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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 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 23rd January 2026 on Monocle Radio. The Globalist in association with U. Live from London. This is the Globalist with me, Emma Nelson. A very warm welcome to today's program. Coming up, a rupture from the accepted world order and an exploration of when things fall apart, how Davos this week became the world boxing ring. Today's program will come here from Studio one in London. And also there'll be Juliet Lindley joining me from Studio 4 at our Zurich headquarters going over the last few days events. Also ahead in the next 60 minutes.
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Denmark is left puzzled by Trump's alleged Greenland deal. Finland declares bottle recycling a taxable activity. And Estonians argue over compulsory military service.
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Monocle's Petri Bertzel for join me from Helsinki with a roundup of the Nordic News. Well hear the reaction to this year's Oscar nominations go through the Swiss papers.
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And we learned that the international press, Monocle Radio very much included, which had descended upon Nuke to cover the now apparently de escalated crisis, may not have far to travel for the next one.
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Andrew Muller looks back at the last seven days and tries to make sense of it all. That's all coming up on the Globalist live from London. First, a quick look at some of the other stories happening in today's news. TikTok has completed a $14 billion deal establishing a separate US subsidiary of the video platform. Russia says that more than three hours of talks in Moscow between President Putin and three top US Envoys on ending the Ukraine war have been constructive and very frank. And the US has officially left the World Health Organization. Stay tuned to Monocle Radio throughout the day for more on these stories. But first, the big guns may now have left the the slopes. For those who remain at the World Economic Forum in Davos, there is quite the mopping up job to do. Yesterday the Ukrainian president cut a rather forlorn figure, concerned perhaps that his country's plight may have been trumped by the collapse of the world's rules based order earlier that week. With that and a roundup of some of the stories we may have missed from the World Economic Forum, let's head to our Zurich headquarters from where I'm joined by the journalist and broadcaster Juliet Lindley. And she's just back from Davos. And by Gorana Gurgi, Monocle securities correspondent. Good morning to you both. Good morning, Emma, good to have you with us. Juliet, let's begin with you. Because you were up there in Davos, what were your overall impressions of the place?
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D
Well, certainly I think the main impression I got was there is finally an adult in the North American room and he's definitely not djt. Mark Carney is everybody's hero right now. And one of the aspects of the World Economic Forum is that it's so compartmentalized that you can't possibly be in the right place at the right time. You're either inside the Congress center listening to the big gun speaking, or you're outside at so many of the side events meeting perhaps even more interesting speakers. Then you've got people who are walking around with their skis and boots who've just decided they want to ski anyway even though half of the roads are shut and they have to do such a detour to get onto the slopes. But so it's easy to get fomo. But speaking of that, I was in Davos, but Mark Carney actually was here at the Monocle Studios and I had extreme FOMO because of that. He really is everyone's here at the moment.
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Garana, let's thank you for that. Juliet Garano, let's bring you in with this idea of what Mark Carney was talking about, which is the idea of the resurgence, the development, the energy behind the so called middle powers. He came along and having just eviscerated the way that the world is working and said, look, we have to completely recognize that we were all playing a game. There was a deep rupture, but now we have the possibility of a sort of a resurgence of countries like Canada.
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E
Yeah, that's right. So I think Carney definitely said the quiet part now out loud. And the whole, you know, emperor has no clothes is out in the open. So this time around, I think Davos was less about the spirit of dialogue that they wanted to promote from the get go and more about openly acknowledging that we do live in an era of intensifying great power rivalry, not necessarily cooperation, but that doesn't also preclude or prevent others who are not necessarily the members of the kind of big boys club to do things and to take on some agency. So Carney's core argument was that Middle powers must band together or essentially be sidelined. And it's not necessarily about choosing side this time around, but to build some sort of third path. And this has to do with the fact that he called the moment of rupture not a transition, not a temporary crisis, that the rules based order that we have known, the kind of set of norms, institutions that have been there either Since World War II or the ones that have even been kind of upgraded following the end of the Cold War, are not necessarily guiding the state behavior or bounding state behavior. And I think that this is actually quite a sobering moment as well, because in the lead up to Davos, we've heard a lot of these talks about the return of kind of spheres of influence type world, you know, world being carved out into three macro regions dominated by us, China, Russia. But Carney shows that actually if middle powers, even small states. And he referenced Vaclav Havel in that sort of story about how communism actually went down, and also referred to the Finnish president who has also promulgated himself as one of the kind of key thinkers in this sort of era of being more pragmatic, being more realist rather than idealists. He's showing that there is still agency that small and middle powers can have.
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Juliet I mean, this is the headlines coming out of the of Davos were very much the, the speeches delivered by the likes of Emmanuel Macron and Mark Carney that we've spoken to, we've spoken about. And also when Trump came along and delivered his very typical Trump one plus hour monologue. But when you were up there, was there a sense that America was still absolutely dominating because we were talking so much about the number of people who were going there, the size of the entourage, even the size of the Trump's family who was going there. Would was there a sense of that imbalance there?
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D
There was a sense of that imbalance. Biggest delegation ever. And if you just we were standing in the street outside the Congress centrum as his convoy was arriving and it is quite a intimidating sight, let's put it that way. So many cars of these big black cars driving through. And you do realize, yes, he is the most powerful man on earth, but we cannot forget. I really feel that after this week, the damage has been done. Yes, he pulled back on the Greenland issue, but I feel that the Europeans especially, and just your man on the street just feels that he just pushed it too far. So that's very much the feeling there. And then, you know, it was interesting because the day after his big speech which was yesterday. He was on, on stage and on air again with the Global Board of Peace. And it was funny because I was with other journalists and, and we, we saw Carolyn Levitt there on the podium calling up all the signatories. It took really long and everything. And all of a sudden was the gbp. And you didn't even know if he was still in Davos or not. One person said, well, wait, are we back at, in Washington? Are we in Mar a Lago? Are we here in Davos? But that is the power and that is the power that his country wields. But as we've seen, it's not just about the might. You've also got to use it in a rather wiser manner.
