Emma Nelson (3:11)

So what is the latest, please?

James Chambers (3:13)

I guess the latest we're hearing from the Thai side. I mean, I should say I live in Bangkok. So most of my official information comes from the government here. The Thais are saying that yesterday on Sunday and then overnight, some of the soldiers, Thai soldiers along the border, were or came under attack from the Cambodians. A mixture of gunfire and missile attacks. And one soldier has been killed, one Thai soldier and eight soldiers have been injured. And there's been an evacuation order for Thais living along the border to clear out. And then we woke up this morning to news that the Thais had launched airstrikes, as you mentioned, and the army, the Thai army is saying that these airstrikes are very precise. They are targeting military facilities, including a casino, which they're saying has been used to launch drone attacks on Thailand. So that's where we stand. Of course, the Cambodians are saying the exact opposite. They say the Thais started it. They say they haven't retaliated at all. And they're saying three of their.

James Chambers (4:27)

People have been injured in all this. So, yes, we've gone back to where things were in.

Emma Nelson (4:34)

Indeed. I mean, the line is not helping us very much. But we will persevere, James, if that's all right with you, and let's go back to where we were. That it is. What it's just a little over a month since Donald Trump oversaw a ceasefire agreement between Thailand and Cambodia. What's gone wrong here?

James Chambers (4:52)

Well, you're right, Emma, to call it a ceasefire agreement, because he was. The Trump administration was trying to pretend they'd solved this border dispute between these two countries and we're calling it a peace. But of course it wasn't. Nothing was solved. They just decided to put down, lay down their arms in interest of a trade negotiation, trade deal with the US So nothing has been solved. And this is just another example of, I guess, the testy relationship between the two sides. And when you have two sets of armies and soldiers, you know, staring at each other across a border, I guess some may have, you know, kind of itchy trigger fingers and a, a few errant bullets sent across the border can end up in. Quickly end up in. In airstrikes being launched. So I would. Nothing, nothing new has happened to trigger this. What the Cambodians are saying is that the Thais were doing maneuvers yesterday to try and kind of instigate confrontation. So what may have happened is the Thai soldiers were on the border clearing paths, digging things, and some soldiers on the Cambodian side took shots at them. And then, you know, things spiral and Suddenly we have F16s in the air. So it's very much similar deal to what happened in July, but it'll be we'll have to see whether this now continues for a few more days like before or if the parties can, you know, agree to get back to that ceasefire.

Emma Nelson (6:31)

We have the Malaysian prime minister speaking in the last few hours. He helped to broker the original ceasefire and he's told the two sides to exercise restraint because it and I'm quoting here, it risks unraveling the careful work that has gone into stabilizing relations between the two neighbors. It's a sense here that everybody desires peace and that the work to try to ensure it works phenomenally deeply. And it's very hard to do.

James Chambers (7:00)

Yes. I mean, Anwar Ibrahim has come out and said he's deeply concerned. We expect, I mean, Donald Trump and the White House to probably say something when they awake. I mean, the time zones don't act in their favor at the moment. But I guess what these deals don't reflect is what's going on in the ground. I mean, since that ceasefire, there's been a lot of posters and things going around on the Internet kind of lambasting Mr. Ibrahim and Donald Trump because, I mean, the Thais don't necessarily like what's happened and how they've been forced into this agreement with the Cambodians. And I guess what I would say is there's more to this than just this old, old border dispute. There's a secondary part, a story that's been running alongside this to do with all of these scam centers that are in Cambodia. And people suspect a lot of that money goes to prop up the administration in Cambodia. Now there's been so many stories coming out that have been implicating Thai politicians in this and who's been taking money from what. The ties have suddenly had to act on these scam centers because of pressure from the US From Korea, from Hong Kong, from the Brits. And so suddenly they're taking action against these scam centers and that obviously threatens a key revenue stream for Hun Sen in Cambodia. So, yes, there is this old dispute between the two countries, but there's also a lot more going on that we don't quite understand. And I think we're in a similar situation as we were back in July. There's not a lot of ide why this is happening. I think the Thais do seem a bit confused about what's going on and why this keeps.

James Chambers (8:49)

This dispute keeps rumbling on and what really is going on in Phnom Penh. So until we figure that out, I think this might continue.

Emma Nelson (8:57)

James Chambers in Bangkok, thank you very much indeed for that update. You're listening to the Globalist.

Emma Nelson (9:07)

Just nudging 10:10am in Damascus, 7:10am here in London. Now, this time last, Syria was experiencing profound moments of change after a 24 year long grip over the country. President Bashar Al Assad had just fled the country for Russia. Rebels led by Ahmed Al Sharra were on course to take the capital Damascus, following a lightning offensive. Well, 12 months on, Al Sharra is interim president and has already made his debut at the UN General assembly, the first such appearance by a Syrian leader in six decades. So what about the rest of the country? Well, these were the fireworks celebrations a year on in Homs yesterday.

Emma Nelson (9:54)

Well, the sound of those celebrations were recorded by Heidi Pett. She's an investigative journalist based in Damascus. She arrived in the country just a few days after the fall of Bashar Al Assad and has been following the developments throughout the year. A very good morning to you, Heidi.

Heidi Pett (10:09)

Good morning.

Emma Nelson (10:10)

So yesterday in Homs, what were people saying to you?

Heidi Pett (10:14)

I mean, the mood across all of Syria at the moment is, you know, of kind of celebration, jubilation, marking this, this first year since the fall of the regime. And everywhere you go, people are driving around in their cars with, you know, Syrian flags. They're sort of hanging out the windows, beeping their horns. There are fireworks going off all the time. Which sort of is interesting to me, right, because this is a country that has experienced 14 years of brutal war there. You know, pretty much everybody has ptsd. And it always makes me think of this poem by. There's a Palestinian poet, Naomi Shihab Nai, who says, to enjoy fireworks, you would have had to have lived a different kind of life. And that just doesn't seem true for Syrians. Their love for fireworks remains undimmed. And so we've seen gatherings, you know, across the country. Mayad Square in Damascus last night was, was full all the night. People didn't sleep. But in, in Homs yesterday, it was, it was quite interesting, right, because we had, the government had organized a couple of rallies, specifically in Alawite neighborhoods, which is one of the minorities in Syria that has experienced real problems in the last year. You know, sectarian massacres, kidnappings and, and killings. So they'd organized a small event just for the Alawite community yesterday in Homs ahead of the broader celebrations today.

