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UBS Announcer
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Chris Chermak
You're listening to the Globalist, first broadcast on 20 May 2026 on Monocle Radio. The Globalist in association with U. Live from London, this is the Globalist. I'm Chris Chermak. Coming up, the two sides will take
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Nilanjearna S. Roy
this opportunity to continue deepening and elevating relations between China and Russia so as to inject more stability and positive energy to the world.
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Chris Chermak
China's Xi Jinping and Russia's Vladimir Putin meet in Beijing. We'll look at just what kind of support the struggling Russian leader can expect from his Chinese counterpart. After that, the Najib Bukele effect. In Latin America, the El Salvadorian president's tough on crime approach is drawing attention from other right wing leaders. We'll have the newspapers out of Zurich
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Andrew Muller
and then local tournament organizers in Seattle have designated the June 26 Group G fixture at Lumen Field an LGBTQ pride match. Amusingly, the teams involved are Iran and Egypt, both of whose reactions thus far have stopped some way short of offering to enter into the spirit of things by wearing rainbow bootlaces, the latest in
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Chris Chermak
our World cup preview series from Andrew Muller. We'll also get tech news out of Japan, a check in at the World Urban Forum in Baku, and finally, the International Booker Prize goes to a Taiwanese author. We'll hear what attracted the judges to the book Taiwan Travelogues. That's all up ahead on the Globalist. Live from London. First, a look at what else is happening in the news. Samsung electronics faces an 18 day strike beginning tomorrow after government mediated talks with unions collapsed earlier today. The Trump administration is set to scale down the size of military forces available to the NATO military alliance in case of an emergency. That's a according to the news agency Reuters. And two Chinese oil tankers have exited the Strait of Hormuz after positive comments from Trump and Vice President J.D. vance on ending the conflict with Iran. Stay tuned to Monocle Radio throughout the day for more on those stories. But first, Russian President Vladimir Putin has just held his first meeting with China's Xi Jinping in Beijing today. They're now in a larger meeting setting, much like the US President Donald Trump and his entourage did just a few days ago. Though the two leaders, leaders China and Russia, have stressed their deep partnership, the meeting does come with China probably holding more of the cards and in the ascendancy. But the question is just what China will do with that perceived advantage and which of these two nations it will support or hinder, the US Or Russia in conflicts that have become a weight around their necks. Well, I'm joined now by Jenny Mathers, senior Lecturer in international politics at Aberystwyth University, and by Isabel Hilton, founder of China Dialogue and a visiting professor at King's College London's Lao Institute. Great to have you both on for the dueling perspectives. And Jenny, I'm going to start with you. What do we know from these early stretches of Vladimir Putin's goals? From this meeting, he's really just trying to stress that this is an equal partnership.
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Jenny Mathers
He is. Although clearly Russia needs China a lot more than China needs Russia. So Putin has come to China accompanied by not only cabinet ministers, but also the heads of some very large and significant enterprises like Rosneft and Gazprom, because clearly the priority here is to try and, and cement some arrangements with China. Particularly there's a, a possible additional pipeline which has been been discussed for years, that they're really going to try and, and nail this down and get an agreement on it. So, you know, Russia really needs China to demonstrate symbolically as that the two are very close together and they're close allies.
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Chris Chermak
Well, the symbolism is definitely there, Isabelle, to bring you in on that. But behind the scenes, how much do we actually expect that Beijing is willing to hear Vladimir Putin out? Do they actually want to support him in his various endeavors?
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Isabel Hilton
It depends on the endeavor, really. I mean, the Symbolism is the 25th anniversary of the Treaty of good neighborliness and free friendly cooperation between Russia and China. Hooray. We're all delighted. Actually. The business is tougher and as Jenny says, China's by now by far the bigger partner. There's a 4,000 kilometer border. Nobody wants trouble on that border. So what China's trying to do is manage Russia. It's not thrilled about the war in Ukraine, but it can't really afford for Putin to lose. And in fact, Wang Yi said so in terms to a European delegation last July and then got very cross when it was leaked what Russia's needs are. It lost its European market for oil and gas with the full scale invasion of Ukraine. Hence the endless discussion, as Jenny says, on what's called Power of Siberia 2 now Power of Siberia 1 was a more straightforward proposition because it was Siberian gas and all they had to do was build a pipeline down from Siberia into China. But the European gas and oil is on the other side of Russia, so it's twice as long. And this has gone on for years. China didn't exactly leap on power of Siberia1, but it negotiated a bargain price after the first invasion of Ukraine and the thing got built. I think, frankly, China has been stalling for years on power of Siberia two about a whole series of issues. Who pays for it, Is it worth it? And does China want that level of dependence on energy supplies from Russia? I'm not sure it does.
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Chris Chermak
Well, I want to get to a bit more on the energy side in a moment, but Jenny, to bring you in on one comment there from Isabel about Russia, China not being able to afford Russia losing in Ukraine. I mean, this seems to be the weakest point that Russia and Putin has been on a visit to China. It might be losing that war in Ukraine or at least Ukraine is in the ascendancy. So what does Putin actually want from China if he's going to convince them that he needs to win this war?
