← The Globalist
Loading summary
Transcript105 lines
- [00:04]
A
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. You're listening to the Globalist, first broadcast on 7th October 2025 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, everybody was unified.
- [01:17]
B
In wanting this war to end and seeing peace in the Middle east, and we're very close to achieving that.
- [01:23]
A
Well, just how close remains to be seen. We'll check in with the ongoing negotiations in Egypt. On the second anniversary of the Hamas attack on Israel, which sparked the latest round of this conflict, Syria went to the polls this weekend. As the results are tallied, we'll ask if meaningful change in the shattered country is possible after an election in which not everyone was able to vote. We'll flick through the international papers and then focus in on the current political turmoil in France.
- [01:54]
C
Then you have the movies of the week. You have some opinion from younger people, so we are always thinking what you can do.
- [02:06]
A
Next, we'll bring you a chat with the editor of the Portuguese daily Publico. We'll cross to Ho Chi Minh City to investigate why VinFast, Vietnam's EV maker, is bringing its buses to Europe. We'll have a roundup of architecture and design news. And then our fashion director will join me to report back on Paris Fashion Week and the conversation she had with Bruno Pavlovski, Chanel's president of fashion. That's all ahead here on the Globalist, live from London. First, a look at what else is happening in the news in the us. Illinois and Chicago have sued Donald Trump to halt his deployment of federalised National Guard troops, deepening the fight over presidential power at home. Greta Thunberg has arrived back in Greece to cheering crowds after she was deported from Israel along with more than 170 activists following a failed attempt to deliver aid to Gaza by sea. And Paramount has appointed Barry Weiss to lead CBS News and brought her outlet, the Free press, in a $150 million deal reshaping the US media landscape. Do stay tuned to Monocle Radio throughout the day for more on those stories. Now it's two years to the day since Hamas attacked Israel, sparking the latest iteration of the war in Gaza. Negotiators are back in Egypt trying to turn a fragile framework into peace. The Trump brokered plan, supported by Egypt, Qatar and the uae, proposes a phased Israeli withdrawal and a temporary Palestinian administration of technocrats. But fighting continues on the ground. Gaza's humanitarian crisis is ongo and the mistrust still runs deep. I'm joined now by Julie Norman, associate professor of Politics and International Relations at UCL & Co Author of an upcoming book, the Dream and the Nightmare, and Muhammad Ali Harisi, Foreign Editor at the national uae. Welcome to both of you. Thanks for joining us. Mohammad, if we could start with you, what concrete progress has actually been made in Egypt and what remains unresolved?
- [04:23]
D
Good morning, Georgina. We have seen some positive signs since yesterday. Talks kicked off in the afternoon in Shar Am Sheikh. We spoke to sources who are close to the mediators and who said that things are being ironed out at the last details, and it seems that this time everyone is keen on reaching an agreement as soon as possible. And we also got information that if the talks progress enough, and I think, and we feel that there is some kind of progress that will happen in the next few hours tomorrow we'll see us invoice Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner attending the talks and probably announcing some kind of a roadmap to implement the US President Donald Trump's map for a ceasefire in Gaza and the wider region.
- [05:17]
A
What are the major sticking points, though? Mohamed.
- [05:21]
D
There is one main sticking point which is the hostages. Hamas is claiming that they need more time to release all the hostages and find the bodies who were killed during the two years of war because some of them were killed in tunnels and they need time to try and to locate and access those tunnels and those locations. So they need more than 48 or even 72 hours.
- [05:46]
A
Right.
- [05:46]
D
This is one main sticking point. And the other point is that Hamas is insisting on the release of prominent Palestinian figures in Israeli prisons. And two of them are Marwan Al Barghouti and Ahmed Sa'. Adat. And this way, if Hamas achieves this goal, it can claim that at least after two years of war and devastation, they can claim some kind of victory, that they managed to release the two most prominent Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.
- [06:19]
A
Julie, is it in Netanyahu's interest to stop the war? I mean, can he do so and retain the support of the right wing of the party? And what may happen to him personally if the war ends? It's a big Risk.
- [06:31]
E
Well, good morning, Georgina. You know, since the war has began, Netanyahu has in some ways been pulled by two different directions. One is by the right wing elements of his own coalition that are pushing for the war to continue, for Hamas's complete destruction, et cetera. And then the US on the other side, and the US Again, has not leaned in nearly as heavily as many people have wanted to see, but has at many points kind of come to the, the same ceasefire discussion. And I think what you see now is one, again, the US Putting a very different type of pressure on Netanyahu that's making it very hard for him to, you know, to resist that. And also, I would say internally in Israel, we have seen other political parties say that they would provide a sort of safety net for the government if Netanyahu goes for this and the right wing parties break out of the coalition. But all that being said, you know, Israel is going to need to have elections within the next year anyway. And it is possible that if this deal goes through, if there's an end to the war, that early elections would indeed be called.
- [07:34]
A
I mean, Mohammed, the same really applies to Hamas. What incentive do they have to stop the fighting and effectively seize the end of them?
- [07:43]
D
Yeah, after two years of war, Hamas is in survival mode now. I mean, most of the leadership has been killed, especially in Gaza. Most of the, a big number of fighters have been also killed. Most of their weapons have been destroyed or used during the war. So they are in survival mode and they want to ensure that they have some kind of future within the Palestinian cause or within the future Palestinian state if it is to happen. So they are really keen on reaching some kind of a deal to save what's left of Hamas and try to build on it for the future.