Heidi Pett (11:34)

Because they're not the only group that has sort of complicated feelings about how this year has gone. Many Syrians are experiencing challenges with the economy. You know, they're having trouble supporting themselves, buying food and the movement towards the values of the revolution that people fought for, which was, you know, justice and dignity. There are many, many Syrians who are not necessarily thrilled with the government's scorecard on that. And one of them is a man that I spoke to, Shadi Haroun, who spent nine years in Assad's jails. And when he was released, he fled the country. And he went on to head up one of the biggest sort of prisoner rights associations that was working outside Syria. And when he came back just a couple of days after the fall of the regime last year, he was able to go to these prisons and revisit the places that he and his family were detained. And since then, he's had this incredible journey he's gone on. He now works for the International center for Transitional justice, which just kind of tells you how far things have changed in this country. But he still has some reservations.

Shadi Haroun (12:39)

So it was an amazing year with hope, but also as a victim, as a survivor, the effect of absence of justice on our community. I mean, after a year of liberation, victims, families, survivors still wait a window for justice. Victims also wait this bridging with government, build trust again with government. So, yeah, this is the year, year of hope for justice, for dignity, for citizenship, and also year of fighting to save. Our narrative.

Heidi Pett (13:30)

What will you do to celebrate? Or will you celebrate? Does it feel like a celebration to you?

Shadi Haroun (13:36)

So we made our celebration in Saqba, in Al Ghouta and also in Douma. It's kind of renew the commitment to our cause. As a Syriac, it's not just like to rebuild the country. It also like we have the right to have a good Syria, to have a just Syria. So this is what celebration means to me, actually to my family.

Emma Nelson (14:07)

Heidi, that's one man you were talking to yesterday on the anniversary of the departure of Bashar Al Assad. The man in charge of the country, Ahmed Al Sharar, has done very well on the international stage. He has.

Emma Nelson (14:24)

Won the conversation with Saudi Arabia and indeed with the west, that he is the man who should lead Syria into its future. Yet when you look at Syria, it is still in ruins and it is still very divided politically. Where you have Kurds in control in the northeast and you have the Druze in separate parts of the country wanting their own state.

Heidi Pett (14:51)

Yeah, And I think that's an indication of the, you know, the fracturing that we saw of this country over the 14 years of war and the, you know, the kind of internationalization of the conflict as well.

Emma Nelson (14:59)

Right.

Heidi Pett (15:00)

We've got the Kurdish dominated administration in the Northeast, which was of course supported by a lot of Western partners in the fight against isis. And they were left alone to kind of run their own race up there for a very long time. And they instituted their own sort of form of governance where they've enshrined co leaders of men and women in institutions and things like that. And they're reluctant to give up.

Heidi Pett (15:23)

Those kind of institutions and they're reluctant to give up the territory that they also hold. And so we've actually seen today, the administration up there has banned people from celebrating the anniversary of the regime, which is an incredibly divisive move. But what they're worried about is that the majority of that population that they govern, which is actually Arab, that those celebrations will turn into protests against their rule. Because there are many people in the northeast who do want to see a unified Syria and want to rejoin the government in Damascus. And as you mentioned, you know, Sweder in the south, again, they, they were kind of self ruled for many years in the, in the later period of the Assad regime. And again, they were reluctant to give up that control and independence. And also they weren't sure if they trusted, trusted Syria's new leader, who up until only a month ago was still a listed terrorist. And so what we saw was clashes down there. We saw Israel getting involved, bombing central Damascus ostensibly in support of the Druze, to tell the government here to not send in the army. And so we do, we have these large pockets of Syria which are dominated by the country's significant minorities that are still outside government control.

Emma Nelson (16:36)

Heidi, thank you so much for joining us. That was Heidi Pett joining us on the line from Damascus. You're listening to Monocle Radio.

Emma Nelson (16:47)

It is 1517 in Hong Kong, which is where we head now because Hong Kong citizens voted on Sunday to elect members of its legislative council. But security was tightened in the northern district of Taipo, close to the border with mainland China, where a fire engulfed seven residential towers, killing 159 people. The focus was on tang out, with authorities scrambling to avoid a broader public backlash. To tell us more, I'm joined now by Tom Grundy, the editor in chief and co founder of Hong Kong Free Press. Good afternoon, Tom.

Tom Grundy (17:19)

Thanks for having me.

Emma Nelson (17:20)

So just lay out what, what happened yesterday because there was the, there was the political business of electing a legislative council, but there was that fear that this would either be seen as a protest vote or that people just wouldn't come out at all.

Tom Grundy (17:34)

Yeah, we don't really talk about, you know, who won or whatnot the pro government camp won as only they can really enter. The questions are really about turnout and maybe blank or protest ballots. Traditional democrats, the opposition are either in prison, they're in self exile, or they've quit politics. And ahead of the last polls in 2021, Beijing revamped things so only patriots can run. They're pre vetted by a committee headed by the city's leader. They undergo national security checks, they need nominations, multiple hoo, you know, to jump through. Calls for blank ballots and boycotts are now banned, although you can still do both. So not exactly a competitive race. There were some, you know, TV forums, but no proper disagreements. And as much as some of the lawmakers in the last cohort said they were kind of independent. Everyone ultimately voted with the government, almost without exception. So results not too surprising. But it's that turnout that is of most concern. 31.9% compared to 32.2% in 2021. So quite similar really. And that's with 33,000 fewer people voting this time. That compares by the way, to 40, 50, 60% in the days before this electoral revamp.

