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Craft matters in small ways, like how a coffee is brewed, and in not so small ways, like how your money is cared for. Which is why for 160 years, UBS has elevated banking to a craft, tailoring unique strategies that combine human expertise with the latest technologies, all happening across 24 time zones and and 12 key financial hubs. With you at the heart of it all, UBS advice is our craft. You're listening to the Globalist, first broadcast on 7 May 2026 on Monocle Radio. The Globalist in association with U. Hello, this is the Globalist broadcasting to you live from Midori House in London. I'm Georgina Godwin. On the show ahead, is there rarely a US Iran deal on the table? We'll analyze the latest situation. After a year in office, we'll be marking the German Chancellor's report card. Chris Chermack has more.
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Hi Georgina Friedrich Merz, not much has gone well well the first year, but they did issue a sort of mea culpa yesterday for it. We'll see if that helps. For the second year, we'll look at
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the international papers and find out how Portugal plans to boost military personnel. We'll hear about the anticipated report on last year's Air India crash. Plus, I will strive to serve with
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honor, dedication and integrity.
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That is Louise Arbor accepting the role of Canada's next Governor General. We'll head to Toronto to learn more. And we'll look back the Tungju Film Festival just reaching its conclusion in South Korea. That's all ahead here on the Globalist. Live from London. First, a look at what else is happening in the news. Israel has struck Beirut for the first time since last month's ceasefire. With Hezbollah threatening the fragile truce between Israel, Lebanon and Iran. European Union lawmakers and governments have agreed to water down and del parts of the bloc's landmark AI act after pressure from businesses and technology firms. And media mogul Ted Turner, who founded CNN and pioneered the 24 hour news cycle, has died at the age of 87. Do stay tuned to Monocle Radio throughout the day for more on those stories. Now. The United States has paused its naval operation to force open the Strait of Hormuz after what Donald Trump says are signs of progress in talks with Tehran. The waterway carries around one fifth of the world's oil and has become one of the most dangerous flashpoints of the Iran war, with attacks on commercial shipping, military escorts and rising fears over global energy supplies. Iran is portraying the US Decision as a retreat and a sign Tehran has forced Washington to back down. Well Here to help us understand the situation is Damian McElroy, the National's London bureau chief. Welcome to Monocle, Damien. It's the first time you've been on the show, so very happy to have you here.
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Well, thank you. Yeah, it's lovely to be here.
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So is this pause holding and is the blockage of the strait still in place?
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D
The pause is holding. There is nothing much going through the strait. The American are saying that the operation is over and they are looking at still this Project Freedom, but it has now taken a new stage after 24 hours and it's become down to an attempt just to negotiate away the problem with Iran. Whether Iran plays ball in that or whether it'll be too stubborn to actually accept that is another matter. So we're in this, this limbo where the strait is still blocked, all the problems for the global economy still pertain, and we've still got an unknowable in how President Trump winds up this war.
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I mean, there is reportedly this one page memorandum from the US on the table to end the war. Iran says it's considering it. What do we definitely know about where the discussions are and what the terms might be?
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D
Well, people are talking around a 14 point memo which to my reading essentially takes us back about 10 years with Iran. A few other things have obviously happened and it's, it suffered a lot of damage in the war. But in terms of that core essay question about the nuclear program, it looks like it's a standstill agreement. And there would be other parts of the 14 point plan which are essentially a 30 day period in which both sides gradually ease up the blockage of the Hormuz threat.
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And how's Iran presenting this pause? And what should we make of Trump's threats of more violence if there's no deal?
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Iran is hanging tough. It sent its foreign minister to Beijing. So the optics around how Iran sees itself sitting in this situation are very much that. Everything is to its advantage. Now, on the other hand, it is a country under tremendous pressure. It has been subject to a blockade. Nothing ordinary is moving there and tensions are great within Iran. So, you know, not all is as it seems in Iran, as with much else.
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And how does the Israeli strike on Beirut change things?
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Well, that, you know, puts the ceasefire that had been ancillary to the Hormuz situation, which, you know, Iran was insisting that there must be a Lebanese ceasefire as well as the situation in the Gulf coming to a stop. And the strike, which Benjamin Netanyahu says was based on targeting someone who was a Great danger to Israel is something that puts that ceasefire into question as well. So everything is up for grabs essentially right now.
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So the US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, says Washington has achieved its military objectives. I mean, do we actually know what they were and if they have been met?
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Well, I mean, we have gone through, since 28 February 1st of March, whichever you want to choose, a lot of wriggling around whether regime change was on the table. We have not achieved regime change. We have achieved something which was foreseeable from the outset, which is that the IRGC is the only game in town. The kind of militia, come, military, come industrial complex that has proliferated across Iran over the years and is now basically got the whole country in its grips.
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Where has this left the Gulf states?