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A
Indeed. And gonna bring you back in here with the, with the, you know, after the Trump bandwagon had gone very much, the focus was on the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, cutting a very solitary figure, recognizing perhaps that the spotlight had already blazed on one individual. Yet we now move on today to the fact that there have been talks in Moscow between three key US Envoys and President Putin who said that the conversations have been constructive and frank. There will be new trilateral peace talks in the Middle east today among Russia, Ukraine and the United States. The world is now moving on in and the focus is now back on Ukraine. But what are the chances of any movement?
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E
Well, if there's anything that we've learned over the past nearly four years of Russia's ongoing aggression against Ukraine, is that any kind of step up in diplomatic activity and in sort of buzz that we see shouldn't get us overly excited. So I would always keep our expectations managed. We of course, seen the past sort of month and a half really in December, the kind of flurry and buzz of diplomatic activity going on that was mainly led by the United States. And maybe that's something that also should be kind of underscored and emphasized in the question that you posed to Juliet over whether US is still indispensable when it comes to this particular conflict. It very much is because the security guarantees part of the puzzle still won't work without the United States. For all the talk of the sort of UK, France led coalition of the willing and so on, there needs to be a US Backstop. What's happening now? What we've heard Zielinski announced is the talks that are set to take place in uae. So there is a bit of again of a diplomatic pace that's accelerating, but again it's done by Steve Witkoff, by JARED Kushner it's not dealt necessarily by kind of seasoned diplomats necessarily. This is again, a push for some sort of expedited deal. Europeans are sidelined. And what Zelenskyy himself said is still a major issue is the future of eastern Ukraine. So Donbass, how basically this would work under, under any proposed deal. But even having said that, you know, there is a perspective that says this is never going to be just about territory and it has never been just about territory. Right. It is about Ukrainian sovereignty and Russia's aspirations. Because if you think about it, the kind of small chunk of land in terms of the greater picture of how Russian Federation looks on the map, it's not going to necessarily move that needle. But what Russia can't stand is the kind of sense of free and democratic Ukraine. And this is what the conflict has been about over the past now nearly 12 years, not just over the past four years.
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Gharana, very briefly, after the disruption of this week, is there anywhere where the world can look for predictability in 2026?
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E
I would say that if we were to make a word cloud over what sort of words dominated the forum in general, I think there was a lot a rupture, which we've mentioned a couple of times, and I think uncertainty. Absolutely. So if we are trying to hold on to any certainty is that that would be that uncertainty is more certain if I can just sort of squeeze my way out of out of this question. But truly, a lot of the things that we were used to, especially in terms of predictability, coming from some of the, you know, topmost offices in this world. And we've seen that, of course, with tariff brinksmanship on part of Trump this week is, is basically signaling that we are not necessarily in a very predictable world right now. But that's not to say again that smaller medium powers can't be making sort of arrangements and, and interacting with one another in a way that will try to at least in a little bit or, or in some way cushion that that kind of blows. So I'm sorry that I can't offer too much hope on this Friday morning for people to start off the weekend in that way. But I think the more that we understand about the world right now, the more that we educate ourselves, I think that that's where at least some of the certainty can come that we are not necessarily surprised or kind of shocked by some of the the things that are going on.
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Garona Gurgic Monocle Security correspondent, thank you so much for joining us on the line. And Juliet Lindley on our Zurich headquarters. We'll be coming back to you a little bit later, but thank you. For now, you're listening to the Globalist. It's 9:13am in Tallinn, which is where we head now, because as we've been hearing, the focus on the high north over the past few days has been int. So to bring us the view from the region, let's hear from Monocle's Helsinki correspondent Petri Birtsov, who appears to have hopped over the Baltic to join us from the Estonian capital. Tallinn. Good morning, Petri, how are you?
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B
Good morning, Emma, and greetings from a very, very chilly Tallinn. It's about minus 12 degrees here and I took the ferry from Helsinki last night. I didn't take the, I think it's a 20 minute flight that I think you've once taken. But here I am doing some interesting reporting for the upcoming issues and for Monaco Radio.
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A
Brilliant. I believe it's 12 minutes in the air. Let's talk a little bit about the fact that we haven't mentioned Greenland in our discussion about Davos a moment ago. But this has been something obviously that has been that was that sort of brought everything to a climax a couple of days ago when there was threats that Donald Trump might want to use military action, that Donald Trump would, you know, impose tariffs on those who backed Greenland. All that seems to have subsided, but it has left those in Greenland and the Danes indeed exhausted by all this.
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B
Absolutely exhausted and just puzzled over what all of this really means. I mean, yes, there is a sense of relief in Greenland, in Denmark, in the rest of the Nordic countries. But you know, at the same time the Danes are very aware of the fact that, you know, the discussions between Trump and the NATO Secretary General Mark Ruth and you know, the so called framework deal that they have said to be had to have reached, you know, the Dane and the Greenlanders were not involved and we don't really know the details of, of what was agreed there. We have leaks in the press. You know, there's, there was this New York Times piece basically based on, based on a leak saying that the US Would have unlimited control of small military areas on Greenland, sort of in a similar manner as the UK has bases still on Cyprus. But then, you know, Trump on his way back from Davos on Air Force One said that US Will cooperate with NATO and Greenland and that the US will have, you know, will be able to really whatever it wants in Greenland. And just this sense of confusion of what really is going on today. The Danish Prime Minister Berto Fredriksen is meeting NATO as Mark Rutte and they maybe will know a little bit more. But Denmark has all along insisted that the sovereignty of Denmark and Greenland is really non negotiable.
