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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 31st 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, President Zelensky backtracks after mass protests and an EU backlash. But with trust shaken, can Kyiv repair the damage damage and salvage its path to Europe? We'll have a look at news coming out of India, including tariffs, Air India audits and the launch of a new satellite. We'll flick through the papers and cross to Tokyo to see how a trade deal between the US and South Korea might affect the automotive industry in Asia. We'll whisk you to the Scottish Highlands on an arboreal adventure. Have a roundup of transport news and.
- [01:55]
Odetto
Then this is a way of expressing myself. I just want to write some things that I'm not faking. I think this is something you learn when you're a comedian, to be the realist.
- [02:06]
Georgina Godwin
We meet French singer Odetta. That's all ahead here on the Globalist. Live from London. First, a look at what else is happening in the news. The US Senate rejected two resolutions from Bernie Sanders that would have blocked arms sales to Israel over civilian deaths in Gaza. Canada will recognize the state of Palestine at the UN General assembly in September, Prime Minister Mark Carney announced on Wednesday. And a radar related fault in Britain's air traffic control system halted flights for over four hours on Wednesday, hitting major airports including Heathrow. And do stay tuned to Monocle Radio throughout the day for more on those stories. Now we begin the show in Ukraine where President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's government is trying to undo a political own go after quietly passing a law that stripped two key anti corruption bodies of their independence, triggering the country's first mass wartime protests. Parliament is now preparing to vote today on a reversal. The backlash wasn't just domestic. EU leaders warned it could jeopardise Ukraine's accession prospects and future funding. So was this a misstep, corrected in time or lasting damage to Kyiv's democratic credentials? Well, I'm joined now from just outside Kyiv by Andriy Kirchhoff who is one of Ukraine, Ukraine's most celebrated writers and journalists. Andre, it's lovely to speak to you again. These protests were significant and unusual during wartime. So even if today's vote restores the anti corruption agency's independence, has the damage already been done to public trust and unity?
- [03:51]
Andriy Kirchhoff
Good morning. Actually, I mean people who trusted Zelensky will not stop doing this. And he still has quite a large support. And those who were protesting mostly were young people, 20 years old, students who were not actually in favor of Zelenskyy before the incident with the law. So I don't think his reputation will be damaged more than it was before by other incidents. But generally, I mean the situation looks quite unpleasant and reputation of Ukraine because of this is definitely worsening among our partners.
- [04:39]
Georgina Godwin
So of course Russia has seized on the moment. It's called it proof that Ukraine can't tackle corruption. You've argued though in a wonderful piece that you wrote that the protests themselves tell a different story. How do you think this plays out in the information war?
- [04:55]
Andriy Kirchhoff
Well, I mean Russia is always exaggerating bad things happening in Ukraine in order to show that Ukraine is either failed state or run by unprofessional, unqualified politicians, etc. So I mean this is a typical Russian behavior. In reality, Ukrainians have different mentality than Russians. Ukrainians are ready to protest any moment. I mean, because Ukraine was never a kingdom, Ukraine never had royal family. Ukraine from 17th century was choosing for itself a leader who was called hetman. And then several days later they would be already intrigued to replace him with another hetman, headman, which means headman. So it's a typical Ukrainian reaction to. Because people believe that if they don't like something, they can change it. If they don't like somebody, they can replace him. And this is actually the main reason behind this protest because I mean corruption is everyday thing. Every day there are scandals, every day there are people arrested, detained for corruption. Not very often they are sentenced, but very often they are dismissed from their positions. So I mean the war with corruption in Ukraine is ongoing war during this real war.
- [06:11]
Georgina Godwin
But why do you think that this law, which hopefully will be reversed today was introduced in the first place? Was it revenge for previous corruption probes? Was it fear of infiltration as Zelenskyy has said, or just political miscalc?
- [06:27]
Andriy Kirchhoff
I think it was political miscalculation, yeah. I mean every institution in Ukraine was infiltrated by Russian agents or by Russian sympathizers, including actually the secret service of Ukraine. So I mean there is not much difference between this National Anti Corruption Bureau and other services. Definitely there was a miscalculation and the thing that triggered it, probably there were the investigations in the nearest entourage of Zelensky. And it was his actually probably immediate reaction to stop this hassle, to stop investigations. But I mean, it's strange that he didn't think that it doesn't work this way in Ukraine, that actually you will get backlash, you will get reaction immediately.
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Georgina Godwin
And there was also immediate reaction from the eu. Do you think that if this is reversed, Kyiv's EU accession prospects have taken a real hit?
- [07:27]
Andriy Kirchhoff
Well, I hope not, but it is possible, because actually there was a lot of criticism in eu, and EU ambassadors and EU politicians are watching closely what is happening. And I think this is because of the pressure, probably more from EU than from the street protests, that the law should be reversed today.
- [07:46]
Georgina Godwin
Now, you've written in your piece that the real story here is generational, idealistic young Ukrainians taking to the streets to defend a vision of the country's future. I wonder if you could tell us more about why that gives you hope and how it shapes the political culture going forward. And I'm also really interested to pick up on what you said about youngsters not really supporting Zelenskyy anyway.