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Well, nothing is much getting out of the Strait of Hormuz now. There is other access points to Gulf trade, but those are, you know, something that are backups, essentially. And when you use the backup, it's not quite the same. So those countries are very eager to see a resolution of this situation. They have obviously suffered greatly in terms of direct hits, and they've had to struggle manfully to defend their own populations against incoming attacks, of which the latest was just a few days ago. And so they are still in a state of tension. They want a resolution. They obviously have been attacked by Iran and their trade has been gummed up by Iran, and they still remain caught up in a fight that wasn't of their choosing.
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There are reports that Saudi Arabia has refused to allow the US to use its air bases there. Do you think Gulf nations are increasingly angered with the us?
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I think what this report overnight about access to the Prince Sultan Air base in Saudi, and there's also some reports about Kuwait as well. What that reminds me very much of is the actual decision that the Europeans had to make in the first hours of the war itself, where the Americans said, we're going to be flying, and countries like Britain had to say, no, you're not. And it was only after there was sort of retaliatory attacks by the Iranians that those nations allowed their air bases to be used. So in a sense, if this war, like any war, is measured against running out of time, then, you know, the Americans have got into this situation where they've had to battle against the losing the patience of the. The Saudis, of the Kuwaitis. And I think we're at that point where there is, you know, confidence is not existing really in the region that the US can wrap it up in any Short order, if there is a
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deal, how quickly might that alleviate the oil crisis? I mean, are there still likely to be problems for international travel, for instance?
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Well, we know that the Qatari gas facilities have lost a fifth of their capacity and we know that will hang over the gas market for a while. We know there have been other attacks on refineries within the Gulf and we know that that output will not be the same. There is jet fuel obviously in the Gulf and if that could get out, that would help the summer travel schedules a lot. But we're the airline bosses all say you can book with confidence. They say there is alternative sources, supply, not least from the. And I think Britain is now getting something like 40% of that particular type of fuel from the U.S. but you know, it would be optimum to have that Gulf supply stream back on flow. But it won't be a linear thing. It won't be flicking a switch.
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Damien, thank you very much Indeed. That's Damien McElroy, the Nationals London bureau chief. And this is the Globalist. It's 811 in Berlin, 711 here in London. Friedrich Merz, the Conservative Christian Democrat, took office as Germany's Chancellor on May 6, 2025. It was a bumpy road from the start and now a year on, we assess his progress. And to do that I'm joined by Monocle's senior news editor, Chris Chermack. Good morning to you, Chris.
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Good morning, Georgina.
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Remind us how and why this began badly for Mertz.
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Oh, how much time do you have even for that part of this? It didn't start very well, particularly because Friedrich Merz was actually rejected in Parliament the first time that he tried to become Chancellor one year ago. That was not a good sign. And that goes to the fact that we had elections in February last year, federal elections. The CDU won those elections. But even then Friedrich Mehrz himself was unpopular as of leader, obviously in Germany, kind of even more than I would say here. You vote for the party over the person. So that's kind of why the CDU won. But in addition to that, you had an unpopular Friedrich Metz and you had a coalition that was basically forced together, the Social Democrats and the Christian Democrats, these two legacy major parties in Germany from the post World War period, both losing in support and just about able to cobble a coalition together. They had to. There was no other option if you didn't want to work with the far right AfD, which came in second. So these two unpopular parties forced into a coalition with an unpopular leader, that's where this Story starts and what do
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the approval ratings say? And how have the German government acknowledged that?
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So the approval ratings have fallen further since that start, when it was already not the most popular thing around. We're now seeing Friedrich Merz approval ratings around 18%. He's about the least popular leader in the Western world. The coalition government, to that point, of sort of party over person, the coalition government itself is around 15%. So it's not doing any better. What you saw yesterday was some acknowledgement of that. So Friedrich Metz held a cabinet meeting. He didn't give a sort of speech within that, but he gave a private speech. And interestingly, it was sort of the spokesperson for the government who read out what he said. And he basically said, there is no alternative to this coalition. We are responsible for the political state statesmanship together to find success. And you also did see Friedrich Merz in some other interviews. He appeared on German state public television Z F under the banner that I loved, which was simply what now? Friedrich Merz, he gave an interview to that where he admitted that there have been problems. He said he is behind his own promises, even those that he set himself as well as the government. So he is acknowledging that many things have gone wrong and that he wants at least to try to make things right.
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And what would you say have been his major blunders?
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Well, I think one of the things inevitably like you've seen for a number of other European leaders also in this moment, is he's been heavily focused on foreign policy. He has done somewhat better there, although we can get into some of his blunders on foreign policy as well. But it is on the domestic front where he has really struggled and his failings there really are just that he has not done much. There was a positive start just before, before this government even came into power, where they reached a constitutional change to allow additional spending for infrastructure for defense that was highly lauded. But then it took the government itself until November to actually pass a budget so that that money could even be spent that they had agreed to allow by ending the so called debt break in Germany. And then the sort of signature policy, Friedrich Merz promise to tackle the big issues, social and health reform, pension reform. None of that has happened. So a lot of what you saw yesterday was both sides, the SPD and the cdu, basically saying, yes, we haven't made it so far. We still have these promises. We haven't even gotten them across the line yet. But we are promising that we are going to try and get them across the line this year. So that's really what it's just been about. Delay and indecision within the coalition government. That's what's frustrated a lot of people at a time when, of course, Germany's economy is stagnating.