Emma Nelson (18:53)

So explain to us a little bit just how strong there is a backlash or any sense of protest given what happened to these residential towers.

Tom Grundy (19:04)

There is none. It's national security for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Top to bottom, bottom to top. The tentacles of this multi billion dollar Hong Kong dollar, you know, project are in every department and in every part of society. Every part of civil society, which some have observed, you know, was arguably more absent during this crisis in Taipo. There were several arrests over the weekend for enticing protest ballots. But you know, the only way you're going to really identify any kind of dissent is that turnout figure, I guess. And boy, the authorities have been concerned about it. They have spent US$164 million organizing these polls and the city is plastered with promotions, civil servants strongly urged to vote, private companies offering leave and other incentives to vote, free transport, museums and swimming pools over the weekend. And it feels like every government department had to promote the polls in some way. But at the end of the day, it barely moved the needle really by a couple of percent. And we're about to report on the fact that there have been a record number of blank ballots of about 3%. Ish.

Emma Nelson (20:19)

So what does this now bode for the long term future given the lack of engagement, the very conscious lack of engagement by Hong Kong citizens with the authority when it comes to voting?

Tom Grundy (20:31)

Well, you know, there are elections in Iran, in China, in North Korea, they're important to some respects for credibility and it's turnout that's been the focus here. But you've also mentioned this deadly Blaze in Taipo, 159 dead, 30 odds still missing. That's a bit of a test now in the national security era in the mainland. There is little tolerance really as the weeks pass after certain tragedies, earthquakes or disasters for people, you know, organizing and in their quest for justice. And indeed, overnight tributes, flowers were cleared from a huge memorial site just outside these charred towers. And that came about a day after a senior National Security police figure said that, you know, the kind of organization, slogans, pamphlets that were appearing up there had somewhat echoes or parallels to what, what they were seeing in the during the 2019 protests on unrest. So it feels like the city is kind of getting back to normal today. Nothing's been said like officially, but roads have been reopened, websites and government sites are no longer in mournful black and white. And there seems to be this sense that, you know, the mourning period is kind of unofficially over, but searches are still happening for, you know, 30 odd people they're still trying to identify as potentially missing.

Emma Nelson (21:59)

Tom Grundy in Hong Kong, thank you so much for joining us. On the globalist.

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Emma Nelson (22:42)

Let's continue with today's newspapers. Joining me in the studio, Vincent McEvinney, political reporter, broadcaster, regular Monocle radio voice. Good morning, Vinnie.

Shadi Haroun (22:50)

Good morning.

Emma Nelson (22:50)

With an excellent mug.

Shadi Haroun (22:52)

Yes.

Emma Nelson (22:52)

Brought your tea in?

Shadi Haroun (22:53)

I brought some hot water. Got to warm up the vocal cords.

Emma Nelson (22:56)

Excellent. There we go. This is a man who knows what he's doing, right? Swig of hot water, deep breath. How's Monday's papers?

Shadi Haroun (23:03)

Lots of interesting stories. Actually. It's one of those days where there's no sort of set lead across the papers. Everyone going for different things. But first one that stood out for me was the I paper UK in race to build hybrid naval force to defend against Russian underwater attacks. And this is something we started hearing about last week. Cooperation between the UK and Norway in particular to try and stop Russia's actions in sort of shared waters and international sort of European waters. With Russia having increased its incursions in the past two years by about 30%, not only with its traditional navy, but also, we believe, with submarines and with its sort of shadow fleet using these container ships and other ships in order to come in, we think, to deploy underwater drones to assess and analyze where Europe's main communications and undersea cables are for energy as well. Also, we understand to sort of launch small drones which then go and buzz over military sites. And what's remarkable about this piece as well is that it's been revealed that Russia has been using these shadow fleet cargo ships to sneak, we believe, spies in and out of countries who then land at a port and sort of nav. Naval port near a naval port, then go sort of do reconnaissance and we don't know what. And so this is now a new force called Atlantic Bastion, which is going to operate more cohesively naval European ships, drones, both on sea and in the air as well, to try and combat these incursions and keep track of what is going on. Because so much of our economy is so vulnerable if those undersea cables are attacked.

Emma Nelson (24:46)

There is an assumption here that the British naval fleet is up to it. And there has been so much criticism over so many years now that when a decision was made quite a long time ago to move away from conventional warfare and assume that every. Every battle would be fought on online and by drones, that the UK and many other nations have let their defenses slip here. Where does the UK stand here? What does it do? I mean, you said it's, you know, tying up with the likes of Norway, but it's not the great naval fleet that many would imagine it would be.

Shadi Haroun (25:22)

No, I mean, you know, you go back about 15 years ago when they commissioned the two new aircraft carriers, the Prince of Wales and the Queen Elizabeth. There was a couple of years where they weren't even going to have planes that could launch off them. And they were talking about building and then mothballing one and selling it off. But what this article seems to suggest is this is a. I don't think we're going to see navies in the traditional sense of big ships anymore. It's going to be smaller frigates that can deploy submersibles, that can deploy air drones. But also here, you know, there are two naval officers and they are literally using a controller, which is quite akin to a PlayStation controller, to control a small seaboat drone 100 miles from where they are, I think, down in Portsmouth. And the drone was in an undisclosed location. And you sort of look at this, they're sort of surrounded by screens. So you can see here, and they are literally using what looks to be a sort of gaming controller, because people are so used to using those now to part pilot this vessel. And I think it's going to be a lot more of that kind of craft that we're seeing, rather than your big aircraft carriers.

Emma Nelson (26:24)

Okay, let's move to the New York Times. Trump takes starring role at Kennedy Center Honours. Tell us all about this, Vinny.