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Jenny Mathers
Well, he definitely needs China to provide more of the same that they have been providing. So China really stepped into a very large extent to fill gaps left by the west, you know, when economic sanctions were introduced in the aftermath of the mass invasion in 2022. So exports, you know, to, to Russia from China in terms of, of machine good tools, in terms of, you know, finished products, technology of various kinds has been absolutely vital to Russia in continuing its war effort and its war industry and the ability to sell huge quantities of oil and gas to China has again been incredibly important to Russia in terms of bringing in money which allows it to continue the war effort. So at a bare minimum, Russia desperately needs China to carry on doing exactly what it's been doing and if possible, to ramp up that even further.
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Chris Chermak
Well, and just to stay with you, Jenny, on that, I mean, obviously the economic side is important to Russia also for its military spending. But what do we know of the extent of the military cooperation from your perspective? There is this report that China even trained some Russian troops.
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Jenny Mathers
Well, yes, I mean, we've had for more than 10 years Russia and China have conducted military exercises together of various kinds. We've actually seen Chinese, a small number of Chinese troops supporting Russia directly in the war. We've seen China supplying certainly components, although possibly not finished military sort of equipment and weaponry to Russia. So, you know, China's investment, shall we say has been more heavily visible on the economic side, but it's still been important and present on the military side. And of course, there's a big question about whether China is willing to do more in this area, become more of a direct military supporter of the war in Ukraine. I'm a little bit skeptical about that, to be honest. Even though China doesn't want to see Russia lose, I think China has been quite cautious about really committing itself in a big way to this war.
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Chris Chermak
And Isabel, I mean, what is the significance of the timing of this visit so soon after Donald Trump was there, of course, as well? I mean, this will be a major coup from the eyes of Beijing because it looks like both leaders are coming to China with their hands out and China is the diplomatic center. But is that the reality?
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Isabel Hilton
Well, not really. In fact, Putin's visit is for that anniversary, the Treaty of Good Neighborliness, and has been planned for some time. If you remember, Trump's visit was meant to happen earlier. It was meant to happen six weeks earlier, but it got postponed because of him being stuck in the war in Iran. So the proximity of the visits is coincidence. The optics of the visits are certainly being exploited by China to show that China is the large, stable, responsible power and everybody needs it. China also, by the way, does supply drones to Ukraine. And I wonder if one ask that Putin might be trying to advance is for China to stop doing that. I doubt that China would be willing to do that. And I suspect that rather than step up any military cooperation, China might, belatedly, you might think, intervene as a mediator of some kind. If Russia ever gets to the point where serious mediation, where it's open to serious mediation in the war in Ukraine, China might well put its thumb on the scales at that point. But I think more military involvement is not really what China's looking for. Although on a larger scale, of course, the two countries do conduct substantial naval exercises, military exercises together, but not in Ukraine directly.
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Chris Chermak
Well, Jenny, as Isabel says there, this visit from Putin was planned for a while. Trump's was going to be earlier. But nonetheless, given the optics of this, do you think that Vladimir Putin might be trying to ensure that China's Xi didn't do anything to ruin their special relationship in his talks with Trump?
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Jenny Mathers
Yeah, I think certainly from, from Putin's point of view, Putin would see a competition there with Trump and wanting to make sure that, you know, China remains that solid kind of friend and, and potential ally and, you know, is, is a country that, that Russia can count on as a trading partner and for diplomatic support and so on. And certainly Putin will want to talk up the need for the two of them to stand firmly against US Hegemony in the world and attempts by the United States to, to organize the world in a way that suits America and doesn't necessarily suit Russia, China and other countries in the global south. So I think there's certainly a lot for Putin to play for in terms of setting up a big kind of, if not confrontation and at least competition, shall we say, between Russia, China on the one side and the US on the other.
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Chris Chermak
Well, and Jenny, just very quickly and finally, because I did mention the energy side earlier, what is your take on that? Is energy the Siberian pipeline, the one thing that Putin still has that China really wants?
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Jenny Mathers
Well, I don't, you know, as Isabelle said, I don't think that, that China is desperate for it, but I think that the, the war in Iran and the, the closing of the Strait of Hormuz really does put a different spin on things and makes China more interested, shall we say, in diversifying its, its, its energy supplies away from the Strait of Hormuz to really give it that, that extra bit of energy security. But of course, the more it diversifies away from the Middle east, the more it's dependent upon Russia and, and to be too dependent on any one source. So it's a tricky balance and it's hard to say which way it's going to go, to be honest.
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Chris Chermak
Jenny Mathers of Aberystwyth University and Isabel Hilton of King's College, London's Lao Institute, thank you both for joining us. This is the Globalist. Well, it is 13 minutes past midnight in San Salvador, 713 here in London to Latin America now, where Chile's president elect Antonio Cast has been welcoming El Salvador's Najib Bukele in a sign of the growing power of this Central American nation and its semi authoritarian president. It's being dubbed the Bukele effect with El Salvador's tough on crime approach with little regard for human rights, drawing praise from Donald Trump north of the border and potential copycats to the south. Well, for more on this, I am joined by Andrew Thompson, Latin America specialist and Latin news contributor. Andrew, let's talk about the goals of this meeting between Chile's president elect and El Salvador's Bukele to get at this Bukele effect. I mean, does a country like Chile want to import El Salvador's prison system?