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So what does this mean for his future? How secure is he?
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Well, if you listen to yesterday, there had to be a lot of defense. It was not just a mea culpa, but you were seeing a lot of articles asking how long will this coalition last? So you are already seeing that debate happen within Germany, within the German media. Friedrich Merz himself. You don't have as much of a, you know, kind of cut off the head approach in Germany as you might have here in the UK with Keir Starmer, for example. So it's more about whether the coalition will last than whether he lasts. And there, as I kind of read from that statement he gave, both sides are agreeing that basically there is no alternative at this point. So even if these two parties don't like each other, don't get along, have different impressions of how Germany should get back on its feet, they are realizing that they have to work together because the alternative at the moment is the far right alternative for Germany. And so that is something that may focus minds over the next few years. And it's going to have to. You look at opinion polls currently, CDU at 24%, SPD at 14%. So they wouldn't even get a coalition. These two grand parties would not make 50% if elections were held today. And the alternative for Germany would come in first. So that is something that is certainly likely to focus minds over the next few years, but we'll see if it works.
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So what does all this mean for Germany in the future?
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Well, I've heard some people talk about this as sort of a last chance. Otherwise, like you have in many other countries in Europe, you're going to see the far right given a chance. That said, we are still somewhat away from that, if only because of the sort of coalition system you have in Germany. So even if the far right were to become first in the next elections, that doesn't mean they will be able to put a coalition together. But the center is narrowing, Georgina, very much in Germany. The next time around, you would need three parties, the Greens and the Social Democrats and the Christian Democrats say to cobble some kind of coalition together. And all of this is a major problem for Germany because its economy is stagnating. It has a competitiveness issue as well. And then you have the foreign policy side. It needs to get defence Spending up. It has at least started spending money on defense, but it is promising to build its army into the largest in Europe. That is something that is also going to take commitment over the next decade or so. So there's a lot of promises that have to come to fruition to get Germany back on track as Europe's largest economy. And given that it is Europe's largest economy, largest potential military spender, well, this matters a great deal for Europe.
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Chris, thank you very much indeed. That's Monocle senior news editor Chris Chermak now. Still to come on the programme, We'll hear about the Tongju Film Festival in South Korea. This is the globalist. 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. Well, let's continue now with today's newspapers and joining me in the studio is Fraser Khale, who is a former Ethiopian diplomat and currently Associate Director of Pantera, a global strategic advisory firm. Fraser, it's lovely to have you in the studio with us. Let's start with the United nations and this impact investing scandal. What's this all about?
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Yeah, this is a great story picked up by Devex yesterday and it really should be hitting the front pages more. As some might know, UNOPS is currently being considered the critical logistics partner as part of this Hormuz Straits fertilizer trade deal. And this deeply reported piece by devex reporter Colm lynch is primarily about how a UN Assistant Secretary General decided to essentially involve himself in a scheme that saw $60 million worth of unops funding swindled. This involved a story about venture capital acting as development finance in that unops provided 60 million to a single procurement source in order to build low cost housing in a variety of countries. That low cost housing never material and instead what was found was this Assistant Secretary General had been provided a credit line worth $500,000, a $1.2 million scholarship for his tennis prodigy son, as well as luxury vehicles. And it was a story from a few years ago, but really shows the pitfalls of the development world seeking to act as venture capital as it sees its funding dwindling.
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So this Assistant Secretary General is actually in a Spanish prison right now?
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Yes, he is indeed. And the journalists made their way to Madrid to interview him. Apparently he's currently spending his time attempting to lodge a defense against extradition to the US and at the same time teaching English and chess to the other inmates at the prison. So quite colorful.
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So it seems to me the unanswered questions, where is the missing money? And was this individual misconduct or deeper institutional failure?
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Well, there's a whistleblower group that has emerged out of UNOPS which argues that this is part of a systemic issue. It's worth saying that the former Assistant Secretary General himself, Vitaly von Schobom, is also concluding that same thing. But again, it could appear to be a convenient story to cover up individual mishaps. But nonetheless, UNOPS has been historically associated with these single procurement source failures. And this is just another story, but fairly colorful.
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Now, we've been reporting in our headlines about how the EU is watering down its rules around AI and how possibly this is because of pressure from big businesses, the huge tech giants. Well, also today comes this story that Anthropic has signed a major deal with SpaceX to rent more than 300 megawatts of computing power from the Colossus 1 data center in Tennessee. Now, this is a huge demand. There is a huge demand for AI infrastructure, and this is just one of the ways that they're trying to meet that.