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A
There's an amazing article in the Financial Times which is headed up to nuke, as did we this week. And there's a Inuit carver who just went. Trump does not shut up. That has left everybody in a very tricky situation insofar as, yes, these agreements and these discussions that have been taking place between Trump and Mark Rutter did not include anybody from Greenland or from Denmark.
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B
Exactly, exactly. And that's just, that's the most extraordinary, extraordinary thing. And then something to mention as well. I just saw this piece by the Danish public broadcaster Dr. Again, based on sort of unconfirmed sources, confirmed sources, but unnamed sources in the Danish military that, you know, Denmark was actually, you know, had drawn up plans for, to, to militarily defend Greenland against the US So that just shows how real things, things, things were getting and how serious the threat to Denmark was.
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A
Let's move on to a story that's happening over the, over the water in Finland about bottles. Just bring us up to date with this.
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B
Yes, this is, this is a, you know, I'm a neutral journalist, but I just have to say this is a ridiculous story. So, so basically the Finnish tax authority, I hope they're not going to hike my taxes if they listen to this, but they want to start taxing people who collect empty bottles because, you know, in Finland, as in most countries, you can collect empty bottles and take them to recycling points in supermarkets and you get sort of, you know, 10, 20, 30 cents. And you know, some people can actually, especially if there's a big sort of street party, you can make a nice sum of money if you just collect all the empty bottles. And now the tax authorities say that, you know, this is inc.
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F
You need.
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To pay tax, tax on. But there's a loophole. If it's a bottle that you yourself purchased and you return it, then you don't have to pay tax. And this has just drawn, as you can imagine, a lot of criticism from, from, from everybody, but really the environmental lobby as well, saying that, you know, we need to get people recycling more and this is not going to help. And then, you know, the amount of tax that you can collect this way, it's really, really negligible. So I really don't know what's going on here.
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Do you think it'll actually happen?
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I don't know. I don't know. I wouldn't be surprised knowing the taxman in Finland. But let's see, maybe common sense prevails.
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A
Okay, thank you for that. A very quick look now at where you are in Estonia. Conscription is a big thing, not least because Russia isn't too far away, let's put it that way. There are issues about who should actually be compelled to do. Called up to do military service.
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B
Yes, exactly. There was a law proposed that would have required all the conscripts to speak fluent Estonian or at least semi fluent Estonian. And that law was recently vetoed by the president. Because the thing is, I mean, there's a very sizable Russian speaking minority. I think it's about 20%, 25% in Estonia and not all of them speak Estonian. So basically this law was meant for sort of, for them to first of all, for them to learn Estonian. But then also I assume there in the background of this was sort of suspicions that maybe there, you know, maybe some Russian speakers have, have sort of sympathies towards Putin and you know, we don't want them serving in the Estonian military. But, but again here it looks like at the end of the day this law won't actually be, be happening and you know, all the Estonian citizens will, regardless of language, will still be required to, to do the military service.
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Monocle's Petri Betsoff in Tallinn. Thank you so much for joining us on Monocle Radio. Still to come on today's program and.
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For our final category, the 10 films.
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Nominated for best picture are.
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Find out a little bit later as we go over the Oscar nominations with Karen Krasanovich. And in a moment, we'll be having the papers back in Zurich with Juliet Linley. So stay tuned. 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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D
You're listening to the Globalist on Monocle Radio. I'm Juliet Lindley and it's now time here in Zurich's headquarters for a look at today's newspapers. Joining me here in Studio 4 is Noel Salmi, travel, culture and sustainability writer. Welcome, Noel.
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F
Thank you, Juliet.
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D
The day's looking quite good here in Zurich. What do you think? Snow or no snow?
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F
I don't think snow yet today, maybe tomorrow.
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D
Let's move from the Snow or not snow in Zurich all the way to Zambia. I know you've found an interesting piece in the Globe and Mail from Toronto about copper boom, but what price it's having on the environment and on people's health.
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F
Yes, that's right. So the Globe and Mail had an in depth story about the heavy cost of Zambia's reliance on mining. Copper mining in Zambia is responsible for 70% of the country's export revenue. But it has come come at the cost to human health and the environment. Just last year, a dam at a copper mine belonging to the Chinese company Sino Metals broke, resulting in 1.5 million tons of waste material spilling into waterways that feed the fresh water for the country. That includes cyanide, arsenic, all kinds of metals that can create organ damage, birth defects and cancer. Just. The article features a farmer just 2km from the mine who said that one year later his villagers, his fellow villagers are still starving. He has to ride his bike 5 kilometers every day to fill a 20 liter container with fresh water.
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D
Just thought, just the thought of it is terrifying. And imagine also the effects on children and on the weaker people in society. But let's now move over to the BBC and this is perhaps a bit of a lighter story. Noel. And we have a story about mushrooms that are making people see tiny humans. Now I'd love to hear more about this. Also I'm trying to figure out whether there might be a compound that instead of creating tiny humans in their hallucinations, they might be creating like maths formulas before an exam. Imagine if that could happen. But please go ahead.
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F
Well, that's great. Yeah, well. So as the BBC reports, in China's Yunnan Province every summer, doctors brace themselves. They know that hundreds of people will be coming in complaining of the same affliction. They see tiny people crawling on their plates, up doors, all over the place. Apparently all of these people have eaten the same delicious umami rich mushroom called Lan Maoa asiatica, whose peak period is from June to August. The difference is they've eaten it undercooked. In fact, this, this affliction is so common that when U.S. researcher Colin Domnauer, who's studying the mushrooms, was eating in Yutan province, he was at a hot pot restaurant where you cook it at the plate and the waiter said, cook it for at least 15 minutes or you will see little people. This has a name, it's called Lilliputnian Hallucinations and it is extremely rare. It's not seen no other hallucinogenic causes the same effect in every person. Even People who don't know that they've eaten the mushroom.