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Andrew Thompson
I think what Chile wants to import above all is Bukele's popularity. So Bukele is now the second most popular president in Latin America with 67.5% support. Whereas Antonio Cass, the Chilean leader who's actually just two months into his, into his presidential term of office, he is ranked ninth with 43.4% approval rating. And I think essentially what has happened, to put it in the crudest possible terms, is that over the last few years there's been a massive reduction in violence in El Salvador which has fed into Bukele's popularity. It's a very paradoxical reduction. There are lots of questions about it, but it's a, a political fact and everyone wants a bit of that. In the case of Chile, which has a very advanced judiciary and criminal justice system, what they are particularly interested in is the way Bukele has cracked down, if you like, on the prison population. In many Latin American countries, people in prison are still using mobile phones to keep in contact with gangs outside and in some cases organizing illicit activity from their prison cells. El Salvador now has a very extreme austere imprisonment system and that is something that the Chileans might want to introduce in their own country.
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Chris Chermak
It's very interesting to give such a specific example. I mean, just tell us more, Andrew, about what exactly Bukele is doing that is making him succeed in cracking down on crime in the country. Is it as simple as something like taking away mobile phones in prisons?
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Andrew Thompson
That is part of it. I think that the kind of the overall headlines are that there is a state of emergency in El Salvador which allows the government to arrest without trial really large numbers of people. So we're Talking about around 80,000 or so people have been arrested and are held in these special anti terrorism centers. They have very, very limited rights. In fact, almost nothing at all. Their lawyers are not allowed to see them. It is a very extreme clampdown and it means that El Salvador has one of the largest prison populations in the world. The U.S. for example, has a pretty big prison population, but el Salvador's is three times, proportionally speaking, the amount in the U.S. so this is a kind of central part of Bukele's success, but it also poses massive problems further down the line. You have 80,000 people, you haven't really properly processed. They're not quite sure what to do with them and they're beginning to hold mass trials in an attempt to resolve their situation. That of course is considered a violation of human rights, you know, the right to a trial if you're arrested. So there. So if you like the Salvadorian miracle from a security point of view may not last forever.
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Chris Chermak
Well, it certainly wouldn't. But I mean, to take the point of Bukele's supporters, certainly in this moment, they will feel like they needed to fight fire with fire, as it were, as you say, a state of emergency in the country. It was racked by violence and gangs. So that's sort of where this effort to basically lock everybody up without trial comes from. But is even that, taking that argument aside for the moment in terms of right and wrong, is that even what other Latin American nations need as well? Is crime that bad in, say, Chile that the public would stand for something like that?
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Andrew Thompson
In a short word, yes. One measure of crime is the homicide rate per 100,000 inhabitants. And if you can reduce that rate, it seems that there is a strong belief that if you can reduce that rate, you are beginning to solve the problem of violence. It is certainly clear, if you like, despite the whole debate and discussion over human rights, that a large number of Salvadorians feel safer than they felt before. And that is, if you like the kind of political gold dust everyone wants. There's also an instinctive sort of feeling among many Latin Americans that mano ruda, a hard hand is what's required to solve the security problem. I should also point out very quickly that the Cast government in Chile, although it's quite advanced in a number of security issues, has made a rather bad start to its time in government and there's just been a cabinet reshuffle with the Security Minister being changed. So there is a sense on the Chilean side that they haven't quite found the way to play the safety and security card in the way that they suggested during the election campaign.
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Chris Chermak
Well, and finally, Andrew, they haven't managed to play that security card. But also, of course, Chile has a complicated history with right wing authoritarians. So when you're looking at Bukele's approach being exported to a country like Chile, do they have to be careful not to be perceived as Pinochet 2.0?
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Andrew Thompson
Yes, that will be a big issue. And it should also be said, although the current new Chilean president, Jose Antonio Cast, is off the far right, the country as a whole has a very well developed constitutional rule, series of checks and balances and if you like, moves in the Bukele direction will come under a degree of domestic opposition because of the strength of the centre left, which lost the election but still has a presence.
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Chris Chermak
Andrew Thompson, Latin News Contributor, thank you very much for joining us today. Still to come in the program, the
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UBS Announcer
winner of the International Booker Prize 2026 is Taiwan travelogue by Yang Zhuangzi Translated
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Chris Chermak
from the Mandarin Chinese by Lin Ping the International Booker Prize goes to a Taiwanese author and Taiwanese American translator. For the first time, we'll speak to one of the judges. This is the globalist
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UBS Announcer
craft is a matter of perspective, a unique outlook, an obsessive attention to detail. With UBS's Chief Investment Office Houseview, we're focused on identifying the latest investment opportunities and market risks to help you achieve your financial goals. So you get the big picture broken down into thought provoking insights. Delivered daily and curated by over 200 globally connected, locally active analysts, UBS Banking is our craft.
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Chris Chermak
Well, let's continue with today's newspapers and joining me for that from our Zurich headquarters is Noel Salmi, travel, culture and sustainability writer. Good morning, Noel.
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Noel Salmi
Good morning, Chris.
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Chris Chermak
Good to have you with us from Zurich. How's the weather over there?
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Noel Salmi
Rainy today, but the heat comes tomorrow.
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Chris Chermak
The heat comes tomorrow. It's coming here to London as well. Noel, I wanted to start with this story which is really fascinating from the New York Times that you're bringing us, because it's just, it's very hard to imagine that the idea apparently in the war in Iran initially was to install a hardline former Iranian president as its leader in Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of all people.
