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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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You're listening to the Globalist, first broadcast on 29 January 2026 on Monocle Radio, the Globalist in association with U. Live from London. This is THE Globalist with me, Emma Nelson. A very warm welcome to today's program. Coming up, Mexico stops shipping oil to Cuba. We'll examine a move which is being seen as a concession to pressure from the United States. Also ahead in the next 60 minutes.
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There'S another beautiful armada floating beautifully toward Iran. Right now.
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A crisis builds between Tehran and Washington as the US Sends a fleet of warships to the Gulf. And Donald Trump tells Iran's leaders that their time is running out. We'll go through the papers and I'm.
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Monocle's Tom Webb for a flick through February's Monocle edition of the magazine. Josh, what's inside? Moving stories and plenty to get our readers wondering what life could look like if you moved country, if you changed job, if you lived somewhere else in the world.
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Tom More from Tom Webb and Josh Fennett a little later. And a legendary Paris restaurant is celebrated in a new book. That's all coming up on the Globalist live from London. First, a quick look at some of the other stories today. President Xi Jinping has told the visiting prime minister Keir Starmer, that Beijing is ready to develop a long term strategic part with the UK The FBI has been carrying out a search at an election office in Fulton County, Georgia, in connection with the 2020 presidential vote. And a French Senate has been examining a bill which would make it easier to hand back looted artworks to France's former colonies. Stay tuned to Monacle Radio throughout the day for more on these stories. But first, could Cuba become the next country that the US Attempts regime change? While we are perhaps still a little way from the US Forces storming the residents of President Miguel Diaz Canel, whisking him off to a New York jail cell, a fate which befell the Venezuelan leader a couple of weeks ago, there are signs that the country's allies and suppliers are taking a step back. Take, for example, Mexico. It has been Cuba's biggest supplier of oil since last year, but a shipment intended to be sent this week has been cancelled. Well, I'm joined now by Antonio Zampaio, expert on Latin American politics and security. Good morning, Antonio. It's getting busy in your department now. This idea that the Mexicans are not sending oil for the first time to Cuba. Immediately suggestions are being made that this is Mexico bending to pressure from the United States. Is this correct?
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D
In short, I believe so. But they are doing whatever they can to try to resist that narrative and that impression. And the president, Claudia Schoenbaum, said that it's a sovereign decision, it's an ad hoc decision guided by internal oil supplies. But there aren't many analysts that, you know, believe that. And Mexico is in a very tough situation because her internal political base is, you know, has sympathies towards the Cuban regime and towards, you know, resisting Trump's more than the Cuban regime, resisting Trump's attempts to guide Mexican policy towards Cuba. But also they are, they have a looming trade negotiation with the US And Cuba. Trump was very clear that he doesn't want anyone sending oil to Cuba. So Mexico faces a very angry reaction by Trump if it resumes oil shipments.
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B
And there is also Donald Trump again being quite noisy about Mexico, saying he's going to have to, and I'm quoting here, do something about Mexican drug flows to the United States. There is this continued pressure from Donald Trump, isn't there?
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D
Yeah, the drug shipment situation is, I think, even more of a potential political threat to the President, Shane Bound, because it is very difficult to stop it. Unlike the oil shipments, which is something centralized with the Pemex oil company and the regime and the presidential government. Drug trafficking is very difficult to stop completely. And she has started cooperating more with the US Sending arrested drug traffickers, suspected drug traffickers to the US for trial. But it's very difficult to stop. And what Trump can do, I don't think there will be kidnapping or an operation like happening in Venezuela, but what Trump can do is targeted strikes against the cartels, similar to the coastal sort of naval strikes against ships of Venezuela. But for the Mexican government, that will be very embarrassing and very humiliating.
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B
It will. And just looking, this is two stories, isn't it? There's Donald Trump putting pressure on Mexico in order to make sure that it capitulates, as we have just described. But then also we have Cuba, which is actually not at the receiving end of this week's oil supply. What does that mean for Cuba? Just practically speaking? Its dependence on Mexican oil is huge, hasn't it? I think it is now or since the last year been the biggest supplier.
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Of oil to Cuba.
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That now stops.
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D
Yeah, this is a big, big problem for Cuba because Venezuela and Mexico being the largest oil suppliers to Cuba, it also has some. And now Venezuela is no longer. And it has received some oil from Russia as well and allegedly from Algeria. According to some reports, it will face great difficulty replacing those shipments. It's going to be more expensive because it's going to come from. And if it faces, you know, further military blockade by the US Even if it manages to sufficiently replace those. And reports have also suggested that Mexico had been so willing to send oil to Cuba and potentially replace some of the Venezuelan oil, not out of the goodness of their hearts or tremendous love for the Cuban regime, but also to avoid the humanitarian crisis that could send refugees to Mexico and actually also to.
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The US Cuba cannot afford to not have supply.
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D
No, we cannot afford. Because no country can afford to not have oil. Right. And I think we're seeing the Don Road doctrine. So there are two stories there, but I think they are part of this Western hemisphere is ours policy of Donald Trump. I think it will be. I don't know if interesting is the right word, but tragic and interesting at the same time to observe the US Reacting to a potential humanitarian crisis in Cuba that will emerge out of it.
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B
Yeah. So let's just talk about this in a little bit more depth. The potential humanitarian crisis is what if you encourage or you make it, if you make the suppliers of oil to Cuba feel as if they cannot do so and Cuba, as a result, cannot get the supplies that it needs for essential daily life. Is there an indirect way that the United States here could be engineering a humanitarian crisis as opposed to straight in regime change?
