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The Globalist
Trump attacks the UN, Hong Kong braces for super typhoon Ragasa and falcons on planes
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- [00:04]
UBS Announcer
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- [00:38]
Tom Edwards
You're listening to the Globalist, first broadcast on 24 September 2025 on Monocle Radio. The Globalist in association with U. Live from D90 in Zurich. This is the Globalist. I'm Tom Edwards. Coming up on today's program, the UN General assembly continues in New York City. Our Carlotta Rebelo will bring us the latest. I imagine that a certain speech from a certain US President might crop up in dispatches then. Georgina Godwin in London has been busy reviewing the day's newspapers. What have you spotted today, Georgina?
- [01:30]
Georgina Godwin
Speaking of that UN visit, it marked by a broken escalator, a dead teleprompter and a rogue audio feed. The White House calls it sabotage. The UN calls it bad luck. We'll also be looking at one of Egypt's most high profile dissidents who's been released from prison. And I'm sure we'll find some fun stories too.
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Tom Edwards
Thanks, Georgina. Here's hoping. And a little later, Monocle's golf correspondent will join the show with an ornithological update from the region. What's on your radar, Enzi?
- [01:58]
Insamam Rashid
Well, I'll be telling you a bit about falcons at 30,000ft and why Gulf Airlines are strapping Raptors into business class.
- [02:08]
Tom Edwards
More from Insman Rashid later. Plus Vatican news and fat jabs. Oh, yes. All ahead on the Globelist. Live from Zurich, with me Tom Edwards. Yes, a very warm welcome to this Wednesday edition of the Globus, wherever you are in the world. Good morning, good evening, good afternoon, good morning to London. Georgina Godwin is there in Midori House, the usual setting for the Globalist. How are you today, Georgina?
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Georgina Godwin
Well, we've just had quite a row in the studio. It wasn't between me and Elliot, the sound manager. It was between me and a fly, a very buzzy, loud fly that kept kind of dive bombing the microphone. But Elliot has managed to usher it out and we're ready to go on air now.
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Tom Edwards
Georgina, you had to draft Elliot in to help you deal with that?
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Georgina Godwin
Well, so the thing was, I didn't want to kill it. And he did it very humanely. He sort of wafted it gently away. I was amazed.
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Tom Edwards
He's a peaceful man. I Thought you were going to strike it with a rolled up newspaper, thus demonstrating the power of print.
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Juliet Lindley
No.
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Tom Edwards
Anyway, let's move on. Georgina, listen, amongst your other duties, fly distraction and destruction on the list, you've been keeping an eye on some of the other stories that are knocking about today around the world.
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Georgina Godwin
Indeed. So NATO warns Russia after the Estonian airspace breach and vows it will use all necessary tools to defend its allies. Brazil's President Luis Ignacio Lula da Silva has pledged $1 billion to a new global fund to protect tropical forests. And Gucci opened Milan Fashion Week with a film debut by the new creative director Demna yesterday, starring Demi Moore and Edward Norton.
- [03:55]
Tom Edwards
Excellent stuff. Thank you, Georgina. Do stay tuned to Monaco radio listeners throughout the day for more on those as we follow stor breaking news and more. But first to New York City, the UN General assembly continues. And to make sense of yesterday's developments and perhaps to look ahead to what we might expect today, I'm delighted to say, alongside Georgina, I'm joined now by Carlota Rebelo Monocle senior foreign correspondent, or actually, you're on the road. Carlotta, where do we find you this morning?
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Carlota Rebelo
Well, not on the road just yet, Tom, but en route to the airport immediately after.
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Tom Edwards
Okay, and you're going back to Netherland, I gather?
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Carlota Rebelo
Yes, heading to Portugal, to Lisbon for an event. We're at the Beautiful Gold bank and foundation and I'll be telling you all about it in a show tomorrow.
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Tom Edwards
Oh, very exciting. We look forward to that. But tell me, what did you make yesterday, Colette? I mean, we don't have to start with Donald Trump, but maybe we do have to start with Donald Trump. We've been talking about this on all of our programs. What did you make of his? I mean, it's pretty. Even by his own established standards, a pretty extraordinary address.
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Carlota Rebelo
Yes, it is. It's inevitable to start with Donald Trump. His 55 minute speech really marked the assembly yesterday. Now, you might remember the last time he spoke at Unger, this was in 2020. And essentially he left the General assembly with the world, quote, unquote, laughing at him. And yesterday the mood had completely shifted. He dismissed the United nations, calling it ineffective, called for world leaders to rally. But actually, the few things that came out that are making the news today and are potentially going to have some impact is the major pivot on Ukraine. You know that. Now he believes that Kiev can win back all of its territory from Russia. And this is something that, of course, the European allies have hailed because it marks a clear shift. We know that his relationship with Russia and with Vladimir Putin has always kind of been overshadowing a lot of the conversations about the US's stance on how to end the war in Ukraine. And this marked the very first clear shift. He also had a meeting with several Arab leaders yesterday. And while we don't know the exact detail yet, he met on the sidelines of the United Nations General assembly with leaders from Saudi Arabia, the uae, Qatar, Egypt, Jordan, Turkey, Indonesia and Pakistan. And it is said and reported that he presented the US's plan to what post war governance in Gaza and peace could look like. We're waiting for those details to be made clear, but this is the most concrete proposal to date from Trump and his administration. Administration on the plans to end this war. You know, it included something about the freeing of the hostages and also what would be the principles around a potential Israeli withdrawal. And in that meeting as well, we heard from Indonesia's President Prabow Subianto, who said that his country was prepared to send soldiers for a peacekeeping force in Gaza under this plan, too.
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Tom Edwards
Yeah, and it's interesting, I suppose, when you get more substantive undertakings through other world leaders because you wonder that perhaps, or hope that what they say may in some respects measure up with what they intend to do. I guess the problem with Trump, Kaloshi in particular, you said, you know, it's the first time he said X, the first time he said Y. Also in that speech, you know, he repeated loads of malicious falsehoods, certainly about London. That really riled me yesterday what he was saying about Sadiq Khan. But he doubled down on complete fantasy about the climate crisis. And obviously this was a day when he kicked things off by talking, you know, this complete fiction in terms of the, the dangers of paracetamol and, and autism. So he continues to pedal these absolute falsehoods. You know, you can't surely then give credence to what he may say, even about something as serious as, as Ukraine, I suppose. I mean, I don't know what, what did you make of that? Or did you, did you sense that the pronouncements that he's made on Truth Social or whatever it is maybe, I don't know, have greater credence?
