, you've got potential breakthroughs of negotiations maybe taking place, the Pakistani Foreign Ministry saying that the US And Iran could have discussions in the coming days. Then on the other hand, you've got increased fighting, the levels of fighting, explosions, bombardments around this region are increasing. There has been an uptick of Iranian missile fire and drone fire into the Gulf countries, but there's also been a vast uptick of Israeli and US Attacks inside Iran as well. Last night I was on the phone to an ambassador inside Tehran. We were talking for about 10 minutes before there was a huge explosion sounds in the background. And he said that that was around the fourth day in a row where Tehran, and particularly the heart of Tehran had consistent bombardment. Obviously he was incredibly scared. We let him go and get to some form of safety. But Israel has upped its campaign and they have done ever since. These kind of negotiations and discussions or talks of discussions have been taking place. So it seems that, you know, despite what the President is saying, despite what President Trump is saying about talks are going well and we are in discussion with Iran, it seems that Israel is specifically upping its campaign, but also targeting some energy infrastructure, steel infrastructure as well civilian infrastructure inside Iran, despite the fact that the President has said that shouldn't happen. But then also as you mentioned, this war expanded geographically but also in its in terms of complexity as well, because enter the Houthi rebels, these guys inside Yemen who are essentially backed by Iran and backed by Iran militarily as well. They essentially kind of got the green light from Iran to join this conflict after there was Heavy Israeli bombardment late on Friday. And so these guys are now involved in this conflict. And essentially what they could do is. Is. Well, we've already seen them fire a barrage of missiles into Israel, but what they could do is block off a very particular strait, a very particular waterway, which we've already seen happen with the Strait of Hormuz, with the Iranian military keeping control of that. But the Houthi rebels in Yemen could also hold this strait inside the Red Sea, which would just add even more pressure to the global economy, which we know is already struggling.
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Georgina Godwin
Georgina, and from where you are in Dubai, what more can you tell us about Iran targeting Gulf infrastructure and what that means?
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Inzima Rashid
Well, as I mentioned, look, over the last few days, it's really ramped up. The number of ballistic missiles, the number of drones heading into the UAE keeps on increasing. And remember as well, the UAE has been disproportionately targeted in this Iranian campaign to target the Gulf and retaliate towards the Gulf entities. So, look, they've hit, over the weekend, aluminium sites here in the UAE as well as Bahrain. They've continued to target the airport in Kuwait, which I think has been hit for a sixth time. Now, they've also hit a desalination site inside Kuwait as well. We saw a couple of days ago there was a US plane, a US jet, that was hit in Saudi Arabia as well. So the Iranian attacks are managing to penetrate some of the very, very strong Gulf defense mechanisms. But, look, patience here is running thin, Georgina, because you've got these Gulf nations who have pretty much just use their own defence mechanisms to intercept these weapons, but how long can they really do that for in terms of numbers of how many defence mechanisms they do have? And I know you'll be talking a bit about President Zelensky's visit to the Gulf, this charm offensive to the Gulf, where he's been selling some of these defense tactics to the Gulf nations, but also just patience. How long can they actually wait? Because the UAE is now actively saying that they need a change of regime inside Iran. There was a senior minister within the UAE government who said to me that a change of regime inside Iran is what we need. They can't just have a ceasefire. There needs to be some sort of conclusive ending. We know that Saudi Arabia has been pushing the US to finish off the job. And also now, from my sources inside Qatar, which I really did not expect, Qatar, it seems, are preparing to potentially join this conflict and actively get involved in this war. It feels that the sentiment there is that patience is very much Running thin. And they also need to get involved. So, look, we're at a very precarious position right now where you've got the Gulf nations who are feeling the effects of this conflict economically. We're seeing many tourists not coming anymore to the likes of the uae. We're seeing people who are residents here leave as a result, and we're seeing the huge economic impacts of that. And now they very much could get involved in this conflict militarily, which would really take it to a new level.
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Georgina Godwin
And insi. Finally, and in brief, how seriously should we take the reports that the US Is preparing for ground operations in Iran? I mean, some in the administration have completely denied it. We know that there are thousands of US Troops in the region, and we also know that they are talking very much about an invasion, perhaps of Kharg Island. Why is that important? And why does it make sense as a US Target?
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Inzima Rashid
Yeah, I think if you followed this conflict from the very beginning, you know, to take everything that President Trump says not just with a pinch of salt, but with an absolute rock of it. And so I think, you know, we have to. We have to take what he said with a bit of salt, but also, but also be serious about what he said as well, because he has sent troops to this region. There are thousands on the way as well. We've seen the arrival of USS Tripoli. This is an amphibious ship which can go underwater, can be used in some form of invasion of the likes of Strait of Hormuz to try and take control there, to try and get oil passing through that waterway once again. But also he's sending the 82nd Airborne paratroops. These guys were used in the evacuation of Afghanistan. They were also used in the first few days of the war in Ukraine. And essentially they can parachute down onto enemy territory and attack, take control of territory. And Carg island is one of those potential options for the President and for Israel to take control of. Why would that be important? Well, because Carg island is essentially the backbone to the Israeli energy economy. Around 90% oil storage on that island. Iranian, sorry, Iranian energy. Around 90% of Iran's oil is currently on that island. And so if there is any control by the US And Israel on that island, then it would essentially be putting the knee on the neck of Iran's economy, and that would be detrimental, crippling to the millions of people inside Iran. So, yeah, I think a ground invasion is very much possible, but it's very hard to see how all of this increase of military action, the fighting increasing, still stands Side by side with potential conversations being led by Pakistan. It's a very precarious and I think a very dangerous week ahead for this conflict.