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Exactly. I think what makes this story interesting is the about turn that's been made between SpaceX and anthropic. As was well known a few last year, Elon Musk described Anthropic as a company that hates Western civilization. And today we're seeing a scenario in which he's renting out the biggest Data center that SpaceX have constructed to Anthropic. Now this is an example yet again of how commercial logic often overrides political logic. And especially in the air race where there is such competition for compute. What Elon Musk is doing effectively is he's opting to sell shovels rather than mine the gold itself. As we know, GROK isn't quite as popular as Claude and ChatGPT, its counterparts. And so the excess kind of data compute that exists on the SpaceX sites is now being rented out to the other firms. But I think the other part that I want to pick up is how a tiny number of companies, really five Amazon, Google, Microsoft, Nvidia and SpaceX, are now essentially the grand landlords of the AI economy. And although the models themselves are competing for users, in reality the industry itself is becoming quite, quite constricted amongst these players. And you'll find that they're on both sides of the coin, both consumer facing, but also as the B2B essentially of the AI world. So something definitely worth picking up as we consider things like regulation and in particular Anthropic. Doesn't seem to be a day that goes by without them in the news. They had the big consulting deal with Goldman Sachs and others the other day, Blackstone, that seeks to put a dent in the $300 billion consulting industry. And I think the company's overarching importance in the AI race is only increasing. And I think the real kicker in this story was the fact that as part of these discussions there was also the possibility, muted, of SpaceX and anthropic collaborating on orbital data centers. So I guess SpaceX is doing what it does best, which is sending everything to space.
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Let's go to Brazil now because of course we know that there's been a difficult relationship between Lula and Trump, but they are going to meet. Yes.
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So today they're expected to sit down for their first formal meeting at the White House since the two governments came close to an open trade war last year. As we know, Trump at that time imposed a 50% tariff on Brazilian goods and explicitly tied that to the prosecution of his ally, the former President Bolsonaro. What we're seeing at this moment is a kind of a thawing. The Brazilians maintained their tack at that time and Lula was seen very much as a champion for middle powers in resisting the capitulation that many countries had in the face of these tariffs. And since that time they met at Anga on the sidelines of that, they also had a private meeting in Malaysia thereafter. But I think this meeting today is as driven by the bilateral relationship between the two countries as it is by President Lula seeking re election later this year. I think a deal on Brazilian rare earths will be on the cards, although Brazil is very clear that they don't want to just be an ore provider in the same way that Indonesia and others have said. And they want to be really a source of manufacturing as well. And the higher value kind of refining in that space. And on the other side, you know, Lula is going to be in a battle for his political life with the son of the former President Bolsonaro who is competing. So I think any success seen in this meeting will be portraying Lula in a positive light at all.
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And another thing, of course he's trying to do ahead of those elections is a move to end a six day week.
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E
Yes. I mean, welcome back to the 1970s, I think, unfortunately for many Brazilians, I saw quite a startling stat that last year, Brazilians on average worked up to 2,000 hours a year, whereas Germans worked only 1,300 hours a year. So I think this is a move seen as popular in Brazil, but very concerning amongst the business community, considering the country's growth has been forecast to be only down to 1.6%. And at that time, deciding to kind of take labor off the market will be expected to result in some fairly painful economic results for the companies involved.
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Now, as we were hearing earlier in the program, if there is an Iran deal, it might mean that our summer holidays have been rescued, that we're not going to have to cut down on flights and so on. But that begs the question, once you get to wherever you're going, will there be room for you on the sunbed? And one German family was so annoyed that there wasn't. They've sued.
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E
Yes. I think the answer to the question we've always wondered, how much is a sun lounger really worth? Was held helpfully answered by a court in Hamburg this week that decided to compensate a family that had traveled to the island of Kos in Greece for their summer holidays and apparently were spending up to 20 minutes every day seeking a sun lounger, as the rich European tradition of placing towels on sun loungers at the break of day had robbed them of this opportunity. The court decided in favor of the family and said that the tour operator had an obligation to ensure that the no towel kind of rental policy within the hotel needed to be upheld. And they were given €986 for their troubles, which I think covered nearly 80% of the cost of the holiday altogether. So a great success.
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I mean, the irony here is that it's normally the Germans who are accused of reserving all the sunlighters.
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E
I think, again, what is it? The fox is the keeper of the hen house. Right. You know, separate, in a sense, in this context, Germans are known for this very, I think, colorful fact of putting their towels on sun loungers, early doors. But at the same time, now the German regulator has decided, or the German courts have decided, that they're also going to be the ones to say how much that really is worth.
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A
Yeah. And just before I let you go, Fraser, this is the first time we've had a conversation. I'm very interested in your background. A former Ethiopian diplomat and now this associate director at Pantera. Just give us a little snapshot of who you are. Are.
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E
Well, yeah, I mean, I think I describe myself to my friends as a failed diplomat. So I guess that's why I ended up in consulting. But I think, yeah, but in reality, I think my role takes me all around the world. I've been a bit blue this week because I spent the last 10 days between Copenhagen and the Bahamas. So, yeah, something glamorous after diplomacy is possible.