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Carlota Rebelo
Look, Tom, it is difficult with Trump because as you say, what he says today, it doesn't mean that he's actually one believes it or is going to go ahead with those plans. I don't know if this is the beginning of us seeing a difference in discourse for the domestic audience and international audience, but at least what we could sense from yesterday was that a lot of the remarks, despite the extremely, extremely long speech, were welcomed by some of his counterparts. Of course, he still went very Trump in style in criticizing everything and everyone and claiming to have ended seven wars. I think it was the number already, including wars, that I don't think people even knew were happening, not even those nations involved. And that's, you know, very Trump in his own way. But at the end of the day, we know that, you know, this is the leader of the United States. His words shouldn't still matter. And that's the danger of the Trump presidency. And a lot of despite the protests that were happening outside side, despite everything. And of course I know that Georgina nodded there too. Some of the other more incidents that happen inside the United nations. And I'm sure she's going to get to it a bit later in the show. You know, it's everything that any everyone is talking about is the impact of his words and the gravitas it carries. Now, will this turn into tangible action? We it remains to be seen, but the fact that this was said in such a public forum like the United Nations General assembly at least gives it the gravitas for the world leaders to take him up on his word.
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Tom Edwards
Indeed. And you're right, we'll get into this with Georgina. But I think if people had imagined Trump talking about an escalating crisis, he might have been talking geopolitics, not mobility solutions. But we'll come to that in a moment. Carter, look, the unger it rattles on. What else do we need to be looking out for? Are there any specific people you're looking forward to hearing from? And what should we be keeping an eye and an ear out for as the jamboree continues?
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Carlota Rebelo
Of course, personally, I'm curious to see what would be the speech from my own president, Marcelo Habelo de Souza from Portugal. Traditionally, Portugal, you know, just literally keeps the peace and everyone and pleases everyone. But there have been hints that he might be indicating some of the alliances and stance of Portugal in terms of peacekeeping efforts in Africa. So I'm quite keen to hear if anything is going to be said about that, like the speech and the statement rather by Lula Silva on climate change. There's going to be a lot of that today, or at least we're expecting that today. And of course, we have COP30 just around the corner, around 40 days or something like that until the United Nations Climate Change Conference. So I think that's going to be the theme to watch out for and see which nations are actually committed to include that when we talk about, you know, peace and the future of the world, it's not just, you know, actual war, but actually ensuring we continue to take all the efforts to protect the environment and make sure that we continue to have thriving rainforests and oceans.
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Tom Edwards
Wise words and smart insights as always from our Carlota Rebelo. Carlota, happy travels. Get back to Portugal safely. That's Monocle, senior forest correspondent, joining us here on the Globalist. It is ten minutes past eight in Zurich, ten minutes past seven over in London. Let's continue with a review of the day's newspapers from there. At Midori House, our London, London hq, it is Monocle's Georgina Godwin. Morning again, Georgina. Now, Trump, Trump, Trump. We've been talking about it already. This is really interesting. He sort of hinted, and you alluded at the top of the show to his visit being sabotaged by UN staff keen to see him literally or metaphorically trip up. What do the newspapers say about this?
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Georgina Godwin
Well, I mean, obviously Trump is on every single front page, but some of them do a bit more of a deep dive into this allegation of sabotage the Times is talking about. It claims that UN workers had joked about staging pranks to highlight the organization's funding shortfalls due to Trump's cash freeze on the un. The White House says the US Secret Service is investigating whether that was indeed a deliberate act. So what actually happened? They were on the escalator and it suddenly stopped. His teleprompter failed to start. And then at one point, and I don't know if you were watching the speech live, I kept thinking there was something wrong with my device. This kind of foreign language came in and I thought, oh, no, I've got two tabs open at once. But no, there was a genuine problem. Some translator apparently just pushed the wrong button. The UN says that the escalator failure was triggered by the Trump videographer. And apparently the teleprompter is not controlled by the UN itself. So, I mean, what Trump did was he worked the glitches into his speech. He quipped that all he got from the UN was a bad escalator and a bad teleprompter. But he praised Melania's fitness for avoiding avoiding a fall. She just powered up those stairs with him kind of dragging on behind her. And so, I mean, it was quite a moment of levity, I suppose, for the rest of us, put next to the other appalling lies that this man was spewing.
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Tom Edwards
Yeah, well, we spoke a lot about those on previous programs. So let's not shine a light on them anymore. And as you said, Georgie, look, the fallout's gonna continue. I mean, especially his Special Forces investigation. Absolute absurdity. Anyway, let's change gears and pivot slightly. Gigi, you mentioned at the top of the show this really interesting story out of Egypt. I know it's been covered across the networks, on Reuters and so forth. This is quite an interesting one. Give us a quick sort of potted history of how we've got to where we are.
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Georgina Godwin
So the man is Allah Abdel Al Fattah, and he's been released from prison. He's 43 years old. He's an Egyptian British activist, and he was pardoned on Tuesday. So the reason he was in prison is he spent, in fact, fact, much of his adult life behind bars. He was first detained just before the 2011 Arab Spring, and he became a symbol of resistance against Sisi's sweeping crackdown on dissent. After the military takeover in 2013, he was put in jail again. And once again in 2019, it keeps happening. He staged multiple hunger strikes. But his family and other groups, including English pen, have been tirelessly campaigning to get him out. He's finally out. Egypt's National Council for Human Rights have described his pardon as a sign of the government's commitment to swift justice. Well, I'm not sure how swift that is, given that his first arrest was in 2011, but his family have made it clear that their fight isn't over. They say that their true joy will only come when no political prisoners remain in Egypt.
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Juliet Lindley
Yeah.