- [08:10]
Andriy Kirchhoff
Well, it's strange, but I mean, because of many scandals around Zelenskyy and around the members of his party, the servant of the people, the generation of 40 years old, and this is the majority of these politicians are considered by 20 years old, already old generation. So, I mean, there are no real sort of personalities to be excited about. There are no real statesman or politician among them who said things that actually triggered interest and excitement in the heads of the young people. So for them, actually it's already the protests against the past, which is still. And what is interesting that actually the participants of these protests are those who were too young to take part in the protest of 2013, 14 Euromaidan. And for them, of course, the Orange Revolution is the time when they were either born or very little. So, I mean, it's like it is now their turn to take control of Ukraine, take control of the society's mood. And that's why actually I'm saying that, I mean, they didn't welcome mayor of Kyiv Klitschko, who came to support them, not only because actually Klitschko is at odds with Zelenskyy already for many years, and Zelenskyy was trying to replace him or to weaken his power, but because Klitschko also belongs to all the lead for these young people. The bad thing is that actually they are not producing their own active and noticeable personalities. Maybe they will. But actually, unfortunately, neither Orange Revolution nor Euromaidan actually produced a political force that was able, that would be able to take part in the political struggle for power in Ukraine.
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Georgina Godwin
I mean, maybe not of that generation, but what about you, Andre? You're hugely celebrated there. You've put your fiction writing on hold while the war's ongoing. You've become very much a spokesperson for the country. You are loved by young and old. Is there a chance that you might step up into a leadership role?
- [10:24]
Andriy Kirchhoff
Can I correct you? I am not loved neither by old nor by young.
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Georgina Godwin
I think you got it wrong.
- [10:32]
Andriy Kirchhoff
No, no, no, no. I belong to even older generation. And I survived actually two years ago the war against myself as a representative of very old generation. So you shouldn't be m by my success. And the other thing is that of course, I mean, I write fiction in Russian, which doesn't make me popular, especially with the young generation, although my books are available in Ukrainian.
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Georgina Godwin
Finally, Andre, and we'll debate your suitability as a leader later perhaps. Finally, Parliament is expected to vote on this revised bill today. Do you think it will pass and if so, how quickly will it be enacted?
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Andriy Kirchhoff
I think it will pass. And after that, actually the members of Parliament who voted against independence of the anti corruption bodies and then voted for independence, they will feel very uncomfortable. I think they feel already very uncomfortable because they can, I mean, they can foresee that there will be problems. They will have problems themselves with anti corruption bodies because some of the deputies were investigated by this national anti corruption bureau. And then of course, in the eye of the public, the politicians who vote for one thing and then for the opposite, I mean, they have no credentials, so there is an issue for those people. But they will vote because, I mean, they are loyal to Zelensky and they do what actually the party says.
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Georgina Godwin
Andre, thank you very much indeed. That's Andrei Kirchhoff, novelist and journalist, joining us from just outside Kyiv there. And this is the globalist to India now, where it's been a busy 24 hours full of big headlines with more. I'm joined by Maya Sharma, a journalist based in Bangalore. Maya, it's good to have you back with us on the show. Let's start with President Donald Trump who says that the US will impose a 25% tariff on Indian goods starting this Friday. That's August 1, his self imposed deadline. He's called India's trade barriers extreme and he's also warned of additional penalties over India's energy ties with Russia. Tell us more about this. Was it expected?
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Maya Sharma
Well, there have been really busy negotiations going on for the past several weeks ahead of this August 1 deadline with India definitely hoping for a tariff of less than 25%. They were optimistic of something between 10 and 15%. And there is considerable disappointment in the Indian government about this high tariff of 25%, which the United States, which Donald Trump has actually imposed from August 1 on India, a country which he describes as a friend. He describes Modi as a friend. But this really doesn't seem to be a great gesture of friendship. India has said that they are studying the implications that the negotiations over the past few months have been going on and that the government remains committed to protecting farmers, entrepreneurs and MSMEs. And the government statement also cited the recent agreement agreement with UK which went pretty well. They are still hopeful. Trump says negotiations are still open with India, but expected to the extent that India will not yield on trying to protect its agricultural industry. It wants to keep agriculture and dairy safe. There are lots of political reasons for this. Also there's a huge farming community and there's resistance from internal farmers groups, from inputs from the outside. So that is really a stumbling block. But also the fact that India has been having ties with Russia has not gone down well with Donald Trump. Of course, he's talking about not just this 25% tariff, but perhaps also additional penalty for this closeness with Russia. And Trump posting recently. Yes, I don't care what India does with Russia. They can take their dead economies down together for all I care.
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Georgina Godwin
I wonder, though, if India cares on a political level, because it seems to me that India will be happy just to buy from the lowest bidder in terms of its energy needs. At least that's what Modi has said publicly.
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Maya Sharma
That's correct. Yes. The Indian government is. People on the side of the Indian government are definitely saying that India has a right to choose where it meets its energy needs, that if Russian oil is cheaper, then it has every right to do that. And the United States cannot dictate where it sources its oil from. Not just oil. India trades with Russia. It buys a lot of defense equipment from Russia. The percentage is going down a little bit, but still, Russia is a very large supply of India's defence equipment. Indian Russian ties go back decades for a very long time. And they are saying that the United States is really in no position to dictate terms on this. But of course, the trade deal is coming in for a lot of criticism from the opposition as well, which is taking on the Indian government, saying it's a failure of Indian negotiation. They are mocking the purported closeness between Narendra Modi and Donald Trump between the president, the prime minister, which has been often touted by the ruling party. And with parliament in session, it's very likely the opposition is going to raise what they term as this terrible, this terrorist, this very high tariff, that they're going to be raising this in Parliament as well to take on the government and put some more pressure on the Narendra Modi government.
- [16:12]
Georgina Godwin
Maya, India's aviation industry is under scrutiny again. So tell us about these lapses that have been found in the wake of that deadly crash recently.