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D
I think that in internal discussions, I doubt that they acknowledge or conceive a humanitarian crisis as an objective, although that is partially a logical conclusion of that. But yesterday, Marco Rubio, the US Secretary of State, was in Senate and was asked by a Democratic senator whether he could commit that the US Is not seeking regime change in Cuba and said, oh, no, no, no, we are. We want regime change, but it doesn't necessarily involve the U.S. so for many U.S. lawmakers and I think for many of us, the term regime change has always meant military intervention by the US and troops on the ground. And the Trump administration is trying to change that and conceive of this pressure, enormous pressure and blockades, risking humanitarian crisis and suffering of common people, which I think previous governments had been wary of and to govern and to lead these countries from a distance through pressure through oversight and threats of further military action, it's not clear that it will work so well in the medium to long term. And if there is a humanitarian crisis, a consequence that whether the US admits it or not, it will reflect badly on the US and it risks sending refugees, increasing the refugee crisis.
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But for the whole region, if we have Venezuela now, which is sort of trying to move towards some sort of semblance of independence with the events in the last couple of days, but also if we have a look at if the United States were to precipitate a fall of the regime in Cuba, the level of influence in that part of the world by the United States would be quite considerable, wasn't it?
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Yes, definitely. And I think it places a very interesting dilemma on the more sort of middle powers or middle countries in the region. Argentina has clearly with a right wing government, has clearly aligned with the US and it places Brazil in a very unique, never before seen sort of situation in which it faces isolationism in its own region. So Brazil I think tends to ally more with other middle powers that are trying to strike sort of an autonomous tone. But certainly with the smaller countries we're seeing not only alignment with the west, but internally politically, the right wing turn to the right. Chile's right wing president was elected a few weeks ago and there are also elections in Peru this year. So I think that this influence of the US has also been seen internally in those countries politics.
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Antonio Sampaio, thank you so much, Azoa, for joining me in the studio. You're listening to the Globalist. It's 10:41 in Tehran, 7:41am here in London. Now, is the United States about to launch an attack on Iran? President Trump has warned that a massive armada is heading towards the country, moving and I quote, quickly, ready and willing and able to fulfill its mission with speed and violence. The Iranian foreign minister has replied with equally bellicose language. Their fingers are on the trigger. He says to respond to any aggression and that it would be immediate, all out and unprecedented. Well, to explain what is a very fast moving situation, I'm joined from Abu Dhabi by Monocle's Gulf correspondent, Inzaman Rashid. Good morning Insi.
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Morning, Emma.
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So the language is breathtaking. Massive armada, violence, finger on the trigger. I mean, this rhetoric is really, really powerful stuff, isn't it?
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Yeah, it's powerful and it's ramping up as well. We've seen similar rhetoric in the last few weeks, but over the last 48 hours or so, Donald Trump and Iran have really ramped up their rhetoric. And so too actually have neighboring countries in the Gulf. Every signal is pointing to the possibility that the US will use military force both offensively and defensively against Iran within the coming days. The military buildup is real and it's very public as well. We've seen that the USS Abraham Lincoln, one of the United States 11 aircraft carriers has entered Middle Eastern waters this week. That was after an 11 day transit from the South China Sea. And its arrival has highlighted to Donald Trump's escalating threats to strike Iran for the second time in less than a year. Now accompanying that vessel, Emma, there were three guided missile destroyers that arrived in the last few days as part of his beautiful armada that Donald Trump has said. And the US President has also ordered other machinery towards Iran as well. This is the largest buildup of US military assets in the region since B2 bombers dropped 30,000 pound worth of bombs on the three Islamic Republics nuclear facilities in that 12 day war last year. And we've also seen and there's been footage emerged of multi day aerial drills and troop deployments within the Middle East. It just underscores that this is more than just words and rhetoric now. It is a visible show of force that the US is putting on and trying to get the message across to Iran.
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What indeed is the message that time is running out? This is what Donald Trump has said in terms of coming to the table and agreeing on a nuclear deal. But what exactly is the purpose of all this? Is this Donald Trump trying to capitalize on a weakened regime or weakened leadership in Iran or what?
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E
I think that's a very important question and a question many are trying to answer. What is the actual reason that Donald Trump wants to get into Iran? Well, he has said specifically that time is running out for negotiation, framing military force as an option if Tehran obviously doesn't comply. And I think what Donald Trump wants is to come to the table, for Iran to back down essentially to listen to his orders. I think the objectives are pretty unclear here because as you mentioned, Trump has used increasingly hostile language towards Tehran. And I think what Tehran want is for him to use less of that language. Then they can potentially come to the table and actually have a conversation. But it just feels right now that there is a real sense of urgency but also immense tension even here in the UAE and in other Gulf states. And people are watching very closely to see who attacks first. There is obviously a potential strike coming from the United States, but there are also rumors swirling that Iran could come out with a preemptive attack potentially on one of the US Bases around the Gulf or even into Israel as well. So I think the next 48 hours will be incredibly critical.
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This is a different operation, however, from what we've just seen in Venezuela. With the United States going in, grabbing Nicolas Maduro and carting him off to a jail cell in New York. It is much, much harder to try to topple the regime in Iran.