Shadi Haroun (26:30)

Well, yeah, I mean, this is classic. And as I've said a few times now, the biggest switch in my mindset towards Trump was seeing him as a modern reality star, which is essentially someone like on the Real Housewives, whichever franchise you want for this, Obviously it's Washington D.C. he has basically hijacked in sort of very dictatorial style that he does. He's hijacked the Kennedy center honours. Beforehand. He joked that he was heading to the Trump Kennedy Center. So he's trying to rechristen this. He wants to christen one of the ballrooms the Melania Trump Room at this, at this centre. And last night he did the. Something no president has done before. So he sort of walks the red carpet and then he goes and actually presents it himself. Normally, presidents sit in the box. It's a night about the honorees who are also with them and you see performances. So, you know, you go back sort of to Obama days and you had sort of Carole King being on in the box and then you had Aretha Franklin come out and perform, you know, Natural Woman and those kind of things. No, he was hosting. He was saying he was doing his best. Jimmy Carson. He also joked at one point that he should nominate himself next year. Given that he had an entertainment career.

Emma Nelson (27:37)

You'D almost think he wasn't president exactly.

Shadi Haroun (27:39)

But there is a sort of little sad story in this as well, is that, that the, the medals, I don't know if you've ever seen them, they have for decades had this sort of rainbow ribbon about around them and it was designed and it's meant to be sort of representing all the colors of the arts. Now, apparently MAGA thought that looked a little bit gay and so they redesigned it. But they took. But the, the medals were designed by a family called the Baturin family. They've been making them since the first ceremony 47 years ago. They're a small family business and Trump just gave it to Tiffany and they just came up with a slightly reworked medal with just a sort of blue ribbon around it rather than the colourful.

Emma Nelson (28:21)

One, which is, dare I say it, very Elegant, but perhaps not going in the right direction for some. Finally, let's talk about an article in the Times. It's been widely reported the Louvre has had another bad day.

Shadi Haroun (28:31)

Yeah, this is a bad day for the Louvre. And I think it's sort of, it's now going to be under a lot more scrutiny, I think, than it's had for some time because it's being seen as symbolic for, I think, all of France and the sort of end of Macron's presidency. I remember actually in 2017, I was at the Louvre when Macron came out, the night that he won. And it was a big ceremony and there was pyrotechnics and everything. And he sort of talked about this being a symbol of France and that he would protect it and rebuild it and renew it. And at the end of his term, we now understand about 400 books, which they're saying were sort of, those consulted by Egyptologists have been damaged in this leak, which they say they'd known about for sort of a year or two. But it's not scheduled to be repaired until next year, which seems remarkable because there is nothing like water damage in a building to really, you know, the way that it can spread, it can cause absolute chaos. So they said they're going to dry these out and rebind them. But these things tend to happen in threes, don't they? So we've had the jewel heist now we've had the flood. So, you know, who knows, we might be reporting a fire there next. Hopefully not. But it shows that this building really needs some major work and it's a bit of a sad indictment for France's reputation.

Emma Nelson (29:40)

Let's not tempt fate. Vincent McEveney, thank you so much for joining me in the studio. You're listening to the Globalist on Monocle Radio with me, Emma Nelson. With the time here in London, 30 minutes past seven. It's half past seven. Let's have a look at some of the other stories we're following today.

Emma Nelson (30:00)

The Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelensky is in London for talks with the UK Prime Minister and French President. Mr. Zelensky will then travel to Brussels and Rome for talks on the peace process aimed at ending Russia's full scale invasion of his country. Meanwhile, Italy is to increase support for Ukraine. The Prime Minister, Giorgio Meloni, said she had a phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky this weekend during which she promised more emergency supplies to support Ukraine's energy infrastructure and population. Moscow has welcomed the US revision of Washington's National Security Strategy, which states now that Europe is facing civilizational erasure and does not cast Russia as a threat to the us. Several EU analysts have warned that it threatens freedom of speech and echoes language used by the Kremlin. And a water leak at the Louvre in Paris has damaged hundreds of books just weeks after jewellery worth more than $100 million was stolen. The museum said between three and 400 works were affected by the leak, which happened in late November. This is the Globalist. Stay tuned. It is 8.31am in Bucharest, which is where we head now. For the first time in seven months, Romanian capital Bucharest has a new mayor. They are a liberal, despite predictions that the city could be led by the far right. Alison Mutlow is the journalist and manager of the Universal.net news site and she joins us on the line from Bucharest. Good morning, Alison.

Alison Mutlow (31:29)

Good morning.

Emma Nelson (31:30)

So who won?

Alison Mutlow (31:32)

It's a man called Chipranchuku. He was a district mayor. He's known as a reformer, friendly man. He focused on investments, administrative reorganization and urban regeneration. And he soundly won the mayoral race despite predictions that it would be very close and unpredictable. He very easily won with 36%, more than 36% of the vote.

Emma Nelson (32:00)

Why had these predictions that the far right would take the city grown so loud?

Alison Mutlow (32:08)

Romania's had a very turbulent year. Presidential elections were cancelled a year ago over reports from Romania's secret services that Russia had meddled in the campaign to artificially inflate a pro Russian candidate. And Romania's top court then cancelled the elections and we had a rerun so that that really polarized people and people lost trust in the institutions. And there has been a surge to some extent of the far right with people believing that mainstream politicians are out of touch and they are corrupt. And these far right politicians, including the runner up in this mayoral election, come with a very emotional message of we, justice and God. Something like God actually resonates a lot with Romanians and they come with vague but emotionally appealing messages. And their supporters, voters actually think they are offering something that Romanian mainstream politicians have been unable to offer. So that explains why some people, a rising number of people, but not a majority, are going off looking to these far right parties.

Emma Nelson (33:21)

This is a relief for the central government, is it? To have a pro European local.