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Tom Edwards
And do we know? I mean, it's interesting, isn't it? Gigi? I always think about, you know, what's the longer term impact? Is this reflective of, I don't know, a greater willingness to kind of listen to the cases that are made by the large number of, you know, long serving and long suffering, essentially political prisoners. Is it an outlier case? I don't know. It's probably a little early to speculate as to what the longer term impact might be.
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Georgina Godwin
I mean, I think that Egypt is getting more and more involved in global negotiations about peace within the region. And I think this has to come as a. As an indication that they are good actors, if you like, that this is not a despotic regime and that they are taking things like this seriously as they do become more involved and become more pivotal and important to the discussions around what happens in the region.
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Tom Edwards
Georgina, let's jump over the pond. The New York Times as a bit of a. I don't know, what is this? This is an art story. It's a cultural, it's kind of cultural news based upon an established piece of art. Tell us more.
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Georgina Godwin
Well, I like to think of it just as a dog story, frankly. So it's researchers at the Rijksmuseum, that's obviously in Amsterdam, they say they've identified the inspiration for the dog in the lower corner of Rembrandt's the Night Watch that was painted back in 1642. Now apparently the pose matches a drawing by the Dutch artist Adrian van der Ven, which was later engraved by Francois Schillerman. And it was found by a curator, Annie Lenders. So she spotted the drawing while she was visiting an exhibition and she immediately recognized the dog's distinctive head turn. And so what people are saying about this is that Rembrandt didn't copy, but he borrowed and adapted and he placed the dog in a more animated and startled pose, reacting to a drummer. I don't know if you've seen it close up. It's very sweet. It's bum in the air, tail wagging, looking very, very alert. And it sort of comes. Well, it comes as the painting is undergoing this major, major restoration, a multi million restoration of the Night Watch, which is also revealed that Rembrandt first sketched the dog in chalk as part of an underdrawing. Experts still though, can't agree on the breed of dog. But what they do say is that even 400 years after it was painted, Rembrandt's masterpiece continues to yield new insights. And it reminds us how great art resists final interpretation.
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Tom Edwards
Oh, that's very good. That's quite profound. Georgina, when you said inspiration, not even the breed, I was hoping we'd get this dog's full credentials.
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Georgina Godwin
I know, meeting full name.
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Tom Edwards
Did he have a sort of good, a good honest Dutch name anyway? Well, there's more, there's more, there's more digging to be done. Right, let's go from the surly bounds of the planet Georgina and look skywards. We do love a bit of a kind of space exploration final frontier and all that. And this is kind of exciting if you are a bit of a kind of amateur space watcher because I, you know, you kind of think, oh, moon missions, you know, we got that out of our system in the early 70s, but no, it's back.
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Georgina Godwin
Absolutely. So Artemis is NASA's flagship program to establish a long term human presence on the moon with the eventual aim of supporting Mars missions. And so the sort of breaking line on this is that it hopes to launch Artemis 2 as early as February. That's moving its target up from April. Now, this isn't actually going to the moon or it's not landing on the moon. It's a 10 day crewed flight around the moon and it's the first since Apollo 17 in 1972. There's going to be four astronauts and they're going to be testing the space Launch System, the SLS rocket and the Orion crew capsule in deep space conditions. So it's going to travel about 5,000 nautical miles past the moon and that's further than any humans have gone before. Before it returns to Earth, there are a number of scientific goals. The astronauts will be guinea pigs for biomedical experiments, including growing blood derived organoids. No, me neither. But apparently something to do with studying effects of the radiation and microgravity. There are a lot of challenges too. There were heat shield issues previously from the uncrewed Artemis I test flight back in 2022. And, well, the next steps are that obviously the success of this will determine the schedule for Artemis 3, which is the planned moon landing mission. It's currently targeted for no earlier than mid 20, but experts do say that's rather optimistic. And I wonder if Donald Trump is going to make his ultimate mission to make that happen on his watch so he can say that he took us beyond, beyond this world. It's out of this world. I tell you, it's never been better. He is the best president in the world. This will be the best moon landing ever. Ever. In the history of the planet? No, outside of the planet.
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Tom Edwards
I thought we were going to leave Donald Trump well behind us, but he's back. The specter endear. Georgina in London. Thanks very much. For now, Georgina is sticking with us and she'll be back a bit later in the show. Plenty more still to come in the program. Our good friend Juliet Linley is here. What will you be telling us about Juliet, Tom?
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Juliet Lindley
The Pope has finally given his first interview and we've also got on Italian planes three times as large as previously. Dogs are allowed to go up in the air.
- [20:49]
Tom Edwards
Good news for Fido. We can't wait to hear more about that a bit later. Julia, you're listening to the Glass Blessed.
- [20:59]
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- [21:37]
Tom Edwards
It is 20 minutes past the hour. Time for well, Weather Watch. Next on the Globe list. Joining me from Bangkok is James Chambers, Monocle's Asia editor. Good afternoon to you, James. Listen, bring us up to speed. This is this super typhoon that's wreaked all kinds, kinds of damage and chaos already. Yeah, bring it, bring us up, bring us up to speed. What do we know? What's the latest?
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James Chambers
Yeah, I mean our listeners in over in your part of the world in the Atlantic are used to talking about hurricanes, but in Asia and this part of the world, it's, they're called typhoons. And I guess you can't have missed the news this week that the biggest storm anywhere in the world this year has been hurtling towards Hong Kong over the last few days. It hit the city this morning. The observatory raised the top warning, the T10, which people in Hong Kong are very familiar with. And you know, it caused all sorts of damage. You know, felling trees, throwing boats against the harbor. It even flooded a luxury hotel on the waterside where we hosted our chiefs. Eventually last year, the Fullerton, I think that's been one of the most popular videos being shared around social media of the, the seawater kind of cascading into the lobby. So there's been a lot of damage over across Hong Kong, but and the cleanup will now begin now that the storm has passed through. I mean, but the good news is the, the kind of, the, the human damage is very minimal. Hong Kong was very prepared for this. You know, people did know it was coming. They did take precautions. But it's worth noting that in, in Taiwan, 14 people did Lake burst over its bank. So there is a human tragedy as well.