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Fantastic. Fraser, thank you very much indeed. Fraser Halle, who is associate director of Pantera. This is the Globalist on Monocle Radio. Now, here's what else we're keeping an eye on today. Israel says it targeted a commander from Hezbollah's elite Radwan force in Beirut's southern suburbs, marking the first Israeli strike on the Lebanese capital since last month's ceasefire agreement. The attack threatens the wider U. S. Iran truce that had depended in part on a halt to Israeli strikes inside Lebanon. Lebanon. European Union countries and lawmakers have agreed to delay key parts of the bloc's AI act until 2027 and exempt some industries from the rules altogether. Critics say the changes amount to Europe softening its stance on regulating artificial intelligence under pressure from major technology companies. And Ted Turner has died, aged 87. After transforming global television news by launching CNN as the world's first 24 hour news network in 1980, Turner later built a sprawling media empire spanning sport, entertainment and film before becoming one of America's most prominent philanthropists. This is the Globalist. Stay tuned. It is 12:01 in Ahmedabad and and 8:31 in Zurich. On June 12, 2025, an Air India Boeing 787, eight Dreamliner crashed shortly after takeoff from Ahmed Hyderabad in Western India, bursting into flames and killing 260 people. A report examining the cause of the crash is due to be published next week. And in advance of that, I'm joined now by Anita Menderrata, who's an aviation expert and special advisor to the Secretary General for UN Tourism. Anita, many thanks for joining. Joining us, what do you think this report is likely to reveal about the root causes and accountability and operational risk?
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C
Good morning, Georgina, and thank you very much for having me on. The report is going to be an incredibly significant one, not only for Air India, but for the entire global aviation community as it's going to be able to provide some very important questions, answers to questions around how could this possibly have happened? And one of the challenges right now is the fact that we have many players at hand. So we have naturally the airline, airline, the manufacturer, plus their, their lives involved. So whoever the pilots were, those were someone's sons. There were passengers involved and people on the ground as well There were many people whose lives were lost in the local community. So it's going to reveal some very critical information about that takeoff time and the combination of actions that would have happened that took place that caused the incident. And it's just really about determining, was it the actual aircraft, was it pilot air, was it a combination of the. Really these are answers that need to be provided. And again, it does feed to the entire aviation community and indeed, how would
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that community respond in terms of safety and governance and transparency?
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C
That's quite fundamentally important. There's many answers to that question. So the aviation community will look at it from the point of view, naturally, of when we look at the aircraft and aircraft operations and what is involved in terms of fuel supply and cutting fuel supply to an aircraft. Are there additional safety measures that need to be put in place? We'll also look at it from the point of view of again, the airline and its protocols, its operating protocols. But what's really critically important here is the fact that with anything in aviation, safety is always the fundamental priority. This is going to impact the entire aviation community, especially the Air India community. These were their people. This was their responsibility to carry this community of people as passengers as well. So we had 12 crew on board. There were almost 170 Indians, plus we had some foreigners as well. And I think what's really important is that we don't lose sight of that. This was a human loss through the aviation industry and to the aviation industry. So there's going to still be a great deal of healing that's going to need to come through this as well as the learning.
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A
What does it mean for Boeing?
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C
It's very important for Boeing in terms of how they address if there are any issues with the operation, the operating protocols. But also this is really a situation. You mentioned the word transparency earlier. It's really about how leadership steps up during crisis. When this moment happened last June, it was remarkable to see how leadership did indeed step up. Boeing was there, Air India was there. If you look at the CEOs of the organizations, they really came forward. There was no responsibility being, you know, there was no blaming. It was very much about allowing the reports to follow through. So we had the preliminary report in July of last and the reporting is led by the nation of the actual airline that was involved. So in this case it was India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau. They are assigned responsibility under the UN's body of ICAO, which is the international civil aviation, the authority. So they're leading the investigation. And what's been remarkable As I said, was to see the leadership of the manufacturer of the airline really stepping forward and also of the engine manufacturer. So all part parties are involved, no one is pointing blame and all want to understand what exactly happened and how do we stop this from happening in the future. But as I said earlier, there's the learning and there's also the healing that needs to take place in parallel.
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A
I wonder what this means for passenger confidence and travel demand and people's perception of airline safety.
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C
That's a really. And it's an interesting aspect that you raise from the point of view of aviation is just so awe inspiring. I mean, we look up and we see aircraft. It is one of the most, to me, I always think it's a combination of engineering and artistry. It's just remarkable. But equally, when things go wrong, it puts a huge amount of terror through people. So when we saw this incident last year, it was extremely, extremely alarming. Visually, the optics are incredibly challenging, so people get pulled into it. But this is when we're reminded that aviation is one of the safest forms of transport that exists in the world. These incidents are exceptionally unusual and that's where there's so much immediacy in terms of interest in understanding what went wrong. But aviation has become a fundamental part of how we live now. It's no longer an exception, it's very much a necessity. And we see that both from the point of view of travel as well as cargo, and the incidents in the Middle east right now have demonstrated that when you cut off an air corridor, what that means to global aviation and how much we depend on it. Now, obviously we have the jet fuel challenges and pricing and supply, so our world needs to stay connected. We do that through aviation. So when something goes wrong, people want to understand again, how could this happen? How do we prevent it? And how do we not lose the blessing and the beauty of this incredibly safe way of traveling.