- [08:24]
A
And Julie, Trump's role and his motivation.
- [08:28]
E
Yeah, so Trump, again, I think he's been wanting a peace deal in sort of loose terms for quite a while, but has not really been putting in the energy or the effort to make that happen. I think what was really the turning point for Trump and listeners may remember several weeks ago, Israel carried out a strike on Doha and Qatar targeting Hamas negotiators that were negotiating a U.S. plan. And this seemed to be the, this sort of final straw for Trump. He seems Qatar as a close partner, a close ally, he wants to maintain very good relations with the Gulf states. And that really seemed to mobilize him and get him personally involved in getting this plan on the table and really say, trying to make this week of negotiations work and all that hinged very much on him personally.
- [09:16]
A
Mohammed, are ordinary Palestinians having any input in this? Has anyone asked them what they want? And what does that tell us about how diplomacy is being done?
- [09:26]
D
Yeah, this is very good question. No, to be honest. I mean, the Palestinians have been sidelined apart from Hamas, which is a crucial party of the war. But there is some kind of roadmap for the Palestinians, for example, it starts with reforms. Then the US has recognized in writing that they have the rights to self determination and a future Palestinian state. But it has been, they have been really marginalized and sidelined. And this is because Hamas took over the Palestinians to war. And we spoke to Palestinians in Gaza and they said that all they care about now, it's not the future, all they care about is for the war to stop today. This is their main priority. What happens next is for tomorrow.
- [10:19]
A
And Julie, I mean, is there any trust left between the parties? Particularly as we see that the IDF is still attacking northern Gaza? How credible are these negotiations?
- [10:29]
E
Well, Georgina, I would say that's exactly right. The trust obviously is extremely low between these parties and it makes going into negotiations very difficult. I think that's why the role of external actors here does matter. That includes the Arab negotiators, Qatar and Egypt in particular, and then the US on the other side to provide the sort of guarantees and the incentives to try and see this deal. And you know, we hear certain things that Israel is, you know, pulling back on strikes and whatnot, and yet we still see strikes continuing and we still see casualties over the weekend. And I think that's going to continue for some time with different types of incidents coming from both sides. And there's going to need to be support from external actors, from internal actors to keep this deal moving if it does indeed go through. Because that that element of mistrust and the will to have spoilers on both sides is still going to be there.
- [11:22]
A
And finally, Mohammed, what happens if this process fails again?
- [11:27]
D
There is a feeling, there is a sentiment now that everyone has realized after two years of war not much has been achieved. And those claims that there is a big question, like Julie said in Israel, about where the war can take Israel and where is Netanyahu taking Israel? Is Israel winning the war? Has Israel really changed? Has Netanyahu really changed the Middle East? I mean, what happens next if this deal fails is more destruction and more chaos and more genocide.
- [11:58]
A
Mohammed, thank you. That was Mohammed Ali Harisi, who's foreign editor of the national in uae. We also heard from Julie Norman, associate professor of politics and International Relations at UCL & Co Author of an upcoming book, the Dream and the Nightmare. This is the globalist craft is a matter of perspective, a unique outlook and obsessive attention to detail. With UBS's Chief Investment Office Houseview, 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. It's 12 minutes past 9 in Damascus, 8:12 in Zurich. Let's get the latest on Syria's first post. Assad elections the vote took place on Sunday. It was the first parliamentary poll in over 50 years without an Assad on the ballot. It's an indirect election with delegates chosen through regional electoral colleges rather than a full popular vote. Results have been coming in but but questions remain about the process, transparency and the fact that some key regions didn't vote at all. Well, I'm joined now by Hannah Lucinda Smith, who's Monocle's Istanbul correspondent. Hannah, good to have you back with us. What does indirect election mean in practice? Who has a say in the vote?
- [13:40]
F
Well, this was an incredibly complicated election Originally, of course, the promise was that as soon as possible all Syrians would be able to vote in full and free direct election for the first time in more than 50 years. As it turned out, of course, Syria, still an incredibly complex country. It's been through 14 years of civil war before that, decades of dictatorship, really has no kind of social or legislative structure in place to hold those elections. And so at the end of June, it was decided that these indirect elections would be held. So this is what they call an electoral college system, something slightly similar to the early stages of elections in the U.S. what happens is that in each of the electoral districts there's 62 of them in Syria. A committee is chosen and then that committee then votes on behalf of the district to elect the members of the People's assembly. There are 121 members. So that's what happened on Sunday. And the main task of that People's assembly will be to prepare Syria to have those direct elections eventually.
- [14:43]
A
And what results do we have so far?
- [14:47]
F
So so far the results are coming in. This was not a part an election with parties, it has to be said. It's not a usual election in terms of campaigning. There were some conditions put in, things like there needed to be a certain amount of disabled people, people representing the different ethnicities, and also 20% women so we are starting to get those results come through. I won't say there's going to be any great surprises because obviously this is not a direct election in. In the normal sense, but that election did take place. Obviously. There's been quite a lot of instability in Turia in recent months. The elections did manage to take place and those results are starting to come through now.