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Georgina Godwin
Insi, stay safe. That's Inzaman Rashid, Monocle's Gulf correspondent in Dubai. This is is the Globalist. It's 9:12 in Kyiv, that's 7:12 here in London. The Middle east and Ukraine are becoming connected through drone warfare. Volodymyr Zelenskyy was in Saudi Arabia last week as part of a wider Gulf push offering counter drone expertise as concerns grow that Russia is feeding upgraded battlefield tested drone technology back to Iran. Well, I'm joined now by Jacob Parakelis, research leader for Rand, Europe's Defence and Security Research Group. Jacob, lovely to speak to you again. Tell us what Zelenskyy was doing in Saudi Arabia and what he's trying to build with Gulf partners.
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Jacob Parakilis
So what the Ukrainians are offering to the Saudis and other GCC countries is drone interceptors which are essentially very, very small, sort of FPV style drones. These are the little drones, the ones that are about the size of a laptop computer, say and you see the battlefield footage from Ukraine of them being used usually on strikes against ground targets, tanks, bunkers, that kind of thing. What the Ukrainians figured out because they were being bombarded by an increasing number of these Iranian designed Russian operated shahed, or to use the Russian term, Garon drones is that those are so prolific, they're so numerous that you need a very cheap way of knocking them down. And you can do that because they fly quite low and quite slow with something as simple as a machine gun mounted on the bed of a pickup truck. But you need to be in the right place in the right time. And if instead you build a very fast FPV drone, you can intercept a shahed with it and destroy it. You can also use as the same thing against attack helicopters and other low, slow flying aerial targets. And that's much, much cheaper than using an air defense missile which can cost tens or hundreds or even millions of dollars. So what the Iranians, sorry, what the Ukrainians have done is develop the system, not only the actual interceptor but the command and control infrastructure, the network that detects and moves units or gives units orders to move into the right place to employ these things to knock down shaheds in the enormous numbers in which the Russians have been sending them into Ukrainian territory.
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Georgina Godwin
And I mean, as we were just hearing from Insi, of course there is a danger that the Gulf nations are running out of interceptors. So could this Ukrainian technology be exported to the Gulf and could it be monetized to help Kyiv?
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Jacob Parakilis
Yes, absolutely. The Ukrainians for a long time weren't exporting any of their own homegrown military technology because they needed it all for their own battlefield. But one thing that they came to discover and that, that we found in our own research there, was that the Ukrainian industry, which has spun up so quickly and so comprehensively to accomplish battlefield tasks, can actually produce more if it can export, because the Ukrainian government's ability to fill their order books is not as strong as it could be. The Ukrainian government obviously facing severe financial pressures from the war. And what Ukrainian industry said was, look, if we can sell some of these things overseas, we can build more infrastructure, we can build more, and then we can offer better terms. So the same money that bought you 1000 interceptors at our current production rates might buy you 1500 if you allow us to export. So the Ukrainian government has been sort of progressively relaxing export bans, and they're beginning to see that these battle tested interceptors and other technologies are not just a potential form of income, but a form of defense diplomacy to build ties with countries which have been maybe a little bit more on the fence with regards Russia's war against Ukraine.
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Georgina Godwin
And what do we know about Russia supporting Iran's drone program?
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Jacob Parakilis
So it's a really interesting one because the Shahed is originally an Iranian design. It comes out of this Iranian attempt to build its own defense infrastructure based on the fact that after the revolution they had a very large military, mostly equipped with American and British and French technology, predominantly American. And of course, after the revolution that all stopped. So they've had to try to keep this 70s era American technology working while also building up their own stock of technology. And so they had the idea, because ballistic missiles are expensive and cruise missiles are expensive, that if you built something that could just do the job of a cruise missile very cheaply, you could have what is an attack drone. What is a long range attack drone, except fundamentally a way to do strategic bombing on the cheap? And Russia at the beginning of its war in Ukraine didn't think that they needed it. They thought they would overrun Ukraine in about three days. And as we know, that didn't happen. And so they went casting around as their armories were progressively depleted, they went casting around for ways to make it more affordable to continue their invasion in the long term. And the Iranians said, hey, we've got just the thing for you. Now the Russians have progressively upgraded the Shahed. They have given it more powerful engines so it can fly higher and faster. They've given it all kinds of sensors and two way data links so it can adopt more complicated paths, so it can fly around air defenses. And they are in turn beginning to export some of those developments back to the Iranians. So it's a really interesting and also quite terrifying set of developments occurring in the heat of ongoing conflict.
