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- [00:04]
Georgina Godwin
We're proud to support the craft of journalism. UBS brings you the latest news from around the world with the Globalist on Monocle Radio. Be part of an international network that brings together leading insights, research and technology across 24 time zones and 12 key financial hubs. With you at the centre of it all, UBS advice is our craft. You're listening to the Globalist first broadcast on 28 July 2025 on Monocle Radio. The Globalist in association with U hello, this is the Globalist broadcasting to you live from Midori House in London. I'm Georgina Godwin on the show ahead as Washington rethinks its role in the Orcas alliance, Britain and Australia double down signing a 50 year defence pact. Well I'm unpack what it means for regional power and global partnerships. The US and the EU have reached a provisional trade deal easing tensions with a 15% tariff. But key questions for Europe's industries still hang in the balance. Plus listen to the people and don't.
- [01:41]
Sophie Monaghan Coombs
Forget that people are the main thing.
- [01:44]
Nina Dos Santos
Here, like the main treasure of this country are people.
- [01:48]
Georgina Godwin
Has Ukraine reached a turning point? After days of protest, President Zelensky promises to rewrite a controversial anti corruption law. We'll get the view from Kyiv and from the front lines in the east where the fighting is intensifying and the summer promises to be brutal. We'll have a browse through the international.
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Paul Griffiths
Papers and then this is only v1.0 of a new technology and a new style of travel which I think will mature very quickly and will be very exciting.
- [02:18]
Georgina Godwin
We'll hear from Dubai Airport CEO Paul Griffiths as he outlines how the hub is planning for the future. Taiwan's biggest ever recall vote has failed failed to unseat any opposition MPs. So what does the results say about public mood, party politics and China's role in the background? And we'll have a roundup of culture news. That's all ahead here on the Globalist live from London. First, a look at what else is happening in the news. Top US and Chinese officials are meeting in Stockholm to extend a fragile trade truce and avoid a new wave of tariffs. Thailand and Cambodia's leaders are holding talks in Malaysia backed by the US and China in a bid to halt their escalating border clashes. And three people have been killed and several others seriously injured after a train derailed in southwestern Germany near the French and Swiss borders. Do stay tuned to Monocle Radio throughout the day for more on those stories. Now Britain and Australia are reinforcing their defence ties under The Aukus alliance signing a 50 year treaty on submarine security and closer military cooperation. The deal comes as the Trump administration launches a review of the pact, raising questions about America's long term role. Meanwhile, Australia has test fired a new US made long range missile during Exercise Talisman Sabre, the country's largest ever defense drill, as part of efforts to showcase its strategic value in the Indo Pacific. Well, I'm joined now by Ben Bland who's director of the Asia Pacific Program at Chatham House. Ben, welcome to the show. Can we start with the military drill itself? This is Exercise Talisman Sabre. What was its scale and why is it significant for Australia, the UK and the wider Aukus Alliance?
- [04:15]
Ben Bland
Well, these are regular exercises that happen on an annual basis. So I don't think in and of itself it marks a shift change. What was interesting this time is that the UK's aircraft carrier stripe Group was there in the region, I think, visiting Australia for the first time since 1997. And we saw these talks between the UK and Australian Defence and foreign ministers and the announcement of this new treaty, although we haven't seen the details yet, which will underpin cooperation on nuclear powered attack submarines and other defence industrial cooperation. So I guess it's the combination of the ministerial visit, the Aukus Treaty, the exercises and the UK carrier Stripe Group taken together that is an attempt to push this relationship forward at a time when we know that the Asia and the broader Indo Pacific faces a lot of uncertainties, largely but not exclusively because of China's rise and increasingly assertive behavior. But also the other factor here is uncertainty surrounding the us, which is the key alliance partner for both Australia and the uk.
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Georgina Godwin
Can you tell us what we know is in the new UK Australia Treaty and how it strengthens the Aukus Pact?
- [05:21]
Ben Bland
Well, the full wording hasn't been released yet, but from what's been said about it, the key is really to try and underpin broader defence cooperation and defence industrial cooperation. So that means better connections between the two nations, militaries and also deepening the cooperation between defense companies and construction of the submarines related to Aukus, but potentially other types of military and industrial cooperation too. And this is really important because while of course the UK used to be the kind of colonial power as it were in Australia in the distant past, and there are a lot of historic links actually, I think in the last few decades in a way Australia and the UK have rightly drifted apart. They're very different countries and different parts of the world. So finding a new modern basis with which to underpin defence Cooperation and defence industrial cooperation, I think is really, really important. The last factor here, which I alluded to earlier, is the us. And while this isn't going to be in any of the wording, and I think the ministers have denied this, of course, this is also partly about uncertainty about the US's short and long term direction of travel. So there's really an urgent need now for US allies, including the UK and Australia, to find new ways to cooperate between us, rather than having all our cooperation go back through Washington when we know that in the short term, obviously President Trump is very unpredictable, but it seems to me the long term trend is going to be a US that is more focused on its own national interests in the narrower sense, probably more inward looking and probably spending less on its allies.
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Georgina Godwin
Well, let's have a look at that review. So Elbridge Colby at the Pentagon is leading it. It's a broad look at the Orcus Pat. What's behind it and why now?
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Ben Bland
Well, the first thing to say is that everything in the Trump administration is always up for review. Although review is maybe a strong word. Right? Yeah. There's obviously a sense of constant turmoil that the President likes to create deliberately to empower himself, to help him dominate the agenda and to make his allies and partners nervous about what he's going to do next. So to elevate his own power vis a vis his partners and allies as well as his adversaries. We know that Elbridge Colby, who's the policy chief at the Pentagon, and certain other senior figures in the Trump administration, before they came to power, were skeptical about the Aukus arrangement, partly because they believe that the US doesn't have sufficient shipbuilding capacity to expand its own submarine fleets. So they're questioning why the US would be helping Australia and the UK to a certain extent to build their submarines when they don't even have capacity in their own shipyards for their own. And this obviously also relates to the broader sense that the Trump administration has of wanting to boost US industrial capacity and a feeling that allies, more often than not taking them for a ride, rather than helping build a great strong America, as obviously President Trump wants. But they've announced a review. We don't really know what's going into the review, what it's looking at, but yeah, there's. So there's a new degree of uncertainty in the short term, but I think longer term there is a question about the level of commitment from the Trump administration to the ORCA substeal.