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Maya Sharma
Well, the director general of civil aviation, the dgca, does conduct an annual audit on airlines in India. This is routine. It is done every year on several airlines, not just Air India. But, of course, there was an extra focus on Air India this time round because of that tragic accident, the tragic going down of the flight from Ahmedabad to London which left 260 people dead, including. So, of course, this audit was looked at very closely, more closely than in regular years. And the findings were there were lapses found in eight airlines and the highest number of 51 safety violations was found in Air India. These included things like training gaps for pilots. There was also talk of poor rostering systems with flight duty periods being too long and also the use of unapproved simulators when it came to training pilots, especially on difficult airports, landing in difficult airports. But it must also be said that the DGCA itself has gone on to say that the high number of audit findings in big airlines especially is normal and it's not necessarily unusual lapses. But of course, in the context of that tragic air crash, the focus is on and any lapses being taken very, very seriously indeed. Air India has a little bit of time in order to respond to this and to make the necessary corrections. And it says it has been transparent during the audit and will make the necessary course corrections. But, of course, a lot of focus on these findings because of that tragic air crash.
- [17:55]
Georgina Godwin
Yeah, not all doom and gloom, though. There was some liftoff. This is its first of its kind. Satellite?
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Maya Sharma
Oh, absolutely, yes. The Indo US Trade deal may not be going great. Negotiations, they're not going well. But cooperation in the field of space is doing very well indeed between India and the United States. And a new satellite went up yesterday evening from South India from the Satish Dharan Space Center. This is a new satellite which is a collaboration between NASA and isro, the Indian Space Research Organization and the satellite is going to keep a very close look on Earth indeed and look at changes to help the world prepare for disaster. It looks at tiny changes in the planet's surface, whether it's on land, sea or ice sheets. It kind of looks for tiny changes which can, it can be measured in centimeters really. And this may give a bit of an advance warning when it comes to earthquakes, volcanic activity and landslides and even keep be able to monitor forest fires and melting of glaciers and ice sheets. So India and us cooperating in this field at least, certainly trying to make disaster management a little bit easier, especially in the context of concerns over climate change and what it can do when it comes to the melting of ice sheets. So yes, India and the United States cooperating at least in this field, the field of space.
- [19:20]
Georgina Godwin
Maya Sharma, thank you very much indeed. Maya is based in Bangalore. Still to come on the programme, the.
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Michelle Saunders
Project was fronted by a group of women who wanted to showcase a different way of being in the mountains and to be able to capture that. It really reflects my own ethos and what I want to do with films.
- [19:37]
Georgina Godwin
We'll hear all about a film set in the Scottish Highlands. 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. Let's continue now with today's newspapers and joining me in the studio is Claudine Fry, a partner at Control Risk. Good morning to you, Claudine.
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Claudine Fry
Good morning.
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Georgina Godwin
We're looking at the US again. The US is sweeping new sanctions on Iran oil trading networks. Now this is a big network, it seems to be run by one man, but it's pretty global. And it looks like he's been very successful in evading sanctions and any kind of censure. But that may be over.
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Claudine Fry
That's right. So yes, picking up here on a piece in the Financial Times and reported elsewhere, a development from the US which is essentially a whole quite a significant new set of sanctions that have been imposed on a network of people linked back, as you say, yes to one individual, but actually with tentacles spreading far and wide that has been involved in the export of Iranian oil and the evasion of sanctions for quite some time. It's a good example of the US implementing what President Trump described as a move to return to exerting maximum pressure on Iran, which is something he articulated as an objective very early on, on his resumption of the Presidenc earlier, earlier this year. And as you say, yes, really quite an extensive global network of people and organisations that have been targeted as part of this new set of sanctions which extend not only to parts of the other parts of the Middle east, including the uae, but also actually parts of the west, including the uk, Belgium, France, Switzerland and Italy. So that's really quite an interesting indicator of quite how sophisticated and far reach this particular network is and has been.
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Georgina Godwin
I mean, is Washington taking this action to force the compliance of nations such as the uae, which the FT suggests might be the case?
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Claudine Fry
Well, that's something that's unclear as yet. The status of countries such as the UAE and of course the purchases of Iranian oil as well, of which the most significant is China, is going to be a real test of how far the US is prepared to go on punishing Iran, Iran and also countries that enable Iran to, to continue exporting and trading in oil and to continue evading other kinds of sanctions as well. And at the moment, although entities and individuals in the uae, for example, are often targeted by sanctions as they, as they are, in this case UAE itself, China and, and other countries such as India have managed to continue to operate and maintain, in the case of uae, very close relationships US simultaneously. So as the piece says, it's not clear yet the extent to which the US is prepared to take action to force the compliance of the uae.
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Georgina Godwin
So now, as we've been noticing, the days of sky high business travel and sort of luxury trips for work seem to be becoming less and less, and this also holds true for world leaders. The UN has been holding emergency talks over sky high accommodation costs at COP30, which is taking place in Brazil. Now, a lot of this is due to lack of supply, but it's very interesting, isn't it, that, that this should be so serious that they've called an emergency meeting?
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Claudine Fry
Yeah, that's right. So the Guardian's reporting on an emergency meeting that took place. That's right, over. Over the cost of accommodation in Belem and in Brazil, where the COP summit is due to be taking place on the 10th, 21st November later this year. And there's been a whole host of concerns about the readiness of this location for hosting COP30, even though it's symbolically highly significant and chosen specifically because of its symbolism, it's in the Amazon. So as the President of Brazil said, this was going to be an event taking place in the Amazon. Not just talking about the Amazon. But yes, apart from accommodation shortage is also extremely high costs associated with travel to, to this location. And indeed it's, it's, it's a particular concern for poorer countries, for the developing world, but actually the costs are so high that it's also forcing richer countries to rethink their presence at the event as well. The Netherlands, for example, a representative of the Netherlands quoted in the piece as saying that they're considering actually halving the size of their delegation going to cop. And COP, of course, normally has many, many tens of thousands of people in attendance from government, from NGOs and from the private sector as well. So the Brazil had actually just issued a statement earlier this month indicating now it has two cruise ships docked and ready to host visitors. But actually that doesn't seem to have been enough. And indeed the cost of those rooms on those ships is very high as well.