Alison Mutlow (33:27)

It is a huge relief and a boost. The centrist government, pro European, has been pushing through some very unpopular austerity measures because Romania has the largest budget deficit in the European Union. It was 9.3% last year. So it's been battling to implement these austerity measures. It's increased VAT and other taxes and it's trying to cut other costs which have not been popular with the Romanian, particularly as we go into the winter when costs rise. So having such a categorically clear victory for its own candidate, who was like 15 points ahead of the person who came second, is a huge relief and a boost to particularly the prime minister, who is the author of all these austerity measures. It's a big confidence vote for the government.

Emma Nelson (34:18)

And in terms of a confidence vote vote for Bucharest itself. Just recently we heard that Corinthia hotels are opening there. We also have a Trump Towers on the way. The sense that Bucharest now has ambition.

Alison Mutlow (34:32)

Bucharest is, is a rapidly changing city. It's an absolute mishmash. Quite, quite charming in a way, of old buildings, new buildings of, of, of a lot of. There's a lot of traffic, there's public transport. We're having a huge subway, like an underground built to the, to the, the airport at the moment, which is causing a lot of disruption. But there's a lot of movement going, a lot of investment going on, buildings going up, new buildings going up, residential, commercial buildings. So there's a lot of things going on. There's also changes. Old parts of Bucharest are being rehabilitated. They're being made to look more modern, but it's a very crowded city and there is a big problem with traffic, and not just with traffic, with the water systems and the heating systems as well. So it's a very big job to be mayor of Bucharest, but Bucharest as they didn't turn out in high numbers, but they have decisively voted for this candidate.

Emma Nelson (35:33)

Indeed. And where does that place Bucharest International and Romanian more generally internationally, now that we have the government very happy that it has a pro European local mayor. But we have that continual push and pull with the night with the United States, with several NATO bases in Romania and the sense that Donald Trump wants to dial this all down a bit. Yes, there may be a Trump Towers on the way to Bucharest, but the way that Bucharest has to now navigate its way to the wards, the future and the way that Romania has to navigate its way towards the future.

Alison Mutlow (36:07)

You're right, it is a complicated situation. It is tricky. We've had Russian drones flying over Romania. Romania shares a 630, I think, kilometer border with Ukraine. It does have major NATO bases. And we have the, as you said, the sort of pull and push of Donald Trump.

Alison Mutlow (36:26)

In the US Relations with Romania. Romania does consider the US a major strategic partner. It has a strategic partnership with the US but on the same time, it's also a strong and firm member of the European Union. And it does have a pro European president and prime minister. But it is a tricky path to navigate. But I have to say, Romania is quite good at navigating tricky paths and having a clear result in Bucharest, having a clear government and a president. Of course, there are internal people political battles, as they are in any country, but it does make it a bit easier. But for sure, Romania will seek to maintain its strategic relations with the United States. And I think the United States is interested in Romania. It's just Donald Trump is taking his focus off Europe and that is a problem not just for Romania, but all of Europe. How do they realign themselves? How do they keep this relationship? By also being aware of the new geopolitical reality, which is a shift. It's not as it has been for decades. Things are changing. So I think all of Europe has to reconsider how they're going to deal with this, including Romania. But Romania is quite good at dealing with ambiguities, I will say that about it.

Emma Nelson (37:40)

Alison Mutlur in Bucharest, thank you as ever, for joining us on Monocle Radio.

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Emma Nelson (38:25)

Now. The US President Donald Trump has warned that Netflix's very big market share could cause problems for the streaming giant's efforts to seek approval for its multi billion dollar acquisition of Warner Brothers Discovery. But what will the planned buyout mean for the future of entertainment and the people who work in the industry? Well, to tell us now, I'm joined down the line by Scott Bryan, TV critic and broadcaster. Good morning, Scott.

Alison Mutlow (38:48)

Morning.

Emma Nelson (38:48)

Let's get this reaction from Donald Trump immediately. The fact that he's warned that the very big market share could cause problems. What do we actually think that means?

Scott Bryan (38:57)

I mean, I think it's quite hard to read at the moment. I think essentially there has been sort of this expectation on Netflix's side that Donald Trump would pass through this deal. In the US We've been having a long series of big mergers between big companies which in history would have normally had a bit more resistance in terms of monopolies or competition so not being passed through. But we've seen, of course, with the purchase of cbs, which is another US Network that, that pretty much went through or was going through pretty seamlessly, there was the expectation that Skydance would be the overall victor in terms of taking over Warner Brothers. And David Ellison, who is from Skydance, who seems to be very close to Trump, you know, that would seem to get a pass. And on Netflix's side, the sort of, sort of key people within the business had been reported to have been meeting Trump in the weeks leading up to this deal, stating that they expected it to go through. So to have this sort of comment by Trump suggests that there could be a bit of friction ahead. I think we're just going to have to wait and see to see whether essentially Netflix's purchases allowed to go through as planned.

Emma Nelson (40:09)

Indeed, Donald Trump has said he'll be involved in the decision about whether to clear the transaction. So that may have sort of thrown the clean path to acquisition off into a slightly different direction. Is there a sense that this will actually make Netflix more either valuable, successful or indeed better?

Scott Bryan (40:27)

Well, I think the interesting thing is it's trying to work out exactly what Netflix's long term plans are for purchasing Warner Brothers. I mean, part of it is because of their library. You know, you've had the sort of HBO hits as a succession, Sex and the City, Game of Thrones, also franchises like Harry Potter and Friends. I mean this suggests that in the long term that will be available on Netflix's library and really enhancering their off offering as well as of course, I think the, the added subscriber base. I mean, there's not really been an announcement whether HBO Max, which is the streaming service that a lot of Warner Brothers content is on, will be put into Netflix. But you can imagine it will do in the future massively boosting its subscription base by another 100 or 100 million or so users. But I think it's the fact that at the end of the day, Warner Brothers is very much a legacy business. It's been finding it very difficult to navigate the streaming wars purely by Netflix because of our changing viewing habits, but also the impact that has had on cinema, people going to the cinema for their releases. Plus also I guess, challenges to whether Warner Brothers will be nimble enough to, to be able to sort of have a sort of big streaming service which is known for being incredibly sort of quick to in innovation. Whether the purchase of Warner Brothers will be slowed down down will slow down Netflix in some way because of course it'll be a massive company if they are Joined together. I think it's a little bit wait and see on that. I think Netflix certainly thinks it will be a huge benefit to their business. I guess it's down to the consumers to work out whether they are able to go anywhere else if they're not happy with it.