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D
Right, no, of course.
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F
So what they're trying to find is that this particular hallucination is extremely rare in people who haven't eaten the mushroom. Only 226 recorded cases in five years. And of those people, a, a third have not really recovered. So what they're hoping to do is isolate the compound and maybe find out what compound and what part of the brain it affects so that they can help these people.
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D
That's so interesting. You do wonder, the ones who hadn't had the mushrooms, why were they getting those hallucinations?
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F
Yeah, no, it's really interesting and it's so funny that it's called Lilliputnian hallucination. It's named after Gulliver's Travels, so it's got a particular. And these trips apparently can last 12 to 24 hours. People can wind up in the hospital for a week. So it's not a mushroom that has been sought out for these hallucinations, as psilocybin has in some societies. No, it's really. It's just for food, but you have to cook it properly.
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D
That's so interesting. You're not going to be using that for depression or for what so many of the other hallucinogens, they're looking at using them for that. But I'm going to move on to not hallucinations but seeing someone indoors, in an indoor congress hall, speaking to a large audience with dark glasses on. Now you know what I'm referencing. Emmanuel Macron at Davos Isweth. Everyone was kind of wondering, why is he wearing those shades? You've got a great story about that from the Guardian today.
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F
Yes, that's right. As a Guardian reports, it wasn't because he was trying to avoid looking Donald Trump in the eye. Apparently he had a burst blood vessel in one and it's a benign condition, but it definitely doesn't look good. And so there he was. And for the century old company Maison Henri Julien, which is located in eastern France just across the border from Geneva, this was publicity that no money could buy. Stefano Fulcier, the president of Ivision, which is the Italian company that owns Henri Julien, said that their website crashed. French opticians were calling, saying, the president's wearing your glasses. If you would like to know, the glasses are. They cost €659. They are Pacific S01 double gold sunglasses. Apparently they are assembled using what I vision calls an ancient technique where gold is bonded rather than plated to the glasses. So they last longer. And the blue tinted UV lenses are produced by another company in the same region. So Macron could be happy that he was wearing glasses that were wholly produced in France.
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D
Exactly. Because I think some people thought they were aviators or that they were Ray Bans or something. But no, good for him for going local. But you really have to kind of wonder why he.
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F
I know, I know. Well, it's really funny because there is a medical doctor and media commentator who told a French broadcaster, rtl, that he thought Macron had worn the sunglasses for aesthetic reasons because apparently they don't actually protect his eye at all.
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D
And then all the questions of how he actually got the red eye and was it a black eye and how.
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A
Yeah, but exactly.
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D
Never mind. Finally, El Pais, the Spanish newspaper, is kind of giving you an uplifting story finally after the terrible train accident that happened that resulted in dozens of deaths last Sunday. And it's a story about dogs and it's one particular dog. Take it away, Noel.
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F
Yeah, that's right. So at latest count, it's 45 deaths from that train crash. Really terrible. One of the victims who was simply injured is Ana Garcia. Her sister, who's pregnant, ended up in the icu. But when the crash happened, Ana Garcia's schnauzer water dog mix called Boro ran off. She was quite desperate to find him. She left the hospital on Monday with a cast on her leg and put signs everywhere looking for borrow. And fortunately on Wednesday night, they found him, couldn't nab him. They got Boro yesterday and reunited him with a very relieved Ana Garcia.
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D
And I know that you also have a lovely little furball. So I know that this story was particularly close to your heart. And we know that pets also have a role to play in sort of pet therapy. And so maybe Boro will actually be helping other victims of the crash who are going to visit them and so on. But on that note, Noel Salmi, travel, culture and sustainability writer here in Zurich, thank you so much for joining us.
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A
Emma, back to you in London much indeed, Juliet. And are you looking forward to a good day back in Zurich now, having been up the slopes to Davos?
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D
Yes, but it is still the last day and who knows what can happen. So I'm going to be keeping a close eye on the news from here in Zurich at the studios.
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A
Thank you. Up. And we look forward to hearing from you later. That was Juliet Lindley in Studio 4 in our headquarters in Zurich, joined by Noel Salmi. You're listening to the Globalist on Monacle Radio. Now here's a quick look at some of the other stories we're keeping an eye on today. TikTok has completed a $14 billion deal establishing a separate US subsidiary of the video platform. In 2024, Congress passed a law ruling that the platform be either sold American buyer or be banned, citing national security concerns over the app's ties to the Chinese government. To avoid a ban, the new joint venture is majority owned by American investors. Russia says that more than three hours of talks in Moscow between President Putin and three top US Envoys on ending the Ukraine war have been constructive and very frank. Russia said it was sincerely interested in a diplomatic solution, but warned that durable peace won't be possible unless territorial issues are resolved. And the US has officially left the World Health Organization. President Trump ordered the withdrawal from the UN Agency a year ago, accusing it of failing to adopt reforms and of mishandling the COVID pandemic. And those are the headlines on the Globalist. Stay tuned. The time in Ho Chi Minh City is 14:37:30am here in London now, Vietnam is due to wrap up the Communist Party's 14th National Congress today. The party congress is held once every five years. It's the country's most important political event. Choosing the top leadership and setting the direction for Vietnam's mid duration path. Well, I'm joined now by Michael Tatarski, who's a journalist based in Ho Chi Minh and author of the Vietnam Weekly Newsletter. Good afternoon to you, Michael.