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Absolutely. And just finally, I mean, I wonder how major incidents do shape long term airline strategy and leadership, accountability and also operational resilience.
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C
Very much so, because they can be defining. And this is where again, going back to your word transparency, how leadership embraces a challenge or even an opportunity, but how they've embraced this will be fundamentally important. And this is why, especially with an airline like Air India, which has enormous emotional equity to the people of India across the subcontinent, the diaspora that that flagship has been always carried with by Air India with such pride. So this was an airline where just people's lives who were lost in the incident, but the Indian community was grieving around this. And this is where, if we look at the organization, Campbell Wilson, who is the CEO of Air India, he stepped forward immediately. He was there at the incident site. He was there with his people. And he's an extension of the Tata Corporation, which again, is another deeply loved Indian organization. They stepped in very much from the point of view of compassionate support for not only the families of people involved in the incident on the aircraft, but the community on the ground in Ahmedabad. So it was exemplary from that point of view. There was no, there was no voice of the organization without a face. Everyone knew who was on the front line of making sure that the entire organization was guided through this, with the protocols being managed and refined when it comes to making sure again, that as an organization, how they operate and the aircraft that they operate are absolutely aligned with safety protocols and expectations of travelers.
- [39:46]
A
Anita, thank you very much indeed. That was the aviation expert, Anita Menderrata. This is Monocle Radio. You're listening to the Globalist. I'm Georgina Godwin. We head to Canada now, where on Tuesday, Prime Minister Mark Carney announced that he's nominated the former Supreme Court justice and former war crimes prosecutor Louise Arbour to become Canada, Canada's next Governor General. A role that serves as the British monarch's representative in Canada and as the commander in chief of the Canadian armed forces. To assess the appointment, Monocle's correspondent in Toronto, Thomas Lewis, sent us this report. We're taking you live now to Ottawa
- [40:36]
C
where Prime Minister Mark Carney is announcing the appointment of a new Governor General.
- [40:41]
F
It's every five years or so that Canadian Prime Ministers get to nominate a candidate for Governor General. It's a post that serves a vice regal role, representing the king in Canada, making the holder in effect, Canada's ceremonial head of State as well as Commander in Chief of the Canadian military.
- [40:59]
B
It's a duty that calls for sound judgment, deep learning and an unwavering commitment
- [41:05]
A
to, to the rule of law.
- [41:08]
B
That is the office.
- [41:10]
E
And it is the office to which
- [41:11]
B
I have asked His Majesty to appoint a Canadian whose entire life has been
- [41:18]
A
dedicated to that very principle.
- [41:21]
B
I am very pleased to announce that
- [41:23]
A
on my recommendation, His Majesty has approved the appointment of the Honorable Louise arbour
- [41:29]
B
as the 31st governor.
- [41:33]
F
A governor General is usually chosen to reflect the best of the country back to itself. This is also Canada's ceremonial public face to the world. So who is Louise Arbour and why was she chosen as Canada's next Governor General?
- [41:47]
A
The 79 year old is a former Supreme Court justice who left her deepest mark beyond borders. She was the chief prosecutor who secured a conviction against perpetrators of genocide in Rome. She indicted the leader of the former Yugoslavia, Slobodan Milosevic, of war crimes.
- [42:06]
F
Louise Arbour and her long legal career are a counter then to the trends at play in the populist world that Canada has found itself having to navigate. The buffeting of international bodies and long standing governing norms, as well as the pressures that many aspects of international law now find themselves under, make Louise Arbor a serious figurehead for a serious time.
- [42:28]
A
Canada is a wonderful country, shaped by its diversity of people, of perspectives and experiences, but I think shaped also mostly by a common respect for strong public
- [42:44]
C
institutions and for the rule of law.
- [42:48]
A
Above all, we all thrive to provide
- [42:52]
C
for each other in a spirit of equality and generosity.
- [42:56]
F
In her appointment too, she's being asked to be a steady hand following the tenures of her two most recent predecessors. Julie Payette, the former Astronaut resigned in 2021 after she was accused of bullying her staff and more recently, Mary Simon, a former diplomat who negotiated the creation of the Arctic Council back in the late 1990s. Simon made history when she was appointed in 2021, becoming Canada's first ever indigenous Governor General. But the perceived poor quality of her French won her few fans among many of Canada's francophone communities and elsewhere in Canada. Separatist movements in the provinces of Alberta and Quebec are appearing to gain momentum, prompting Arbour to be asked by a journalist on Tuesday how unifying a figure she felt that she'd be able to be as governor.
- [43:46]
C
I think there is a space for the Governor General to be
- [43:52]
A
conducive of Canadian dialogue with respect to diverse I've mentioned the diversity of our people, diversity
- [44:00]
C
of views, of opinions of experiences, but all that, I think in a spirit
- [44:05]
A
of respect and moving the country forward in an ambitious United States.