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Georgina Godwin
I mean, the US does stand to gain financially that there's the purchase of Virginia class submarines from the US and there is a lot of money chained, changing hands here. How, how much is Australia paying and who benefits?
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Ben Bland
We are talking about tens and hundreds of billions of dollars over the next 10 or 20 years. It's going to be a huge, huge amount of money. There are various stickers around, but to be honest, this number is going to grow and grow and grow in the coming years, as all major military and other infrastructure projects do over time. I think the US Ought to benefit in some ways, but the Trump administration's view of, you know, benefits is very different from the Biden administrations beforehand. It's much more short term focused. I think ideally all three countries would get different kinds of benefits. So I think there'll be money for the US There'll be jobs in the uk There'll be a lot of jobs in Australia and potentially as well. The idea is that these three countries bind their militaries closer together in the Indo Pacific, which should help to underpin a better balance of power vis a vis China in the region. So that ought to be a good thing for the region. But that's all dependent on the project being executed. Well, and it has to be said that the last two Australian attempts to procure submarines failed. They were trying to buy submarines off the Japanese and then off the French. And for various reasons, the politics changes, the mechanics of the military and the equipment they wanted changed. And we are in a time when obviously military technology, autonomous technology is changing really, really quickly. And there's a vigorous debate in Australia about whether Orcus and buying these nuclear powered attack submarines is the best way to spend hundreds of billions of dollars over the next 20 years. So I think there's still a lot of uncertainty, as you'd expect with any big project this size. But the treaty between the UK and Australia shows, at least for now, between those two partners, the intent is there to carry this on as much as they can.
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Georgina Godwin
What happens if the US decides it actually doesn't want to be part of Aukus?
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Ben Bland
It depends on how much they don't want to be part of it. So so far the UK is the only other nation that the US has shared its nuclear propulsion technology for these submarines with. I think it would be almost impossible for the UK to carry on building the submarines with Australia. If the US said it didn't want the technology to be shared, that would basically be a complete write off. And I think in practice, without their cooperation, it would be very, very, very difficult. But it is theoretically possible. But it would presage a real shift in the UK Australia relationship. And it would also symbolize something had gone pretty badly wrong in the relationships between Washington and the UK And Australia, respectively.
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Georgina Godwin
And finally, but beyond submarines and missiles, what are some of the other areas of cooperation agreed at this summit this week?
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Ben Bland
So I think the two countries are also thinking more broadly about their roles in the world and trying to find complementary areas where they can cooperate, because I think the unilateralism of the Trump administration and to be honest, the turn inwards from the US More generally means that the open trading system that countries like Australia and the UK as open economies depend on is also under pressure. The US Isn't really interested in backstopping that. So there's some talk about what the UK And Australia can do through this CPTPP trade agreement that they're both members of, as well as more generally to uphold a kind of predictable open global trading and investment regime. I think that's positive. There's talk also about cooperating on climate change, which, again, as we know, the Trump administration has a very different view on whether or not that is an issue for America or humanity. But I think the Australian and British governments are committed to working together to reduce emissions within their countries, but also to cooperate on things like climate financing in Southeast Asia and the Pacific Islands, where people have an opportunity to build a greener power system from the start. So those are some of the other areas of cooperation. And the idea is, you know, this can be more than just defense, and it's about throwing the partnerships forwards. As I said, there's a long, long history, obviously, between the UK And Australia. But I think too often the history gets in the way of thinking what we can do is two modern countries looking forward together. So I think these are really positive talks and there's a lot of work now to do to try and implement some of the things that the ministers were talking about over the last few days.
- [12:38]
Georgina Godwin
Ben Bland of Chatham House, thank you very much indeed. This is the global A provisional trade deal between the US and the EU sets a 15% tariff on most European goods, a move that ends months of tough talks but leaves plenty still up in the air. While it eases pressure for now, big questions remain about how it affects Europe's key industries and what happens next. Well, I'm joined joined in the studio by Nina Dos Santos, whose international broadcast correspondent and the former CNN Europe editor. Nina, good morning to you. Thanks for coming in. How is this 15% tariff landing with European businesses, especially those who are hoping for something closer to 10.
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Nina Dos Santos
Well, there'll be a big sigh of relief for big companies like Volkswagen, the German automaker that just the other day reported a $1.5 billion hit to its profits as a result of the recent treatment that European cars have attracted from the US President in terms of double digit tarif. You're right. Lots of people were hoping for a deal closer to 10 that the United Kingdom got. But remember, the UK doesn't have the same whopping great trade deficit with the United States as the EU has. And as a result, I think EU officials were always braced for tougher treatment from the US President. He'd made that pretty clear.
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Georgina Godwin
I mean, let's delve into cars a little bit more because for Germany and the rest of Europe's car industry, this is a drop from the 27.5% tariffs that were slapped on in April. Is it enough to boost sales to.