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Noel Salmi
Yes, exactly. Of all people. And so the New York Times is breaking this story that the plan at the early days of the war was to in fact install this former hardliner president from 2005 to 2013 who had called to wipe Israel off the map, who'd supported Iran's nuclear program and who even denied the Holocaust and said there wasn't a single gay person in Iran. So he definitely was not a moderate. But apparently the plan was in the early days to free him. He had been under house arrest for coming up against the current leadership of Iran and apparently during the attempt to free him from house arrest to sort of kill his minders, if you will. He was also injured and then had other ideas. U.S. officials told the New York Times that he that they had somebody inside Iran that would be willing to work with the United States, even though they couldn't exactly describe him as a moderate. I mean, this is really kind of crazy because there were even people with aides to Trump who found that this plan was really somewhat implausible.
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Chris Chermak
It is so incredible, isn't it, Noel? Because I understand from this story as well, the idea in a way was to take that Venezuelan playbook and they imagined that Ahmadinejad might play the role that Delsey Rodriguez is playing in Venezuela. But I mean, how far fetched is that when you look at Ahmadinejad's record? It's just bizarre.
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Noel Salmi
It's just bizarre. I mean, I don't know if it's hubris or wishful thinking, but obviously it went awry. He has not been heard of since and apparently Iran was. Israelis were still hopeful for some time that some sort of regime change could happen. Apparently these discussions with him were happening. It sounds like they were happening in secret. In 2023 when he traveled to Guatemala, in 2024 and 2025, he went to Hungary where Viktor Orban had close ties with Israel. So it's possibly then that these contacts were made, but these details we expect should be emerging over time.
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Chris Chermak
Well, let's look over to one more story from Russia. We've been talking about Vladimir Putin, Putin in Beijing. But you bring us a story of a heavy toll on Bashkir's fighting and dying in Ukraine.
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Noel Salmi
Yes. So the Globe in Mail from Toronto has a story about Ruslan Gabasov, who they interviewed. He is in hiding. They interviewed him via WhatsApp from a undisclosed location because Russia has attempted to assassinate him. He is a member of the Bashkir ethnic minority, a Muslim, Turkic speaking people who've lived for centuries under Russian rule. And he points out something that statistics show using publicly available information, that the single largest group of soldiers to die in Ukraine are the Bashkiris. And as Gabasov says, this is very intentional. In fact, Russian recruiters have gone to the Bashkir region as well as neighboring ethnic Muslim regions with quotas of soldiers to fill. And as Gabasov says, the idea is to Russia has been trying for years to assimilate and Russify the Bashkir people. And the men who don't succumb to that assimilation are sent to war so that their numbers will dwindle. In fact, so many Bashkiris were dying at the onset of the war that the early. The first Ukrainian defense minister actually put out a message saying, why are you all enlisting and dying for Russia? It doesn't mean that you're going to get any rights. One reason they do so is that they are offered 1 million rubles, which is about US$18,000 when they sign up, 20 times the monthly salary in the region.
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Chris Chermak
It is an incredible story of the lengths that Russia is going. But let's move to Japan now, Noel, because you have a story there which is interesting about mass allergies affecting the country. And the reason for it goes all the way back to the 1950s.
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Noel Salmi
Yeah, that's right. So Japan's allergies affect estimated 43% of the population. It is a national crisis. Apparently US$1.6 billion or 1.2 billion pounds per day are lost during allergy season to sick days and lower consumer spe. Yes. So 43% of the population has moderate to severe symptoms. And the reason is because During World War II, Japan relied on its forests, particularly the forests near its cities, for energy. And as a result, after the war, these denuded forests were prone to flooding and landslides. So a decision was made to reforest as quickly as possible with two quick growing trees, the Japanese cedar sugi and the Japanese Saigon bris hinoki. Well, these four, these trees produce a lightweight pollen since they're all the same, they all pollinate at the same time. And in fact, this BBC article starts describing a video where it looks like a mass of clouds, a massive, sorry, like smoke coming from the mountains, and it's actually a cloud of pollen.
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Chris Chermak
It is incredible to hear that we had a lot of pollen here in London, but it doesn't sound like it was. Was nearly as bad as in Japan. Just finally, Noel, I love this story from where you are as well, that apparently young people in Switzerland are writing in Swiss German, ruining their Standard German skills.
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Noel Salmi
Yes, that's right. Well, you are a German speaker, so obviously you're going to appreciate this.
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Chris Chermak
And I struggle with the Swiss German by comparison.
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Noel Salmi
Well, likewise, you know, I arrived in Switzerland speaking High German, as the Standard German is called, and really also struggles with Swiss German. And apparently young Swiss German speakers are texting one another in Swiss German, whereas their parents still text in Standard German because that is the written German that is taught in schools. And so just to show what an important topic this is for Swiss German speakers, there are all kinds of graphs showing who is speaking what language, who is texting in what language, where, and so the question is, will this destroy their Standard German? I mean, I can say that some people think they're speaking Standard German with me and they're really not. But the idea though, that it's actually going to replace Standard German outside of advertising, where Swiss German is used frequently or private text is probably overblown because this is such a federalist country and each region has its own Swiss German dialect. The German linguist who studied this says he thinks it's unlikely that anybody's gonna settle on any one dialect and move away from Standard German.