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E
Yes, I think that's for a number of reasons. One being obviously its location geographically is one of the issues. And I think the problem that Donald Trump has, particularly, particularly in Iran, is actually the Gulf states around the Middle east will also want to make sure that they are heavily involved in any confrontation. It may not seem like it, but they will want to ensure that there is peace and stability in this region. And so he will have received a lot of pushback from the likes of Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states as well. Well, so it will be a lot more difficult for him to just go in and do what he pleads. But clearly with this buildup of military force in the region, an attack will not be a small attack. Donald Trump will want to go all out in Iran and the big question will be what is Iran's retaliation as a result? Where do they go next? Who do they target next? How do they react to, to a US Strike on their own soil? And whether that's attacking a Gulf nation, whether it's the UAE and the Al Dhfra air base here in the uae, whether it's Kuwait or whether it's again in Doha. As we saw last year, the worst case scenario would actually be the US Military base in Bahrain, which is near to civilians. And it's likely that if Iran were to retaliate and attack that base, there would be serious injuries and even casualties.
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B
And this, as a result, will set the rest of the region on edge. I mean, how are things feeling? What would be the reaction to some sort of extended or ramped up military action in Iran?
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E
Well, it has huge consequences. It has huge knock on effects.
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Right.
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You know, you've got to think of the aviation sector out here, some of the world's biggest airlines, some of the world's biggest airports and biggest hubs. You know, people will be on edge, travel will be disrupted. The whole industry of travel in this region will be disrupted as a result. We'll be looking closely for flight paths here as well. Oil, of course, the oil prices have been on edge and markets have been watching very closely what's happening in the last few days. And I think the knock on consequences could be incredibly severe for this region and the wider world. I think think people will be looking closely over the next 48 hours. In particular is my understanding from some conversations that I've had with senior analysts out here as to whether the US will strike first or whether there will be a preemptive attack from Iran in.
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Zaman Rashid in Abu Dhabi. Thank you so much. Indy is our Gulf correspondent based out there. You're listening to the globalists still to come on today's program.
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It's by accident, but people come back to me. So they are artists, they are in the fashion business or they're that time, very fancy, most important, elites of the Paris Parisian Polaroids.
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The owner of the celebrated Chinese restaurant, Dave on the collection of photographs capturing his star studded clientele. You're listening to Monocle Radio.
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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.
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Let's continue now as today's newspapers. Joining me is the journalist and Monocle radio regular, Vincent McEvinney. Good morning, Vinnie.
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Good morning.
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How are you?
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F
I'm well, thanks. How are you?
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Very well, thank you. Good to have you in the studio. Let's talk about Keir Starmer in China. The most bizarre, bizarre picture. If you take a step back and remember that Keir Starmer is a human rights lawyer and he's let into the inner sanctum of Xi Jinping.
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Yes.
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What happens? Tell us about that.
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It's not just a human rights lawyer, but the basis of Mark Darcy, you know, human rights lawyer in the Bridget Jones books.
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But frankly all they're thinking about in the corridors of Beijing. But how are the papers covering this today?
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F
Well, it's interesting, we're sort of waking up. They hadn't, they hadn't had their meeting when the papers went to print last night, but obviously the copies online have come out. So Keir sama has started, started this three day trip. He has had a bilateral meeting with Xi Jinping. It was expected to only last around 35 minutes, but it went double that time. It went on for about an hour 10, we understand, which is always a good sign in diplomatic circles. They've both kind of given the same softly, softly statements, you know, Sakir saying that they need to build a more sophisticated relationship. Xi Jinping saying that there's been many twists and turns out and that engagement is unavoidable. So things are going all right so far. Chinese social media is reacting, saying that Keir Starmer is. Oh, he's another Mark Carney coming to try to do sort of deals with China after sort of years of criticism. We had been briefed that the Prime Minister would raise human rights concerns, but ultimately this is about the geopolitical. We think that actually what Kirsan was doing, apart from trade, was wanting to really get Xi Jinping to put pressure on Putin to come to the table and get a peace deal in Ukraine. Because, of course, Xi Jinping has been sort of underwriting, effectively Russia for the past four years as it's carried on this campaign. Interesting, though, soft diplomacy, skill. This was quite a nice story to come out, sir. Keir Starmer, famously an Arsenal fan, a North London football club. He's very passionate about that. Xi Jinping is apparently a Man United fan.
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And so, Kieran, that's not going to go well.
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Well, no, no, Kierke, because Arsenal lost to last week on Sunday, 3, 2. And Keir gifted the match ball to Xi Jinping. So that is quite, quite a gift.
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B
And that is what it is all about, isn't it? That we have, you know, huge, huge turmoil and trouble in terms of trade and geopolitics and the reorganization and what Mark Carney was talking about last week as being rupture. And yet it is the personality politics of all this which ultimately will decide the path that we all take completely.
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F
And, you know, know it's got to be. You got to remember that these are individual people and we know that. I don't think she will be doing this, but we know from Trump that a lot of diplomacy now is more direct than it's ever been. It's leaders whatsapping each other. And I think if you, you know, the person you like the most is normally the person you reply to quickest when you get a message through. And that is really important. I do think, though, stepping back, it is slightly extraordinary that five years ago, you know, the turmoil that was created by Covid and the fact that China was largely responsible for the outbreak just never comes up. There was never really repercussions for China. There was never any kind of international move to kind of exact any kind of reparations or penalties from it. It's such a sort of memory hole thing, even in diplomatic world.