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Georgina Godwin
Let's cross to Moldova now. The president, Maya Sandu, we know is a staunch critic of the Kremlin. She's got elections coming up and she says Moscow is very definitely preparing an unprecedented campaign to interfere in that vote.
- [25:46]
Claudine Fry
Yes, that's right. So the AFP news agency piece has been carried by a number of different papers, including this one I picked from the Moscow Times, quoting the Moldovan president who used an opportunity in front of the media this week to warn about a large scale campaign by Russia to influence the outcome of parliamentary elections coming up later at the end of September. According to the president, the sophistication of the Russian Russia campaign means that it is sort of multifaceted, includes digital operations as well as the payment of people to attend protests. Russia is, is thought to have been involved in meddling according to some, some, some in Moldova and also in the EU in, in last year's presidential election, which also was timed to coincide with the referendum on EU membership. The Moldovan president herself being very much in favor of being closer to Europe.
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Georgina Godwin
And finally a rock funeral.
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Claudine Fry
Yes, final, final piece. This is actually a piece from the New York Times reporting on huge a huge gathering in Birmingham, which is England's second city yesterday to, to mourn the loss of Ozzy Osbourne, who many people know around the world as, as a rock, a rock star. And this piece is, is interesting in noting the fact that such gatherings, such sort of mourning and open emotion are actually quite unusual in this country. And indeed a historian is quoted in the piece as noting that the last time crowds on this scale gathered in Birmingham for sort of a mass mourning was actually in 1914 when crowds were gathering the loss of Joseph Chamberlain, who of course is famous for the role he played in British and global politics in the last century.
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Georgina Godwin
I mean, it's fascinating, isn't it? And I think what a lovely kind of closing of the circle because Osborne actually gave his final concert in Birmingham not long ago.
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Claudine Fry
That's right, just a couple of weeks ago. And Ozzy Osbourne, much like Joseph Chamberlain, as the piece notes, had made a huge effort to promote his birthplace, the city of Birmingham, throughout his life. So clearly a huge emotional attachment. But actually people had traveled from other parts of the world to attend and be there.
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Georgina Godwin
Ozzy Osbourne, of course, the lead singer of Black Sabbath. And in fact, there is a song, they have a song called Black Sabbath in which the lyric appears. Is this the end, my friend? Well, we have to say, Ozzy, I'm very much afraid it absolutely is. RIP the king of Rock, Claudine Fry, partner at Control Risk, 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. The U.S. senate rejected two resolutions from Bernie Sanders that would have blocked arms sales to Israel over civilian deaths in Gaza. Though the measures failed, they drew more support than earlier attempts, highlighting growing democratic concern as Republicans remain unified in opposition. Canada will recognise the state of Palestine at the UN General assembly in September, Prime Minister Mark Carney announced on Wednesday. The move follows similar pledges by France and the UK and comes as humanitarian conditions in Gaza continue to deteriorate. Australia has also indicated strong support for a two state solution. And a radar related fault in Britain's air traffic control system halted flights for over four hours on Wednesday, hitting major airports, including Heathrow. The issue is now resolved and operations are resuming, but passengers are urged to check with airlines amid continued delays. This is the Globalist. Stay tuned. It is 1529 in Seoul and Tokyo and 729 here in London. President Trump has announced a new trade deal with South Korea, setting a 15% tariff on exports, including cars. In return, South Korea has pledged $350 billion in U.S. investments and will now allow American made vehicles in without extra reg. The deal puts Korean carmakers like Hyundai on the same tariff footing as Japanese rivals like Toyota. Well, I'm joined now from Tokyo by Hans Greimel, who's editor at Automotive News. Hans Minnie, thanks for joining us on the show. Is this 15% tariff a win or a blow for South Korea's car industry?
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Hans Greimel
Well, thanks for having me on the show today. I would say this is a big win for the Korean industry. It's. The tariff is much higher than the original tariff before Trump took office and instigated this global trade upheaval. But it's much better than the 25% that was on them before and threatened to continue on indefinitely. So this is a better deal for South Korea than they could have had. And it's in line with their other trade partners and their global rivals in Japan and the European Union.
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Georgina Godwin
Union, yeah. Well, let's talk about their global rivals because Hyundai and Toyota are now facing the same tariff rate. So does that mean that the playing field is finally level?
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Hans Greimel
Well, you could say it is for their exports from their home market. But one missing piece of the equation here is the North American trade landscape. There's the trade agreements with Canada and Mexico are still up in the air. Those haven't been really resolved in any real way yet. And there is where you see the Japanese having more exposure than the, the Koreans. In other words, the Koreans build in the United States and they ship a lot from Korea, but they don't have a lot of exposure to imports from Canada or Mexico. And that's where they're different from the Japanese. The Japanese have big manufacturing hubs in Mexico and Canada and those are still under threat. And that some exposure that the Japanese face.
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Georgina Godwin
Although at the moment we're seeing that Toyota's sales booming and Hyundai is feeling the pinch from tariffs. I wonder how the effects differ.