Emma Nelson (42:17)

And indeed there will be an event, an inevitable restructuring. Job cuts have already been mentioned. The actress Jane Fonda has said that the proposed deal will threaten the entire entertainment industry.

Heidi Pett (42:27)

Industry.

Emma Nelson (42:28)

Yeah.

Scott Bryan (42:28)

I mean there are certainly challenges. Quite a lot of the unions, particularly in acting and writing, are spoken out against this. I think the idea is if there are, you know, if it's going to be a much more centralized no down to one company, then surely in the long term that will mean job cuts. Surely that would mean fewer releases. Surely that will impact the amount of sort of productions that end up being within cinemas. I mean, I think Netflix has said on their part that they are committing to ensuring the spending plans for the company remains the same as it has been, that all film, future film releases will be releasing as planned. I think it's come a lot of it is down to people reading between the lines of what Netflix are saying. And there was something by Ted Sarandos, who's the sort of comment as co CEO, saying something along the lines of they're going to ensure that movie releases in future from Warners will be more quote, commercially viable. Something about that. And I think people are thinking, well, hang on, what does that actually mean? Considering that Netflix is very much a home entertainment company rather than geared towards cinemas. And also because if they do show films and cinemas, Netflix, they end up only showing them for a few days purely maybe to get onto an Oscar quota. So. So that's going to be an interesting sort of look and I think so also personally will be interesting to see kind of what the direction they take in regards to sporting rights. Netflix had a. Has had an increased sort of interest in, in sport, showing a lot of boxing matches or something around Formula One. But now outside the US they sort of, there seems to be a lot of reporting around their ownership of TNT Sports, which of course contains loads of sport coverage. So potentially a rival to espn, which would be quite a big departure, I think, from the type of content that people normally expect by Netflix.

Emma Nelson (44:16)

Scott Bryan, thank you so much as ever for joining us on Monocle Radio.

Emma Nelson (44:25)

Well, listening to that and continuing with film news, I'm joined here in the studio by our film critic, Karen Krasanovich. Good morning, Karen. We'll get to the other stuff In a minute. But first, you were just listening there about the. Scott was talking about the commercial viability of this deal, and you were nodding furiously that this is the important part of this Netflix Warner Brothers Discovery deal.

Alison Mutlow (44:46)

It's just.

Karen Krasanovich (44:46)

There's just. There's so much of this deal that is causing alarm bells. And also, it's almost like when the council says, or a politician says, you know, if you elect me, this is going to happen. You go, yay. And then, of course, it doesn't. Or something. The opposite happens. I mean, I think the one thing that. And I think Scott said this is that we're really concerned about Netflix passion for the big screen, which I don't think it has, despite the fact that it owns the Egyptian Theater, which it bought, what, five years ago and renovated it. They do only show things on the widescreen when they have to, because basically it is a home entertainment company. And a lot of what it makes, a lot of it's good, it's nice, but a lot of it. Another critic was saying it's just background noise. You just have it on and nobody's watching it, really. Or you look at all these titles and think, I don't want to see.

Emma Nelson (45:41)

Any of these, or I might watch it another day and then forget. And where does that leave Warner Brothers, who. Scott was calling it a legacy company, which almost sounds as if, you know, the dust is settling.

Emma Nelson (45:55)

On the building already.

Karen Krasanovich (45:56)

Yeah, it is a legacy company. It was always the. I mean, it's had a lot of hits this year. A lot of hits. And yes, it can. And yet it can't stay viable. And that's the real question about the change of the industry. And it is a legacy. It's always brought us wonderful things. And also another worry is what's going to happen to hbo, which is another. And it's a sense I've been listening to. I think it's the death of quality brands.

Karen Krasanovich (46:26)

HBO Max was considered a quality brand. Warner's is considered a quality brand.

Emma Nelson (46:31)

Will the names disappear? Will it be 100% Netflix? Because one would imagine. One would imagine, though, that any brand worth itself would say, we keep the hbo, we keep the Warner Brothers, in order to maybe differentiate within your business, but also at the same time, to actually retain that emotional connection with its customers.

Karen Krasanovich (46:48)

It would be smart. I mean, if you're going to buy Vogue. Keep, keep, keep what Vogue means. Yeah, absolutely would. It would be smart, but I think that Netflix is probably just going to fold it in, and I think that's probably.

Karen Krasanovich (47:00)

Do the bugs Bunny. That's all, folks.

Emma Nelson (47:02)

What about the creativity in the jobs?

Karen Krasanovich (47:04)

There's already a big constriction in the UK over that and there's been worries about the impact of AI and other things. A lot of productions here have been on hiatus and I think they're just going to see more and more jobs in the industry being shed.

Emma Nelson (47:21)

Okay, let's move on to other areas of cinema. We're already talking about the Oscars. We haven't even had our Christmas parties yet, let alone the Oscar parties. But you're here to cast your. To gaze into the crystal ball as to what's gonna happen next spring. So off you go, Carrie.

Karen Krasanovich (47:38)

Oh, thank you very much.

Emma Nelson (47:39)

Lay out the stall. Okay. This is the first dip of the toe into Oscar world. So off we go.

Karen Krasanovich (47:46)

My whole foot's been in Oscar world all year. Okay. I just, I have to say that, that Oscars, you know, people can poo poo them and say, you know, nobody watches them anymore. They used to be a big thing on television and they're not. And how important are they? There's so many other awards. Well, they're still the Oscars. And speaking of brands, they have kept that brand going very well. So in Holly, okay. In Hollywood for the last few months, there's been a lot of promotion going on. I'm just gonna read a couple of the lovely promotions to keep these films in your mind. Right. At Halloween, Frankenstein had a cocktail reception with drones on top of the iconic Capitol Records building. That would. That looked amazing. Okay. Mid November, Marty supreme had a promotional orange blimp showing in New Mexico, Texas.