- [14:23]
Nina Dos Santos
The U.S. well, I think there'll be a sigh of relief breathed for many industries, in particular, as you said, the German automakers. And Germany's desperately trying to kick start that motor back into action. Germany and other European countries desperately need to revive their economies to pay for all that military spending that they're going to have to foot the bill for, as per the recent NATO meeting where they've all more or less agreed to beef up spending over the next few years to 5% of GDP and they need to pay for that. So they couldn't have afforded more punitive tariffs because Donald Trump was threatening double this 15% level that they finally agreed on originally. He was going to put on tariffs of 30% on all of these EU goods and as of the 1st of August, and that effect would have been cumulative. So for certain sectors that already attracted 20 odd percent tariffs that could have been added on top. So this could really have frozen one of the biggest trading relationships in the world that's worth about 1.6, $1.7 trillion. So there is a sigh of relief, but you're quite right in saying that it'll still be something that'll be difficult to swallow. And Ursula von der Leyen, the President acknowledged that after making the statement that they'd agreed to this agreement in principle.
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Georgina Godwin
What about pharmaceuticals? Because that's Europe's biggest export to the US and tariffs of up to 200% have been floated. I mean, there's still no clarity on that. What's Brussels doing to protect that sector?
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Nina Dos Santos
Well, pharmaceuticals is a real pressure point for Ireland in particular. And Ireland actually, ironically enough, was one of those countries that had A pretty good relationship with the United States economically up until recently. Well, particularly during the Biden administration because obviously he had Irish roots and there was a very large Irish caucus among the Democratic Party over in America. But obviously, as you said, there will be a sigh of relief that pharmaceutical goods are covered by this 15% tariff. Remember, there's also a 0% tariff on either side for certain generic drugs and certain chemical products as well that go into the pharmaceuticals industry. So, yes, you're right in saying that double digit tariffs won't be easy to swallow.
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Ben Bland
But.
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Nina Dos Santos
But on the other hand, if you look at some of the finer print as it's emerging, should be cautioned also, Georgina, that this is very broad brush. This isn't a comprehensive trade deal like the ones that we're used to seeing negotiated in governments gone by that take about five years to negotiate because people actually nail down the detail of what you're asking before they ever announce it.
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Georgina Godwin
I mean, you're right. This is still just a preliminary agreement. So what's Europe's strategy then going into the next round of talks, especially with those thorny issues like farm imports, drug tariffs, car market access still?
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Nina Dos Santos
Well, I think they're going to be taking soundings from industry. One big question mark that has yet to be resolved is the issue of what to do over spirits and alcohol. That has been really, really contentious because at one point, Donald Trump, when there were talks of all sorts of reciprocal tariffs ratcheting up and a potential fully blown trade war between these trading partners earlier on this year, he talked about, you know, whacking on 200, maybe up to 500% taxes on things like French cognac that had the French Alcoh market and also Italy really up in arms and they have lobbied really furiously to make sure that the EU hasn't been sold a pup here in terms of this deal. And interestingly enough, alcohol was the one thing that was parked to the side and they said, well, we'll deal with that later. That could be a bone of contention that could be quite hard to swallow, no pun intended, in a few years to come. The other thing to remember is if you look at the hallmarks of the Japan trade deal, that essentially is the sort of blueprint for what the EU has agreed to. Here again, JAP agreed just a few days ago to a 15% tariff and also investments, crucially in the United States. Now, that deal is fast being unpicked because it appears as though various members of the US Trump administration have interpreted it differently. We've had the Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick take to the airwaves just a couple of days ago and say, well, look, yes, Japan will be investing huge amounts of money, 4,500 billion dollars in the U.S. economy, but they're going to bankroll all that and we're going to take 90% of the profits and share only 10% with them. @ which point the Japanese have turned around and said, well, actually nothing is signed in paper. So you can imagine that there's scope for some litigation on the back of this. And remember that the EU is famous for lobbying, whopping great billion dollar lawsuits on U.S. companies if they don't comply.
- [18:49]
Georgina Godwin
Yeah, well, of course. And finally, I mean, Brussels had prepared a package of countermeasures in case talks fell apart. I wonder if that's now shelved for good or could it be revived if negotiations stall again?
- [19:00]
Nina Dos Santos
Well, remember, they've still got this bazooka up their sleeve. This, this, it's called the aci. It's, you know, for countries that don't comply with trade, you know, expectations with the EU. And that could prevent European, sorry, excuse me, U.S. companies from doing business in Europe, from tendering for public contracts and so on and so forth. So that is really sort of the trump card. Again, pun very much intended. Sorry for that. That they do have up their sleeve that they could decide to use. The EU has all these sort of bureaucratic mechanisms that they usually have in their back, Pocke. But very often, as in all EU circles, if you use your veto, you kind of lose it in the future. So I think they're very much loath to do that.
- [19:45]
Georgina Godwin
Yeah. Nina, thank you very much indeed. That's Nina Dos Santos there now. Still to come on the program, dust.
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Paul Griffiths
On the wind, boots on the ground.
- [19:56]
Joje Ulfsen
Smoke in the sky, no peace Foundation.
- [20:02]
Georgina Godwin
We'll hear all about the latest on AI Music on Spotify in our culture news wrap. You're listening to the Globalist. It is just coming up to 20 past 9 in Kyiv, 7:20 here in London. As Ukraine's war effort grinds on, a different kind of battle is playing out in Kyiv, one for political integrity. After widespread protests over a controversial anti corruption law. President Zelensky has promised revisions, but skepticism remains. Meanwhile, Russian forces edged further into the Donbas and missile strikes continue to rain down on cities across the country. Well, I'm joined now from the Ukrainian capital by James Sladden, who is a journalist and a field researcher for the Battle Research Group. James, many thanks for coming on the show. You've spent time in Kyiv over the past few days, including at the protests. What's the atmosphere there like now?
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James Sladden
So it's calm in Kyiv. There's been an airstrike overnight, an attack across the country, which is now a nightly occurrence. The protests abated over the weekend following the announcements on Thursday by President Zelensky that a new bill would be presented to Parliament which would undo some of the changes made last week and he said would restore the independence of the national anti corruption bureau. So people are waiting, but the atmosphere is very much a sort of we'll believe it when we see it. Last week's actions did a lot of damage to the government's reputation. There's a lot of skepticism as to whether or not the anti corruption bureaus will really be independent. So a new bill is due to come on Thursday before the parliament, and the expectation is that there'll be further protests to show the strength of feeling around this issue in Kyiv.