- [15:24]
A
So we know that there's the absence of several provinces. What happens to those seats? Are they vacant? Do they get appointed by the president?
- [15:32]
F
Yeah. So this is, of course, one of the main problems. Syria at the moment is not a kind of united country in any sense. You still have a large area in the northeast of the country which is controlled by Kurdish forces, and this part is not under the control of the Damascus government. So clearly that's going to be the main, or one of the main questions for the leader, Ahmad Al Sharar, and also the new People's assembly going forward is how you bring the country back together again.
- [16:01]
A
And how serious is the government about pluralism and about institutional reform?
- [16:06]
F
Well, of course, that is the biggest question, both within Syria and also outside of Syria, within, you know, Syria's new allies, places like the UK and the us, they are really, really keen. Not just keen, they are insisting that AM builds a system in which all of Syria's minorities are represented. Let's not forget that for more than 50 years, the Assad family built this incredibly complicated sectarian system which sort of played all of Syria's sex off against each other. We then had a decade and a half of incredibly brutal sectarian war. So that's the main thing that people want to see. Now, Ahmad Al Sharar has said that he's fully committed to that. He's kind of making all the right noises. The question is, are his men, the men that he was leading as a kind of guerrilla force, indeed a listed terrorist force, up in the north of Syria for years before sweeping into Damascus nearly a year ago. Are they also signed up to this? And, of course, we've had the incidents along the coast in Alawite areas, also in Dru's areas close to Damascus over the past few months, which suggests that this is still a highly, highly unstable country. Some questions around the amount of control that Ahmad Shahar has over his forces and whether he can come through with this promise that he's made.
- [17:21]
A
And is there still outside interference from other actors?
- [17:25]
F
Yeah, this, of course, is always serious problem. You know, throughout the war, Bashar Al Assad, and even before the war, hugely propped up by Russia and Iran both, both of which have their own reasons for wanting to have some measure of influence in Syria. It's obviously in this key strategic position, not only in the Middle east, but also with a Mediterranean coastline as well. Obviously, the influence of Iran, I would say, is almost entirely erased in Syria. Now the influence of Russia is rather more interesting. There are still contacts between the new Syrian government and the Russian government. But now the question is, okay, now that we have this government that was, you know, a rebel force for so many years, supported while it was a rebel force by countries like Turkey, also by Qatar, also to a lesser extent by. By Western countries as well. But I think really the bigger concern is what are Turkey and Qatar going to do with the influence that they now have in Syria? Both are countries that were close or are close to the Muslim Brotherhood, the global Islamist group. That's a group that the new Syrian leaders also ideologically are close to. So that is the bigger worry now, I think, also for people in Syria who don't want their country to become a kind of Islamist light state.
- [18:38]
A
And just finally, Hannah, I mean, when do we get clarity on what happens going forward?
- [18:44]
F
I think that's probably the most difficult question to answer. You know, a lot depends on the security situation within the country. And, you know, a lot of the work that government and various ministries have been hoping to do has really been put back by the fact that first of all, the initial task, the most important task, is just stabilizing the country, making sure that investors can come back, that the Syrian government can start re establishing its relations with various countries around the world until the country is stable. And Western countries in particular are feeling confident that Shira can keep a lid on his own forces and on the country. I think that's when Syria will really start to develop politically as well.
- [19:22]
A
Hannah, thank you very much indeed. That's Hannah. Lucinda Smith, Monocle's Istanbul correspondent. This is the Globalist. Let's continue now with today's newspapers. And joining me in the studio is Julia Jen, who is a Monocle researcher and writer. Good morning to you, Julia.
- [19:48]
G
Good morning.
- [19:48]
A
It's getting harder, isn't it, when it's dark, when you have to get up.
- [19:51]
G
I know it's terrible. Gone is the summer. It's so dark still.
- [19:56]
A
You know, you're coming into a lovely warm studio and we are here to hang on your every word. Firstly, about Germany and these lasers that are being installed at Munich airport to ward off drones. Tell us more.
- [20:08]
G
Yes, so these lasers actually are going to be used to measure the distance between the drone and the airport itself. So I think that marks sort of a more nimble approach because I guess once, you know, we've had drone sightings, this isn't, you know, in the last three months, obviously there have been drone sightings practically in every EU country, from the headlines that we've seen. But, you know, we've had drone sightings over the years. I think we can remember here in the UK when we've had Heathrow or Gatwick closed down, because one lone drone. But, you know, airports are such intense operations and once you've got one cancellation here, it affects, it has a knock on effect on airports and travel and business schedules all across the world. So I think here there's a nimble approach of, you know, how far away is this drone? The laser will help us calculate that and what kind of threat does it pose actually to air traffic? Because, you know, drones can really sometimes be so tiny and such a tiny little thing, you know, disrupting such an enormous schedule is quite disproportionate.
- [21:05]
A
I mean, this story is from Euro News, which also talks about building some kind of drone wall along the Eastern front.