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Georgina Godwin
And Jacob, what would a meaningful connection between Saudi Arabia and Ukraine indicate for both partners in each conflict?
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Jacob Parakilis
Well, I think, I mean, there's a diplomatic angle which as I've said, the Ukrainians have gotten fairly robust diplomatic support. I mean, there have been some things that Ukrainians have wanted that they haven't gotten or haven't gotten immediately. But in general they've gotten robust diplomatic support from Europe. Beyond Europe, the picture is a little bit more complicated. Countries have either not condemned Russia's invasion or condemned it, but not actually taken any further steps or continued to welcome Russian investment in ways that I think the Ukrainians find contrary to their national interests. So in some ways it's a prototype. If the Ukrainians can say, hey, let us help you solve a pressing tactical challenge that you have that's actually impacting your economy and the lives of your citizens, then that's a real and meaningful good that they are offering to that country, which might buy them more support politically in the broad term. And also it demonstrates that Ukrainian battlefield technology is not just applicable on the plains and forests and rivers of Eastern Europe. It's also viable as a solution in other contexts against other types of enemies.
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Georgina Godwin
Jacob, thank you very much indeed. That's Jacob Parakilis of Rand Europe. Now, still to come, who do you
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Jacob Parakilis
prefer in the Republican primary?
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Georgina Godwin
J.D. vance at 53%, Marco Rubo at 35%. Members of the Conservative Political Action Committee, or CPAC in Texas make J.D. vance the 2028 front runner. More on that later. This is the globalist
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UBS Narrator
craft is a matter of perspective, a unique outlook, an obsessive attention to detail. With UBS's Chief Investment Office House View, we're focused on identifying the latest investment opportunities and market risks to help you achieve your financial goals so you get the big picture broken down into thought provoking insights delivered daily and curated by over 200 globally connected, locally active analysts. UBS banking is our craft.
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Georgina Godwin
Now let's continue with today's newspapers and to do that we're crossing over to 90 Dufstrasse in Zurich. That's our studio and cafe there, where Noel Salmi, who's a travel, culture and sustainability writer, is Standing by. Noel, hello to you.
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Noel Salmi
Hello, Georgina.
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Georgina Godwin
Let's talk about this story that is being reported in both the Guardian and the Financial Times. They're saying that the EU has offered the UK the possibility of an emergency break in the event that too many young people arrive in Britain as part of the Youth Mobility scheme. This is a scheme that's been negotiated between Brussels and London. Tell us more on that.
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Noel Salmi
Yes. So the Youth Mobility scheme would be part of these ongoing negotiations that are happening between the EU and the UK to re. Engage. As you know, Georgina, this is a key part of Sir Keir Starmer's government's efforts to boost the economy and which also involves increasing trade in some areas between Brussels and London, between the regions. And so the Youth Mobility scheme is the idea of giving youth, young people visas for two years, youth being aged 18 to 30. There's some ongoing schemes that the UK has now and in some cases that age is up to 35. However, so this, the idea of the Youth Mobility Scheme is that it is. Would allow tens of thousands of youth to work in each other's countries and it's part of rebuilding this goodwill. But the UK wants a hard cap on this number, which is a little bit frustrating to EU officials who don't see this as a migration issue, which is how it's being treated by the uk. So Brussels has proposed a method of managing these flows as a way to say, okay, we will take a look at these flows and we can put a stop on it once we recognize that maybe there's too many people flooding the uk. So that is what's being worked on right now. So far, that has been a sticking point. So in 2024, the UK granted 24,400 youth mobility visas to people from several non EU states coming Australia, Canada, New Zealand and South Korea. But even more UK citizens, over 68,000 are estimated to have left to these countries. So there's this 44,000 person kind of gap there. And that's a number that the UK is thinking they would like to cap the number at. So that is sort of ongoing.
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Georgina Godwin
Now let's return to where you are, Switzerland, and this story that mobile phones worth millions of francs are stolen and they end up in Algeria.
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Noel Salmi
Yes. So you might, you know, you might want to fault Swiss residents for thinking that their country is so safe they can leave their phone lying around, which is what happened with one person, Hannah, who was enjoying the Limmat river here in Zurich on a hot summer day and left her phone in her backpack. And when she Returned her backpack was gone with all the contents. And she thought, this can't be happening, not in Zurich. So she found her backpack and a bunch of clothes nearby, but the iPhone and the other valuables were missing. So she, because she is a tech product manager, decided to search where her iPhone was. And she had found that it was first in Basel, two days later in Annecy, then in Marseille, and after a week, it had landed in Algeria. It turns out that thousands of phones are stolen from Switzerland every year, and only 11% of pickpocketing cases are actually solved in Switzerland. So these phones go missing. The interesting thing is, of course, as you know, iPhones have an activation lock, so you can't access even things like the camera in some cases without your Apple password. So here is where a lot of phishing takes place. Hannah's emergency contact was her dad. He received a message, supposedly from Apple, saying that her iPhone, her lost iPhone, was online and saying that she could view the location there. So she went in, he alerted her, she checked in, and everything looked completely legit with the logo, with the design, everything matched, and she thought it was Apple and she gave her password and pretty quickly realized what a mistake it was. So. So, yeah, so this is one way that they make some money off of. Off of the safety of Switzerland.