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G
Hi.
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A
And in terms of choosing the top leadership, it's just happened in the last hour, hasn't it? The Tolam has been appointed as head of the ruling Communist Party for the next five years. Tell us about that.
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G
Yeah, it was just announced a few minutes ago, I think. I think the Congress officially ended about 30 minutes ago. So news is just starting to come out. Yeah. As you said to lam reelected. Technically, he's been the general secretary for the last couple of years after his predecessor passed away. This doesn't come as a surprise was why we expected that he would remain in that position. Local media reported that it was unanimous again, I suppose, also not surprising. I will note that Congress ended a day and a half earlier than planned, which I think a lot of people took to me. And there wasn't much debate over the direction of things. It was supposed to go until Sunday. Yeah. I mean this will I suppose be a pretty clear mandate for him to kind of continue on the reforms that he's initiated over the last 18 months.
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A
Indeed. And those reforms have not necessarily been the most popular Given I think it involved slashing quite a lot of public sector jobs. But one thing he has talked about is he wants to target 10% growth. Now the World bank forecast has said 6.5% yearly expansion, which by anybody's level isn't too bad. But this 10% growth is a feeling that Vietnam wants to be turbocharged.
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E
Yeah.
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G
I mean they achieved just over 8% in 2025, which was higher than a lot of the kind of international organization forecasts as well. But 10% is of course an entirely different, different animal. Vietnam has never achieved that before, at least not in the modern era. So it will be I mean the economy is obviously doing quite well, but that will be very challenging, especially given kind of a lot of international trade and geopolitical uncertainty. But this is the stated target for this year and the next five years actually. So there will be a lot of pressure to meet that goal.
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A
Tell us a little bit more about the National Congress itself. As you said wrapped up 30 minutes ago. But it's its purpose is to what is to is to set the path. But what else was talked about?
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G
Well, part of what yeah, so it happens every five years. I mean it selects the General Secretary, the president, Prime Minister and Chair of the National Assembly. Those three positions we're still waiting to hear about. There was actually some speculation that they may combine the General Secretary and President positions, as China did a while back for Xi Jinping. It appears that probably won't happen, but that hasn't been officially shared. But yeah, I mean it's to agree on kind of the targets and the goals and the economic and foreign policy path over the next in the coming years and decades. And part of it was affirming this 10% goal is now enshrined government policy, basically. I mean there's rarely kind of shocks these targets are directions don't change dramatically. Obviously the last couple of years here have been a bit more active than usual. But they are important for kind of setting the path that the country is.
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A
Expected to be on and also to send the message to the outside world because if you have the re election of Tho Lam as the party chief, he also wants to become the country's president in order to send a message to the outside world similar to that of Xi Jinping in neighboring China that he can actually be the one to steer and he must be trusted.
- [34:49]
G
It yeah. Although as I, I think it appears they probably won't be combining the two positions again while we're waiting for final confirmation of that. If that were to happen it would be pretty striking. Of course, that hasn't. It's happened a couple times temporarily, but never as a permanent decision. If they maintain those as two separate positions, that will kind of, that will maintain the, you know, big four that they call it, leaders and kind of the General secretary is the most powerful position. But, but the other three are critical for kind of keeping each other in check. So there's not like a supreme leader, for lack of a better phrase.
- [35:25]
A
Indeed. And you have, in countries like this, in communist countries, you have that idea that stability has to come from the top. How stable is Vietnam at the moment?
- [35:37]
G
Extremely. I mean, obviously, quite literally now with a continuation of the top leader, there will be a new president and a new prime minister. But these aren't, you know, like in a Western democracy or what have you, where there could be a new party coming in with a completely different set of policies and ideas. So sort of, I mean, the person, whoever comes in there can be some differences of opinion, but the general trajectory of the country is agreed upon and everyone is working towards that goal.
- [36:04]
A
And we have to talk about Donald Trump again, unfortunately. But we have this idea of Vietnam being threatened with potentially crippling tariffs in terms of exports to the United States. Where are with that at the moment?
- [36:19]
G
Yeah, the initial announcement last April of 46% was absolutely shocking. I think Vietnamese government was very unhappy about that. It's down to, I think about 19% now. The two countries are still negotiating some sort of final tariff agreement. But that being said, Vietnam has weathered that storm pretty well, actually. The trade surplus with the US Was a record high last year despite all of this. So exports remain strong. Vietnam, I think, has a representative signing on to Trump's board of peace, which I know there's much controversy about, but they will be on that in some form or fashion. So the relationship with the US Is still very close. I think it's improved a lot since the initial shock of the tariff, since Trump did, has changed his mind a lot on those figures.
- [37:10]
A
And let's move back to the internal stability of the Vietnamese Communist Party. There has been rooting out of corruption, those internal campaigns that we do see. What has that been? What's been the result of that?
- [37:26]
G
Well, I mean, one of the results, so Tolam, the General secretary, he was the Minister of Public security before this, so he kind of was the spearhead of the anti corruption campaign. And, and there's some, some corners who will say that he used it to, to kind of dispatch his competition, which could very well be possible. It's hard to say, kind of clear the, the path for him to become general secretary, but it has had a material impact throughout, throughout the system. And there is, of course, still corruption, but there have been massive cases where, you know, clear abuse of power was punished, which the public has supported. But there's always more work to be done in that, in that area.
- [38:06]
A
Michael Tatosky, journalist based in Ho Chi Minh and author of the Vietnam Weekly Newsletter. Thank you so much for joining us on the Globalist. You're listening to Monocle Radio. It's time now for what we learned. Andrew Muller has been in Greenland this week. So this is where his report based. His report from. From.