Emma Nelson (48:33)

Which says so much about movies.

Karen Krasanovich (48:35)

Well, it's, it's. You know, it's. If you haven't seen it, look at our blimp. Ryan Coogler recreated the bar and Sinners. Cynthia Erivo sang Feeling Good at the Macy's Thanksgiving parade. All of these things. Also, oh, let's not forget you went to a free begonia screening in Hollywood in October. If you had your head shaved, why.

Emma Nelson (48:55)

Are they doing this? I mean, a moment ago we're talking about Warner Brothers being legacy and that fear that. Excuse me. That the big screen will be folded into home entertainment. And then you mentioned the blimp and head shaving. When it comes to stunts to getting people into the cinema, one wonders whether there is a connection.

Karen Krasanovich (49:13)

Oh, yeah, yeah, of course there is. I mean, there's been. Cinema has been, quote, unquote, dying for decades. And this is just a way of getting the name of the film in your mind. And it's what the red carpet does as well. It's part of the ecosystem of selling a film, of getting bums on seats, of getting people to be aware of the name, whether they're waiting for it to be streamed or whether they're gonna see it in the big. On the big screen. So that's what I'm talking about. Okay, now. Now I want people to be aware of what they need to see for the Oscars, at least at this point.

Emma Nelson (49:44)

Pen's ready.

Karen Krasanovich (49:45)

Okay, go. You really only need to see five films.

Emma Nelson (49:48)

That sounds like quite a lot.

Karen Krasanovich (49:50)

No, it's not.

Emma Nelson (49:51)

You can.

Karen Krasanovich (49:52)

Yeah. That's 10 hours. Right. Okay. Right. You have to see Hamnet.

Emma Nelson (49:58)

Yes.

Karen Krasanovich (49:58)

Okay. You have to see Sinners. You have to have seen one battle after another.

Emma Nelson (50:02)

Yes.

Karen Krasanovich (50:03)

Marty supreme, the Secret Agent. Okay, I'm lying. Maybe there's more now.

Emma Nelson (50:08)

Yeah, hang on a minute.

Karen Krasanovich (50:09)

It might be seven films, actually.

Emma Nelson (50:10)

Okay. Hamnet, Sinners, One battle after another. Next one. Marty Supreme.

Karen Krasanovich (50:15)

Marty Supreme.

Emma Nelson (50:16)

Go on.

Karen Krasanovich (50:17)

If I had legs, I would kick you.

Emma Nelson (50:20)

That's the name of a film.

Karen Krasanovich (50:21)

The name of a film. You'll love it. You will love it. Rose Byrne, the Secret Agent.

Emma Nelson (50:27)

This is getting longer.

Karen Krasanovich (50:28)

And there's. And just one more sentimental value. Okay, there you go. Now you pretty much.

Karen Krasanovich (50:37)

Okay, there's seven.

Emma Nelson (50:38)

There's seven. So no prizes for maths, but fabulous prizes for recommending.

Karen Krasanovich (50:42)

Thank you.

Emma Nelson (50:42)

We've got about 10 seconds to explain why.

Karen Krasanovich (50:45)

Okay. Because these are basically going to cover Best Picture, Best Director, Actor, Actress and Supporting.

Emma Nelson (50:51)

Karen Krasanovich. That is phenomenally useful. Thank you so much for joining me in the studio. Oh, quickly, in the next 10 seconds, what film do we see this Christmas?

Karen Krasanovich (50:59)

Ooh. Well, I would say one to avoid is probably Christmas karma, but look at the poster and see if you like it. Go and watch it. And there's another one that's not released here, but look for it anyway. It's called the Baltimorons. The Baltimorans.

Emma Nelson (51:10)

The Baltimorons.

Karen Krasanovich (51:11)

The Baltimorans.

Emma Nelson (51:12)

Why is that good?

Karen Krasanovich (51:13)

Because it's about a man on Christmas Eve who breaks a tooth and spends the whole Christmas Eve with his emergency dentist. It's hilarious.

Emma Nelson (51:19)

The reinvention of It's a Wonderful Life. Thank you so much, indeed. Karen Krasanovich.

Shadi Haroun (51:24)

It.

Emma Nelson (51:24)

You're listening to the Globalist on Monocle Radio.

Emma Nelson (51:32)

Now, you may have just heard from that recommendation from Karen that the Christmas season is in full swing. And here at Monaco, it is the case as well. It brings with us our annual Markets happening at our headquarters all around the world. This weekend at Monacle Radio, we all headed off to Paris for the very first edition at our cafe and shop in the 2nd arrondissement of the Monocle Christmas market. Amid the bustle, I caught up with several makers showcasing their wares, including the brilliant Nicholas Maiorelli, who is the founder of Yesi, an alcohol free Italian paratif, which actually was rather delicious.

Nicholas Maiorelli (52:07)

It's interesting that you say that. It's a bit of a contradiction. We actually started with my grandmother's amato recipe. So my grandmother, like a lot of Italian none, makes her own homemade limoncello, coffee liqueur and amato. And so we started with her amato recipe and. And we spent over a year trying to figure out how to get those same sensations, those same notes, the same flavor profile, but without the alcohol. And it's difficult, honestly. But we're very proud of what we've achieved. And it's true that we really set out to make a drink that is not a replacement for something else, but is its own unique.

Emma Nelson (52:42)

Are you able to tell us first of all what happened to Nonna, the woman who made coffee liqueur limoncello at her. Frankly, everybody needs one of those people in their lives. How you went through the de alcoholization process, do you create something which has alcohol and then you remove it, or do you start from scratch and build up the latter?