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Georgina Godwin
Well, let's stay with those mobile phones because the US has obviously banned mobile phones, as have many people in classrooms, but now some of them are removing computers from schools too, which seems extraordinary. Tell us more.
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Noel Salmi
Yes, well, so, yes, that's right. Some U.S. schools have banned cell phones to a lot of success. And.
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Georgina Godwin
I'll let you deal with your correspondence.
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Noel Salmi
No, I'm really sorry about that.
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Georgina Godwin
Yes, I can hear you on the radio speaking.
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Noel Salmi
Speaking of interrupting cell phones. So cell phones are interrupting the attention of students in schools. And it was quite successful at a school in Wichita, Kansas, when they banned cell phone use. Attention went up. Kids are playing, spending more time actually listening to their teachers, and even bullying went down. But then what happened is that school administrators realized that this, the bullying and the inattention simply went to the laptops that kids had at school. For many years, Apple, Google, and Microsoft have fought intensely in the US to provide schools with inexpensive laptops to get kids hooked onto their operating systems. And in this case, the school had $225 Chromebooks for every child. And they realized that kids were playing games at home. They were using Zoom Calls and Gmail accounts to continue the bullying online. And so the school in December said, okay, all Chromebooks that you had at home, bring them to school, they're going to stay locked in special crates at school and we will use them for SC and we will use them only when necessary. And the results have been great. Teachers are no longer spending all of their time policing kids and it's worked quite well.
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Georgina Godwin
I mean, I see a related story that Norway slipped from its former place near the top of the international rankings for reading and that is attributed to a calamitous decline in literacy levels for the introduction of iPads into schools. So from 2016, all five year olds were given, now that generation, 15,000 pupils a year leave primary school unable to read properly. So what people thought was a great thing, a great advance for the classroom, you know, in fact happened to be the Trojan horse. Let's move on quickly and have a look at this extraordinary story about three paintings being stolen and what on earth you might do with such recognizable works.
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Noel Salmi
You know, that's a really good question. What do you do with that? Yes. So the Italy's Carabinieri announced that last week four masked individuals had broken into the villa of Magnani Rocca foundation near Palma and had stolen three incredibly valuable paintings. They are the Fish, a 1917 painting by Renoir, Still Life with Cherries by Paul Cesar, and Odalisque on the Terrace by Henri Matisse. And they did it within three minutes. So this was incredibly well planned. They knew exactly what they were doing. And it's an interesting question, what do you do with those paintings? A lot of times they are used as collateral by criminal organizations. They're kept in storage, they're used as collateral or they are sometimes sold quite cheaply off the market because. And in private collections because obviously they can't be shown to the public again. And sometimes they're never seen again. In fact, there is a painting by Caravaggio that was stolen in 1969 that has never been seen again.
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Georgina Godwin
And it's extraordinary to think that possibly these are being stolen to order, that people just have them in their homes and the only people that can see them are themselves. It's an odd concept.
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Noel Salmi
It really is. Yeah. You really wonder who are you showing this to?
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Georgina Godwin
Noel, thank you very much indeed. That's Noel Salmi who is in our Zurich studio. And if you are in Zurich, the coffee in our cafe is fabulous. This is the Globalist on Monocle Radio. Now here's what else we're keeping an eye on today. Pope Leo has condemned leaders who wage war, saying, God rejects the prayers of those with blood on their hands as The Iran conflict enters its second month. His remarks came as Israeli authorities briefly blocked a senior Catholic cardinal from entering the Church of the Holy Sepulchre before reversing the decision after international pressure. Myanmar's military leader Ming Ng Hlang has been nominated as vice presidential candidate in a parliamentary process that will select the country's next president. The move follows a widely criticised election held amid ongoing conflict and is seen by critics as an attempt to formalise military control. And French authorities have arrested three people after foiling a suspected bomb plot near the bank of America's headquarters in central Paris. Investigators say a device containing flammable liquid and an ignition system was placed near the site and are examining possible links to wider geopolitical tensions, though no connection has been confirmed. This is the Globalist. Stay tuned. Now it is 1:31am in Dallas, 8:31am in Zurich. As at the Conservative Political Action Conference, or CPAC, this weekend, U.S. vice President J.D. vance topped the 2028 straw poll, though with slipping support, whilst Marco Rubio, the Secretary of State, surged into second place. Meanwhile, debates over Iran and the US involvement abroad are exposing a deep split within the Republican Party, particularly between older and young voters. So joining me now is Natasha Linstadt, who's professor of government at the University of Essex. Natasha, thanks once more for being with us. Tell us what CPAC is and why it matters within US politics.
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Natasha Linstadt
So it's a convention of conservative policymakers and politicians and individuals. This year it was held in Texas. It. It sometimes does hold some sway over the direction of the more conservative movement. I don't think you can take their straw polls as a bellwether of what is going to happen in terms of the nomination. But this is where really key figures in the conservative movement gather. And there have been years in the past where they were really united and seem to be on the same page about different things. And then there have been years where you could see the divisions. So in some way it gives us some indication of what kind of ruptures there are within the Republican Party or with the conservative movement more generally.