- [38:37]
C
We learned this week that there are sore losers, really sore losers, epically sore losers and hyperactively sore losers. And then several hyperbolic adverbs further along. There is U.S. president Donald Trump. We learned this after Finnish President Alexander Stubb, who has been a guest on Monocle Radio's the Foreign Desk twice, and Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gastur, who is yet to appear on the Foreign Desk even once. And come on, mate, what are you waiting for?
- [39:13]
A
Just get on with it.
- [39:15]
C
What, him or us? We learned anyway that the pair had sent President Trump a short but entirely affable message to the effect of maybe give the chat about invading Greenland. Arrest. Let's talk about this like reasonable people, about which we, for one whimsical news monologue, were encouraged, given that we have been all this week in Greenland's tiny but delightful capital of Nuuk. They have a national anthem here. Hit it. And we learned that the response said missive elicited, directed towards Jonas Garchtur, was in part as follows, as will now be read with due solemnity by Monocle's whining crybaby desk chief, Fernando Augusto.
- [40:08]
B
Considering your country decided not to give.
- [40:11]
A
Me the Nobel Peace Prize for having stopped eight wars, plus I no longer.
- [40:16]
F
Feel an obligation to think purely of peace.
- [40:19]
C
From which we learned that Donald Trump has definitely not learned that Norway's government does not award the Nobel Peace Prize, has quite possibly not learned that Norway has nothing very much at all to do with Greenland, which is part of the kingdom of Denmark, and has very definitely not learned that he hasn't actually stopped eight wars, especially if you're not counting and call us pedantic. But we, for one whimsical news monologue, don't. Those wars which never actually occurred, like, for example, Cambodia and Armenia, it was.
- [40:50]
A
Just starting and it was a bad one. Think of that.
- [40:53]
C
And we learned all this in a week in which we learned that Trump had received a Nobel Peace Prize Prize, or at least a Nobel consolation prize.
- [41:01]
G
Tonight, just 24 hours after Venezuela's opposition leader Maria Carina Machado presented President Trump with her Nobel Peace Prize, we press the president on what he'll do with it. What do you intend to do with it? And why would you want someone else's Nobel Prize?
- [41:16]
A
Well, she offered it to me. I thought it was very nice.
- [41:22]
C
Yes, we learned that 2025's actual Nobel Peace laureate, Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Macha, had handed off the medal to President Trump, mounted in a tacky gold frame, which will fit nicely in with the Uday Hussein bathroom, chic which presently dominates the Oval Office decor and adorned with unctuous approbations along the lines of. These are direct quotes presented as a personal symbol of gratitude on behalf of the Venezuelan people in recognition of President Trump's principled and decisive action to. Fair enough, among yards. More verbiage of the kind that might imaginably be coughed up if you typed into chatgpt the prompt crank me out a few paragraphs of oleaginous flattery of the kind which might profitably soothe the fevered, seething ego of Earth's most abjectly needy individual. So we learned that President Trump appeared to have rethought one preface, previously doggedly held position.
- [42:23]
A
The United States will not let men steal trophies from women.
- [42:28]
C
But we learned that it hadn't quite taken, at least if one's threshold for success was stopping. Donald Trump, whining interminably about being deprived of the recognition he believes himself due.
- [42:40]
A
Should have gotten the Nobel Prize for each war. But I don't say that.
- [42:43]
C
Fact check. He does say that. Really pretty frequently. We learned, however, or at least were reminded who the real villains are.
- [42:52]
A
And don't let anyone tell you that Norway doesn't control the shots, okay? It's in Norway. Norway controls the shots. They'll say we have nothing to do with it. It's a joke. They've lost such prestige.
- [43:05]
C
So we learned there from that President Trump either had not read or had not believed the explanation from Norway's Prime Minister, Jonas Gastur, typed with an almost audible sigh, that Norway's no Nobel Committee, which judges the Peace Prize, is an independent entity unlinked to Norway's government. And we learned, perhaps unsurprisingly, in the context, that one Danish mep, specifically one Anders Wistissen, believed that it might be time to state the general Nordic attitude more plainly.
- [43:35]
A
Let me put this in words. You might understand. Mr. President.
- [43:41]
C
Bob an approach which we learned might have kind of worked for. We learned that a week which began which bookmakers calculating odds on the Danish American War of 2026 and lawyers passing Article 5 of the NATO treaty trying to figure out what in the wide world of sports everyone was supposed to even do if one member of the alliance attacked another while the president of the United States engaged in mortal combat with with a paper clip.
- [44:08]
A
Oh, I'm glad my finger wasn't in that sucker. That could have done some damage. But you know what? I wouldn't have shown the pain. I would have gone back. What did you hear that? That was nasty. But I would not have shown the pain. I would have acted like nothing happened as my finger fell off.
- [44:25]
C
Ended with Trump collapsing, not for the first time, to the kind of space filling time buying flannel, which may stir memories in listeners whoever either neglected or felt forgot to do the reading before making a presentation to class.
- [44:39]
A
Well, we have a concept of a deal. I think it's going to be a very good deal for the United States, also for them. And we're going to work together on something having to do with the Arctic as a whole, but also Greenland. And it has to do with the security, great security, strong security and other things.
- [44:56]
C
But we learned that the international press, Monocle Radio very much included, which had descended upon Nuke to cover the now apparently de escalated crisis may not have far to travel for the next one.
- [45:08]
A
I mean our stock market took the first dip yesterday because of Iceland. So Iceland's already cost us a lot of money.
- [45:15]
C
Greenland, Iceland, tomato, tomato. For Monocle Radio, I'm Andrew Muller.