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Georgina Godwin
Well, let's hear from some of the people you've been talking to.
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Nina Dos Santos
We were on the revolution of Dignity in 2014, and we wanted to show my husband, he's a soldier, he's on the front line now, and I wanted to show my daughter how we fight, like 10 years ago, how we can fight. I wanted to show my daughter how it can be.
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Sophie Monaghan Coombs
At the beginning, this law, it was.
- [22:36]
Nina Dos Santos
About people who were missing at the occupied territories.
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Georgina Godwin
So this law is like a Frankenstein, you know, it was about one topic.
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Nina Dos Santos
And then they made edits very, very fast.
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Georgina Godwin
It's not how it should be done.
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Paul Griffiths
You know, my message to Zelenskyy is.
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Joje Ulfsen
To wake up, listen to people and bring clear messages on his intentions on.
- [23:01]
Paul Griffiths
Like, whatever is happening with like the.
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Joje Ulfsen
Organs that are fighting corruption in Ukraine.
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Paul Griffiths
If only he could give valid reasoning.
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Joje Ulfsen
For people to understand if there are, if there is any, which I want.
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Paul Griffiths
To believe, but I'm not so sure.
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Georgina Godwin
I mean, there's still a banner, James, hanging in Ivana Franca Square asking how much is your signature worth, Mr. President, what does that tell us about the lingering mistrust there which was very evident in the people that you were speaking to?
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James Sladden
Yes, I mean, President Zelensky's made the case when the bill came in on Tuesday that it was to rid the anti corruption bureaus of Russian interference, Russian influence, and to address the. What he argued was that inefficiency and that ineffectiveness, but that simply wasn't bought by the protesters people, as far as many were concerned, this was a concern that the government was trying to strip the bureaus of their independence of the government, because the bureaus were investigating the government and that that suspicion still lingers. And that was the key issue is around the independence of the agencies. I mean, you heard there one of the protesters talking about, you know, show us the evidence. So when President Zelensky signed a bill on Tuesday night after first protest, much to people's dismay, because on the Tuesday night people took to the streets outside of the presidential administration building calling on President Zelensky not to sign the bill, to veto it. He signed it that night. He went on television and he repeated his claims that it was about Russian interference in the agencies, the ineffectiveness of the agencies, and this was about improving anti corruption, but it just wasn't bought. And Wednesday and Thursday protests were enormous. And you got a sense then that people really didn't buy it. And a lot of people I spoke to said, look, if there is Russian interference, show us the evidence. The accusation is, which is denied by the government, that this was that the anti corruption agencies were investigating members of the government and that was why the action was taken very quickly and also without any notice, without any consultation and through parliamentary procedure on a Tuesday, done in hours. So we're all now waiting to see what happens this week and what the new bill will look like on Thursday.
- [25:23]
Georgina Godwin
I mean, it's very clear from the people that you spoke to that this episode has dented Zelensky's standing. But I wonder if it could end up being reinforcing, reinforced, if the bill is fixed, it's open.
- [25:35]
James Sladden
I mean, the protest was very patriotic, it was very warm. It wasn't confrontational as such. It was people saying, enough. The government has the people support in fighting the war, but the government can only go so far and enjoy the people's support. So people were drawing a line. I mean, they were singing the national anthem during the protests. They were singing the chants of Glory to Ukraine. Glory to the heroes of Ukraine united. So it was also, as you heard in one of the clips, I met a mother who brought her two teenage daughters down along with her husband. Her husband was serving in the army. The mother had herself protested at Maidan in 2014. And she was very clear that she wanted to show her daughters that this is what Ukraine does when the government goes too far, they take to the streets, they protest for change. And you had a speaker on last week who talked about the protests being very young, mostly students. So it was a new generation stepping up, taking up the civil mantle and saying, enough, no further.
- [26:42]
Georgina Godwin
I mean, what's great though is that democracy is Thriving to the extent where people feel that they can do that. I saw that Andrei Kirchhoff, Ukraine's foremost living writer, had a big op ed piece in the papers this weekend just celebrating that fact, saying, yes, you know, but listen, we're still out there. We've got this capacity to go on the street. But of course, what we mustn't forget is that the war still rumbles on on the front line. Now, I know that you spoke to some soldiers back from fighting. What do you know about the situation in the east from those combatants?
- [27:17]
James Sladden
So I spoke to soldiers over the weekend who just come back from fighting on the front lines, predominantly in the Donetsk oblast, around Pokrovsk, around Konstantinivka, two big towns and cities in the east where some of the fiercest fighting is going on. I mean, their view actually, interestingly, was that protest was entirely justified. One of them talked about the fact that this is what we are fighting for, is a democracy, is a better country to come out of the war stronger from this. With regards to the fighting itself, I mean, it's grim right now for Ukraine. Russia is advancing slowly, but it is nonetheless making advances across the eastern front line. Ukraine is imposing a very high cost on the Russians, but as we've seen, that doesn't seem to factor into Russian calculations. So the expectation at the moment is just to grind away, that Ukraine will slowly lose ground in the east, but their hope is to grind the Russian army to a halt at some point. But it's a pretty grim summer. I spoke to the soldiers about the sort of tactical situation and their sense was, yes, we're going to take losses and we're going to lose ground, but we won't break. But this is going to be a very, very grim summer.
- [28:32]
Georgina Godwin
And just a look at the drone and missile attacks to end. Dnieper and Odessa have been hit in the last couple of days. Is there a sense that Kyiv is better protected?