- [21:10]
G
Yes, this is something that von der Leyen has really pushed and lots of, you know, Polish and eu, sorry, of Baltic politicians have really pushed. They've talked about costing 1 billion euros, but by the time it's set up in under a year, it's kind of set up and running and they've sort of drafted in Poland and Denmark, for example, have drafted in Ukrainian troops to teach them how to deal with these kind of drone wall capabilities. So that's tracking threats, it's shooting them down, it's neutralizing them, it's ensuring that. But sadly, this dronewall project has come under fire in the last few days from other EU politicians kind of further west in Europe, where they might not as exposed to these threats. But this is definitely something that's at work now in Europe.
- [21:56]
A
Yeah. Let's go to Reuters now in this report about Tesla and suggestions that it might be about to shift focus to an affordable ev, which is extraordinary because of course, Tesla has really built its reputation on the fact that it is an ultra luxury vehicle. But sales have suffered, not least because of the politics of the man that runs it, Elon Musk.
- [22:16]
G
Yeah, absolutely. And I think this is a really interesting pivot that we're seeing. Tesla sort of waking up to this reality or kind of making a very public announcement, announcement, this reality that really Chinese EVs are taking over the world. So here in the UK, we saw, for example, BYD, that's the kind of premium electric vehicle from China kind of brand. Their sales have jumped in just one year from September last year to this year, 880%. So it's a kind of mammoth jump. I mean, we're talking from a non existent market share to, you know, about 11,000 vehicles sold in one year. So, you know, that 880% figure does sound quite frightening. But really, I think Tesla is waking up to this idea that also US incentives to buy EVs are ending this month, for example, so they have to really battle with that. And even though they've had a record quarter, they really need to sort of offset that US incentive scheme ending. So, yes, so we're going to see the Y model potentially coming out today in the US as a cheaper kind of alternative to cater to consumers who, you know, are being hit by the cost of living crisis. And there are different supply chain issues around the world that are really affecting how much money the average citizen has in their pockets.
- [23:31]
A
And we're actually going to follow that story a little bit later on in the program where we look at a Vietnamese company which is supplying EVs for public transport across Europe. Now, consumers, of course, are not the only ones to be hit in the pocket. We're also looking at large institutions suffering. And in France, museums are continuing to court American donors. They really need their cash to keep going.
- [23:54]
G
Yeah, absolutely. And you know, actually it's not just the French and there was a very fascinating article a month or so ago in the FT about the UK how vastly important American donors are. So we can see from, let's say the Notre Dame, when that was being redone, nearly half of foreign contributions came from just the U.S. so that's $62 million just from American donors. And you know, in 2024, the Louvre alone, there's the American, the museum's kind of Americans Friends club, they range raised $10 million. So it's a huge amount of money coming in from the US where there's this culture of sort of wealthier citizens giving back to society that we've seen for decades now. And European institutions rely on this so much, there is a worry that Trump will be targeting this kind of money flow because he may abolish a tax deduction that is enjoyed by American sort of friends of association.
- [24:55]
A
This is a story in Le Monde and it starts with this wonderful quote that philanthropy is an act of positive diplomacy. Really picking up on this idea of soft power.
- [25:06]
G
Yeah, absolutely. And we can See this being targeted, or at least Trump trying to target this sort of flow of cultural diplomacy with crackdown, for example, on foreign made films. So that's another thing that Europeans are really, really worried about is how is history, his potential 100% tariff that he's announced, which of course we don't know if we will follow up on or if that will come into effect, or if he'll sort of lose attention on the issue. But, you know, European made films making their way to American audiences and broadcasting that kind of European soft power image to foreign audiences abroad.
- [25:41]
A
In the US of course, a UK film or series that was made recently that had a huge impact globally, mostly because of how beloved the author is, was Rivals, written, of course, by Dame Gilly Cooper.
- [25:54]
G
Yes. Who sadly died yesterday, one of the most kind of nation's most loved authors here in the UK. So, yes.
- [26:01]
A
So she was 81, and I think it was 81 or 88. I may have got that slightly wrong. Let me just bring up the story here. But, but the point about her is that she, she was known, of course, for riders with that iconic cover polo, and she, she just was the happiest, most lovely woman. She was 88. That. Let me get that complet. All sorts of people paying tribute to her. But the point about her was she sort of reinvented an entire. She, she invented an entire literary genre, that of the bonk buster. And so lots of sex, lots of fun, lots of champagne, lots of dogs and horses and, and all of those things. But a lot of people dismissed her because, of course, this is not serious stuff. This is frivolous writing. But as her agent, Felicity Blunt said, why would it have endured over the decades and decades that it has with generations of mostly young women coming to her work and absolutely loving it? So it's terribly sad that she's died, really, but in a way. 88 great innings. And to go quickly like that after a fall and not suffer a slow decline for someone like that, who was so full of life, I think is really rather fabulous. So, RIP Dame Gilly Cooper, finally. Well, she was a huge fan of champagne, and champagne, of course, goes with chocolate. But we, we are seeing a new kind of chocolate. This is not chocolate as we know it. Have you tried Dubai chocolate?
- [27:34]
G
Yes, and it's delicious. I love it.
- [27:36]
A
What's different about it? I've never had it.