- [45:24]
A
And our thanks to Andrew Muller for filing that report from Nuke. He's back in London next week for another installment. If you enjoy what we learned or tune in every Friday. Today it's on the Globalist, right here 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 technology bridging human expertise with artificial intelligence. All to elevate you. UBS banking is our craft. The time here in London is 7:45. You're listening to Monocle Radio. It's Emma Nelson here with the globalist. 8:45, if you are in Paris for Men's Fashion Week, which is where Grace Charlton is Monocle's associate editor for design and fashion. Good morning, Grace. How's Paris looking today today.
- [46:30]
H
Good morning, Emma. A few rain showers predicted, but I think it'll be fine.
- [46:34]
A
And it's been a very, very busy few days for you. Tell us what's been happening.
- [46:38]
H
It has. I mean, Paris is the real deal, especially for menswear. All these designers are showing their 2026 autumn winter collections in this sort of general state of the industry, which is proving difficult. But this season there feels like there's a sense of resolve. The, you know, 2025 was very headline grabbing with all these debuts by creative directors and a reshuffling of executive roles behind the scenes. 2026, there is still low single digit growth that's going to linger, but this volatile economic climate is to be expected now. And a lot of the designers and the buyers that I speak to, they're really quick to bring up Donald Trump's tariffs. Tariffs, particularly this week after what's been happening over in Greenland. One of the shows I went to, Kartik Research, it's a new brand out of India, and it included in its show, notes that Trump's imposition of a 50 tariff on India a few months ago has just been brutal for the business, specifically as it aims to grow its presence in the US and it works with suppliers in India.
- [47:53]
A
So, I mean, this is clearly people having to get very comfortable with being very uncomfortable a lot of the time. That, that idea though, that, as we heard really at the beginning of the program, when we were talking about Mark Carney talking about middle countries having to find a new way, having to, you know, accept that the way things have been have changed, that touches every part of every industry, doesn't it? So is there a sense that designers and houses are actually looking for new markets or are they looking for new ways for doing things? Or indeed, are the designers playing it safe or taking risks?
- [48:27]
H
Yeah, it's interesting. I mean, different designers have different tactics. I've noticed, particularly in Paris, they're sort of trying to offer a sense of reassurance in their collections. The collections are really long, by the way. They've got, you know, they last about 20 minutes. There are over like 80 looks often. And it seems like they're trying to cover all the bases and offer something for everyone. And in terms of other tactics, there's a lot of talk about the very important clients and making sure that the brand strategy is catering to them a little bit more. Because if the wealth gap is widening, they have to target the top tier and try to encourage them to double their spending rather than capturing a middle market. But anyways, I think in terms of offering a sense of reassurance at Louis Vuitton. Pharrell Williams, who's this music producer, multi hyphenate, he created a collection that I thought was really beautiful, and it was an ode to hard work. And the salary man. A few people I spoke to after the show said it was his best collection yet. You know, his appointment was a little bit controversial at the time a few years ago because he doesn't have any, like, classical training in the fashion sphere, but he sort of sent these beautiful suits down the Runway, and it was like a total show. Meanwhile, at Issey Miyake, models walked through this beautiful church and they were wearing these clothes that had, like, a real monastic quality to them. And then a lot of other collections are just, yeah, like an ode to normality and like people you might see on the streets. So Ami Paris is an interesting brand. It's currently held, helmed by Alexandre Mathussy, and it was a real sort of ode to the daily life and the daily grind of being in Paris.
- [50:17]
A
There's that interesting concept, though, and I think there's been quite a lot of criticism in particular of the Pharrell collection at Louis Vuitton, that the clothes themselves are actually quite understated. More understated than Pharrell's previous iterations. But the drama around the event itself almost overshadowed the collection.
- [50:35]
H
Yeah, I've heard this as well. I found it quite enjoyable being there, to be honest. He offered a show. I think that is a good marketing strategy and one that he understands very well. He can tap his friends in the music industry to come and support him at the events. I mean, I think it's. It's a good way to. To build brand loyalty and mystique and narrative. So I know that people are a little bit upset, but I think it's. It's okay if it comes hand in hand with incredible suiting and, you know, a collection that is very impressive. If it'd been like, a really average collection and then this sort of spectacle along with it, it wouldn't obviously be the same.
- [51:14]
A
Okay, let's look at what we've got to look forward to now. What's caught your eye?
- [51:19]
H
So today, the American designer Willi Chavarria is showing in a judo hall in Paris. He's quite an interesting designer, very political. Celine's creative director Michael Ryder is showing his sophomore menswear collection tomorrow. But finally, the real big ticket show is Hermes on Sunday, where Veronique Nicagnon is going to show her final collection after 37 years as the company's artistic director of menswear. And British designer Grace Wales Bonner is taking over from next season. So there'll be a real passing of the baton at that one.
- [51:56]
A
And it's a huge moment for Hermes, which prides itself as. So when you have someone like Grace Wells Bonner taking over, this moment, this last moment with Veronique Nichanyan will be quite spectacular, won't it?
- [52:10]
H
Yeah. I'm intrigued to see how it'll play out because, you know, she's not someone who's overstated, like you said, so I don't know how they're gonna, you know, create this last, final moment. But I'm super excited for Grace Wells Bonner and a new chapter at Hermes. I think she's an incredible appointment to.
- [52:25]
A
Have made, made new life is breathed into another fashion house in Paris.
- [52:29]
H
Exactly.
- [52:30]
A
Grace Charlton, Monocle's associate editor for design and fashion, thank you so much for joining us on the line from Paris. You're listening to the Globalist on Monocle Radio. Now the Oscar nominations are out to talk us through them. Who else? Karen Krasanovich, the film critic, joining me once again in the studio. Good morning, Karen. How's it looking?
- [53:19]
I
It's very exciting.
- [53:20]
A
Are you excited?