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Let's move to a story in the new York Times. It's also been widely reported in France and Italy. ICE agents seen very much for all the wrong reasons in what's coming out of Minneapolis. What I think a lot of us didn't realize is that ICE agents don't just work in the United States.
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F
Yeah, I think this is really surprising. These are, you know, ICE is part of the Homeland Security apparatus, which was largely set up after 9, 11, and they have sort of different divisions which investigate, you know, transnational crime as well. But I think there are some eyebrows raised to this. I think the US has a lot of agencies that can call on for diplomatic protection, which is essentially what this is doing. So it's diplomatic protection for Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Vice President J.D. vance, going to Milano for the Winter Olympics coming up in a few weeks time. And, you know, they will have Secret Service, they can call on, you know, other agencies, but taking ICE officers in particular, you know, they're trying to say that they're to vet and mitigate risks from transnational criminal organizations. The Olympics is one of the most secure, well organized events you will go to around the world. It seems slightly provocative that you would take ICE agents with you. They have been shown to be completely, you know, untrained. They, the training for them has gone from six months down to six weeks. They are undisciplined, you know, they can't even handle weapons properly. There's lots of footage of them, you know, miscarrying weapons and they go around wearing masks. That is not a force that you take with you for protection to an event like the Olympics because they simply won't know, you know, you know, you and I have both gone to big international summits where leaders are there. You have multiple security agencies interfacing with each other and it is, you know, carefully planned. Softly, SOFTLY BACKGROUND background It is not, you know, guys walking around in Under Armour T shirts and masks on, hanging their guns loosely from themselves.
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Indeed. And the Italians are not happy about it either because they want to, quite understandably want to make sure that they are in control of their own security arrangements once the Olympics starts. Nor do they want a distraction.
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No, they, they don't. And you know, the Olympics is a slightly curious thing because you sort of seed the land that the sites are on. It sort of becomes international territory temporarily to the ioc. And, you know, you've got years of planning to get this done. And I think Italians were rightly concerned that, you know, an agency which has clearly gone rogue would be sort of coming to the town and just wouldn't have that. That understanding of how. Which the Secret Service will do. And every country kind of effectively has a division of policing like this, of how you engage properly. And I think it does raise questions as well. We've got the World cup coming up in the us, A very hostile welcome being given to that JD Vaughn saying, as soon as you're done seeing your game, get out the country. They've got the LA Olympics coming up as well. You know, the us, this should be big opportunities for them to, you know, invite the world in. We know that tourism numbers are crashing to the us. You go to sort of parties and, you know, you talk to people about what holidays are going to take. The response from a lot of people is, I'm nervous about going to the us. So that's off the table for a while, particularly because of what the images they see of, you know, ice, and they have detained people who have been simply on holiday. And it doesn't seem like a fitting agency for a competition that is meant to bring people together.
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Finally, let's talk about the Royal Navy here in the United Kingdom, or rather deployed around the world, seas and oceans. They've been told that the sailors on board need to stop drinking so much, which is a glorious story because the US doesn't allow drinking on board at all. The British, on the other hand, slightly more relaxed about this approach, but perhaps that will change.
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Yeah, this is a really interesting story. So, as you say, the US Navy don't allow drinking wholesale, which maybe is, you know, they can be quite puritanical about these things, but nevertheless, these are highly complex, incredibly expensive, technical ships that they're on. I don't know if you've ever been on a destroyer or anything like that, but they are. There we go. I thought you would have done. I mean, they are sort of cramped, difficult spaces to work in. You'd want to have your wits about you at all times, I think, particularly given navies now are engaging in things like combating piracy, capturing these Russian tankers potentially about to be engaged in the Gulf. I think you would, especially being at sea as well, want to feel top form. But the British Navy has for a long time, and it comes from a great historical reason. Beer was drunk on ships because they didn't have access to clean water and it stayed pure for long. And then when they discovered Jamaica, they adopted rum. So there was an actual practical reason for this. But the Royal Navy is looking at having two dry days per week on ships and then lowering alcohol units to 14 units per week. So the about the equivalent of six pints of beer. They currently have a rule of apparently two cans. Okay. So, you know, people sort of drinking double this amount at the moment. So they are, you know, trying to kind of clamp this down. And it is interesting they're saying that they are seeing, you know, for operational reasons, for performance to mitigate risks. They're seeing it now as increasingly important, these long tours, that sometimes these ships are off for months and months away from home. You do have to have some small comforts. I don't think going the full US Hog is great. You might need to come up with where you are in terms of the alert system of the ship, maybe should dictate how much people can indulge. So if you are at highest red alert, then really obviously the bars should be closed.
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Vincent McEvinney, thank you so much as ever for joining me in the studio. You're listening to the Global List. Now here's what else we're keeping an eye on today. President Xi Jinping has told the visiting British Prime Minister, Keith Starmer, that Beijing stands ready to develop a long term strategic partnership with the United Kingdom. Mr. Starmer said the two countries must build a more sophisticated relationship. The FBI has been carrying out a search at an election office in Fulton County, Georgia, in connection with the 2020 presidential vote. Local officials said agents were searching for records from that election. President Trump has long claimed, without producing evidence, that the ballot in Georgia was rigged against him. And the French Senate has been examining a bill which would make it easier to hand back looted artworks to France's former colonies. Tens of thousands of objects were taken from Africa and around the world between the 15th and 20th centuries. But current legislation requires every item in the national collection to be voted on individually. This could now be changed. And those are the headlines on the Globalist. Now Monocle's February issue of the magazine is out. Now for a quick look inside, here's Monocle's Tom Wedd and editor Josh Fennett.