- [27:38]
G
Well, it's filled with so many things that I guess you wouldn't really expect. You've got rose flavors in there, you've got pistachio you've got wafer. You know, it's just kind of a sort of chocolate box within itself, within the chocolate casing. And there's a fascinating article in the Fast Company about how it's reshaping the confectionery market. So how, you know, ordinary chocolate products and maybe an ordinary chocolate bar that we're just used to buying from the shops, how they're kind of slowly being filled with these different sort of treats inside. We actually had an interesting write up as well in our entrepreneurs magazine that was released over the summer where we or my colleague Claudia Jacob actually interviewed Sarah Hammuda who's the kind of founder of the original Dubai Chocolate. And actually we're talking about kind of joy and joy for life, et cetera. And while Sarah Hammuda's husband, her co founder of Dubai Chocolate, was quite upset about Copycat. So this is what I guess the Fast Company article is talking about, people copying this idea and really taking it on board. Sarah Hamouda herself was so thrilled. She said, I'm so happy my ideas sort of traveled around the world and changed the chocolate experience for so many people and kind of introduced this also. So I guess sort of Arab take on what chocolate is and really brought that to international audiences. So there's another great example of soft power, I think.
- [28:54]
A
Absolutely. And spreading joy. What a wonderful attitude. Julia, thank you very much indeed. That's Julia Jenn, a Monocle researcher and writer. And you're with the Globalist on Monocle Radio. Now here's what else we're keeping an eye on Today in the U.S. illinois and Chicago have sued Donald Trump to block his deployment of federalized National Guard troops to the city even as forces from Texas move in. The legal battle marks the sharpest clash yet between Democratic led states and the White House over the use of military power at home. Home. Greta Thunberg arrived in Greece to cheering supporters after being deported by Israel. One of 171 activists expelled following an attempt to break the Gaza blockade. The failed aid flotilla has reignited debate over humanitarian access and Israel's control of Gaza's coastline. And Paramount has appointed Barry Weiss as editor in chief of CBS News and acquired her outlet, the Free Press in a deal reportedly worth 150 million. Doll. The move is part of new owner David Ellison's push to recast CBS as the centrist fact based broadcaster after his Trump era takeover. This is the Globalist. Stay tuned now for a look behind the headlines. Here's Monocle's Tom Webb on what's next for France following the Prime Minister's resignation less than a month after his appointment, Marine Le Pen and her allies are saying that they will vote to bring down any new p unless new elections are held. And Macron has given Le Cornu until Wednesday to conduct the last negotiations in view of securing the stability of the country. If they fail, the President has said he will take responsibility, which likely does mean new elections.
- [30:53]
B
There are commercial flights that last longer than Sebastian Locanu's government did. Fourteen and a half hours after naming his cabinet, Locorne tendered his resignation as France's prime minister, marking the political downfall of a man who has been a member of every government since President Emmanuel Macron's election in 2017. His exit brings France's political crisis into a new, more troubling phase. Macron's first option is to name a member of his left leaning opposition as prime minister Minister. But having staked their credibility of undoing retirement reform and implementing a tax on France's richest households, such a government would have little chance of surviving long, let alone creating the consensus needed to inch out of this political crisis. A neutral technocrat would fare no better. As Lukanu lamented after his resignation, there are a lot of red lines in the mouths of many and hardly any green lines. The third option is to call new elections, but these would almost certainly result in more seats for the far right Rasan Bloman national perpetuating the gridlock. None of this will reassure France's creditors or the markets. With crucial fiscal decision making repeatedly delayed to accommodate the chaos as the political cacophony grows louder and louder, it is governance itself that's being drowned out, leaving us all to dread. What a few years ago would have been appeared unthinkable that the EU's second largest economy, home to the continent's biggest military, could be rendered completely ungovernable.
- [32:37]
A
That was Monocle's Tom Webb. And for more you can sign up to our daily newsletter, the Monocle Minute. Head over to monocle.com forward/minute. This is the Globalist. And now we head to Lisbon. More specifically to the newsroom of celebrated Portuguese daily Publico Fernando Augusto Pacheco, Monocle Radio's senior correspondent was in the city and spoke with the editor Sonje Sapar, who talked about upcoming projects for the paper and the keyword for publico.
- [33:11]
C
The word for for us is always speed. Everything is happening with speed, and we must go. We must work with speed too, and we always need to have something new. We are always thinking in Something new. The Brazilian edition is one of our little projects. It only has one year. It was launched last year. It's struggling, but it's going well for us. We have good numbers. The Public Brazil, that's the name. We call it P Brasil. It's only for the Brazilian community. It has articles and news only for the Brazilian community. But we are also working in an app that's called genp Generation Publico. And it's a app for young people from 15 to 20 to 20 years.
- [34:08]
B
It's not Gen Z, it's Gen Z. I like that. I like that.
- [34:12]
C
It's something where you can go and see the news, the most relevant news of the day. We launch news in the morning and news in the afternoon from, I don't know, 12 to 20 a day. They are summarized. You can read the whole article, but you can read also a summary like can people like to read. We add the lot of focus groups that join kids from 15 to 20 years. And they told us how they like to read the news. And so we came up with this idea that works if you. We cannot show to the ones that are listening to us, but I can show you. And it works like a social media. You have videos, like a public Tik Tok kind of. Yes, yes. You scroll, you scroll down, you can read. You can click and read the whole article or only the summary. You have the movies of the week. You have some opinion from younger people. So we are always thinking what you can do next.
- [35:21]
B
And Publico as well, of course. We're in a very busy year in Portugal in terms of elections.