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Chris Chermak
Well, maybe not. But nonetheless, if young people are not using their Standard German when they write anymore, that does pose a problem later on, doesn't it?
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Noel Salmi
Yes, it really does. And it's interesting because even university educated young people still text each other in in Swiss German. But you know, this is something that exists actually in many countries around the world. I'm sort of a language nerd. And this kind of diglossia can exist. They can cope. I think they could probably when they're writing a paper, still write in standard German.
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Chris Chermak
Okay, so a little bit overblown, but I do love the Swiss approach with lots of graphs to explain everything there. Noel Salmi in Zurich, thank you very much for joining us from our studio there. You're with the Globalist on Monocle Radio.
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Andrew Thompson
You.
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Chris Chermak
Now here's what else we're keeping an eye on today. Samsung Electronics is to face a major 18 day strike beginning tomorrow after government mediated talks with unions collapsed earlier today. Some 48,000 workers are to lay down their tools in what could have a major impact on South Korea's economy and the global supply of semiconductors. The Trump administration is set to scale down the size of military forces available to the NATO military alliance in the event of an emergency. That's according to the news agency Reuters. The NATO force model is a pool of troops that every NATO member identifies as ready to respond to an attack or crisis. Two Chinese oil tankers have exited the Strait of Hormuz after comments from Trump and Vice President J.D. vance that progress has been made towards ending the conflict. The US Senate, meanwhile, advanced a measure that could limit Trump's authorization to conduct operations against Iran. And Republican Congressman Thomas Massie is the latest to lose his seat in an intraparty primary challenge after the Kentucky lawmaker defied Donald Trump by supporting the release of the Epstein files and criticizing the Iran war. Massie was beaten in a primary by the Trump backed Ed Golrain ahead of November's congressional elections. This is the Globalist. Stay tuned. We have just reached 1032 in Baku, 832 in Zurich while the Azerbaijani capital Baku is hosting the World Urban Forum this week. And true to forum for an outlet that specializes in urbanism, we here at Monocle have not one, but two of our roving correspondents at the forum. We heard from Carlota Rebelo on Monday. And today I'm joined from Baku by Gregory and Scruggs. Monocle Seattle correspondent. Greg, tell us what you're up to over there.
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Gregory Scruggs
Indeed. Well, I've been this is my sixth World Urban Forum and I have been roving the Baku Olympic Stadium, listening in for tidbits, nuggets of knowledge about how cities and countries around the world are attempting to solve a. No small feat. Solve the global housing crisis.
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Chris Chermak
No small feat at all. Like everyone. Yeah. It's just easy stuff. So tell us how that's been going. I do understand that there's been a flagship launched yesterday. Tell us what that was, what that entailed.
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Gregory Scruggs
Yes, well, the UN Habitat, who is the host of this urban jamboree, they have a flagship publication, the World Cities Report, and they put out their first housing focused edition yesterday, really putting up some of those headline numbers. You know, something like 3.4 billion people on planet Earth lack access to secure, safe and adequate housing. You know, 1 billion of them still live in slums and informal settlements, even after decades of global attention on that issue. And the global housing deficit. Right. The amount of housing units that, whether it's public, private sector, whomever needs to build has gone up from 250 million in 2010 to now 288 million. So, you know, the problem, it seems, might be getting worse.
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Chris Chermak
Well, the problem is getting worse, no doubt, in many places. And that's just general housing. Then you bring into the conversation something like conflicts and rebuilding housing there. I understand that even Iran has spoken at this World Urban Forum and asked for the rebuilding of 150,000 homes damaged during the conflict.
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Gregory Scruggs
That's correct. I mean, we're an interesting part of the world here in the Caucasus at the moment. We are in a country that, that borders Iran and a country that, you know, has a large, you know, the Azeri ethnic community is shared. There's actually more Azeris in Iran than in Azerbaijan. So a very close relationship between these two neighbors. And I think Iran saw this opportunity. You know, they're not always welcome on the world stage, but certainly they were here in Baku to pled, plead their case that, you know, they are the victims in this ongoing conflict with the US And Israel. And specifically looking at the civilian infrastructure that, aha, 150,000 homes are going to need to be rebuilt in a very urbanized country, by the way, that already was struggling with an inadequate housing problem.
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Chris Chermak
Well, Greg, beyond housing, I understand as well that we have some transport news out of the World Urban Forum. The Azerbaijani president met with the Georgian Prime Minister and they're going to restart Baku, Tbilisi train services.
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Gregory Scruggs
Indeed. You know, certainly for the Azerbaijanis, this is an opportunity to have bilateral meetings with, you know, heads of state. They've had a pretty impressive number of world leaders come to Baku this week, especially from Central Asia. And Azerbaijan's been in a funny spot. They actually closed their borders as land borders, as many countries did in March 2020 and over six years later have not reopened them. You know, that puts them in the extreme minority of countries that are still restricting cross border travel. Land borders again you can fly in and out, no problem. And so that indeed disrupted what I'm sure is a quite lovely route through the Caucuses, the Baku Tbilisi train service. But I think you know this World Urban Forum having the United nations here encouraging a bit more opening if you will and the train will start running again next week on the 26th of May.