- [53:21]
I
I'm always excited.
- [53:23]
A
You are. So earlier on this week, we were talking about this, and you're saying there were only six films to watch and then they all came out and. Are you right? Were you right?
- [53:33]
I
I'm pretty right. Sort of 50% right. I mean, you can't get everything. I mean, I had when they were nominating doing the nominations yesterday, I was there with my checklist and I got.
- [53:44]
A
You know, I did all right.
- [53:45]
I
There were a couple categories I predicted completely. There are others that I didn't. But I have to say that there are two inclusions in Best Actress and Best Supporting Actor that I'm really thrilled about. Not that I'm happy that the other people get pushed out because there are only five. Except for Best Picture, there's only five nominees in each category, and that is Kate Hudson in Song Seong Blue for Best Actress, pushing out Chase Infinity for From One Battle After Another. And Best Supporting Actor, I've been talking about him all year. Delroy Lindo for Sinners. He should have won for many, many other things, but he pushed Paul Mescal out. So those are the two that I'm really, really pleased about. So if you haven't seen Sinners, please see it. That's important because it Set a record.
- [54:35]
A
It's 16 nominations, which has never been done before. At the end.
- [54:39]
I
Never been done before. 13 for one battle after another. 9 for Frankenstein, Marty supreme sentimental value. 8 for Hamnet, which is not too bad. And 4 for Begonia, F1, the secret agent, which is the Brazilian favorite. And Train Dreams, which. Which my husband calls. You know, it's like you. It's just like being on a train with somebody telling you a story, which.
- [55:00]
A
Sounds marvelous, except you can actually do that in real life. So tell us about Sinners. Why is it so. Why is it getting so many plaudits?
- [55:09]
I
Well, it's a unique. It's an original story, number one. And Ryan Coogler has done a lot of things with Black Panther and Creed. He's a consummate filmmaker, but he's also telling a story. I don't want to say from a black American perspective, because that's not really all the story is. It's so much more. But he's morphing together sort of the Deep south supernatural qualities. And it's just a wonderful story. It's beautifully done. It's got a great cast. And another thing that people were remarking on when it was. When it was actually released was that he's keeping the rights to it. So after 25 years, it reverts to him. That's not unusual. Quentin Tarantino has that clause, but everybody was going, ooh, ooh. But it's a remarkable film. People just love it. It's like two films pushed together almost.
- [55:58]
A
And it's one of those things that when you see something like a record breaker, do you think that Sinners will now go into the great canon of the great movie?
- [56:06]
I
Well, it certainly belongs. And I mean, you don't know. History is the only thing that can really tell if it's a great movie or not. We can say it's great. This decade. Next decade. Won't watch it? Hard to say. I hope it does.
- [56:17]
A
Okay, tell us about some of the other nominations. Okay. Where you got it right.
- [56:22]
I
Oh, God. Ooh, ooh. Everything. No. Well, actually, the best director, as predicted, was not a big deal to him. Paul Thomas Anderson, Ryan Coogan, Chloe Zao, Joaquin Trier, and Josh Seftie. But also, I also got Best Actor. Correct. And also best Adapted Screenplay. And some of we went into the weeds a little bit there, but they do believe that Timothee Chalamet will beat out Leonardo DiCaprio in this very, very hot category. But I have to say, Ethan Hawke in Blue Moon, that's an extraordinary inclusion not that he's not good in Blue Moon, but it's. It's not a film that everybody's going to embrace.
- [57:05]
E
Okay.
- [57:05]
A
Why not?
- [57:07]
I
It's. It's quite. It's quite saucy. It's quite. It feels like it's. It's got. There's a lot of sexuality and a lot of sex talking, and I don't know if people really enjoy that anymore.
- [57:18]
A
Be a bit buttoned up.
- [57:19]
I
Well, I think we're just being careful.
- [57:21]
A
Excellent. We like that. So just tell us. I mean, talking about the ones that you got right, the ones you got wrong, you mentioned Kate Hudson being nominated for Best Actress, but what's the nomination that you're actually the most surprised that Karen Krasandovich approves of?
- [57:34]
I
Oh, the one that I approve. Well, I mean, I'm very happy for Jacob Elordi, Best Supporting Actor in Frankenstein. You know, he's naked, pretty much. He's just wearing bandages. He's down in a cellar covered in. Or he's covered in a bearskin. You know, I mean, he did a wonderful job. And we're used to looking at Jacob Elordi as just sort of this tall, handsome man, you know, leading guy, but he's proven his chops here, and I'm so pleased that he's gotten. He's got an opportunity. He's got this nomination. Also, we're very pleased about Benicio Del Toro and Sean Penn. If you've seen One Battle After Another, and you should have by now, you will be very. Actually very pleased that they're both in there.
- [58:14]
A
Okay, so very quickly, best film, what will win?
- [58:17]
I
Ooh, gosh. I would say One Battle after Another or Best Actor. Timothee Chalamet. Put your money on him.
- [58:23]
A
Best Actress.
- [58:25]
I
Best Actress. Oh, Jessie Buckley.
- [58:27]
A
Best Director.
- [58:28]
I
Oh, I'd have to say it's Paul Thomas Anderson.
- [58:30]
A
Thank you very much indeed for that, Karen Krasanovich. And that's all the time we have for today's program. The warmest of thanks to all my guests and to our producers, Angelica Jopson, Laura Kramer, Chris Chermack, and Ryuma Takahashi. Our researcher was Anneliese Maynard, and our studio manager was Christy o', Grady, with editing assistance from Mariella Bevan. After the headlines. There's more music on the way. The briefing's live at midday here in London. The Globalist is back at the same time on Monday. But for now, from me, Emma Nelson. Goodbye. Thank you very much 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 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.