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Georgina Godwin
And talk us through those ruptures. I mean, is it mostly over Iran and is it intergenerational?
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Natasha Linstadt
Right. I mean, so to some extent in the. It was intergenerational, but really a lot of the conservative movement has now gotten behind Trump firmly and we can see this, at least in polls of the American public, that, that even though the Iran war is very, very unpopular, there's still pretty strong support for Trump, you know, over 70%. Some polls showing 80%. I think one of the big ruptures, though, is about the Iran war, at least within more important people in the conservative movement, like people who might be attending CPAC amongst, like podcasters that have a lot of influence and sway. And so, you know, there are those that are really about American isolationism. And that's why we see the likes of Marjorie Taylor Greene, a representative who from in Congress, who decided to resign over these types of issues. And the Epstein files. The Epstein files, of course, is another one of the divisive issues. But JD Vance hasn't been that vocal defending the Iran war, and that's likely because he is not in favor of it. So we see that there are those within the conservative movement that don't want to be interventionists at all, have talked about no more wars. And that was one of the major pieces of Trump's campaign. And some of them are disappointed about
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Georgina Godwin
what's going on right now and how does that divide up between younger and older voters?
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Natasha Linstadt
So it tends to be more younger voters are against the conflict. But like I said, it's a surprisingly high number of Republicans that are still in favor of it. So overall, the polls are showing somewhere between 25% and 40% approve. But for the most part, you have a majority, a strong majority that disapprove of this conflict. And that is is really unusual for a president to go into a conflict with that kind of disapproval rating. And these types of things get worse over time as the conflict goes on. But he's been able to convince a lot of the Republicans and conservatives more generally that this is has to be done. This is about getting rid of nuclear weapons, that that's what we said we were going to do, that this is not even really a conflict.
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Noel Salmi
Conflict.
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Natasha Linstadt
They're not even calling it a conflict. They're calling it an excursion. So we see that there still is a lot of support for Trump and what he's doing, but he is starting to have some cracks in that support as people are feeling that this is getting really expensive. Over a dollar more at the gas pump in, in the US At a time when the cost of living is already really bad as well. They're seeing that they're going to send out 50, 50,000 troops in the Middle East. Normally there's about 40,200Americans were wounded, some 15 were killed. And there's worried there's going to be boots on the ground. And when you poll Republicans, will you support this conflict if there are boots on the ground and you get only a little bit More than half that would support that.
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Georgina Godwin
And so finally, Natasha, I mean, what would you say that suggests the direction that the Republican Party is moving in?
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Natasha Linstadt
They're still firmly under Trump. I think the, the key is what's going to happen in the midterms. And if they get absolutely clobbered in the midterms. And there was a time when this happened before and they almost dumped Trump, there was so much sort of chatter and movement to not be under Trump's thumb, and then somehow he was able to regather it. But if they really, really get beaten badly in the midterms, then you're going to see what would be a more significant rupture.
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Georgina Godwin
Natasha, thank you very much indeed. That's Natasha Linstead, professor of government at the University of Essex. And this is, this is the Globalist. On Saturday, the Indonesian government began enforcing new regulations restricting social media use for children under 16. It marks the first large scale move of its kind in Southeast Asia, targeting major platforms including YouTube, TikTok and Instagram. Well, I'm joined now by Randy Mulianto, who is a journalist and founder and the head writer of Red Voice Indonesia. Randy, it's lovely to have you on the show. Why did Indonesia introduce this regulation?
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Randy Mulianto
Hello, Georgina, thank you for having me. Well, Indonesia's communications and digital minister said the move aims to protect children in the country's digital space and strengthen their data protection. You know, making the nation the first in Southeast Asia to enact such bans. You know, eight platforms are affected. You know, there are phase Facebook, Instagram threads, YouTube, TikTok x Roblox, and the live streaming app Beagle Life. I mean, according to the government, these platforms are considered high risk. The move, I mean, this one was based on a March 2025 government regulation. You know, it was implemented on Saturday, as you just mentioned earlier. So this news doesn't happen out of nowhere.
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Georgina Godwin
So how will the government monitor this, though?
- [38:28]
Randy Mulianto
That's right. So the minister said on Friday that every business entity operating in Indonesia must adhere to existing laws. So there's the commitment from the government side. So these tech companies will need, you know, to comply. The minister also said on Friday that, I mean, Accent, Big O Life have fully complied. For instance, Access changed its minimum age limit to 16 and will begin identifying and deactivating accounts below that age. Approved starting Saturday. And Bigo Live, the live streaming app, has adjusted the age limit to 18 and above, adding that it will use AI and human supervision to strengthen the moderation. So the minister added that her ministry will monitor all platforms daily and that the government will impose penalties on uncooperative platforms. Well, it's indeed a huge task for the government given Indonesia's large population. You know, it has around 70 million children, and it has a total population of about 280 million. So the policy here, I mean, the keyword here is that it will be implemented gradually, not drastically.