- [28:43]
James Sladden
Yes, Kyiv has always been better protected, but there have been periods where the protection has waned and you can feel it. So last year when US Supplies were stalled in Congress, you certainly became aware that there was less protection, less missiles available. And Russia took full advantage of that across the country, not just in Kyiv. More recently, again, there's been a separate sense that the stockpiles are running low. There were announcements last week by the Americans and the Europeans of fresh supplies of anti aircraft weapon systems. Kyiv is better protected. But the big issue now is, and the big fear is that the Russian industrial base has improved over the last year. They're now by some reports producing 2,000 drones a month. Of these Jaran Shaheeds, Iranian inspired drones drones, they're able to produce missiles at greater rate. Last night there were eight casualties in the Kyiv area. Number of ballistic missiles fired at Kyiv and other cities and drones and this has become every week now. Before, it used to be that there were long pauses between Russian attacks on the cities because they had to restock their drone and missile supply. Now the scale of the attacks has increased, but also the frequency of the attacks has increased. And unfortunately air defence is a fairly crude calculation of number of things thrown at you versus a number of things you have to defend yourself. And when that tips decisively one way, it doesn't matter what defences you have.
- [30:16]
Georgina Godwin
James, thank you very much indeed. That's James Sladden live from Kyiv. This is the globalist craft is a matter of perspective, a unique outlook, an obsessive attention to detail. With UBS Houseview, you get the big picture in bite sized articles delivered daily and curated by over 200 globally connected, locally active analysts, all focused on identifying the latest investment opportunities and market risks to help you achieve your financial goals. UBS banking is our craft. Well, let's continue now with today's newspapers and joining me in the studio is Simon Brook, journalist and communications consultant. Good morning to you Simon.
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Simon Brook
Good morning.
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Georgina Godwin
Now news organizations are urging Israel to let reporters and aid into Gaza. This is pretty much across the board on front pages, certainly the aid part of the story. Tell us more.
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Simon Brook
Yes, the New York Times is in particular looking at the fate of journalists and reporting that some journalists are literally too hungry to do their jobs when they're reporting from Gaza. There are fears that actually they will starve, like the tragic case of the people that they're reporting on. So Israel has restricted international reporters from independently entering the enclave. The New York Times reminds me us during the war, but also local reporters are actually trapped there without food. On Friday, dozens of members of an organization called the International News Safety Institute, which is a non profit group. Members include the Washington Post, the Financial Times and the Guardian. They issued a statement calling on Israel to allow journalists in Gaza who are facing starvation to at least leave the area. And also for international reporters to be allowed entry into Gaza. There's also a quote in the piece from the Associated Press, Agence France Press, BBC News and Reuters who say in a joint statement we're desperately concerned for our journalists in Gaza who are increasingly unable to feed themselves and their families. And I think what really comes out of this piece is What a terrible own goal this is for Israel. I mean, obviously they're frightened of reporting, which they don't. The government of Israel doesn't like. They don't want negative coverage. But just how bad could that reporting be compared to what we're seeing already? And the fact that reporters are actually facing starvation in the enclave, I mean, it's terrifying.
- [32:55]
Georgina Godwin
Meanwhile, we have seen an airdrop take place. There is a little bit of additional aid going in.
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Simon Brook
Yes, that's true. So that has helped. But again, the problem is when the aid comes in, it's the chaos around it that we've seen on our TV screens and phones and laptops over the last few weeks, hasn't it? It's one thing to drip this feed in, but in a way, I think one of the things that really come out of this reporting from the last few days is the cruelty, if you like, of sort of, you know, teasing people almost with this little bit of food. It's interesting, Elmud, you know, the Israeli government, sort of the implication, the idea from them is that because they're in charge of the situation, they have an obligation to feed people and that's why they're doing it. But of course, the problem is if they're not doing it properly and they seem to be almost using starvation as a weapon of war, it looks even worse, doesn't it? So actually, not only are they not looking like they're doing a good job, but they're actually making things worse. And as I say, they obviously have a fear that this is what reporters will be reporting, but that's going to happen anyway. Meanwhile, those journalists are themselves starving.
- [34:07]
Georgina Godwin
Absolutely. I'd like to go to the Guardian now. And this is a story about raids on. On bookshops in Russia. Putin is coming after writers and publishers now.
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Ben Bland
Yeah.
- [34:17]
Simon Brook
I mean, in a way, when I'm just listening to your correspondent talking about what's happening in Ukraine, does this really matter? Writers and publishers? But I think it does, and I think this is a really important piece because Putin revels in comparisons between his leadership and that of Stalin. And I think this is a really interesting example of how he is recreating Stalinism in the 21st century in Russia. And this piece points out that in the early 1990s, censorship was officially lifted in Russia. For a while, you could publish almost anything. But now literature has again become the target of oppression, which is absolutely terrifying, really, in terms of free speech and things. And the writer knows what she's talking about, because she is. Anna Aslan is a Writer, herself a journalist and translator, and has experience of this. And so she's seen it from both sides. So she's pointing out in the piece that things have become politically, sorry, particularly dire since 2022, obviously, with the invasion of Ukraine, but also around the criminalization of what's described as LGBT propaganda. And then in 2023, another bill passed outlawing things like the international LGBT public movement, whatever that is, as extremist. And then earlier this year, for instance, she reports that Russian police, armed with a list containing of 48 titles, raided several bookshops, ordering the staff to remove copies of the books on the list from those shelves. Also, employers, sorry, employees of exmo, which is the country's largest publishing corporation, are under house arrest and some facing 12 years in prison. So. So even the most innocent books now are suddenly being scrutinized. And it brings to mind to me that the film of the book, Fahrenheit 451, I don't know if you've ever seen it, but there's a short scene there where, and this is a dystopian future where books are banned and considered evil, generally, where a woman finds a book on the floor and you see her kick it away as if it's something terrifying. And it's just that idea that. That this is happening in Russia now on top of the other tragedies and appalling situations is really frightening, I think.