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Monocle's February edition of the magazine is available on newsstands right now. It's the moving special. Josh, what does that mean? Nothing to do with people coming into your house and leaving dents in all your lovely furniture, but more the idea, Tom, of moving. The idea of moving home, perhaps, but maybe finding a new neighbourhood, finding a new city, finding a new vocation. I guess the thing that unites Monocle readers often is a sense of purpose and a sense that the horizon is an interesting place to scan. And what this issue tries to do at the beginning of the year, while the weather in the Northern hemisphere isn't quite what it should be, is giving people an opportunity to scan that horizon and to look, look at new places, benchmarks of great urbanism, interesting designers and architects to commission and yes, maybe a holiday to book for when things could be a little bit sunnier. And speaking about when things are sunnier, we're already in our swimwear and we're diving into Cape Town's finest pools. I know it's a very picture rich. I thought you were letting listeners in on our in studio attire there for a second, Tom. It is very warm in here. So Cape Town, I know it's rich.
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F
With photography, but if you can try.
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A
And paint a picture for us. Yeah, of course. We've done an amazing report in Cape Town. We met the mayor at Jordan Hill Lewis at Monocle's Quality of Life conference in Barcelona. And he is a very purposeful man, a mover and a shaker. And one of his interesting urban projects is about opening up municipal swimming pools. So Cape Town, an incredible city, but also with incredible inequality and lots of communities, lots of neighborhoods have disadvantages and don't have any access to the water. And his policy is one of those interesting bits of urbanism that doesn't seem to get anything wrong. It doesn't seem controversial. People want to enjoy the sunshine that you're talking about. People want to get exercise, access to clean air. And by renovating these beautiful municipal spaces that are sometimes architecturally interesting, it gives communities a center, gives place people a place to splash out, if you will. And that's what we've done with the photography. So we've gone and shot three of these projects. There's no stooges. We haven't gone there on the busiest day when the mayor's got a load of people in. We've observed people using these public amenities and it's a great bit of urbanism. Although I must say, sometimes the word urbanism feels a bit sterile. It feels a bit academic. What you'll see in this amazing report is people actually using these spaces, feeling healthier and better afterwards and a mayor doing something right, that rarest of things.
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E
And you have gone there on a.
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A
Very sunny day, I must say, absolutely fabulous. It's the summer there now, Tom.
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F
We.
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A
We're cheating the February issue of Monocle by using our friends in the Southern hemisphere. Oh, yeah. Well, let's head closer to home and to Europe, just a stone's throw from London and Romania. And this isn't the first city, the second city. It's the third city. Why are we looking at it? It is the boom town. Don't go throwing stones at Romania, Tom. You're gonna get yourself in trouble. Yeah, this is a report of a city which I'm definitely gonna pronounce incorrectly, called Iasi, spelled I A, S I. Yash, you heard me right. Send all complaints to Tom Webb about the mispronunciation, if there is one there. But it's just a story that we put a little bit of a flag in the ground over because there are so many discussions about sluggish economies in Europe and about problems with efficiency and a lack of growth. So we thought we'd go to somewhere that is growing and ask about it. And it's, it's surprisingly difficult to find these European cities. You can, you know, depending on how you measure it, you could end up in the. The streets of Dublin, Tom, because there' tech boom. But Yash is kind of interesting because it's attracting talented tech workers, some back office staff. It's a small, interesting university town that really pitches that idea of affordability, job prospects, living well, some good restaurants and a growing kind of like gastronomic scene, but also a place that many people kind of haven't heard of. So in my mind, it's one of those beautiful monocle stories that shows you something you might not have seen otherwise, gives you some food for thought. And while we're not seriously expecting people to be uprooted, maybe from New York or Sydney or Hong Kong to go and live in this, you know, Romania's third city, the keys to its success are things that I think could be taken out to other parts of the world and maybe, who knows, even here in London. And we did have a reader, a.
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F
Very excited reader who found out about.
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This report, send us some of their fabulous chocolate. So we got to taste it as well.
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F
Anything else in the magazine you want.
- [36:23]
A
To quickly highlight for us? Yeah, there's so much to choose from. People who are listening to the radio, who may not subscribe to the magazine. It's an absolute treat, a feast for the senses. And really, if you want to see things that you won't see elsewhere from what life's like for diplomats in Riyadh's diplomatic quarter. Spain's immigration minister, you know, being challenged by us a little bit on her very open borders policy, which is in the news at the minute and not necessarily winning. Mr. Sanchez, all the friends in the world, but let's expose it to some scrutiny and there's Also a wonderful essay about migration and why people move and what moves us. So in a moment, particularly here in the uk, perhaps in the US as well, where immigration is seen as a bad thing, we try and be optimistic about what it might mean to live somewhere else and live a little bit better and to talk about the plaudits of an open border. Obviously we're not saying illegal migration or those things are good, but to have a sensible, non raised voice conversation about migration seems good and that all feeds into to the moving issue. Plus, at the back of the book, in the more beautiful pages, you might find somewhere to eat, somewhere to stay and that holiday I promised you. Tom, perfect for the swim shorts you're wearing now.