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Tom Edwards
Absolutely, James. And I guess this is one of these themes that we often return to on Monocle Radio, isn't it, about not just resilience in big urban centers but, you know, capacity, preparedness for any number of different challenges. And I guess it's encouraging as you say, that Hong Kong in particular was able to, you know, city where you spent so much time was able to sort of mitigate the worst in impacts. We're having to get used to the increasing, not just the increasing frequency but the increasing severity of these kinds of incidents across the wider region. Even if we come back to in Bangkok where you are, is there a sense that the collective planning, the investment in resources, the investment in infrastructure is keeping pace with that changing challenge? And you mentioned in eastern Taiwan, that's pretty grave. That's a huge number of people injured. I guess you can never completely mitigate against this. But what's the sense of how. Well, the process of improving those practices.
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James Chambers
Is going well, living in Hong Kong, you know, these typhoons are an annual event, an annual tradition, and it is a city that has, you know, learned from these events for its entire history, and it's got better and better and better and invested. Invested more and more money. It is, you know, it is a very rich city, but as you know, Tom, it. It's not the type of place that looks like it would stand up well in a storm. I mean, this is millions of people kind of cramped into very tall, very skinny skyscrapers perched on the side of a hill. I remember some of my experiences of typhoons, you know, being on the 41st floor, you know, so sitting in my apartment, you know, swaying like I was on a ship. But. But these days, you have a lot of confidence in the infrastructure in Hong Kong because they have invested so much money in it and they have learned from tragedies in the past. So these days, when a typhoon is coming and it's hitting Hong Kong, the kind of reaction is very different to perhaps where it be in parts of maybe the Philippines or southern China or Vietnam, whether they're perhaps not so geared up for it. I mean, in, in. In Hong Kong, you get, you know, you get to work from home, schools are closed, and shops all have special typhoon discounts. So there is a kind of a. An element of it where, where people kind of look forward to these things. But that has. I mean, Hong Kong is in that situation because it has learned over the years how to handle these storms. There will be a lot of damage. I mean, you know, Hong Kong is a very extreme, expensive place, but they know how to clean things up. And it's remarkable how the city weathers super typhoons like this, and it's remarkable how quickly it'll get back on its feet and clean up. And this, this time around, it was the first time that the stock exchange didn't close during a super typhoon, so people were still managing to. To trade shares throughout the worst of it.
- [26:32]
Tom Edwards
Well, yeah, it's interesting, James, as well, I suppose, and that very point about how dense it is. It is small, but it's also. So it's quite well managed in terms of quick collective action. It's quite easy in a smaller geography like that to coordinate a response, and that gets much more difficult and challenging. I guess, when the geography of A country is much more spread out just quickly. As an aside, and to kind of go back to some of the discussions we've been having out of the UN General assembly, where Trump basically underscored his bizarre climate crisis denial credentials. Is that kind of rhetoric from New York? It is and seems kind of a world away from the crisis on the doorstep where you are. But is that actively unhelpful when people are trying to drive a new narrative about taking responsibility, building resilience, redirecting potentially significant government and federal and local investment into climate crisis management? If he's making those kind of pronouncements, does that play into the discussion at all? Or do you think that the immediacy of these crises, the news, as you said, these incredible pictures that people see, does that, if you will, in terms of people knowing they have to engage with this redirect resources, take it more seriously?
- [27:48]
James Chambers
Yeah. Here in Bangkok, we're a long way away from, from the typhoon, but we will feel the effects. And on the front page of the Bangkok Post today, it is, you know, the main headline is about the capital getting ready for torrential rain, which will come in the next few days. That typhoon is heading to, you know, to the southern China and Vietnam next, but it'll kind of work its way through, through, you know, the continental Southeast Asia and land here in Bangkok. But, I mean, the funny thing is, it does, as you said, it does. Trump. Trump. There's. There's no talk of him or what's going on at the UN at this point. You know, this is typhoon time. And actually these discussions about these mega storms and this one being the biggest one of the year, you don't really have any talk of any. It being in any way related to climate change. I don't know whether what the scientists would say to that, but it's just not part of the reporting. These things, as I said, have happened throughout history. And as long as Hong Kong has been a city and there's been devastating storms for the last 250 years, so it's not something that people are talking about. It's getting. Getting better or worse. It's just something that Hong Kong and a lot of the cities in this region have to live with. It is this part of the world, The Pearl River Delta has an incredible amount of people here. I mean, in Guangdong province, there's about 125 million people. And they do say that if there was some kind of super disaster that to hit this region, it would be one of the most devastating in the world. So I'm not sure how, how that would look like, but it's a part of the world that's had to prepare because it happens every year.
- [29:34]
Tom Edwards
James, thanks so much. Always great to check in with you. That's our James Chambers, Monocle's Asia editor, talking to us on the Globe from Bangkok this morning or this afternoon where he is now. Plenty more that we're watching today. Back over to London, Georgina Godwin is standing by with some of the other stories we're following.
- [29:52]
Georgina Godwin
Thanks, Tom. NATO has issued its strongest warning yet to Moscow after Russian jets violated Estonian airspace. The alliance says it will use all necessary military and non military tools to defend itself. As calls grow for tougher responses to incursions. Brazilian President Luis Ignacio Lula da Silva announced Brazil's first contribution to the Tropical Forests forever facility. The $1 billion pledge is aimed at unlocking wider support ahead of COP30 in the Amazonian city of Belem. And Demner, the Georgian designer who reinvented Balenciaga unveiled his first Gucc collection in a Spike Jones co directed film yesterday. The cinematic debut marks Kering's bid to revive the storied Italian label after two years of sliding sales.
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Tom Edwards
Thank you very much indeed, Georgina. Really interesting, actually that Demna story because I've been talking a lot to our Sophie Grove and, and Brenda Tui who've been over here in Zurich and chatting to Natalie Teodosi who's been on the road, all about the kind of ongoing, you know, game of musical chairs amongst creative directors. All these different, on the different houses. And it's interesting, Georgina, they're really leaning into this kind of experiential thing. The idea that they're not just making, they're not just making garments, they're not just pushing the clothing, they're not just selling products, they're kind of offering something deeper and experience. Kind of really interesting how they're pushing those boundaries. And it's a little bit of personnel, it's a little bit of approach, it's a bit of different creative expression. Interesting to watch, right?