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Hans Greimel
Well, I would say everybody's feeling the effects of tariffs and but this is a welcome relief in sorts because their predictions at the beginning of the year are now, will now be tempered by lower tariffs. Toyota seems to be making the most of it so far. They are increased. They had to increase some prices to help offset the tariffs and they have huge coffers of bumper profits to play with. But at the same time, their products are extremely profit sorry, popular. And they're making good headway on their hybrid vehicles at a time when EV sales are slowing down.
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Georgina Godwin
Are you seeing different reactions from Korean automakers to Japanese automakers to these types of tariffs?
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Hans Greimel
I think they're both were, in a way taking a wait and see approach to see how the deals finally shake out. And I think both sides are relieved to see that tempered compared to the original threats.
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Georgina Godwin
And how do you think the opening of the Korean market to American cars might affect those companies making cars within South Korea?
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Hans Greimel
Well, I don't see it as much of a threat to the South Korean industry or much of a having much promise in terms of big volumes of imports from the United States. The markets, the domestic markets in South Korea and Japan are very similar and that is that they like their domestic brands most and that import brands for various reasons are relegated to a small sliver of the local market. And that's mostly because of the consumer tastes, not necessarily because of non tariff barriers or tariff barriers. So I think that the relaxing of these, these other hurdles will have probably modest impact on the amount of imports that increase.
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Georgina Godwin
Why don't people want to drive American cars?
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Hans Greimel
Well, they don't quite fit the local market needs. They're usually a little bit too big. They're the wrong segments. There's a stigma attached to them them because of old stereotypes. They don't have a widespread dealer or servicing network here in Asia. And also they are, there's a kind of a patriotism or a nationalism that is built into buying your own country's cars here. So it's really a complicated mix of different factors. I will say that General Motors actually has a substantial manufacturing base already in South Korea and they make a lot of cars there. It's called GM Korea. But even in though they make those cars in Korea, Koreans aren't especially buying those cars. And it's mostly used as an export base now.
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Georgina Godwin
Right, right. And finally, do you think that competition between Korean and Japanese automakers changes will change in markets outside of of the U.S. particularly say the EU?
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Hans Greimel
Well, I think because of the U.S. tariffs, the one reaction or one workaround that a lot of the companies, not just in Asia but also in Europe were thinking about was focusing their sales on other countries outside of the U.S. in other words, shifting the balance of their sales to other markets that don't have tariffs so that you could see an increase in tariff tariffs there. I think now they will probably have to reevaluate those plans given the fact that they don't face a 25% tariff in the United States anymore. Instead it's 15 and it's lower. So that may reprioritize playing in the United States market.
- [36:19]
Georgina Godwin
Hans, very interesting. Thank you very much indeed. That's Hans Greimel, who is Asia editor at Automotive News. You're with Monocle Radio. This week, the Royal Geographical Society's Summer Film Night showcased an eclectic selection of exploration themed short films taking audiences from Botswana's Okavango Delta to the remote Ustuat Plateau in Central Asia. Monocle's Henry King caught up with two filmmakers presenting work set in the Scottish Highlands. And began by asking Ted Simpson about his film the Lonely Pines.
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Henry King
The film takes place in the Northwest Highlands, a kind of area that used to be completely forested. So from all along that kind of western coast of Britain, we have. We've had these kind of ancient habitats that existed since the last ice age of, of temperate rainforests, as they're known. So rainforest zones where there's a lot of rainfall that comes in from the Atlantic and you have a kind of species set of. Of incredible trees that, that builds this amazing, amazing rainforest habitat. From the oak to the ash trees, like the birch and the cherry. As you kind of then move up into the uplands, the kind of higher altitudes, you've got Scots pine, which actually exists all across Europe, but is really prevalent in the Scottish Highlands. And it's these Scots pine forests that are central to the documentary. Let's hear a clip.
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Gabriel Lee
What we want to do is go.
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Henry King
Back out to some of these places.
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Gabriel Lee
Where pine still survives and records, record.
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Henry King
It and get it back on the map.
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Georgina Godwin
So heading south, and then we'll skip the route to the bothy.
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Henry King
Okay.
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Georgina Godwin
We'll need to do a river crossing up here somewhere.
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Michelle Saunders
So we'll just see where is best.
- [38:06]
Henry King
There's no tree symbols in the first Os here, but there you can see on the aerials there's stuff on these crags and along the ravine bit. We'll check it out and see just in case there's any pine amongst it. And part of your expedition was actually finding these trees. I know you see documentary binoculars and you're kind of spotting from afar if it's a pine tree or a different type type of tree. Talk us through some of those things. So the documentary follows two ecologists called James and Jane, and they run the Wild Pine Project, which has basically set out to try and record the last fragments of wild pine that exist across the Scottish Highlands. Now there's only kind of precious little fragments of these pristine habitats that have existed since the last Ice Age. James and Jane are using this incredible process to try and locate these final. These final fragments in the hope that if they're recorded once more, we understand where they are, we can then kind of better protect them. That scene you reference about using binoculars was actually quite a fortuitous moment as we kind of rounded over the top of this Monroe and descending into this glen where we thought there might be one or two pines still clinging on. James and Jane had stopped for a little break while we were trying to catch up with them. And they had the binoculars out and they were looking into the glen to try and see what they might find. And they. They spotted. Spotted in an unexpected pine that they didn't think was actually going to be there, but it was actually clinging on in a ravine, which was a really special moment. Well, staying with the rugged Highlands of Scotland, I'm joined by Michelle Saunders, the maker of To Know A Mountain.
- [39:32]
Michelle Saunders
Nice to be here.
- [39:34]
Henry King
Let's have a listen.
- [39:35]
Georgina Godwin
The Kangor Mountains can be so beautiful.
- [39:43]
Claudine Fry
Most people just walk straight to the.