- [37:33]
B
Monocle's Tom Webb and Josh Fennett there. And our February issue is available now. You're listening to the Globalist. It's what, 1637 in Seoul, 7:37am here in London. Now, South Korea's former first lady, Kim Keon Hee has been sentenced to 20 months in prison for bribery. Her husband, the former president Yoon Suk Yeol, has already been sentenced to five years in jail over his failed declaration of martial law in 2024. Well, this marks the first time in South Korean history that a former presidential couple have been found guilty at the same time. To tell us more, I'm joined now by Rafael Rashid, who's a Seoul based journalist for publications including the Guardian and Al Jazeera. Good afternoon to you, Rafael.
- [38:20]
G
Good afternoon.
- [38:21]
B
So how momentous a moment is this?
- [38:25]
G
I mean, it's quite unprecedented, as you mentioned, to have the former presidential couple to both be essentially detained and at the same time in two different detention facilities. Of course, this comes as Kim Gan Hee, the former first lady, was facing three separate charges against her masterminding a stock manipulation scheme around 15 years ago and profiting from it, receiving free opinion polls from a political broker that helped apparently before the 2022 presidential election. And then she was accused of accepting luxury gifts from the Unification Church and diamonds and and whatnot. And so we have a situation where she was taken to court for these three charges and the court acquitted her of the first two major charges, but convicted her only of accepting some of the Unification Church gifts.
- [39:33]
B
So the convictions, the sentencing that she has just received is connected to cases which are absolutely unrelated to her husband's conviction over his declaration of martial law. This is quite an astonishing state of affairs, isn't it?
- [39:50]
G
I mean, she is a controversial figure and has been throughout her president, her husband's presidency, and I think back then they were the opposition party, the Democratic Party. They were keen to investigate all of these things that she was accused of. But unfortunately, every single time they tried to investigate and pass bills in order to investigate her, her husband would veto these bills. So they were basically unable. And so when he, when he, he had his downfall after martial law and then now that we have a new president here, the Democratic Party, now the ruling party, took every opportunity to bring up these bills again and make sure she's investigated for what they say was, you know, very much needed.
- [40:42]
B
Explain to us about how this verdict has now been received. Because. Because the sentencing of Yoon Sook Yeol and the trial of Yoon Sook Yeol divided the nation. But if you have someone like Kim Keon Hee, as he already said, a controversial figure, how has it gone down?
- [40:59]
G
Honestly speaking, I don't. I mean, I don't think it's gone down too well. Of course she will have some supporters who won't be happy at all that she's facing any time in prison. But I think if we look at the ruling party, of course, the Democratic Democratic Party, they called it disconnected from facts and common sense. And I think when we, even when we see that the prosecutors themselves had demanded 15 years in prison and now she's just getting 20 odd months. The Progressive Hungary editorial this morning was scathing, questioning how the court could basically lecture Kim about integrity whilst clearing her of the main charges. The court's logic was that she may have known about some of this stock manipulation, but wasn't necessarily a co conspirator. So many people are questioning the court itself. Some commentators are saying, well, we might as well have AI judges because the verdict was so disconnected from common sense. Well, that's of course, you know, what some people are saying. But at the same time, I think there will be some relief that at least she's getting some, some form of punishment. And I don't think she really denied receiving these gifts from the Unification Church.
- [42:21]
B
Well, broadly speaking, what lessons are being learned here in South Korea about the way that public figures should behave?
- [42:31]
G
You know, I think there are lessons, of course, to be, to be learned about not taking bribes and gifts from these big organizations and religious groups. But I think there's a bigger reckoning in society to, you know, for example, the state and the church should be separated according to the Constitution. But everyone knows that in reality that's not the case. And there are many questions about how the Unification Church could have been so deeply embedded within political circles and the government and up to the presidential office. So there are big, big questions at the moment about the the Unification Church and even the current president, Lee Jae Myung has floated around the idea several times about revoking their license, registration, dissolving the group, citing, you know, alleged involvement in political interference and bribery. So I think we're going to hear a lot more about this, you know, collusion between politics and religious groups in the near future.
- [43:41]
B
Rafael Rashid soul based journalist for publications including the Guardian and Al Jazeera and Today, Monocle Radio. Thank you so much for joining me on the Globalist. Now, Botswana is a country on a path to creating closer ties to Moscow. Russian investors have been invited to work with the government on rare earths and diamonds. Good news for Botswana and arguably even better news for Russia. Russia, which is working hard to strengthen its foothold in Africa. Well, I'm joined now in the studio by the diamond expert Tobias Kormind, who's co founder and managing director of 77 Diamond. What's the plan for Botswana then?
- [44:20]
H
It's a very interesting story because I think the whole diamond market is actually up in turmoil and Botswana's an absolute essential part of that whole chain. So De Beers, which is the second biggest diamond company in terms of like mining diamonds and manufacturing and stuff so on distributing, is actually up for sale by Anglo American who sees it as a kind of periphery company. And De beers actually get 70% of its diamonds from Botswana. So those two are incredibly intertwined. And Botswana is effectively trying to in a way nationalize diamonds by buying De Beers. And it's getting some external, it's looking at external funding from countries like Oman to be able to do that. And that would change from owning 15% of De Beers, which is what they currently have, to owning the entire entity. Instead of just being part of the kind of mining story and getting some revenue, they would effectively be part of the whole chain. So in terms of controlling pricing, marketing and for them, of course, their economy's been hit really hard as the diamond prices have kind of declined and volumes have declined, decline and demand has declined also because of the rise of lab growns. They're trying to take control so that they can control their own future destiny.