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Chris Chermak
And just finally Greg, give us some of the color from the event because I understand there's also an urban Expo which has just such a weird and crazy range of stuff going on. The actor Richard Gere is there and Ms. Caspian Sea, who I understand you met yesterday.
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Gregory Scruggs
That's correct. Richard Gere. He, his, his foundation sponsored a documentary on homelessness in Spain where he lives, which will be premiering this week at the Urban Cinema. Miss Caspian Sea was, was roaming around making more of an environmental case. Not so urban or housing focused. But I mean we are on the shores of the Caspian Sea and it is a polluted body of water that, you know, if you want to raised some global attention, obviously it's working. And then, you know, in the Urban Expo you might go from a booth where Saudi Arabia is touting the latest luxury real estate development and you walk just a few meters and you're in the favela hub where slum dwellers from around the world are sharing their experiences on how they're upgrading informal settlements. So it, it really runs the gamut of the urban experience in the year 2026, from luxury high rises to people still living in China.
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Chris Chermak
Gregory Scruggs, Monocle's Seattle correspondent at the World Urban Forum in Baku. Thank you very much for joining us. You're with Monocle Radio. You're back with the Globalist. With the World cup looming each week Monocle is going to be taking a look at one of the aspects of this special event in the us, Canada and Mexico. This week, Andrew Muller muses on all the things that have and could possibly go wrong.
- [38:18]
Andrew Muller
Any World cup is an astonishing feat of organisation, wrangling logistics, adjusting for politics, attempting to impose some sort of order on the occasional rowdiness of fans. This is all more the case than usual with this World Cup 4018 playing 104 matches in 16 cities in three host countries, one of which has within the last year or so threatened to attack and or annex each of the
- [38:45]
Andrew Thompson
other two look what I'd like to see Canada become our 51st state.
- [38:49]
Andrew Muller
A goodly deal of contumely was heaped upon organising body FIFA, and it's challenging to like President Gianni Infantino late last year, when FIFA endowed US President Donald Trump with its inaugural and extravagantly ugly FIFA Peace Prize Mr. President, this is your prize.
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Chris Chermak
This is your Peace Prize.
- [39:11]
Andrew Thompson
There is also a beautiful medal for
- [39:15]
Chris Chermak
you that you can wear everywhere you want to go.
- [39:18]
Andrew Muller
But any organization in FIFA's position that is one about Tibet, a global event with a likely audience of billions upon the goodwill of a man who once imposed punitive tariffs on altogether blameless seabirds.
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Noel Salmi
More bizarre still, the remote Australian territory of Heard island also tariffed 10%.
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Chris Chermak
Those tariffs may be hard to collect, though, because its main inhabitants are penguins
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Andrew Muller
would have been wise to err on the side of unctuous flattery, which would have embarrassed IDI Amin. The list of things which could possibly go wrong with this World cup is long. In this episode of Monocle Radio's World cup preview series, we will address only a few of the most urgent.
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UBS Announcer
Will all 48 teams actually turn up?
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Andrew Muller
The prospect of holes in the fixture or gaps in team sheets must be assessed as non zero. The most obvious concern appears as of this broadcast to have been assuaged. The team representing the Islamic Republic of Iran have taken a formal farewell from their fellow citizens in terror, Tehran, and intend to play despite a previous menace from President Trump to the effect that it would be better if they didn't.
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Chris Chermak
Posting on Truth Last night, the US president said that Iran is welcome at
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Andrew Muller
the World cup, before adding that he
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Chris Chermak
doesn't believe it's appropriate that they may be there for their own life and safety.
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Andrew Muller
Somewhat cheekily, Iranian football authorities have insisted that visas be granted even to players and officials who performed their military service with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, a proscribed terrorist organization in the us. Recurrent rumours around other teams Iraq's name comes up a lot suggest that visas for individual players may be denied or delayed. Fans of some teams may also struggle for entry, though the usual $15,000 bond for visitors from some countries has been suspended. If they hold a match ticket, hooray.
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Chris Chermak
Might any of the visiting teams cause issues?
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Andrew Muller
They already are. Local tournament organisers in Seattle have dealt designated the June 26 Group G fixture at Lumen Field an LGBTQ pride match. Amusingly, the teams involved are Iran and Egypt, both of whose reactions thus far have stopped some way short of offering to enter into the spirit of things by wearing rainbow bootlaces.
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Chris Chermak
Oh, no.
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Noel Salmi
Will fear of ICE scare crowds away?
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Andrew Muller
It may be a coincidence, but President Trump has recently floated a rebrand for U.S. immigration and Customs Enforcement.
- [42:08]
Andrew Thompson
Huh.
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Chris Chermak
I wanted to change the name of
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Andrew Thompson
ice, which is a tough name, you know, to nice, so that when the fake news reports, I said it was
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Chris Chermak
a nice day with nice.
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Andrew Thompson
We spent a beautiful day with Nice.
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Andrew Muller
His administration has hedged on whether ICE or NICE will be encouraged to regard the crowds attending some World cup matches as an irresistibly target rich environment. But it has confirmed that they will be present at venues in a law enforcement capacity.
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Chris Chermak
To care about this kind of thing.
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Nilanjearna S. Roy
And I'm definitely not mental.
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Chris Chermak
Will there be questions raised about profiteering?