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Georgina Godwin
Absolutely. I mean, Gucci is fundamentally conservative. I mean, you know, those loafers for instance. But it does thrive when a designer adds a bit of shock and theater. You had Tom Ford's Sex, Alessandro Michelli's Gender Bending. Now this kind of post ironic spectacle, I suppose from Demna who, I mean, he's the man behind duct taking Kim Kardashian and sending the Simpsons down a Paris Runway. So he really has been hired to bring the edge back to a house famous for you know, ladylike handbags and things. And kering really needed 25% down on sales in the last quarter.
- [32:06]
Tom Edwards
Fascinating stuff, Georgina. We'll be keeping a really close eye on that across Monacle Radio when the bandwagon continues to roll through Milan. And the rest of the week you are with the Globalist here on Monaco rad. It is 29 minutes to 9 here in Zurich. It's 29 minutes to 11 in Dubai. And I'm joined now by Monocles golf correspondent in Zamam Rashid. Morning Insi. Now, I'm very keen to chat to you today because I don't know if you know this about me. Amongst my many surprising traits, I'm something of an amateur ornithologist. And you've got some good stories from the skies for me today, Inzi. Is that that right?
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Insamam Rashid
Good morning. I had no idea about that. And you definitely learn something new every day. So I will be taking that to the bank. Thank you. I know what gifts to get you now when I come back to London. Yes, I do want to talk to you about falconry because it is deeply tied to Emirati identity. And the falcon season is beginning where it starts at the beginning of October and ends in March. And soon we are going to be seeing falcons taking business class tickets across the world because they are flying from Doha to Abu Dhabi, from Dubai to New York and to other parts of to Europe as well. And falcons, as you would expect, probably have a lot of air miles already because of all the flying they do, are now actually taking chartered flight.
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Tom Edwards
Now tell me indeed, this is brilliant and I'm sure our listeners have done this before, but it's well worth a quick Google of those images because it is incredible of them all kind of lined up in their chairs heading hooded to their next destination. But if we just interrogate a little deeper, Indy, because the sort of the cultural role of these incredible creatures is really extraordinary. And much like with equine bloodstone, it's super high value. It's about. I don't know, but there's so many interesting sort of cultural facets that roll into this importance. Can you just tell us why it's so deeply ingrained kind of culturally in how things work there?
- [34:27]
Insamam Rashid
Yeah, it's really, it's deeply tied to the Gulf identity, particularly Emirati identity as well. Families, communities bond over the practice. And the season isn't just about sports. It's also a huge social calendar with shared hunts and gather. And airlines and charter firms bend to this tradition because of heritage and of wealth. Carries its weight in aviation, but falcons are serious investments. Upkeep can be thousands and thousands of dollars a month. A GPS tracker alone for one single falcon can cost you around $2,000. One bird in Riyadh sold at an auction for Dh1.2 million, which is around 3, $300,000. And you can imagine a load of them in one aircraft probably costs more than the aircraft itself. And this is a cultural heritage, but it's also a thriving market. I guess what was once a Gulf pursuit is now drawing interest from buyers in Europe and in Asia. And that's what the Gulf has seen over the last few years. But this particular notion of them getting on a plane is quite interesting because, yes, those images are quite stark. You'll see a man in his thobe and his kundura in the full Middle Eastern regalia and a load of falcons perched on top of airplane seats covered in plastic material because of course, all the mess that they make and you want to protect the planes. But they're also all issued with passports so they can legally travel across borders. They're seated often as well in business class. Hooded, calm, sometimes even with live prey, which is all temperature controlled. So the probably even more picky than some travelers, human travelers. And you can just see serenely this image of a raptor occupying seat 2A and cabin crew tasked with soothing both humans and birds along their journey. It's the kind of sort of thing that sparks viral photos in Europe. Those men in robes and falcons buckled up in seat belts. I think it's fascinating, but obviously there is a huge business side to this whole venue adventure as well.
- [36:52]
Tom Edwards
Sure. Well, you alluded to there with live prey, which is somewhat kind of terrifying. I was gonna say. Did the cabin crew get a bit of a primer on I don't know what kind of in flight snacks, you know, are they kind of chicken or fish? Guys, can they open those little tiny packs of airline peanuts with their talons in the. I don't know how it works. What's the extra layers of of attention the hapless cabin crew have to put into the proceedings?
- [37:13]
Insamam Rashid
I imagine there are a lot of rubber gloves involved, some very long tongs as well, to pick up live prey and drop it in front of falcons so they can enjoy their in flight snack. I don't know if they're going around asking whether chicken or beef is. Is what what they would prefer on the menu. And also I don't think depends what class you're in. I don't think it varies as to what meal you get, but I'm sure they're very satisfied by the time they reach their destination.
- [37:42]
Tom Edwards
Absolutely. Well, here's hoping. Insie. Love it. I think we need to get you on board one of those flights. Just. Just an idea, just a suggestion. I'd listen. I just.
- [37:48]
Insamam Rashid
All hazmat suit me.
- [37:49]
Tom Edwards
Exactly. Yeah. Izzy, good to chat with you. That was Monocle's golf correspondent in Dubai, Insamam Rashid. You're listening to Monocle Radio. This is the Globalist. We are all around the globe this morning on the Globe list. Let's cross back to London now. Georgina Godwin once again standing by. And Georgina, it's kind of over to you. You're going to take charge of the next story for us.
- [38:17]
Georgina Godwin
Absolutely. Thanks, Tom. So we're turning to West Africa, where the members of the alliance of Sahel States, that's Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso, have formally announced their withdrawal from the International Criminal Court, saying it's a tool of neo colonialist repression. So what does this actually signal about where the region's alliances are headed and the future of international justice? Well, to help me examine this, I'm joined on line from Cape Town by Talia Parker, who is managing editor of Africa Risk Consulting's information service, ARC Briefing. Talia, many thanks for coming on the show. What does pulling out of the ICC actually mean for these countries in practice?