- [45:38]
B
All this is very attractive to Russia, isn't it?
- [45:40]
H
Yeah. So the Russia play here with Botswana is very interesting. So we know that Botswana has just opened an embassy or is opening an embassy in Russia and that obviously is going to agitate the U.S. so the real question is what is Russia's role? So there's first of all, Russia brings a lot of mining technology. And Botswana is looking to diversify away from diamonds towards kind of rare earths and copper to build a stronger economy. So that's one part of the relationship. But of course the other part is that Alrosa, which is the Russian diamond company, is responsible for about 40% of diamonds. And so combined, Botswana and Russia would have like a 60 above a 60% control over diamonds. That would give them complete power almost on an opaque style oil control to determine supply and pricing. So if, but, but that would open themselves up for, you know, tariffs from, from the U.S. because obviously the U.S. would. And that's, you know, the U.S. currently is about 50% of, of diamond demand. So I think Botswana needs to be very careful. So some speculate that, that this is a bargaining chip for the US in order to get better tariff terms. But if Russia does enter in properly and Botswana and Russia get tied really close together, I think there's big question marks about what's going to happen with.
- [47:03]
B
Supply, India and what do we think might happen to supply? Where might it be diverted to?
- [47:09]
H
So, I mean, at the moment, China's relatively weak, but of course China is very happy to accept Russian diamonds and would also be happy to accept Botswana diamonds. So if they come back strong online and we see luxury demand increasing again, that's part of what's happening. That's exactly what's happened with oil as well, with Russian oil going to China during this period where the US and China are kind of fighting with each other. But you can't ignore the fact that the US is still by far the strongest market. And I think Botswana is playing a very dangerous game and needs to think really carefully about what it's doing.
- [47:45]
B
Indeed, because this would actually strengthen the hold that Russia already has across the continent, doesn't it? Especially when it comes to diamonds.
- [47:53]
H
Yeah. I mean, Russia's been looking for an angle to enter into Africa and it strengthens its ties with countries there, just as China has done on a massive scale throughout Africa. So for Russia, of course, this makes complete sense and it's also driving a wedge between, you know, countries in Africa and the US and that's exactly what they want.
- [48:15]
B
So what is likely to happen next? Is Russia going to succeed?
- [48:18]
H
I think what will happen is Botswana will probably, first of all, it depends on whether they get De Beers and whether they can gather together the funding. I think it's quite dangerous to concentrate so much power within kind of one country, but we'll have to kind of see how the balance is played. I think if they can navigate this carefully. They can get some mineral technology and diversify their economy. And at the same time, if they can appease the US and they can balance the two things, they might really stand to gain. But it can all go crashing down and become incredibly wrong.
- [48:56]
B
Tobias Korman, thank you so much for joining me in the studio. That was Tobias Cormorants, co founder and managing director of 77 Diamonds.
- [49:08]
A
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 technology. Bridging human expertise with artificial intelligence. All to elevate you. UBS banking is our craft.
- [49:45]
B
We head to Paris now to delve into the history of a legendary restaurant Davee. Across the 80s and 90s, it was the place to be in the city. The most fashionable restaurant in town. Town seating everyone that mattered in fashion, film, art and music. Well, there's a new release by Idea Books called A Night at Dave and it features polaroids that the owner, Dave Chunk took of his guests in early selfie style. Polaroids capturing off guard moments and unexpected combinations. Monocle Radio's senior correspondent Fernando Agosta Pacheco heard from Davey himself who explained that the restaurant wasn't an immediate hit hit.
- [50:23]
C
You know, when any person nothing is just overnight nothing. That's why I'm talking about 70s. We get a very small restaurant in that very popular, very. I mean workers area. That time today is very fancy. In the small street where I at the beginning I met people and it's by accident, but people come back to meet. So they are artists, they are in the fashion business or they're that time very fancy. Most important elites of the Paris they come to me maybe I was younger and a lot of. I'm sure a lot of the energy and desire. I think I was young, full of energy, the real design inside of me coming out. So they. I think they attract them to me. And so it was this for seven years and then I opened 82 exactly first June 82. So it become very fast the hit. Because it's a few years work before of course.
- [51:36]
F
So then it was a good process.
- [51:37]
C
Then also 81 the France changed the government. They from the right turn to left. So everything's new like a booming time. Yeah.
- [51:50]
F
And I feel I never actually been to Davee unfortunately. But there's something quite sexy somewhere where people feel good as well. Because a restaurant is a combination of those factors. You Know, I think it's your charisma I think plays a big role on that as well. Don't you think that a restaurant with a personality.
- [52:11]
C
And when you are. It's under your. Your name. You are, you are the person and this thing is the glamour. I think it's an energy inside everybody is a creative the coming up people. And also as the change the government Change all the 70s they still not bad. But the new another, another energy is coming. So because two energy together they all come to me. I get two. Always two, not only one. Maybe I naturally I understood how to handle that how to just make it together. Sexy. You. You see the. The right words because. Because sexy means attractive. So very attractive. And people want to attract so they express the best of them at that moment. They get the like in the scenery people, the actor, the dancer. They give the best at the moment, the best. I'm very lucky.
- [53:21]
F
Very, very lucky. And. And tell me the Polaroids. Okay. You took photographs of the it people around the world, the top artists. I mentioned names here as well. Where people.