- [39:45]
Maya Sharma
Top, conquering these mountains, but I never.
- [39:51]
Claudine Fry
Really connected to all those stories.
- [39:55]
Maya Sharma
Nan Shepherd's the Living Mountain captured the mountains in a way I had never seen before.
- [40:02]
Henry King
She saw the mountain. Well, rather than racing to the south summit, this film tries to showcase a different way up and enjoying the experience of the mountain itself rather than the conquest. Can you tell us a little bit more about this ethos?
- [40:22]
Michelle Saunders
It was something that, when I was growing up, watching films about mountains and seeing other people in the outdoors, it was just so prevalent that it was always the fastest, hardest, strongest. Those narratives were the ones that were really front of me and that wasn't really how I related to being in the outdoors. I'm not the fastest, strongest and I like taking my time. And that was very much the ethos of the rest of the team as well. The project was fronted by a group of women who wanted to showcase a different way of being in the mountains. They came up with this idea to do this expedition that showcases a mindset that isn't about conquering, but rather about being with the mountain and to be able to capture that. It really reflects my own ethos and what I want to do with film films.
- [41:08]
Henry King
And the Cairngorms themselves are incredibly beautiful. Quite serene environment in many ways, but also quite rugged and exotic. It's home to a quarter of the UK's endangered species. What kind of environments were you journeying through?
- [41:23]
Michelle Saunders
We really wanted to see deer and some of the bigger. I mean, there's wild cats in that part of Scotland, which would have been the absolute dream, but they're very elusive, so we wanted to see some of those bigger species. But our journey was only four days, so we didn't manage to see many species other than, I think the rarest that we saw was, I think it's called a capercaili. There's, of course, a lot of heather, which is a feature of Scottish landscapes. And we started in the forests of Rothy Mercus and came to Loch Eniac. We experienced all sorts before we even ventured out. There was, I think, a storm Warning. If you watch the film, you can see that it was an indeed less fine than we'd hoped. But there was fog, there was rain, there was sun. We got basically everything you could get except for snow during the expedition. It made for probably one of the most difficult journeys that I've done, but also some of the best material for a film because of that diversity of landscape.
- [42:21]
Henry King
You mentioned Nan Shepard as a really big inspiration for the project. She's this Scottish modernist author and poet. How did her book the Living Mountain influence your pathway through these mountains?
- [42:35]
Michelle Saunders
She was such a wonderful roadmap into things to film, you know, to really pay attention to Heather and to make sure that that has its moment in the film or, you know, these are landscapes that Nan knew so intimately and we were following in her footsteps and we really wanted the film also to reflect the way that Nan wrote. So it is a slow paced film. It allows you to sit in the mountains and see them in the water. Well, hopefully see them in the way that she saw them.
- [43:04]
Georgina Godwin
That's Michelle Saunders and Ted Simpson. They were speaking to Monocle's Henry King. 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, countries, all delivered in a comprehensive library, answering what you want with what you need. UBS banking is our craft. Now. Monocle Radio listeners will be familiar with the funk disco beats of French singer Odetto. His album Sunset Radio is a must listen this summer and it's on our playlist. Monocle Radio's senior correspondent Fernando Augusto Pacheco caught up with Odetto to talk about his start in acting and get hints about his next musical project.
- [44:29]
Fernando Augusto Pacheco
Odetto, what a pleasure talking to you. I am a big, big fan of your music. I've been listening to your album Sunset Radio. I mean, your music is very solar, is very summery. I think it kind of, it transpires that. But is it true that your first career was actually acting, was not actually music? Music came at a later stage, right?
- [44:52]
Odetto
Yes, you are so right. Because right now I'm in the south of France, I'm in Avignon and that's. There is a reason why? Because there is a festival that is called a festival Avignon and it's a festival of, you know, comedy of drama. So I'm still an actor, I'm still a comedian and I'm doing a play that is called Le Jeu de la Mouret, Dreiser. And so I make both of it. I'm still an actor and I do music here. This is my life. I.
- [45:21]
Fernando Augusto Pacheco
Well, and how do you combine? Because the thing is, when you are a musician, you can also do beautiful video clips and, you know, and I've seen some of them, so maybe you can bring some element of that acting as a musician as well.
- [45:35]
Odetto
Right, of course, that's. That was the first idea, because I'm not a musician, I'm not. I didn't know how to do all of that, but I knew how to be a comedian. So the idea was to make some cinematographic images, you know, this is a way of expressing myself though. So I. I just want to write some things that I'm not faking, you know, I want to be real. And I think this is something you learn when you're a comedian, to be the realist, you know, so. And of course there is the show that live. I think I make music because I love to do some. Some shows and showing my music to everyone. The scene is where I. Much pleasure, you know what I mean? Absolutely, yes. The scene is where I. I mean, I'm in love with this, you know.
- [46:33]
Fernando Augusto Pacheco
I was going to ask, what actually are your plans for this summer? I know you told me you're in Avignon, you're still doing some acting. What about gigs? Are you planning or. Or are you waiting maybe to play perhaps later in the year or early next year?
- [46:47]
Odetto
Yes, I guess I would have loved to play this summer, Sunset Radio, you know, right away. But I guess it takes some time. I'm going to plan maybe a tour and maybe playing a lot of festival. That's my wish for next year. And yes, because people are asking me, can you come to Italy, Spain, England? So I want to go everywhere, but that takes some times, unfortunately.
- [47:18]
Fernando Augusto Pacheco
Wow, completely understandable. And please come to London as well. I would love that. What's your music inspiration? Because there's some rap elements, there's some funk, there's some electronica. It's such a mix of genres. But I wonder what type of music. Have you listened to that actually? For example, the inspiration for Sunset Radio.