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Andrew Muller
There are at every World cup, but it seems likely that they will be louder and angrier than usual at this one. Even President Trump has said he wouldn't pay the $1,120 price of the cheapest ticket for the United States opening game against Paraguay. That, incidentally, was roughly what the original US Canada Mexico bid suggested the priciest tickets for the World cup final might cost. They went on sale in April for about 10 times that. There has been further grumbling about attempts by public transport operators to cash in. New Jersey Transit proposed a $150 fare for the 30 minute train ride from New York City to MetLife Stadium, slashed following uproar to a mildly less larcenous $98.
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UBS Announcer
Booo.
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Nilanjearna S. Roy
What are the chances of a diplomatic incident among the three host nations?
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Andrew Muller
This is like asking what are the chances of breakages when one turns a bull loose in a China shop? President Trump will, for nearly six weeks be compelled to share a spotlight with Canada and Mexico, two countries about whom he struggles to go six minutes without disparaging. You would get shorter odds on the trophy being lifted on July 19th by the Captain of Gibraltar. And they didn't qualify for Monocle Radio. I'm Andrew Miller.
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Chris Chermak
Thank you very much, Andrew. The World Cup Series returns next Wednesday here on the Globalist.
- [44:28]
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- [45:05]
Chris Chermak
You're back with the Globalist. And it is time now for a roundup of some tech news with a twist, because I am joined now by Monocle's technology Correspondent David Phelan. Except that, David, you're not with me here in the studio, I'm very sad to say. You can't hand over any gas. You're all the way in our studio in Tokyo.
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David Phelan
That's right, yes. I wish I could physically hand them over to you, but all I can do is show and tell.
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Chris Chermak
I'm just going to have to imagine what kind of gadgets you have over there. You're there, I understand, for a Sony event and unveiling. That's been like a decade in the making.
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David Phelan
Yes, that's right. It's a big year for Sony. It's their 80th anniversary this year. But also 10 years ago they started making noise canceling headphones, an area of the market that was really dominated by Bose, for consumers at least. And initially they were very good, the 1000X series. But now, 10 years on, they wanted to celebrate this by creating something called the Sony 1000X the collection, which are the 10th anniversary version. And they will say, and I think I agree, their best headphones yet.
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Chris Chermak
Their best headphones yet. Well, have you tried them out? I know you can't hand them to me right now, but I do understand that you tried them out on your long flight all the way over to Tokyo. Did they cancel out the babies and other annoying passengers?
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David Phelan
Yeah, the noise canceling is really tremendous. And so, you know, I'm wearing them now, Chris. I've got them on in the studio. And the, the interesting thing is that the previous version, the XM6, has slightly better noise cancelling. It's almost identical technology inside the two of them. But because the XM6 are bigger and bulkier, they sort of clamp to your head more so that there's better passive noise cancelling. But the active noise cancelling, the electronic bit of it is just as good and is really strong. Certainly I didn't hear any babies, but it was a Japan Airlines flight. So as you know, they're very well behaved on such airlines. But yeah, no, it absolutely quelled any engine noise in the background.
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Chris Chermak
Well, that's good to hear. And then talking about the competitors, I mean, when you describe some of those details in this new collection, does that continue to bring the fight to Bose and Apple for that matter as well?
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David Phelan
Yes, definitely. I think what's interesting is, as I said, Bose was always in the lead for a noise cancelling. Then about the fourth generation of these headphones, which some years ago. About six years ago. Absolutely. Then Sony had caught up and then was beginning to be seen to have overtaken Bose in terms of sound quality. And I believe they, although both brands are fantastic at cutting out extraneous noises, I do think that Sony definitely has the edge. But then what these new headphones do is take the design battle to exactly as you say to brands like Apple. This particular set of headphones has a new kind of faux leather that was developed over two years, which is very soft, very comfortable, so you can wear it for longer again because it's not as hefty as the XM6, it is lighter on the head and certainly for my entire flight to Tokyo, I wore them very comfortably. And the other way that it's comparing is that these headphones are even more expensive than the Apple AirPods Max 2, which are definitely more expensive than the Bose one. So it's a lot of firsts for
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Chris Chermak
Sony firsts and it is a bit pricey. But one thing I wanted to get your take on, David, while we have you, when it comes to headphones, you talk about, about design and sort of that question, but also, is it cool these days to have wired headphones or wireless headphones? What's your take?
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David Phelan
Oh, yeah, absolutely. I think there's a real fad for wired headphones now. It slightly surprises me because they're often just in ear headphones. Like you see people walking down the street using the ones that used to come with an iPhone and which Apple still sells or something like that. So the sound quality is rarely as good. But I think there is some kind of feeling of security, of wearing them, you know, they're not going to fall off or worst. Heaven forbid. There was a space in New York of people ripping AirPods Max off people's heads because they could run away with them and sell them. You can't do that with wired ones and there is. You just know exactly where you are and they don't need recharging and even if the audio isn't as good, they are, you know, you feel safe with them.
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Chris Chermak
There is a safety aspect to it. Well, just finally, David, as you did mention 80th anniversary for Sony as well. What else are they. Do they have kind of coming down the pipeline this year?