- [39:29]
Georgina Godwin
And was there much debate before the policy was introduced?
- [39:34]
Randy Mulianto
Right. I mean, like every other policy, you know, here and there, this policy also has own this pros and cons. The government argues that this policy is necessary to protect millions of Indonesian children from gadget addiction, cyberbullying, and exposure to other forms of harmful content. And they also say that this regulation is. Is not meant to keep children distant from tech, but to ensure they grow in a safer and healthier digital environment. But that's one side of the story. And the other side of the story is the fact that how some impacted users, I mean, these children, you know, as quoted in the media, for instance, say the ban would limit their access to such platforms. So not everyone fully supports this move. And you have to remember that, you know, some parents might be confused at first because, I mean, Indonesia, although it's Southeast Asia's largest population, but it has very differing, you know, degrees of tech adoption across its 38 provinces. So we need to wait and see what comes out of this policy.
- [40:31]
Georgina Godwin
And I wonder how you put the genie back in the bottle. I mean, there must be a lot of children who are eligible for this who have had access up until now. How can you suddenly cut that off?
- [40:43]
Randy Mulianto
Yeah, I mean, eventually, it's a mammoth task. I mean, for the government and these tech platforms, platforms, you have to remember that, you know, Indonesia's population comprises a fourth of them are children, you know, 70 million out of 280 million. So I think this will indeed be a huge task. I mean, but the government needs to ensure that this will be done. I mean, at least from the way I see it. I mean, the commitment is there. I mean, it's been discussed for months. But I think it depends on how cooperative these tech platforms are, you know, so I think perhaps Indonesia needs to see what Australia has done, for instance, and obviously it needs to be very strict in terms of how it imposes penalties and sanctions on these platforms. Indeed.
- [41:23]
Georgina Godwin
And do you think that Indonesia can expect any backlash from the companies affected, like TikTok or Instagram?
- [41:30]
Randy Mulianto
I think it really depends on how serious, how interested these tech companies want to access the Indonesian market. Right. After all, Indonesia is Southeast Asia's largest market, Southeast Asia's 11 countries, including Indonesia. So I think if these tech companies want to, you know, have a larger share in Indonesia's market, I think it needs to adhere to the government's rules. It needs to, you know, these companies need to play by their rules. Right. So I think whoever wants to tap into the market really needs to consider the government's words more seriously.
- [42:03]
Georgina Godwin
And do you think that we'll see other countries in Southeast Asia follow suit?
- [42:09]
Randy Mulianto
Yeah, I mean, Indonesia is the first in the region to enact these bans, but I mean, I don't think it's right to generalize the move because, you know, Southeast Asia is home to 11 countries. You know, each state has, you know, different degrees of economy and tech adoption, some better than Indonesia, some worse than Indonesia. But I think for Indonesia's neighbors in the region, they'll definitely, you know, watch this space closely and perhaps it would inform their policymaking in their respective countries.
- [42:35]
Georgina Godwin
I mean, I see that some companies or some platforms say that they're considering an offline mode for, for, for younger users. How would that work? Right.
- [42:46]
Randy Mulianto
I mean, one of those examples is, you know, Roblox. I mean, you know, they're considering an offline mode for users under the age 13 years of age. I mean, it's, it's interesting because eventually, I mean, Roblox relies on online interactions, right? So I think for, for Roblox to do such a move, I think they really see the importance of the Indonesian market. I mean, they see the number of, of Indonesian young users. So that's one of the examples that these platforms are trying to adapt to the ban.
- [43:17]
Georgina Godwin
And finally, Randy, how is this being reacted to by the media and by the people of Indonesia?
- [43:25]
Randy Mulianto
Right, so the media has been covering this issue since it affects the, you know, the population. It's a, it's a major issue as well. I mean, the national media outlets are covering what the minister said, you know, the comms and digital minister said. And some foreign media outlets are also covering this news because of Indonesia's huge population and how it impacts global tech firms. So it indeed has been, you know, attracting some attention as well from the media.
- [43:51]
Georgina Godwin
Randy, thank you very much. That was Randy Mulianto speaking to us from Jakarta. This is the globalist on Monocle Radio,
- [44:03]
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- [44:38]
Georgina Godwin
And now we head to Brazil to speak with cultural entrepreneur Philippe Asis, who's founder of Alberto, an exhibition that brings to life architectural gems and transforms them with plenty of art and design. The fifth edition features Eduardo Longa's Casabola. Monocle Radio's Fernando Augusto Pacheco spoke with Felipe to find out a bit more about Alberto.