- [47:38]
Odetto
I saw first I thought I wanted to be, you know, just a rapper. So I'm. I listen a lot of rap music. But then I realized that all the. The rap that I love had some instrumental that were a bit funk. And I realized that this is the music that I've been listening my whole life with my parents, you know, Cool. And the gang. There's a French guy called Daboule.
- [48:08]
Georgina Godwin
I love that book.
- [48:09]
Odetto
I really enjoy. Yeah. You know, also the Daft Punk. So I really enjoyed listening to those music. General quiet. He's coming from. From London, I think. Jk. So I really love to. To see Jimmy Rocker in a show, by the way. So these were my inspiration and I. I think I could mix rap and funk house sometimes.
- [48:35]
Fernando Augusto Pacheco
And Odetto, I selected one of the tracks from your album to the Monaco Summer playlist. Bohurst. S correct if I'm pronouncing incorrectly.
- [48:45]
Andriy Kirchhoff
I love.
- [48:45]
Fernando Augusto Pacheco
I love that song. What is it about?
- [48:49]
Odetto
Oh, it's the first song of Sunset Rao. So the idea was something, you know, really epic on the start. What is it talking about? It's talking about a guy who is in Paris and that wants to go to the south of France to see some sun, some cocktails, to drink some cocktails and live the life everybody wants. So this is really a happy song. Yes, and with a bigger funk inspiration, I think. I don't know. What can I. What can I. Can I say more to this? But. Well, no, no, that's it. This is a really happy artisan.
- [49:25]
Fernando Augusto Pacheco
Well, let's go for an app. And a final question. I know you're in Avignon, but are you actually from Paris or which part of France are you from?
- [49:33]
Odetto
I'm actually from Paris, born and raised.
- [49:35]
Fernando Augusto Pacheco
Paris is booming right now, culturally, so, you know, I was there last week just for a few days. There's something quite magical about Paris at the moment. How do you feel? Do you enjoy living there?
- [49:46]
Odetto
I. French people don't love Paris, except the Parisians, but I love Paris maybe because I was born in here, so I. I'm used to all the people in the streets, a lot of noise, but I love it. And yeah, I think, you know, the example of the Fete de la Musique this year is such a great example because everybody from every. Every countries went there and I think they enjoyed it. Not everybody I saw, but this is a wonderful place. Wonderful place. I love it. This is my best city of all. And I maybe want my next project to talk more about Paris.
- [50:30]
Fernando Augusto Pacheco
Fantastic. Well, count us in here. Monoco. Odetto, what a pleasure. Merci. Pleasure talking to you. Thank you very much.
- [50:59]
Georgina Godwin
That was Adetto. His album Sunset Radio is out now and you can listen to the full interview with him on the Monacle Weekly. Yeah. It's time to talk transport now with Gabriel Lee, Monocle's transport correspondent. He joins us now from Burgundy. Hey, Gabe, what are you doing In France.
- [51:22]
Gabriel Lee
Holiday here.
- [51:24]
Georgina Godwin
Sorry, I didn't get that. You're on holiday there.
- [51:26]
Gabriel Lee
Yeah, that's right.
- [51:28]
Georgina Godwin
Well, let's talk about these new Swiss A350 and its cabins. Now, I understand that you actually went and saw this aircraft in assembly at Airbus a couple of months ago.
- [51:39]
Gabriel Lee
Months ago, that's right, yeah. I visited the aircraft in Toulouse where it was being assembled. They actually sort of had two at the time being finished up, and it was unfortunately, no cabins yet. That's really the part everyone wants to see. Right. But it was nevertheless cool to see it being put together. And the cabins, of course, are the big highlight of the sort of the new Swiss that they're going to be putting out with this aircraft. It's going to bring not just new seats, but also everything from, you know, fragrance on board to new bedding. You name it, it's there.
- [52:09]
Georgina Godwin
And is that just on the premier offering, or is this throughout?
- [52:13]
Gabriel Lee
This is a redesign throughout. So you're going to have new everything throughout. They're calling it Swiss Senses, and, you know, they're saying it'll be an upgraded experience. We'll see how it is. Some of the seats will look familiar to those who have tried out the latest Lufthansa Allegris seats in business class and first class, for example. They are basically the same, but with Swiss's own touches and finishes and colors and things like that. But they're promising a much upgraded experience.
- [52:38]
Georgina Godwin
And when you get to first class, are we talking about little kind of cabin suites, as we see in some airlines?
- [52:44]
Gabriel Lee
That's right. It's kind of an intriguing concept we haven't seen before. They are suites. There are two that are sort of your traditional large suite that you kind of completely enclose, more or less. And then there's an interesting one in the middle that it's possible to book as two people into it. It's not quite double the of size size, however, so that's been the source of some controversy, people trying that out at Lufthansa saying, you know, they'll. They'll allow two people to book into the same suite together, paying two fares, however, you don't get double the space. Exactly. So a nice cozy setup for someone traveling with someone else, but. But interesting.
- [53:14]
Georgina Godwin
Yeah, absolutely. And when will we be able to. To actually experience these for ourselves? When do they go into circulation?
- [53:20]
Gabriel Lee
They are saying now that it's going to be in October, we'll start seeing them on Europe. European routes. So this is always subject to delay, potentially, but that's I think a conservative timeline. I would expect to see them in October doing sort of training flights around Europe. A good chance to catch them and try them out. And then we'll see proper long haul service starting in January of next year to Boston from Zurich.
- [53:41]
Georgina Godwin
Now let's switch to rail. There's a proposed U.S. rail merger. Tell us more about this.