- [35:27]
D
You had a recent.
- [35:28]
B
Recent ish. Prime ministerial election and you're having elections for mayor in the next weeks.
- [35:33]
C
And we have another one in January. A presidential election, non stop. Yeah. It's been years of elections, one after the others. It's very difficult for us to work with the actuality and even keep arranging new strategies to grow and to. To go ahead with our business. But you were asking something different. No.
- [36:03]
D
About the election. Do you have any thoughts as well? Because there's been interesting moves in Portugal.
- [36:08]
B
There's a strong shift to the right as well. Portugal is kind of following the other.
- [36:13]
D
Trends in Europe at the moment.
- [36:15]
C
As you can see from the results of the last election. We have the right wing party Chege, that now is the party that. The second party that has the most deputies in the parliament. So the right wing came to Portugal. It took some years, but it's here. And it's something that. It's a challenge to Us every day.
- [36:43]
B
I can imagine. And finally, Sonia, I know you're a.
- [36:46]
A
Very busy editor in chief of Publico here.
- [36:49]
B
What can you say about Publico the next months or the next year?
- [36:52]
A
Are you optimistic?
- [36:53]
B
I mean, because you, you're showing me new projects, Genpy.
- [36:56]
C
You show me we are always optimistic or else we.
- [37:00]
D
I like that.
- [37:01]
C
I don't know. No. You know, Public is not owned by a big media group. It's owned by an enterprise called sonai. That's nothing to do with the media business. But we have a strong, strong relationship with sonai. And sonai, we have defined with them four pillars to our mission. If you engage with that pillars, they, they support us and, and that's very important for us because we, we know that we can do our work and SONAI will be there to help us. And the four pillars are promoting democracy. So we shall keep doing that.
- [37:43]
B
Very important is to.
- [37:44]
C
That the other one is reaching more readers and that's why we made GenP and that's why we made public Brazil. That's why we're having new ideas. The other one is keeping an independent newsroom from politics and from economics, from those powers. And then the last one is becoming financially sustainable. That's the most difficult for us, but we are always working on that. And I don't know what's going to happen in the next year, but we have a strategy for the three years ahead for 2028, and that's going to bring a lot of changes in our newsroom. And one of the things we are changing is we're shifting from the, the importance of the page view to the importance of the attention the reader gives to us. So minutes of attention, quality reading, and I think that's going to make a big difference in the way we must work. We know that the public, the readers, are changing from one platform to the other. We know they are now changing for video and audio and we'd like to accompany that. So that's what we are.
- [39:09]
B
Including podcasts.
- [39:11]
C
Yeah, that's what we'll be keep doing the next, I don't know, two, three years. I came recently yesterday from Innovation Hub for Media from Dublin, and Publico is ahead with the biggest ones and that's very good for us to see. We're not getting behind. We're smaller, but we're working hard and working well.
- [39:40]
A
That was Sonier Sage, editor of Publico, speaking with Monocle's Fernando Augusto Peco. And for more on the world of print media, do tune into the stack on Monaco Radio this is the globalist. It is 1339 in Ho Chi Minh and 739 here in London. Vietnam's Vinfast will introduce its first electric buses in Europe from 2026, starting with markets in Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden. The move expands its business from private cars into public transport, aiming to build visibility and trust abroad. It comes as Vinfast pushes a broader EV strategy from cars and scooters to taxis and charging network networks, while shifting focus from the US towards Asia. So what does this say about Vietnam's growing EV industry and about VinFast's global ambitions? I'm joined now by Michael Tataski, who's a journalist based in Ho Chi Minh and author of the Vietnam Weekly newsletter. Michael, welcome to the program. What kind of company is VinFast?
- [40:58]
H
It's a very ambitious company. I mean, I should start by saying it's a subsidiary of vingroup which is Vietnam's largest, largest private conglomerate. They have subsidiaries and an ever growing array of industries. Just this week they announced a new steel company called VIN Metal. That's their latest kind of expansion. But yeah, so Vinfast is part of VIN Group. They've launched seven or eight years ago initially as a traditional internal combustion engine car company and then around five years ago quite abruptly switched to EV only. So only electric vehicles. Cars and motorbikes. Motorbikes still the dominant form of transportation here in Vietnam. And yeah, they've, we'll get to this. But have expanded internationally in a few markets to varying, very, varying degrees of success. But yeah, sort of a fast moving, very ambitious EV company.
- [41:55]
A
Well, let's talk about that expansion. Why is it going into Europe's public transport sector now despite having such a strong foundation at home?
- [42:06]
H
Yeah, it's a good question. I mean they've so kind of their first international expansion was a few years ago to the United States which was, we can say, bold. I mean, there were a lot of kind of significant questions at the time. The US obviously is a very competitive market. EV adoption is also a little bit behind there compared to, you know, parts of Europe or Asia, for example, that went quite poorly. They still have a presence there, but they, I think they've, you know, they only sell something like a few hundred cars a year. They plan to build a factory in North Carolina that got a big announcement during the Biden presidency under some of his EV related policies, support policies that they, years later, it's still just an empty field and they, they say they will open it in 2028. But I think there's some serious doubts about whether or not that will ever happen, given their lack of sales in the US and also sort of the Trump administration's turn against EVs, I suppose, to simplify things. And they did also expand to some European markets with their commercial, you know, their consumer oriented EVs similarly didn't go very well. I think it was France, Germany, the Netherlands again sold maybe a few hundred cars. I think they still technically have a presence there, but very small. And now belatedly, or I say belatedly, but kind of what a lot of people thought they should have done at first was expand into other parts of Southeast Asia from Vietnam. You know, there are still cultural differences, but it's much different than going to a highly developed market like the US or the eu. So they've expanded to Indonesia, the Philippines, India. They have their taxi company in Laos and I believe Cambodia as well, but certainly Laos. So the, the bus, I mean, I. The bus move into, into Europe.