- [45:01]
Philippe Asis
This is edition number five, and we've been doing these shows for the past three years and a half only. So the first one at the Nehemiah house, I think it was a very disruptive project, because nobody was expecting and nobody even knew about this, this house signed by Nehemiah here in Sao Paulo, because it's the only one remaining the city. The second house, which was Villanovar Chiga's project, I think it was also surprising in a way, because Villanova Archigas, everyone knows he's the most recognized architect of this Scola Paulista, which means this Sao Paulo school of architecture. But nobody knew this project, which was a real masterpiece of his production. And the third edition we hosted in two different houses at the same time. One was Tomio Taki's house, projected by his son Julio Taki, and the other one was completely unexpected, was Shuming Silveira's house. She designed the Brazilian telephone cabin, which is called Orelion. And it's very well known here in the country by other generations, not Gen Z, maybe. And the fourth edition we went. We did the first international project of Alberto at Maison La Roche, projected by Le Corbusier. And at the time we presented a few artworks in dialogue with this story, with this relationship of Le Corbusier and the Brazilian modernist architects like Oscar Niemayer, Lucio Costa, Afonso Hage and many others. And this one will be surprise again, as we are doing at the Bow House. The Bow House doesn't fit in any type of architecture. Specifically, as our curator Fernando Serapion once mentioned, that as Eduardo Longo never followed any masters and never and will leave no followers, which is kind of a disruptive way of thinking and radical.
- [47:14]
Interviewer with Philippe Asis
Disruptive and radical, right?
- [47:17]
Philippe Asis
Yes, disruptive and radical and also unique, because I don't think, no, I knew an architect projecting a Bauhaus again in the near future.
- [47:28]
Interviewer with Philippe Asis
And is it true that he still lives in the house as well? So that would make the first time that you're going to show the art in a. In a house that's still inhabited by the artist or Designer.
- [47:39]
Philippe Asis
Yes, the first time not in a modernist house, the first time a living architect, and the first time the architect living inside the house, but not the exhibition, because the Bauhaus sits on top of his actual home. But he was living inside the Bauhaus for the past 50 years. So last year he moved from the Bauhaus to downstairs, let's say. And the show will. Will happen also in. In a gallery that he has that it's connected also to the Bauhaus. So. So it's like a T form property and it will have around 1,000 square meters of exhibition. Yes.
- [48:25]
Interviewer with Philippe Asis
One thing that I'm curious as well, especially this year, because as I said, it's a radical house, very different from any of the previous. Alberto, what about in terms of the art that is going to be exhibited? Will they have a radical aspect or
- [48:38]
Philippe Asis
not necessarily 100%, because when you think about the previous editions, all of them happening in modernist houses, we had more abstract, geometric artworks. For this one we are choosing completely different artists. So for instance, we're gonna have some historical Brazilian pop art, but also the contemporary ones they are producing, they were commissioned to produce specifically for the show. We are going to show, for instance, Marina Parisimao, Luis Zerbini, Erica Verzucci, all of them commissioned.
- [49:14]
Interviewer with Philippe Asis
What I love about Abetto as well is access to those wonderful kind of houses that, you know, they're never open to the public. And I think that's very important and I think this year more than ever, because besides Casabola, there will be a separate kind of Bertuhua. I wonder if you could tell us a bit more about that as well.
- [49:33]
Philippe Asis
Yes, this is the first time that we are doing a show in the public space, which will be in the Fadi Alima Avenue, the Fada Lima. For people who don't know Sao Paulo, it's like the financial center of the country and very busy avenue. It has the lowest estimate is like a 500000 people passing by every day in this. On this avenue. And we are gonna Show over over 20 artworks, installations, sculptures, paintings. We're gonna have like some interventions on the. On the street. It will be an interesting Alberto. And this Alberto Rua means like Alberto open, but also means street in Portuguese.
- [50:22]
Interviewer with Philippe Asis
And Felipe, I just want to ask as well, is it true that there will be kind of a special magazine for this? Alberto, I wonder if you can tell us, because it'd be interesting to own something or if not, let me know.
- [50:33]
Philippe Asis
Yeah, yeah, Actually the. It's. It's the project that I'M most in love with right now because we are doing a magazine focused on art design and also architect slash urbanism. And we're gonna have some great articles. For instance, Hans Urisch, Obrist and Rain Kuhas. They interview Eduardo Longo about the Bauhaus when they visited the house. So we are gonna show this interview and many, many other articles that we are proud to present to the public.
- [51:10]
Georgina Godwin
Thank you, Felipe. And you can listen to the full interview on the Monocle Weekly. And if you're in Sao Paulo, the Alberto exhibition is on until the 31st of May. You're listening to the Globalist on Monocle Radio. Finally, on today's show, it's time for a roundup of space news. And I'm delighted to say that joining me in the studio is Tira Schubert, who is a journalist and fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society. Good morning to you, Tira.
- [52:06]
Tira Schubert
Good morning.
- [52:06]
Georgina Godwin
It's always a joy to have you in the studio bringing us news from beyond our planet, in fact. So let's talk about Artemis 2. This is due to launch on Wednesday, 1 April. But that's not the only launch window.
- [52:21]
Tira Schubert
No, the first launch window is on Wednesday. And actually our time, it's very close to midnight. But there'll be four other opportunities within that same week and then one at the end of the month because it depends on the position of the moon and it is a four day journey there.
- [52:38]
Georgina Godwin
So Artemis's mission is to go to the moon. We heard from the astronauts at a press conference yesterday.