- [53:31]
A
People comfortable with that.
- [53:33]
F
I presume so because everybody feels so.
- [53:35]
E
Relaxed in the pictures.
- [53:37]
F
I mean that. That's what I'm saying. It's very difficult to see people in such relaxed kind of body. You know.
- [53:44]
A
Tell me more about that.
- [53:45]
C
And people the world. You. You said the point. The point is they relax. Not being more than being respect. They don't need to be. They don't want to. To be on the tree. But nobody want to be respected like a king. You know, very few people like that. And the people want to be real. When they relax, they're no more in the repetitive. They're not on the show. They become natural. And look at. They all look happy. They don't look boring. Very important. And they don't feel. I don't mean they don't feel forced to be. Be anything just being good, feeling comfortable. I'm very lucky.
- [54:37]
B
That was Dave Chung talking to Monocle's Fernando Augusta Pacheco. You can listen to the full extended interview on this week's episode of the Stack, our weekly podcasts about all things print. You're listening to the Globalist. We stay with Food and Drink to conclude today's program, but we head to Tokyo for it. Joining us from our Tokyo studio is Melinda Jo. She's a food sake wine journalist based in the Japanese capital and she joins me now. Good afternoon, Melinda. How's life where you are? It's snowing or it has been snowing.
- [55:13]
I
Oh, actually it's not snowing in Tokyo, it is quite chilly. But I just came from Toyama City where it is quite snowy.
- [55:21]
B
And how was your journey in?
- [55:23]
I
Oh, my journey was great. I went there because I wanted to visit a sake brewery called Masuda Sake Brew. But the city itself, which is about two hours and change northwest of Tokyo on the coast of the Sea of Japan, is really emerging as a gastro destination. It's just a treasure trove, especially for seafood. The Toyama Bay is one of the deepest waters in Japan and it's home to at least 500 varieties of seafood.
- [55:57]
B
Goodness me. So talk us through it. Not all 1500. I'm not sure we have time, but your highlights.
- [56:03]
I
No, no, definitely not 1500. It's more like 500. But one of the interesting things is that one of the areas in the city, Iwase, which is the former historic port district, is really developing as a restaurant and bar destination. There are so many Michelin starred restaurants like in this one little area. And the brewery that I visited, Masuda Sake Brewery, has been very instrumental in developing new restaurants, new concepts. When we were there, I had dinner at a sashimi specialist and I think we had at least 15 varieties of seafood at this one restaurant called Nenjirute.
- [56:48]
B
I have just fainted with delight. Tell us a little bit more about the Matsuda Brewery. It's been there since what, the 17th century? So this is what, 15 generations of sake brewers, something steeped in Japanese culture?
- [57:04]
I
Absolutely. It is a very historic brewery and the president is really forward looking. So as I mentioned, you know, they've been developing the city as a gastro destination. And this is a project that has been already going on for almost 30 years. So it's not just about creating restaurants, it's about refurbishing old buildings. So it makes that district really beautiful and you can feel the history of the place. But the brewery itself is. It's so unique because he blends contemporary art with the art of sake making and does a lot of super interesting collaborations. For example, just now they released a sake that was produced for the LA Lakers basketball player Rui Hachi. Mura Hachimura. Sorry, I have to confess, I'm not a huge sports person.
- [58:01]
B
You're forgiven. Don't worry.
- [58:05]
I
But yeah, so this is actually a new product that they just released, I believe last month in Japan. And the wonderful. Yeah, very out of the box.
- [58:14]
B
Out of the box.
- [58:15]
I
Thank you.
- [58:15]
B
Thank you for that, Melinda. Don't worry, we've got you on for food and sake, not for sport. But look, now we've got you into Tokyo. Just what, what's caught your eye and what in what this year is going to offer us.
- [58:26]
I
Yeah, so the, the food and drink scene in Tokyo remains dynamic despite all of the inflation that's been driving up food costs. But I would say that this year in 2023, the trends are a little bit more subtle than maybe what we've seen in the past. So a lot of continuation of things that maybe trends that started a little while ago. One of the things that I noticed is that wood fire cooking has continued to be really popular. But one of the interesting things about what's happening now is that they're using this technique in different ways. For example, to make Japanese corn cuisine, which you normally don't think about wood fire and Japanese cuisine, but there are a couple places that have been doing this at a very high level. One restaurant is called Suzutashiki, which is a fine dining Japanese restaurant, but they use wood fire. Another one that I really enjoyed is called Makitori Shinkobe and it's a yakitori restaurant. So you know the grilled chicken, which is usually grilled over charcoal, but they use only wood fire. And that adds a real kind of subtle smokiness to the, to the meat that is really delicious. Melinda Joe recommend.
- [59:40]
B
Yes, and we're coming. MELINDA Jo in Tokyo, thank you so much for joining us on the radio. From our Tokyo bureau, you're listening to the Globalist. And that is all the time we have for today's program. The warmest of thanks to all my guests and to the producers, Carlotta Rebelo, Tom Webb and Angelica Jopson. Our researcher is Anneliese Maynard and our studio manager manager was Elliot Greenfield with editing assistance by Christy o' Grady after the headlines. There's more music on the way. The briefing is live at midday here in London and the Globalist is back at the same time tomorrow. Join me for that if you can, but for now, from me, Emma Nelson, goodbye. Thank you very much for listening. Sam.
- [60:57]
A
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.