- [44:12]
F
And in expressing Canada's soft power, the role of Governor General is an important one, and in that Louise Arbour's appointment is surely meant to represent a commitment to upholding older, trusted and established norms at a time when so many of those principles feel as though they've been tossed in the air.
- [44:30]
A
I will strive to serve with honour, dedication and integrity.
- [44:37]
F
Louise Arbour will be sworn in as Canada's Governor General in early June. For Monocle, I'm Tomas Lewis.
- [44:46]
A
Many thanks there to Thomas. This is the globalist on Monocle Radio, iq, EQ and AI. Three components key to the craft of innovation at ubs. Because to stay ahead in a rapidly evolving age, you need a Partner with decades of experience, endless passion for the work, and a finger on the pulse of leading technologies. Bridging human expertise with artificial intelligence. All to elevate you, ubs banking is our craft. Now, as Europe works to bolster armed forces during this time of rising tensions, Portugal, which abolished conscription in 2004, is taking concrete steps to address the shortage of manpower with the introduction of a new civic military volunteer program. Well, for more, I'm joined by Monocle senior foreign correspondent Carlotta Rebelo in Lisbon. Good morning to you, Carlotta.
- [45:55]
G
Good morning to. Thanks, Georgina.
- [45:57]
A
Good to speak to you again. How acute is the personnel shortage and what's caused it?
- [46:03]
G
Well, as you mentioned, Portugal abolished conscription back in 2004. Now we're a little over 20 years since then. And that move from, you know, mandatory military service to one that is a professional voluntary force, in the sense that you sign up for the military as your career, you know, of your own volition and because that's the career you want to follow, has really meant a big drop in numbers. You know, most of the youth have only one day, which is a day of national defense, when in the year that they turn 18, that they go into a military base to have some sort of contact for a day with the work of the armed forces of. So, as you can tell, that's really not enough exposure for the general public to understand not just the careers that are available as an option, but the work that this entails. And at the moment, the latest numbers that came out just a few months ago put the staff in the armed forces in Portugal at 24,500. You know, the goal that had been established by the defence minister for 2028 was 32,000. So you can tell that we're still far away from that goal.
- [47:19]
A
So tell us about this new program, Defend Portugal. What are its aims?
- [47:24]
G
Yes, so this is a new proposed program called Defend Portugal, and it is a civic military volunteering program. Now, the big goal here is to try to drive new recruits by getting the younger generations to have a bit of a better exposure to the work of the armed forces. The target age here is between 18 to 23 year olds. And this is a volunteer program that lasts up to six weeks. And during those six weeks they would be placed in one of the three branches of the military. So either in the army, the navy or the air force, conduct a bit of basic training during those six weeks, get to know more the ins and outs of how the those branches work. And in exchange they are given €439. Now that amount is 50% of what the full time monthly salary is for a recruit in basic training. And the big thing here is that it's been muted that they would be offered a free driver's license. Now this is a free driving license and of course a free exam.
- [48:35]
A
Do you think there'll be a large take up? Is free driving license much of a draw for them? How is it being viewed in Portugal?
- [48:43]
G
Well, it's interesting to see the reaction so from the military ranks. So this is people who are no longer associated with the military but were in high ranking positions for a long time. They've been commenting on media throughout yesterday and this morning saying that, you know, the way to drive recruitment shouldn't be through volunteering work, it should be by action actually trying to get proper recruits into the, the military's ranks. But on the other hand, this idea of a driver's license has raised a lot of questions because, you know, Portugal is still a society where the car is still king. In a lot of locations this is a target age when the young people are thinking about getting their driver's license as a step to their independence and to their freedom and their. And you know, because it's just six weeks, there is a lot of conversation of maybe there will be a big take up because they'll be lured by that. So there is some thinking behind deciding to add that as one of the driving in factors for this, these new volunteers.
- [49:51]
A
So if each volunteer only does a six week stint though, how does that address the personnel problem?
- [49:58]
G
So the goal here is that by doing those six week stint that hopefully some of them will be enticed to stay. Now one of the other benefits of signing up is that if any of these volunteers do decide eventually to enter one of the branches of the military or special security forces or the police or firefighting units, these six weeks will count towards their career progression. So they wouldn't be starting from zero as if they were just signing up as new recruits. And the goal here is that by making it a basic training light version on a volunteer basis that you really start to get that reapproachment between younger generations who have not known conscription, have not known Portugal at war, that they get a sense of actually the other careers that that can be done through the military. We need to remember that also there's a lot of people who end up signing up after university because there's a lot of career opportunities for graduates to enlist in the army, in the navy or in the army or in the air force. By, you know, after they conclude their university degree and that's how they continue their career as civilians who serve in the military. And this knowledge of, of all the options that are available, I think that is the real key here, is to try to bridge that gap and that divide between civil society and the military society, too.
- [51:32]
A
And Carlotta, is this also because as we know, Europe feels like it's on the brink of war at the moment, that should there be open hostility, Portugal, new recruits in Portugal are not starting from zero.