Nicholas Maiorelli (53:01)

We start from scratch and build up. When you de alcoholize a product, you really take away a lot of the complexity from it because you're essentially just boiling the liquid. And so we knew that that's something we didn't want to do. So what we use is a base of organic cherry and ginger juice to which we then add natural extracts and infusions until we reach that perfect balance that, like you said, makes you feel like you're drinking a negroni.

Emma Nelson (53:23)

What was it that made you think, okay, we can do something good here with, with the Negroni? Because that's one of the Most powerful yet 3 Simplest ingredients to put into a cocktail. It's what? Gin, Campari and vermouth, all of which have powerful alcoholic tones to them. How do you go about getting rid of that?

Nicholas Maiorelli (53:41)

That's an interesting question. You know, we're really proud of the fact that we've created a base that's extremely versatile. Right. So like you said, we serve the aperitivo over ice and call it an alcohol free negroni, but you can use it as a base to make cocktails both with and without alcohol. Right? If you want to make a low ABV Negroni, we're adding a splash of gin. It's perfect. It's really incredible. And you can drink more than two and still stand on your feet at the end of the night.

Emma Nelson (54:05)

Are you finding people choosing this because they want to avoid alcohol? Alcohol or simply choosing because it's actually just a very delicious drink in itself?

Nicholas Maiorelli (54:13)

More the second we find that most of the people that really love yesi are people that really love a good cocktail. And so when they choose yesi, it's more because they've, okay, maybe are starting the night with an alcohol free cocktail and then they're going to switch to wine or something else with alcohol or vice versa. Right. They've maybe had one or two and they say, okay, I've got a long night ahead of me, let me pace myself, let me go for an alcohol free cocktail as my next drink.

Emma Nelson (54:36)

Where does yesi the name come from?

Nicholas Maiorelli (54:38)

Excellent question. Yesi means to be. Right. Essere etre in Friulan, which is the regional dialect spoken in Friuli, which is where my family is from and where my nonna still lives.

Emma Nelson (54:49)

Wonderful. And so yesi and also has. Would you like a drink? Yesy. So would I like a drink? Yesy, I would. So talk us through. So you've got, you've got a little flask with you which is obviously a hot toddy on a Christmas market. Incredibly good, but can. It can sort of take the edge off things a little bit. Talk us through what you've got in your flask and also, let's have a taste.

Nicholas Maiorelli (55:10)

Absolutely. So this is the simplest hot cocktail you can ever make. It is one part aperitivo, one part hot water, a little bit of honey and a squeeze of fresh lemon.

Emma Nelson (55:19)

You've just turned an aperitivo into a health drink. You do realize this if you find yourself ill and you have a cold, this actually sounds like it's going to cure you.

Nicholas Maiorelli (55:28)

Absolutely. And remember, we use a base of organic ginger and cherry juice. So it also has a nice sort of digestive quality.

Emma Nelson (55:35)

Amazing. This is so this I can't tell you. Well, you can probably all tell how happy I am. Okay, so let's have a little thing. So there's a little. One of those beautiful little portable cardboard cups is coming out. You talked about ginger and cherry as well. What else is in there that makes it bitter?

Nicholas Maiorelli (55:50)

Yes. So we have ginger and cherry. We also use a natural chili pepper extract, has that nice little kick at the end of your throat, kind of mimics the feeling of drinking a strong liqueur. We have notes of bitter orange, rhubarb, gentian. Obviously gentian is very typical for in Italian bitters, but we really wanted to make sure we had a very layered, complex, nuanced bitterness. Right. We didn't want just straight gentian. We have some bitter orange rhubarb and.

Emma Nelson (56:17)

You can't tell any of them in there because it just tastes like a. A hot Negroni, which actually sounds quite disgusting. But can I tell you, this is the most delicious thing to drink on a Saturday at the Monocor Christmas market. Tell me, what are the customers? How's business going here?

Nicholas Maiorelli (56:30)

Business is amazing. Both here at the market and in general, people are really enthusiastic about yesi and so we're very, very grateful for that.

Emma Nelson (56:40)

And will you always just do this or are we looking at different products now? And what is the next step for yesi?

Nicholas Maiorelli (56:44)

That's an excellent question. I get asked that all the time. And to be honest, I don't have a good answer. We're thinking about doing some limited edition, maybe some ready to drink cocktails. But the truth is, right, we have. We're really proud of our. Our heritage, our story. Noneda, who inspired the whole project, who loves Yesi.

Emma Nelson (57:01)

And we all like a sober grandma occasionally, don't we?

Nicholas Maiorelli (57:04)

Okay, so as much as she loves Yesi and is proud of what we're doing, she has a little bit of difficulty with the concept of an alcohol free aperitif. So even though she does drink it, she is known to put a splash of prosecco or sparkling white wine to make her own sort of low ABV spritz.

Emma Nelson (57:19)

A Yesis bagliato by Nonna.

Nicholas Maiorelli (57:21)

Exactly. Nonna does Yesis bagliato.

Emma Nelson (57:24)

Spiked with gin, no less. That was Nicolas Maiorelli speaking to me at Monocle's Christmas market in Paris yesterday. Our London edition takes place right here at Midori House this weekend. Do stop by and say hello if you're in town. We have reindeer again, ladies and gentlemen. We have Father Christmas from Rovaniemi. We have tons of mulled wine. I don't think we. We have the pretend negronis though, which is a bit of a disaster. But anyway, that's all the time we have for today's program. The warmest thanks to all my guests and to the producers, Chris Chermack, Angelica Chopson and Rima Takahashi. Our researcher was Joanna Moser and our studio manager was Mariella Bavan with editing assistance by Steph Chungu after the headlines. More music on the way. The briefing's live at midday here in London. The Globalist is back at the same time tomorrow. Hope you can join me for that if you can. But for now, from me, Emma, Nick Nelson. Goodbye. Thanks for listening. Have a great week.

UBS Narrator (58:25)

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