- [52:46]
Tira Schubert
Yes, there was actually two live press conferences which I sat through online. The astronauts talked for about 45 minutes. They're in quarantine right now. And they were kind of of squished together, answering a lot of questions and saying how excited they were and proud. Excited and very much looking forward to it. And then there was a technical press conference in mission control, but they say they're ready to go there to the launch pad, sit there in their seats and then be called off and do it again and again. They say it's just part of the game.
- [53:25]
Georgina Godwin
What are the most significant worries in terms of health when you travel to deep space?
- [53:30]
Tira Schubert
Well, on a short mission like this, the main problem is radiation because there's a thing called the magnetosphere. The magnetic field of Earth protects us from the worst of the solar rays, the sun rays. Although we all go out there wearing our factor 30, 40 and 50 now. But once you get far enough away from the Earth and there's no protection and it goes through the sides of any spacecraft. So they're all wearing little monitors, kind of like what a medical person would wear in X ray clinic to determine how much radiation they absorb. And that is the main one. So they are looking for the problems of what's called space weather. That means whether the sun's going to throw out any flares.
- [54:17]
Georgina Godwin
Let's take a brief detour into Greek mythology. Who was Artemis?
- [54:22]
Tira Schubert
Well, Artemis was the twin sister of Apollo. And I think that NASA was very lucky that they rather, I think, randomly picked a God, Apollo, that had a twin sister, because Apollo was chosen because he was the God of the sun. But I have had a very serious rant from a classicist, a very good, very well respected classicist, who said, why would they name a complicated moon mission after such a difficult God? And he confided to me, he said Apollo was so tricky that even his parents didn't want to spend very long with him. He seemed to be very knowledgeable. But Artemis is the goddess of the moon, the goddess of the hunt and the goddess of wisdom. And actually, women are slightly better in space because we use less consumables, we're more efficient consumables. Air and water and food.
- [55:17]
Georgina Godwin
Okay, does that neatly bring us to talking about space defecation again?
- [55:23]
Tira Schubert
Well, if we do have a launch on Wednesday or whenever we have it, the number of toilets in space will go from three. Two on the International Space Station and one on the Chinese to four, because there'll be one more in this little Orion, rather roomy Orion capsule.
- [55:41]
Georgina Godwin
Excellent new views of Saturn.
- [55:45]
Tira Schubert
Ah, this is very exciting because space. We concentrate a lot on humans in space, but actually there's so much interesting science going on, and it's done by the Americans, by the European Space Agency and the Chinese. So we have the Hubble Space Telescope that's sitting about 400 miles above Earth, and we have the new James Webb one, which is closer to a million miles away from Earth. And they've both been focusing on Saturn, which is the second largest planet in our solar system, and taking photographs of it in visual and in infrared. And they've seen some astonishing things. They can better analyze the atmosphere and they can see these auroras because just like we have the northern lights and the southern lights, they have them on Saturn too. And they're having a. So there's some striking images that I urge you to look. If you are scrolling through alarming news and you want to see things of beauty, look at Saturn and its icy rings and its 285 moons. Beautiful new views of that.
- [56:58]
Georgina Godwin
Finally, Blue Origins. Who can forget the images of Jeff Bezos new wife and her friends and their skin tight space costumes with ramped up breasts going off to space or just dipping a toe in it really. But apparently Bezos has halted those space tourism flights.
- [57:17]
Tira Schubert
Well, Blue Origin, Jeff Bezos Space Company has a contract to provide a lunar lander for NASA that will be in the next few years. And so they've decided these little rides on the New Shepard, named after Alan Shepard, the first American in space. The New Shepard craft are going to cease now. Now there is a facsimile that Blue Origin has lent to the Science Museum in London. And I went and had a look at it last week and I'm afraid it didn't look much like a spacecraft to me. Yes, it goes into outer space, but it has four really large windows because I don't have to worry very much about re entry. They just poke their heads over the Carmen line which is 100km up and they only have four minutes of weightlessness. That's even less time than we have to talk about it. So I don't know, I probably ruined my chances of an invitation. And I'm afraid I've ruined your chances of an invitation for a ride on Blue Origins. But no, doesn't look like a real spacecraft to me.
- [58:18]
Georgina Godwin
What was it you said to me earlier? I've been to better parties than that. Love that idea. A kind of floating garden gazebo in space.
- [58:28]
Tira Schubert
Garden gazebo in space. And an 11 minute flight. They. Okay, let's, let's face it. They had a very, very, very nice uniforms. But I think that I prefer being in studio here.
- [58:39]
Georgina Godwin
Absolutely. And Tira, we love having you. Thank you very much indeed. That's Tira Schubert, who's a journalist and a fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society. And that's all we have time for on today's program. Thanks to our producers, Angelica Jopson, Tom Webb and Chris Chermack, our researchers Annalise Maynard and our studio manager Mariel Bevan. With editing assistance from Jack Jewers. After the headlines. There's more music on the way. Plenty of great programming coming up. We have the Urbanist, we have the Stack, we have Monocle on Design. And the Briefing is live at midday in London. And the Globalists will return at the same time tomorrow. I'm Georgina Godwin. Thank you for listening.
- [59:35]
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