- [39:00]
Talia Parker
Thank you, Georgina. I think the decision once again emphasizes that these countries, emphasizes these countries desire to move forward and legitimize the alliance of Sahel State's regional grouping that they have created since exiting igwas and also shows their desire to continue decreasing ties with Western partners and institutions. The countries have also touted establishing an AES Criminal and Human Rights Court, which would contest against the ECWA's Court of Justice for legitimacy, which could, you know, create some regional tensions. And I think it's also very important to note that Tuareg associations from Mali, Burkina Faso have filed an ICC complaint against the Burkinabe Armed Forces, Mali Armed Forces and mercenaries from Afrika Korps, which replaced Wagner Group operating in Mali. These three actors have also been accused of possible atrocity crimes by organizations including the UN and Human Rights Watch. So any current investigation will continue despite their withdrawal, but it ultimately helps protect these juntas in a manner from further scrutiny and impact any recourse for future victims, you know, eroding the human rights situation in the whole.
- [40:15]
Georgina Godwin
So, of course we know that Russia has become a key ally for these regimes. How much of this decision is influenced by Moscow's own fight with the icc.
- [40:26]
Talia Parker
Well, of course the first point to raise is that there is an ICC arrest warrant issued against Russia's President Vladimir Putin. And once these countries withdrawal is finalized, they are under no legal obligation to arrest Putin or any other figure that has an ICC arrest warrant against them. And as you mentioned, Russia is also not a member of the icc. So the decision can definitely be viewed as aligning these countries with Russia and very much continues the anti Western rhetoric these countries have, which Russia has been flaming, especially on social media. And it helps not only build support and prop up these juntas, but definitely the relationship with Russia too.
- [41:08]
Georgina Godwin
And what about the relationship with the wider region? How does that change once the group has pulled out of the ICC following of course its exit from ecowas?
- [41:21]
Talia Parker
Well, as mentioned, any kind of criminal and human rights court that they establish would contest against ECOWAS court of justice for legitimacy. And I think it will just continue flaming the tensions that are already there between the regional partners and continue this ongoing withdrawal. You may see increased dialogue from ecowas, but these countries have made it very clear what their path is. And I think you'll just continue seeing fragmentation of the region.
- [41:53]
Georgina Godwin
I mean they talk about setting up their own systems of justice. Given the violence and the weak institutions on the ground, is that even realistic?
- [42:03]
Talia Parker
It's a great question. There, you know, will be a lot of steps for them to take and it's, you know, nothing formal has been announced yet. And I see that the justice ministers from these three countries had a summit on 16 September where it was once again discussed. But ultimately what we have seen from the bloc is actually very little action in terms of putting institutions together like their promised parliament, joint security forces. So it is a lot of. There is, like I said, it will take a lot of time and they'd be very slow to follow through on these actions which I think will continue.
- [42:44]
Georgina Godwin
I mean, what can the ICC or the wider international community do in response to this? I mean anything at all?
- [42:54]
Talia Parker
I think unfortunately not. The ICC is yet to release a statement on the withdrawal, but when other countries have, it has simply expressed its regret. A country being party to the Roman Statute which established the ICC is voluntary. So you know, there isn't really any room for recourse. The decision does take a year to be finalized by the General Secretariat. But there may be. So there may be some room for dialogue, but it is highly unlikely that there will revert on their decision. I think as I stated, it very much fits in with their anti western rhetoric and they need to kind of stick with that to really prove the legitimacy of their regional group.
- [43:37]
Georgina Godwin
I mean, they've pulled up saying that the court is a tool of neocolonial repression. I wonder how much of this really is about justice or is it just politics?
- [43:50]
Talia Parker
I do think, as you say, it is. It is a big political move and definitely influence behind the scenes to push them to take this next step. But yeah, as you say, ultimately, you know, Bikino Faso and don't have any active cases within the icc. I believe it's only Mali that has the active cases. So. So I also, as you said, think it has limited impact on the justice and human rights angle.
- [44:23]
Georgina Godwin
And finally, is this possibly paving a way for a Putin visit? Because, of course, he can't be arrested if they're not a member.
- [44:32]
Talia Parker
Very possibly. I don't believe that he has visited any of these countries in recent years, even prior to the arrest warrant being issued. You've seen a lot of the junta leaders and ministerial exchanges to Russia. As I said, the decision does take a year to be finalized, so we could very definitely see a visit in 2026.
- [44:56]
Georgina Godwin
Talia, thank you very much indeed. That was Thalia Parker of the Africa Risk Consulting Group in Cape Town. And after this break, we're back in Zurich with Tom Edwards. Stay tuned.
- [45:11]
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- [45:49]
Tom Edwards
It is 8:45 here in Zurich. What's on the agenda in the Vatican City and indeed across Italy? Shall we find out, dear listeners? Yes, let's do it. I'm joined now by Juliet Lindley, journalist and former Vatican correspondent. Good morning, Juliet.
- [46:04]
Juliet Lindley
Good morning, Tom.
- [46:05]
Tom Edwards
It's been fun, hasn't it? We've been spending all sorts of time together here in Zurich this week. Very jolly. Yeah.
- [46:10]
Juliet Lindley
We've even been comparing cat stories. But that's for another show.
- [46:13]
Tom Edwards
That's a cat chat for another day. Listen, you alluded to this a little bit earlier. Pope Leo, a first interview. What did you learn, Juliet, from what the great man had to say?