- [49:57]
David Phelan
Yes, it's a very big year. In fact, I've been to a number of Sony events recently. Usually Sony events are sort of two or three come along once, like London buses, including they've just launched their latest Xperia smartphone and a huge series of TVs which I saw last week in Weybridge, their UK headquarters, which were remarkable. They using this technology called RGB, which obviously stands for red, green, blue and is what is being adopted by a lot of companies as an alternative to OLED because it has bright colors that are very precise and strong contrast. And Sony's true rgb, as they call it, is one of their big things for this year and the TVs will be coming out in the next months. And they also showed a rather remarkable sound bar which had multiple speakers around the room, but did this incredible thing where we were watching a scene from James Bond movie where you could actually hear the the church bells ringing above your head even though the speakers were not actually there.
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Chris Chermak
They're very clever with the software, TVs, smartphones and headphones. Oh my. David Phelan in Tokyo, thank you for joining us. You're listening to the Globalist on Monaco ra. Well, finally on today's show, the International Booker Prize of 2026 was announced last night and the winner is Yang Shuangzi, writer of Taiwan Travelogue. It's a sort of fictional travelogue chosen from a Short list of 6 books of long form fiction from around the world. The prize is designed to recognize the work of translators as well. The money is divided equally between the author and translator of the book into English. The translator awarded last night was the Taiwanese American, Lin King. Well, to tell us more about all of this and what went into the decision, I'm joined now by Nilanjearna Roy, a novelist, FT columnist and international Booker jury member. It's good to have you on the show, Nilanjarna. There's a lot of firsts here.
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Nilanjearna S. Roy
It's absolutely wonderful to be here. What a lovely way to start the morning with the memory of the excitement last night at the International Booker Prize award ceremony. There are a lot of firsts out here. I don't think we were that conscious of making those choices when we sat down to discuss the books because we were looking mostly at the stories. We were mostly at the excitement that we felt having read and reread all of these. But Taiwan Travelogue is probably the first book, I think, translated from Mandarin Chinese, it's the first book to win by a Taiwanese author about Taiwan itself. I also think it's really exciting that aside from the firsts and, you know, the medals that it wears, it's a remarkably beguiling book. It's written in layers and it's almost like peeling an orange or an onion. As you come to its core, you just discover there are so many layers of history, of politics and how those politics enter even the most intimate friendships.
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Chris Chermak
So tell us, Ninanjana, about sort of, you're a jury member. How difficult was this decision? What sort of grabbed you or you described a bit there what grabbed you with Taiwan Travelogue, but what set it apart from the other five books that were in the run?
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Nilanjearna S. Roy
What's wonderful about this process is, as you said, that there's five of us with five completely different reading histories and worldviews. And so I think every book on the long list and the short list has had its champions, as they should. Every author and translator has been warmly received. But when we got into this discussion, I think in this process, some books just start to rise to the top. As you talk it over with everyone, there was a freshness to this, you know, there was a joyousness about Taiwan Travelogue, even though it delves into the intricacies of colonial encounters, the mark left behind, in this case by Taiwan's period of Japanese colonialism. It takes some very serious issues and makes them light hearted and almost like a game, an intense game that you're entering into along with the reader. I love the fact that it doesn't, you know, make the translation invisible, that you're ringed by four words and afterwards in the translator's presence, sometimes a little inscrutable, sometimes open to multiple interpretations, is right there on the page. I like that. You know, the. The idea that translation doesn't have to hide itself. It can be a wonderfully disruptive force that sits there with you at the same table.
- [55:04]
Chris Chermak
That is really interesting, Nilanjana, because as I said at the outset, I mean, this prize also seeks to award the translators. So was this sort of, this approach that Lin King took, was that part of the reason that this book won as well?
- [55:19]
Nilanjearna S. Roy
I don't think we were conscious of it. You know, we weren't trying to make a point. A lot of your discussions center around the thing that all readers of the world over really want, which is, is you want enjoyment. You want to be astonished. You also want to go back. And this is true of many of the books on the shortlist, all of the books on the shortlist. You want to be able to go back and reread and have a book reveal itself even more to you or make you stop in your tracks and think the fact that it is a book about translation only makes it that much more delightful. And, you know, I love what Lyn King said at the ceremony yesterday. She said that in the US orange juice is sold with the options of no pulp. And with pulp and in the uk she learns that orange juice is either smooth or with juicy bits. And then she said, I hope we can all start thinking of translation not as the pulp but as the juicy bits and proudly labeling it so on the carton.
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Chris Chermak
I do love that. Just very quickly we have a little bit left, but just another word on the translators. Is there a point in this process when you do this that you start to realize that translators come up as regular as authors do? Are there experts in the field?
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Nilanjearna S. Roy
I am so glad that you asked that. The one thing that I wished, which is of course impossible, is that every reader gets to see read the long lists and the shortlists. But I wish that readers could spend a year reading more in translation. Every translator has a signature, a style, a voice, their own politics. And as you read for this remarkable price, I think we read 128 books over the course of the year together. You start you're in awe of their creative powers and of the way that they bring an already great text to life in another home.
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Chris Chermak
Nilanjearna S. Roy Novelist, FT columnist and International Booker Jury Member thank you so much for joining us today. That's all for today's program. Thanks to our producers Angelica Jobson, Tom Webb and Christy o'. Grady. Our researcher, Josevina Astradan Gomez our studio manager, Christy o', Grady, with editing assistance from Steph Changu. I'll be back with the briefing at midday. In London, the Globalist returns at the same time tomorrow. I'm Chris Chermack. Thanks for listening.
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