- [36:39]
Georgina Godwin
Of course, it's happening in America now, too, though.
- [36:41]
Simon Brook
Well, absolutely, yeah. I mean, questions about whether people can, you know, publish books and the effect that it might have even sort of in a subtle way on their career or on, you know, opportunities for government contracts or whatever. People having to check their social media, I think. I mean, yeah, it's a terrifying trend which seems to be happening around the world.
- [37:05]
Georgina Godwin
Finally, let's go to a piece that CNN is running about British summer.
- [37:11]
Simon Brook
I love this. I love those stories where. How other countries see us, the British or whatever. So this is cnn, exactly. Looking at the great tradition of the British seaside holiday. It's a new. It's partly because of a new book by architectural historian Catherine Ferry. And she says in the piece that the concept of going to the beach for leisure was something that the British invented, apparently we've been doing for 400 years, which is quite impressive. Started in Scarborough, which is a seaside town in the northeast of England. And, yeah, it's a lovely description of those traditions. I think that I know, you know, countries around the world, of course, visit the seaside, but I think there's something about the British with our chilly weather, that it makes a seaside trip particularly interesting. And, and the piece quotes Martin Parr, who photographed families at the seaside in the 1980s, when foreign holidays were still, you know, beyond the means of many people. So, you know, they had to go to British beaches. And there's something about the innocence. And, you know, when the British used to, I was going to say let it all hang out quite literally in some ways, but, you know, warm beer and squirty ice cream and stuff and. Yeah, really, really lovely idea of that, that sort of innocence of the, of the family holiday.
- [38:23]
Georgina Godwin
Do you have a favorite British beach?
- [38:25]
James Sladden
Well, I do.
- [38:25]
Simon Brook
You see, the thing is, Georgina, I was brought up in a place called Southport in the northwest of England, which has. I don't think it's got much of a beach now because of geological reasons, but for me, the beach is very much. I suppose it's almost like a visceral connection with my childhood. So there's something about not just the beach, the chilly sea, the ice cream, as I say, but all the other traditions. Like I, I had a friend whose mother was a fortune teller and, I mean, I once said to him, could you tell my fortune? And he's like, well, no, she can't really do it. But there was something, obviously. But there's something wonderfully innocent about. I mean, nobody probably believed it. But as I say, I think if you've had that connection with the seaside, the British seaside and beaches, it stays with you for the rest of your life, I think.
- [39:05]
Georgina Godwin
Simon Brook, thank you very much indeed. You're with the Globalist on Monocle Radio. Now here's what else we're keeping an eye on today. Top economic envoys from the US and China are meeting in Stockholm to try and avert the next round of punishing trade tariffs. Beijing faces a deadline of Aug. 12 to strike a lasting deal with Washington. Talks are underway in Malaysia between the leaders of Thailand and Cambodia to broker a ceasefire in their escalating border conflict. The meeting is backed by both the United States and China, with Malaysia hosting in its role as ASEAN chair. And three people died and several others were badly injured when a train derailed in southwestern Germany on Sunday. Two carriages came off the tracks close to the French and Swiss borders. This is the Globalist. Stay tuned. It's 14:39 in Taipei, 7:39 here in London. On Saturday, Taiwan held its largest recall election in history, targeting 24 opposition Kuomintang lawmakers. All recall attempts failed. The recall campaign was launched by Civic groups and the ruling Democratic Progressive Party who accused the KMT of blocking defence budgets and promoting pro China policies. However, voters rejected the bid to remove the China friendly legislators. Well, I'm joined now by Joje Ulfsen, who is a Swedish journalist and author based in Taiwan. Yo Ye, many thanks for coming on the on the Globalist. Could you start by explaining what this recall movement was all about?
- [40:53]
Joje Ulfsen
Yeah. Thank you. So just as you explained, there is a possibility here in Taiwan to recall elected officials. And this is a process where you first have to collect signatures to bring about a vote, where 25% of the voters in a constituency have to support the removal of an official. And we had this campaign going on for the whole year here where signatures have been collected in 31 of those constituencies where the opposition KMT had parliamentary seats. And this weekend there was 24 votes and all failed, as you said. So this is the end of a very dramatic political campaign that's been going on in Taiwan for months.
- [41:37]
Georgina Godwin
And what exactly triggered such a sweeping campaign against so many KMT lawmakers? And why is it being described as unprecedented?
- [41:45]
Joje Ulfsen
Yeah. So as you mentioned, there are accusations from the civil society that the kmt, the opposition, has been engaging in pro China policies. And since the election last year, national election, KMT has majority in the parliament and has been using this majority to kind of obstruct the government's work. And it has been voting for new laws to transfer the power from the presidency, which is hold by dpp, the government party, to the parliament where KMT has the majority. And the parliament has also been blocking the budget to decrease government spending and also post increased military spending. And we also had several KMT legislators going to China on visits where they have secret meetings behind closed doors with Communist Party officials. So all of this has been casting doubt over KMT's loyalty to Taiwan and their close bonds to China in a time where China's military and hybrid warfare actions are increasing around Taiwan.
- [42:53]
Georgina Godwin
So does this result suggest a shift in how the public views cross strait relations? Is anti China sentiment softening or were there perhaps indications of Chinese involvement during this process?
- [43:07]
Joje Ulfsen
It looks like it if you only see the results that all the 24 recall votes were denied, that this anti China sentiment has been softening? We should also remember here that all of those 24 recall votes they were in constituencies where the KMT, the opposition, already had power, where they already won the elections in the national elections which last year. So this is more a proof that the KMT can still mobilize voters to protect the their parliamentarians even though they lost three presidential elections in a row. So I think the conclusion that the anti China sentiment in general has softened is a bit too far stretched. It's more about KMT being able to defend the grounds that they made in the national election last year. And as for China's involvement, of course the Taiwanese authorities here has pointed out that China has been spreading a lot of disinformation on social media and so on before the, before the election. But that's commonplace here in Taiwan, so there's nothing new.