- [46:25]
Juliet Lindley
Well, there were a few key takeaways, Tom. And remember, this is history's first American pope. And who did he give his first interview to? An American reporter. She's actually written his biography already. It's already come out in Peru in Spanish. It'll be coming out in English. Headline of her biography is Leo XIV, citizen of the world, missionary of the 21st century. So that's why he gave her the interview. And here are some of the key takeaways for you, Tom. I mean, he spoke on a range of subjects. Certainly what grabbed the headlines was that he said he has no intention of getting involved in US Politics, even though he is an American Pope. Remember, he is also half Peruvian. He said he will speak to out, however, on matters pertaining to the Catholic Church and to immigration in relation to America. So he did say that he was. He praised Francis, his predecessor, for earlier this year writing to the American bishops scolding Trump's plans on mass deportations of migrants. So he did go that far. And he said that he hopes US Bishops will continue to talk out on those matters. He said he hasn't met or talked to Trump as yet. He confirmed he's talked about to JD Vance and he talked about human dignity. And he said he repeated, no matter where you're born, he certainly makes it clear that he's not a Trump supporter and that you need to maintain dignity for the immigrants. He said that he is not a Trump supporter and he was, as a matter of fact, distancing himself from his brother Louis Prevost, who we have heard is a self proclaimed MAGA type. So he said in quotes, we are in different places. That's the way he put it. Then of course, he touched on LGBTQ matters, which people are wondering whether he's going to make major changes. He said highly unlikely that doctrine will change. In quotes, he said we have to change attitudes before we can even think about changing what the Church says about any given question. And he left it at that. He slightly went into Vatican finances. Tom, it's no secret the Vatican is in a bit of a crunch. It's running a 50 to 60 million dollars structural deficit and it has a 1 billion plus pension shortfall. He said things are improving. Leo said, I'm not sure that I can say that the crisis is over, but he said he's not losing any sleep about it. And remember, Tom, this is a man who graduated in maths at Villanova University before he went on to study canon law. So I guess he's a bit of a number cruncher. So I guess we can safely assume that if he says that he's not losing sleep over it, we can take that from the supreme Vatican bean counter. And then just finally, sex abuse scandals, a major issue with the Catholic Church. He said that is a real crisis still not resolved. He admits the church hasn't found a way to help victims heal. But he said the scandal cannot be the center focus of the church. That has to be Jesus and the gospel. Should we move on to.
- [49:14]
Tom Edwards
Well, I just really quickly, I just wondered. So in terms of the sort of more progressive agenda, you know, if we think about Francis, there was this idea that not just maybe, you know, in substantive policy terms, but even just in the rhetoric, in the language, there was this appetite for slightly more progressive, inclusive dialogue. Any hints in these were either in the book or in his interviews about how he's going to be saying what he's saying.
- [49:35]
Juliet Lindley
Juliet, Just quickly, he's being very reticent on that, I have to say. He's not going out on a limb. He, of course, emphasized that the church welcomes everybody, including gay people, the church embraces them, but he's not going to change doctrine anytime soon, and neither did Francis. Let's not forget, however much we might have seen him as being progressive, as his critics say, he made a lot of noise, but then in actual terms, he didn't make major changes.
- [50:00]
Tom Edwards
Everything is relative. I believe that's a. That's a secular truism, isn't it, Julia? Right. I said, the rest of Italy, let's talk a bit about Giorgio Maloney, because there's been this kind of general strike, which a solidarity strike, which is pretty. We've been in the grip of strikes back here, back in London, very much about paying conditions, not solidarity. But tell me, because I was chatting to a couple of colleagues out of the UNGA this week with recognition of Palestinian statehood. A number of them said, oh, well, Germany will never do it, Italy will never do it. It was absolutely black and white. She's been kind of talking about it, what she had to say.
- [50:32]
Juliet Lindley
Let's put it this way. Giorgio Meloni speaking at the UN General assembly to the Italian press, she was being pressed on this, and the opposition had been pushing on this, and she said, okay, I'm going to put it to a vote in parliament. But here are the two preconditions necessary in order for Italy to recognize Palestinian statehood. One, release of all remaining Israeli hostages. Number two, removal exclus of Hamas from any government's role in Gaza. So how likely are those two conditions? Right, Tom? But I mean, and if you look at Elie Schlein, who is the main opposition leader in Italy, it's unlikely that they're going to just go with that, because they've been calling on Italy no matter what, to just immediately recognize, follow other European countries. She's not likely to agree to those terms. And she keeps saying in her criticism of Meloni's silence, if you wait until those continue conditions happen, there's not going to be anything left of Gaza to actually recognize.
- [51:30]
Tom Edwards
Is it actually a difficult issue for Meloni? I sense she's probably just not that bothered about the narrative. I don't know, is it a thorny one for her to deal with?
- [51:38]
Juliet Lindley
Very thorny. I mean, on the one hand you've got, you know, she's very much a Trump supporter. She's very much seeing herself as sort of the bridge or the tightrope between Europe and the United States. On the other hand, you've got, well, yes, they called this massive strike, strike in solidarity for Gaza. Interesting, right? You wouldn't have necessarily thought that. But remember, Tom, I mean, 40% of Italians support Palestinian statehood. So it's not a majority, but it's a pretty large chunk. Whereas only between 6 and 16% of Italians are saying that Israel's actions are actually proportionate. So there you go. And then you've got 64%. So one in six saying they are highly concerned about the humanitarian situation in Gaza. And so you have, the city came, the country came to a standstill. All the key cities had protests from Milan to Rome, Naples, Palermo, you had blockades on highways, train cancellations, chaos. The same chaos that usually happens when you have strikes. And it was called, this massive 24 hour strike was called by the unions and they were protesting against genocide in Gaza. They're demanding that Italy stops all arms shipments and military cooperation with Israel. And they're also criticizing Italy's inaction when it comes to Israel. So Melon is saying, okay, fine, I'm going to put it to a vote. Let's see what happens.
- [52:52]
Tom Edwards
Let's quickly, Juliet. No cats, we said, but definitely dogs. We get to the size. We were talking about falcons in flight earlier. Dogs in flight. This is, this might be my favorite story of the day. Tell us about this one.
- [53:07]
Juliet Lindley
So as you know, Tom, currently you can only bring a maximum eight kilo dog or cat on board. You put it in a little carrier and you pay about between 60 and 80 Euro, I think to ITA, probably about the same on other airlines. And you can put it under your feet in this little bag. Well, now we've got transport Minister who is also the deputy prime minister of Irma Matteo Salvini. He's gone on X with pictures and videos of himself on an ITA flight with two dogs weighing up to 25 kilos. One is a Labrador, another is a mixed race mongrel. Is that what you call it? And he's saying that soon these kind of dogs are going to be able to join the mile high canine club. So he's Italian transport minister. He's saying they will have to sit next to their owner next to the window seat, on the floor on a mat, and they're obviously going to have to pay a ticket. It's not just going to be the 60 to 80 Euro extra, but of course, controversy. Right. So, of course, animal activists say it's so cruel that you have to put a dog like that in the baggage hold, which is the case on most airlines at the moment. But then, of course, opponents are saying, well, hang on, like, what if someone is scared of, of dogs? And then there's this massive dog when you're starting to go and look for your seed. And what about if they do some of their business and that's gonna great heaven.