- [51:46]
G
Yes. And, and this program would go hand in hand with other efforts by the Ministry of Defense to try to drive new recruits, you know, proper, let's use that word in a sense, of recruits who sign up for basic training and do the basic training. So this would, would go hand in hand. What's interesting here is that it's a big investment from the state as well. The estimated numbers is that for every two volunteers who sign up, it would cost the Portuguese state 4.5 million euros. So it's not just a simple program. You know, a lot of effort and thought is being put into this because as you've said, Georgina, we know that armed forces around the European continent are trying to come up with ways of bolstering their numbers, of increasing their defense capabilities. They're participating in more than ever international exercises precisely to try to be ready in the eventuality that war does break in the continent.
- [52:44]
A
Monocle senior foreign correspondent Carlotta Rebelo there in Lisbon, thank you very much indeed. You're listening to the Globalist on Monocle Radio. And finally, the 27th edition of the Tongju International Film Festival festival in South Korea ends tomorrow. And to tell us about it, I'm joined by Nemo Kim, who's a journalist for Billboard and Sight and Sound, amongst other publications. Just back from Tongju in the capital and now in the capital, Seoul. Nemo Kim, thank you very much for, for joining us here. Won't you give us a festival overview?
- [53:22]
H
Hi, Georgina. Jeonju is one of Korea's major film festivals and as you said, it's now in its 27th year, opening last Wednesday, closing this coming Friday. And A total of 237 films from 54 countries are being screened. Some major names in attendance, including actor Greta Lee, who came with Kent Jones for late fame. The opening title, renowned Taiwanese director Cai Ming Liang held a master class to a packed auditorium. And Hayden Guest of the Harvard Film Archive gave a lecture to an equally fascinated audience. And the closing title is the Longest Night. Nam Ten Tae Ryeong by Kim Hyun Ji, which documents the aftermath of Korea's martial law crisis of 2024. And the festival's long prided itself on championing indie cinema, awarding Korean and international indie films, and hosting scores of director talks and side by events, both for seriously minded cinephiles and fun stuff like creating your own art piece by combining photos of your favorite Cheonju films. And unlike the more prestigious Busan Film Festival, Jeonju's known for being more intimate and friendly, and last weekend was the peak of the event, with the main Gaeksa area packed with visitors.
- [54:36]
A
Well, friendly it might be, but it's not without controversy. There was a controversy last year, and that spilled on into this year too.
- [54:43]
H
That's right, an incident from last year has continued to trouble many here. A documentary called in the Land of Machines screened as the closing film, but became the centre of the of a credit dispute. The original director's name was removed from the credits after a conflict with its producer, who's a much more senior figure. Her name appeared instead as director. The dispute is ongoing, with the original director holding protests outside screenings. And what made this especially more troubling was Cheonju's handling of the issue. The festival didn't contact the original director to hear his side of the story story. Instead, they relied only on the producer's account, and the slot of the closing film, as you can imagine, is a highly visible one that gave the producer's version of events additional weight. And the situation was made more troubling by the fact that the documentary began as a Cheonju project, meaning the festival was well aware of the original director's role. A Cheonju programmer did tell me that examined such situations much more carefully from this role, and that is a welcome acknowledgement.
- [55:48]
A
And there are also questions over institutional culture.
- [55:53]
H
That's right, some attendees raised concerns this year about what they described as an extreme level of alcohol heavy social culture around parts of the festival. Of course, socializing is very much part of film festivals. Informal gatherings often help build relationships beyond official events, but it can become problematic dramatic, when the drinking is described as extreme, repeated throughout the event period, and seemed to be encouraged by parts of the festival leadership. And the accounts raise an important question not of moralizing or optics, but about how a festival that depends on the labor of hundreds of young staff and volunteers maintains professional boundaries and sound judgment throughout the event period. And several industry figures told me that given Cheonju Film Festival's long standing role in nurturing indie cinema, its future strength should ideally rest less on informal early morning access to senior figures and more on transparent processes and equal opportunity for the indie filmmakers whose work it has long helped to bring to attention.
- [57:02]
A
And just before you go, you're back in Seoul now, but you did spend a considerable time there in Chengju. What are your personalities? Highlights?
- [57:10]
H
My personal highlight was the Screening of the 60s Hong Kong art house masterpiece called the Arch in English. If you have not seen, is kind of difficult to catch it, but if you're able to catch it, go for it. It was the best film, I think, of this year so far for me.
- [57:32]
A
Nima Kim in Seoul, thank you very much for joining us. And that's all for today's program. Thanks also to our producer producers Chris Chermack, Tom Webb and Hassan Anderson, our researcher Josefina Gomez, and our studio manager, Elliot Greenfield. After the headlines. There's more music on the way and the briefing is live at midday. In London, I'm Georgina Godwin and I'll return on the Globalist at the same time tomorrow. Thank you for listening. With ubs, you have a truly global partner incorporating new technologies, innovative approaches and unexpected opportunities, leading you to insights that help answer the questions that matter. Delivered with the passion, care and unmatched expertise. Because it's about rising with the dawn each day, knowing that we can do even better. That's what banking is to us. Not just work, but a craft. UBS advice is our craft.