- [44:14]
Georgina Godwin
And finally, what impact might all this have on Taiwan's already very tense relationship with China?
- [44:21]
Joje Ulfsen
So the impact of those elections is just that the situation is exactly as it was before the election. It means that KMT defended its majority in the parliament. So we have almost three more years with a hung parliament where the parliament will make it harder for the government to vote for, get their budgets through and vote for the policies that it wants to implement. But there's also a risk of course that this vote will make KMT more encouraged to act even harder in opposing the government policies in the parliament. So yeah, we had a very, very polarizing situation here in Taiwan since the election early last year where the government is headed by DPP and the parliament is headed by kmt. And the result of this vote means that this polarization will continue and probably even worsen until the next election in 2028.
- [45:17]
Georgina Godwin
Yuye, thank you very much indeed, Yuye Olson there speaking to us from Taipei. This is the Globalist on Monocle Radio. There's a craft to every question, which is why? At UBS we query every aspect of the market, working with specialized experts and award winning research teams covering over 3500 stocks in 50 countries, all delivered in a comprehensive library answering what you want with what you need. UBS banking is our craft. When Dubai International Airport opened over six decades ago, it was billed as the departure lounge between the east and the West. Now Dubai has emerged as a popular destination and DXB has become the world's busiest airport by international passenger traffic. Dubai based Monocle contributor in Zamam Rashid sat down with Dubai Airport CEO Paul Griffiths to learn how the hub is planning for the future. Nearing the coveted 100 million passenger a year milestone and handling regional tensions. Inzermam started off by asking Paul about the symbiotic relationship between airport infrastructure and city growth.
- [46:45]
Paul Griffiths
I like to think that we, we've perhaps got the balance right between providing capacity and also providing a decent experience. But to me, you know it's very simple actually. The airport experience breaks very neatly into two component parts. One is what I would call the flow part. The other is the dwell part. The flow part is by eliminating or at least compressing the processes that you engage in when you come to an airport. You know, immigration check in, baggage handling, security, all of those things either need to be eliminated through technology or re engineered so that the amount of disruption to the customer journey is absolutely minimized. I mean, I've got in my mind a vision of an airport in the future where you will just literally turn up, walk through, drop your bag and get straight onto your airplane or go straight into the lounge so you can enjoy the time. That's your discretionary time, not the time we're taking from you. By imposing all of these archaic processes on our customers. The idea is really just making the airport a place of hospitality, not a place of process.
- [48:03]
Joje Ulfsen
So let's talk a bit about dwc. Where are we with its expansion? What's it looking like and are we on track? Dubai very rarely sometimes gets things done on time, but it feels like this, this is going in the right direction.
- [48:17]
Paul Griffiths
Well, our engineering projects division is aiming to produce DWC Phase 2 by 2032 that will have an initial capacity of about 120 million or maybe even up to 150 million depending on the ultimate design, which is still being finalized. But ultimately When DWC Phase 2 is fully developed, we'll end up with about 260 million passenger capacity and obviously high level of peer service, very rapid transit between each of the gates. So we are dependent on that project being completed so that we can migrate our traffic from here. Now we believe we could get to a theoretical maximum here of about 115 million, something around that mark. We are constantly re evaluating our forecasts and we expect this year to top about 96 million, but next year probably reach that magical 100 million mark. So the new airport really does need to be completed. Because despite how effective and efficient we make the DXB infrastructure, a lot of which is, you know, many decades old, pushing it beyond about 115 million is going to be quite a challenge because even with all the fast flowing passengers facilities that we're planning on integrating into the service offering, you know, the sheer physical space you need for that number, we're going to be pushing the boundaries a bit.
- [49:49]
Joje Ulfsen
It's probably fair to say that the region is, is a bit tense at the minute. How's it been for you guys here at dxb? Obviously we saw a surge of Tension when Iran attacked the US air base in Qatar, and that really then involved the GCC in that conflict. What conversations were being had here at DXB around that time?
- [50:11]
Paul Griffiths
Well, I mean, the principal one is to try and keep calm and carry on, which is exactly what we did. I mean, clearly, you know, the tension in the region was not helpful. And we had a lot of airspace flow difficulties where, you know, we couldn't fly certain routes. So we had to reroute quite a lot of our aircraft that were flying west to go south over Saudi and then turn north, north and then over the Mediterranean instead of going through Iraqi airspace. So that was a bit of a change. And that added about an hour to the transit times to a lot of flights to Europe and then going in the easterly direction because there were limited corridors, we got some flow control restrictions, particularly over Oman, where the demand suddenly really increased over a very short period of time. And that meant there were a few delays on the ground, but actually that lasted for a very short space of time and everything seems to be back to normal, which is great. You know, it seems to be the case that the distances between trouble spots are actually quite large. I mean, you know, you look at the comparable distances in Europe and what's taking place in Ukraine is closer to London than than Tel Aviv is to here. So people don't tend to be geographically accurate in their perception of how spread out the Middle east is. So clearly, you know, Dubai business carried on as usual. We saw very little impact on our traffic during the crisis and it's all bounced back really, really quickly since. So, you know, keep calm and carry on has seemed to work for us quite well.
- [51:52]
Joje Ulfsen
I just want to finally touch on what's coming up for you guys. Obviously, we've got the air show later this year. You said 2026 will be that magic 100 million number as well. Just give us an insight into what is around the corner, particularly for Dubai Airport.
- [52:08]
Paul Griffiths
Well, the Dubai Air show, which takes place in November 2025, will break all records again. We've got an additional 8,000 square meters of exhibition space. There'll be a particular presence by some of the EVTOL companies which are hoping to fly some of the new EVTOL aircraft for the first time in public, which will be tremendously exciting. I mean, my personal belief is that that's going to be transformational in terms of our personal mobility over the next few years. And let's face it, you know, this is only v1.0 of a new technology and a new style of travel which I think will be, will mature very quickly and will be very exciting.