- [43:58]
C
I.
- [43:58]
H
It's a bit of a question mark. I'm not quite sure what the strategy is there, to be perfectly frank, but again, I know the EU is quite heavy on E EV adoption, so it's a sensible market in some ways, but in other ways it also seems like this is kind of more, you know, spreading themselves perhaps a little bit too thin at times when they could be focusing on a handful of markets.
- [44:24]
A
Mike, thank you very much indeed. That's Mike Tataski, a journalist in Ho Chi Minh. This is the globalist on Monocle Radio, iq, EQ and AI. Three components key to the craft of innovation at ubs. Because to stay ahead in a rapidly evolving age, you need a partner with decades of experience, endless passion for the work and a finger on the pulse of leading technologies. Bridging human expertise with artificial intelligence. All to elevate you. UBS banking is our craft. Well, now I am joined by, by Tim Abrams, who's a contributing editor to the Architectural Record, and he's going to round up the news from the world of design and architecture for us. Good morning to you, Tim.
- [45:26]
B
Good morning, Georgina. How are you?
- [45:27]
A
I'm very good, thank you. I'm very excited about this news because of course you can't walk through central London without realising that the Grade 2 listed London Pavilion building is really something special. Well, now it's being redeveloped as a completely new identity with a new identity. Tell us more.
- [45:47]
B
That's. That's true. The largest capsule hotel apparently in the world opens in London. Although it's very hard to believe that that accolade should land anywhere outside Japan where the Capsule hotel was invented. But this is what the Zwell, the new organizers of the Capsule Hotel in Piccadilly Circus is saying. It's a building which dates from 1818 59. It was a massive music hall and then a cinema after the war, the venue for the premiere of the Hard Days Night. And now it's becoming a capsule hotel with 1000 sleeping pods inside that structure. The pods are grouped into dormitories, as we all know. I think we all know the deal with a capsule hotel. These are very classy ones, oak veneer, Egyptian cotton linens. But the price is really important. It's 30 pounds per night, which in an economy in which the nighttime economy of London has been, shall we say, lagging since COVID it's a real shot in the arm where you have a proposition where a thousand beds are suddenly open right in the centre of London for a cheap price. And I think that's going to impact not just tourists coming to the city, but also people who might be living in suburban areas who want to extend their stay into the night and use all the facilities that London has to offer. It's great to see.
- [47:08]
A
I mean, as you say, we very rightly associate capsule hotels with Japan. But I mean, there was a huge one that was demolished in 2022. So I mean, sometimes they don't work well.
- [47:20]
B
The Capsule Tower, the Nakagin Capsule Tower was actually an apartment block. It's interesting to see that the great utopian ideas of the Metabolists, who were an architecture movement which imagined huge megastructures with adaptable components. We always assume that these fail, as you say, that Icogene was demolished in 2022, but these were apartment buildings. Now what's happened is really interesting is the way that the idea behind that has migrated. So it actually, instead of becoming these kind of slightly extravagant avant garde architectural projects, they actually inhabit a traditional building. And so you have the idea of these, shall we say, utopian projects living on inside different structures. Great to see.
- [48:06]
A
Now, of course, one city that we very much associate with classical buildings, beautiful buildings, is Oxford. Oxford University. But there's a big project going on there which I think is going to attempt to blend both ancient and modern.
- [48:19]
B
Indeed, the Schwartzman center for the Humanities at Oxford, which is designed by Hopkins Architects, is just opened. It's the university's largest new building. And given the domestic scale of the university, hitherto, it's a huge game changer. Departments are often held in townhouses. The English department used to be held in a townhouse. You'd have to wander up stairs to find your tutorial room. But here the English department is being brought into a huge new purpose built structure with six other humanities departments including History and Philosophy. The Schwarzman Centre is a massive new project. It's got 500 seat concert hall, 250 seat theatre, an 87 seat cinema alongside libraries exhibition spaces. It's like a megastructure of learning organized around a single story space topped with an oak frame dome. It's a fantastic internal space. The exterior though as you've suggested speaks to the neoclassical tradition of Oxford, the traditional architecture and perhaps she'll we say it leans to the taste of its billionaire donor Stephen Schwarzman who's co founder of Blackstone whose 185 million pound gift enabled it. And if you look at the headquarters of the Blackstone's founders Rhodes Scholar style program in Tsinghua University in Beijing, it's a kind of plain university building but adorned with pan tiled roofs, orientalist style. He likes his buildings to fit in and in Oxford he's done that in a kind of prefabricated stone clad which is a bit vanilla but a bit more racy is the Blackstone headquarters that are being built on Berkeley Square which is much more jazzy and kind of classical arches but glazed pods as well. A kind of AI hybrid building but the one in Oxford, bit vanilla. An amazing game changer though for the university in terms of its departmental offering.