- [53:47]
Gabriel Lee
Yeah, so this is a really big deal. It would affect the sort of freight rail network network of the US and might cause knock on effects across that industry. Union Pacific, of course, famous very large rail operator wants to buy Norfolk Southern. It would be a multi, multi billion dollar deal. And of course there's people that are very for this and others that are against it. It's an industry that's been not without its challenges. There have been some high profile derailments and sort of safety lapses and hazardous chemical spills and backups. It's been plagued with issues. And the detractors would say that this further consolidation would only make that worse. Of course, the company saying well no, we can use this to streamline things. We'll have the first coast to coast network across the US and be able to sort of make everything more efficient that way. So it's a big deal basically.
- [54:37]
Georgina Godwin
I mean it's extraordinary that there isn't already a coast to coast network though.
- [54:41]
Gabriel Lee
I mean there are of rail lines. However, there is not one coast company that controls the entire thing. So that's the interesting point because rail.
- [54:49]
Georgina Godwin
Travel really isn't as popular as one would imagine in the us. It doesn't seem to be a major mode of transport.
- [54:56]
Gabriel Lee
No, it's been generally under invested in and sort of ignored in favor of the car and the plane of course.
- [55:03]
Georgina Godwin
But yeah, well, let's go back to the plane because you joined Etihad on the delivery flight of their single aisle aircraft on Friday. Tell us more.
- [55:14]
Gabriel Lee
That's right. So they're taking delivery. They just started last week and I was on board the delivery flight which was very exciting out of Hamburg Finkenberder, where Airbus manufactures quite a few of these aircraft. They're a 320s like you would see in Europe, single aisle. However, they have an extended range. This is the LR version which can fly 6, 7, 8 hours without a problem. And they've configured it in a very premium heavy way. So what they're trying to do is be able to, to serve sort of smaller markets, experiment a little bit with cities they might not have served with a big bigger aircraft, but also have people be able to say come in from London on a big plane on the proper widebody experience and get onto one of these for their connection to say Phuket out of Abu Dhabi and have the same experience in terms of business class and even first class. So that, so the big deal is that they have two seats that are first class suites with closing doors and all that to be able to sort of give, give people passengers at the very premium end that kind of seamless transition from one to the other.
- [56:10]
Georgina Godwin
What are airlines doing with these long narrow bodies? What's the appeal?
- [56:15]
Gabriel Lee
Well, it is really interesting and appealing for airlines because of the economics. So it's that much sort of more economic to operate these aircraft. And that means, like I mentioned, you know, airlines like Etihad can experiment a little bit. So a smaller Gulf airline like Etihad, they might not have been able to fly to Krabi or Medan or Phuket and certainly not with this sort of frequency that they could do with this one. Now they can try it out and see how it goes. And you know, that smaller subset of passengers who are connecting to these smaller places, they're also going to serve Phnom Penh. That will be the longest one that these planes will do. And they can sort of see how it goes with these kind of markets and potentially make, make them work, which of course benefits them having a wider network, more choice for passengers.
- [57:01]
Georgina Godwin
How big though is the luxury market for shorter haul flights, which is generally when people don't choose to travel in those cabins?
- [57:10]
Gabriel Lee
Yeah, I think if these planes were doing two or three hours, they probably wouldn't put a proper first class on them. But they do intend to be a very premium focused airline. As makes sense with Gulf Airlines tend to go in that direction and they are planning to put first class, a proper first class in addition to lie flat business class on every single one of these single aisle planes they have. And I think there is quite a market, you know, for a passenger. They don't, they don't really pay that much attention to what they're booking on in terms of aircraft type. There are people who don't like to fly long haul, 7 hours ish on these single aisle airplanes. But what Etihad is trying to do is make it so that they don't even really notice that the seat is basically the same. You get the same experience, the same space, the same price, privacy. So we'll see if they're successful with that. I think it's a very beautiful airplane on board.
- [57:52]
Georgina Godwin
Gay, before we let you get back to your holiday. Just tell us very quickly about these direct flights between Moscow and Pyongyang.
- [57:58]
Gabriel Lee
Yeah, very historic. First time we've seen in something like 70 years, Moscow, Pyongyang, commercial flights. And that's being operated by Nordwind of Russia. You know, whether that's a viable commercial route is an open question. I would guess that it probably isn't, even considering the fact that although some Russians have been allowed into North Korea for tourism purposes on group tours, there's not a huge amount of people going for leisure between Moscow and Pyongyang. Definitely a sort of politically motivated route and also something we see of, you know, Russian holidaymakers have less options and the airlines have less options of places to fly, so they're looking to get creative. It will be interesting to know how many passengers were on board the first first flight. It is not a super frequent flight at this point. It's once a month, but a fascinating route anyway.
- [58:44]
Georgina Godwin
Are you tempted?
- [58:48]
Gabriel Lee
In a sense? Yeah. From an aviation standpoint, yes. From a political standpoint, not so much.
- [58:52]
Georgina Godwin
Gabe, thanks very much indeed. That's Gabriel Lee, Monocle's transport correspondent. And that's all for today's program. Thanks to our producer, Laura Kramer, Tom Webb and Hassan Anderson, our researcher, Henry K. King and our studio manager, Steph Chungu. After the headlines, there's more music on the way. And then the briefing will be live at midday. We've got a packed show for you which is already coming together. We'll be looking also at some more airline stuff. Huge delays across London and the UK because of air traffic control failures yesterday. We'll be talking about that. And then, of course, the Globalist will return at the same time tomorrow. I'm Georgina Godwin. Thanks for listening, Sam.