- [52:54]
Georgina Godwin
That was Dubai Airport CEO Paul Griffiths in conversation with in Zamam. Rashid, you're with Monocle Radio. And finally on today's show, it's time for a roundup of news from the world of culture. Sophie Monaghan Combs Monocles associate editor for culture, joins us now in the studio. Good morning to you, Sophie.
- [53:17]
Sophie Monaghan Coombs
Good morning, Georgina.
- [53:18]
Georgina Godwin
Thank you so much for giving me the opportunity to say King Gizzard and.
- [53:21]
Sophie Monaghan Coombs
The Lizard wizard, it's a fantastic band name.
- [53:26]
Georgina Godwin
Why are they in the news?
- [53:28]
Sophie Monaghan Coombs
So King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, I get to say as well, are an Australian band. They're pretty popular, they're quite well known and they've just released a new record of demos and with this release they've said it won't be available in on Spotify. And as well as saying that this new record won't be available on Spotify, they've also said that they're planning on taking all of their music off Spotify. And their reason for doing this is, you know, the kind of little known fact really that the Swedish founder and CEO Daniel Ek has a venture capital firm that's recently led a funding round into a German defense company called Helsing, which he's also on the board of. And Helsing specialize in AI military drone technology. And there are a few other bands who've also done this recently. And you know, there is just a little bit of a groundswell of opinion about the fact that you're putting money into Spotify and as well as the arguments about its effect on independent, independent artists and the music industry as a whole. You also might be funding this kind of military technology which a lot of people are obviously against.
- [54:41]
Georgina Godwin
And AI is actually coming up in other parts of the news. And this is about very odd thing about AI generated songs but going on to dead musicians pages.
- [54:50]
Sophie Monaghan Coombs
Yes, it is a bit of a weird one. So this was kind of found out because there's a country musician called Blaze Foley and he was super popular like during his his time and he died. He was actually murdered in, in 1989. But recently a song went onto his page that no one in his estate knew about. It didn't have permission for it and it sounded like a kind of bland country song. And it turned out it had been AI generated. It also went along with this image and a very obviously AI image of a man who looked completely dissimilar to the musician. It's really strange and it's also, you know, it's happening happened with some other country singers as well. And then also this comes on the back of the Velvet Sundown, who kind of went viral as this new band and got put into lots of people's algorithms, their Discover Weekly playlist. And it turned out that the band, everything about them, their music, their photos and their description, which had these kind of made up quotes praising them from Billboard, all of that was AI generated. And eventually they came clean. This, yes, this, you know, this is all kind of generated. And then they're not a real band and they've changed their sort of page to say they're like a music project, a synthetic music project.
- [56:14]
Georgina Godwin
I mean, have you ever got asked AI to write a song? It's actually really good.
- [56:18]
Sophie Monaghan Coombs
No, I haven't. I mean, what have you been writing songs about?
- [56:22]
Georgina Godwin
Yeah, just sort of do in the style of, I don't know, whatever, choose any band and write this. And it does, does it is smart.
- [56:30]
Sophie Monaghan Coombs
Yeah. And also, you know, the Velvet Sundown aren't terrible that, you know, there's a reason they kind of became quite popular because people enjoyed having them in their playlists.
- [56:40]
Georgina Godwin
Yeah, yeah. Quick look at Amy Sherrold cancelling her Smithsonian show. This is all down to Trump, of course.
- [56:46]
Sophie Monaghan Coombs
Yes, of course. So Amy Sherrold is a figurative painter from the U.S. she's from Georgia and she became really prominent in 2017, 2018, when she was chosen as the person to paint the kind of official portrait of Michelle Obama at the, of the end of Obama's second term. And that was hung in the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery. And there at that gallery, she's just cancelled a show. And the reason is it kind of all comes down to this one beautiful painting that she has which kind of reimagines the Statue of Liberty as a black trans woman. And that's the sort of central issue, the Smithsonian as an institution. 60% of their funding comes from the federal government. But they're also, you know, their board, they were started by Congress and their board includes important members of government. So JD Vance is on the board of the Smithsonian. And in March, Trump signed an executive order which targeted the institution specifically. And it's all about weeding out wokeness. So they decided that they didn't want to hang this, this particular portrait. And Amy Sherrod has come back and said, well, I'll just scrap the whole shell.
- [57:58]
Georgina Godwin
And Sophie, finally, and just briefly, Nick Drake Boxett, tragic artist, killed himself a few years ago, but there's been this re release as a sort of marking of his work.
- [58:10]
Sophie Monaghan Coombs
Yes. He's an English folk singer. He's really wonderful. And his first record, five Leaves Left, is this beautiful record. And they've just released this kind of really amazing box set where you can hear all of the songs, all these kind of rediscovered tapes of him figuring out how the songs will go, kind of redoing them, adding in all of the production elements. You can hear him talking about wanting strings on them and things like that. And it's really beautiful. So we have spoken to the people behind it and also the kind of official Nick Drake biographer, Richard Morton, Jack. And that's on Monocle on Culture this evening.
- [58:48]
Georgina Godwin
Sophie, thank you very much indeed. That's Sophie Monaghan Coombs, Monster Chronicles associate editor for culture. And I think we go out on a Nick Drake quote from that very album. And time has told me not to ask for more. That's all for today's program. Thanks to our producers Monica Lillis, Chris Chermack, Anita Riota and Ryoma Takahashi, our researcher Henry King, and our studio manager, Mariella Bevan. After the headlines, there's more music on the way and the briefing is live at midday. In London, I'm Georgina Godwin and I'll return on the Globalist at the same time tomorrow. Thanks for listening.