- [50:05]
A
Let's whizz over to Melbourne now because finally and this project seems to have been going on forever, we're seeing the last two stations of Melbourne's metro tunnel completed indeed.
- [50:17]
B
Now these ones are. This is a great project for the radio. Just fantastic, beautiful bit of modern contemporary, classic design. The station was designed particularly the new Town hall station which is one of the last two stations on the line to be completed and means that the entire line can be opened later this year. It's designed by Roger Sturk Harbour and Partners which is Richard Rogers old Prince practice. And the bright red arch beams in the Town hall bear his signature. It's really worth looking at. It's 18 meters wide, a 220 meter long platform built to accommodate 10 car trains. It's a bit like the think more the Elizabeth line than in, in London than than any other than any other project. And it's got 10 meter high arch ceilings with chandelier lights giving them a real cathedral feel. And the beams, these bright red beams adorning the paint platform ceiling at Townell station, very, very Richard Rogers bright Dynamic, fascinating design.
- [51:16]
A
Finally, Tim, let's have a very quick look at this era of mega restoration. We're seeing it happen in all sorts of places, but particularly here in London and in Paris too.
- [51:27]
B
Yep. Awards season is nearly on. A sterling prize is announced on October 16. It's interesting that one of the shortlisted project is the restoration of Big Ben or Elizabeth Tower, or on the short short list, 80 million quid it costs to refurbish the Elizabeth Tower blend of traditional craftsmanship, stone masonry, gilding, glass cutting. And it's a sign that we are now paying attention to this restoration as a big, as a, as an expression of contemporary architectural practice. We now have, if anything shows the sign of this is the fact that London and Paris are now engaged in a kind of competition of restoration. The Grand Palais and the Notre Dame in Paris are being refurbished, as is the central Pompidou bringing up to contemporary. And in London you have the Elizabeth Tower, Big Ben, and that will all be put into a secondary kind of light if and when the British Parliament bites the bullet and starts the much needed renovation of the Houses of Parliament. A billion pound restoration project amount.
- [52:29]
A
I went to Paris earlier just to be there on the last day that the Pompidou center was open to the public. Five years it's going to take. I'm really looking forward to what we see at the end of that process. Tim, thank you very much indeed. That's Tim Abrams, contributing editor to the Architectural Record. And this is the Globalist on Monocle Radio. Now it is Paris Fashion Week and of course our fashion director, Natalie Teodosi is there and joins me on the line now. Good morning to you, Natalie.
- [53:09]
I
Good morning, Georgina.
- [53:11]
A
Big night last night. It was the Chanel show, which really ushered in a new era for the house. Tell us more exactly.
- [53:19]
I
I think it was a culmination of two weeks of designers making their debuts in Milan and also here in Paris. But this was the show that everyone was really excited to see. And the good news is that Mathieu Blasi, the new director, the new creative director of Chanel, really didn't disappoint. And there were elements of surprises straight from the beginning in the way he translated codes of Chanel. It was interesting that he started with something really androgynous, clothes that he imagined Coco Chanel had been borrowing from her lover boy Capel, like back in the 20s, without straight away going into obvious references like the tweed and Pearls and the 255. And he really reconstructed different garments as well, like the tweed jacket. So it was really interesting to see a really interesting crowd. And the Grand Palais was transformed into planetarium, which that in itself was incredible to watch.
- [54:21]
A
So tell us who was there and what the reaction was.
- [54:25]
I
So before going to the show, I interviewed the president of Chanel Fashion, Bruno Pavlovski, who told us that this is, according to him, the best crowd, the best front row that Chanel had in decades, which was already really interesting to hear him, who has seen everything, all the shows say that. And what was interesting is that they brought Chanel ambassadors that have had a relationship with the house for decades. So you had people like Penelope Cruz, Nicole Kidman is back with the house, and Sofia Coppola, but then also new faces and new people. What I found interesting as well was that the fashion industry as a whole showed up for Mathieu Blasis. So you also had people like Raf Simons, who currently works with Mutual Prada, Peter Mudlier, fellow designer from Belgium, who is now creative director at Alaia. So you really had had everyone there rooting for him. And it was quite touching to witness.
- [55:26]
A
That's Natalie Teodorci. Now, she, of course, is our fashion director and she's been in Paris for Paris Fashion Week. And you can expect to hear a lot more from Natalie over the next few days about what's been going on there. And that's all we have time for in this edition of the Globalist. Many thanks to our producers, Hassan Anderson, Tom Webb and Monica Lillis, our researcher, Joanna Moser, and our studio manager, manager Lily Austin. After the headlines, there's more music on the way. The briefing will be live at midday in London, and the Globalists will return at the same time tomorrow. I'm Georgina Godwin. Thank you for listening it. With ubs, you have a truly global partner incorporating new technologies, innovative approaches and unexpected opportunities, leading you to insights that help answer the questions that matter. Delivered with passion, care and unmatched expertise. Because it's about rising with the dawn each day, knowing that we can do even better. That's what banking is to us. Not just work, but a craft. UBS advice is our craft.