- [54:21]
Tom Edwards
25 kilos. 25 kilos is, that's, that's a chunky unit for a dog.
- [54:25]
Juliet Lindley
Right.
- [54:26]
Tom Edwards
But even 8 kilos for a cat, I mean, that's a fat cat.
- [54:28]
Juliet Lindley
No? How much is your cat weigh, Tom?
- [54:30]
Tom Edwards
I'd say he's a whisker, forgive me, under six kilos. And he's, he's a pretty big unit himself.
- [54:36]
Juliet Lindley
Pretty big unit himself. So there you go. Like, I mean, your cat can even reach 25 kilos and you'll be able to take him on board.
- [54:42]
Tom Edwards
Well, interestingly and almost unbelievably, this story does somewhat elegantly segway into our next one because we do like to bring you the skinny on all the big stories of the day. Where is this going, Tom Edwards, I can hear you ask. Well, let's bring in here at D90, Fabian Kinselman, Swiss business reporter at Bloomberg. Fabian, good morning. What a, what a setup. And we're actually, we're, we're talking, of course, about, I don't know how to put it, fat jabs, obesity drugs. Exactly.
- [55:11]
Fabian Kinselman
They are not approved for cats yet.
- [55:12]
Tom Edwards
Okay, okay. I probably will need one soon. But this is really interesting actually, because there's been so much coverage, of course, of the big players, Eli Lilly, Novo Noik having these huge successes. Although certainly in Novo Noik's case, it's not necessarily delivered in terms of corporate performance because of, I guess, mismanaged expectations. But there's, there's, there's news afoot and other kind of players are Interested in the space to tell us a bit more about it?
- [55:37]
Fabian Kinselman
Yeah, I mean, it's a big, big market, right? Like, it's about, like the obesity market is about to reach like 100 billion US dollar annually by 2030. So, like every pharma company tries to get into this field and it's like right now just Eli Lilly and Novo, no disk, are playing in it and like a Swiss pharma company got their food in. So Roche, that's what you're referring to, right? Yeah, yeah. So Roche just announced this week that they are moving their CT388. So that's the most hopeful candidate right now for obesity drug that they are moving it to the trial three phase, which is like the phase before they would hand it in for approval.
- [56:20]
Tom Edwards
And presumably, Fabian, given the performance, as we've seen from these other players, the market's going to like that. Right. Ross shareholders, one imagines, are going to like that. But again, is this a bit like a sort of go, a gold rush of fat people? Are people kind of jumping to conclusions that this is going to be a game changer? We need to be, I guess, always somewhat measured, a little bit of caution, a bit of patience, maybe we need. Right, yeah.
- [56:42]
Fabian Kinselman
I mean, what we are seeing now with these obesity drugs, as much hype as there is, like, there's still room for development, right, because people, for example, reach a plateau with like, weight loss. They reach it a little bit faster with, with Ozempic, they reach it a little bit later with Zapbound, which is marketed under the name of Manjaro. But in the end they all reach a plateau at some point. So, like, every pharma company is still trying to find the gold formula for making this go away. If that's the rush. One, not so sure. But at least they want to be.
- [57:18]
Tom Edwards
Competitive and they want to be in the game. I think Georgina Godwin is still in in situ in London. And Georgina, if we cast our minds back to yesterday, you had a big breaking story for us. Your, your own personal investment, as it were, in this field. What do you make of this? Would you prefer. What about Roche? You could put a little bit of a Swiss flavor. Would that appeal to you? Perhaps?
- [57:37]
Georgina Godwin
Flavors mean nothing to me any longer. So as I said yesterday, I am in fact on Manjaro and I'm finding it absolutely fantastic. I think it's great, but I think one of the things we need to look at is that it's going to change the way that things work fundamentally. It's going to increase Inequality because you'll be able tell at a glance these drugs are expensive. The fat will be poor, the thin won't. You're going to have things like airline seats getting smaller. Perhaps hospitality is going to have to change. All of this is going to have a fundamental, make a fundamental difference to the way we live our lives. And of course you're seeing with Roche and various other companies everybody trying to get in on the act because it is going to be so very, very valuable.
- [58:22]
Tom Edwards
If you make those airline seats smaller though, Georgina, maybe have space to just get fit a little poodle in there.
- [58:27]
Georgina Godwin
Or indeed a 25 pound dog. Because, because as, as we know now from Fabienne that the drugs don't work on dogs.
- [58:35]
Tom Edwards
So not if it's a fewer hot dogs, more actual dogs.
- [58:37]
Fabian Kinselman
They might work, they just have not been approved. That's the interesting thing.
- [58:41]
Georgina Godwin
Well, nor is Mounjaro for human for weight loss use. It's meant to be for diabetes.
- [58:46]
Fabian Kinselman
That's true.
- [58:47]
Tom Edwards
Yeah, there we go.
- [58:48]
Fabian Kinselman
The weight loss drug is called Zepbound, but like people know it as like Mountjaro or they know it as Ozempic, which is actually Wegovy.
- [58:56]
Tom Edwards
It's a super interesting space. I'm afraid that we have to leave it today. Fabian, brilliant to hear from you. Thanks for coming to chat with us. That was our friend Fabian Kinselman from Bloomberg here in Zurich. Thanks, of course to Georgina and the crew back in London town. But that is is all we have time for on this Wednesday edition of the program. Thanks to our producers here at D90, Laura Kramer and Desiree Bundley, and to our researcher Daniela Brauer Smith and studio manager Elliot Greenfield manning the desk back in London. We'll be back on the Globalist at the same time tomorrow morning. But from me, Tom Edwards in Zurich, that is your Wednesday Globalist. Thanks for listening.