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Ukraine targets Russia’s Mediterranean shadow fleet as Putin delivers end-of-year address
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You're listening to the Monocle Daily, first.
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Broadcast on 19 December 2025 on Monocle Radio.
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President Vladimir Putin of Russia conducts his annual marathon press conference. People on the Internet prove actually useful. And the race for the UK's Christmas number one. I'm Andrew Muller. The Monocle Daily starts. Hello and welcome to the Monocle Daily. Coming to you from our studios here at Midori House in London. I'm Andrew Muller. My guest Mark Galeotti, Marisa Mazeria Katz and Fernando Augusto Pacheco will discuss today's big stories and we'll wrap up what we learned this year. Stay tuned. All that and more coming up right here on the Monocle Daily. This is the Monocle Daily. I'm Andrew Muller. And we'll start in Russia where President Vladimir Putin has treated us to his annual year's end marathon press conference. With exquisite and possibly not coincidental timing. Ukraine also picked today to bomb a tanker. It claims to be part of Russia's so called shadow fleet of semi deniable sanctions busting ships. The Oman flagged Khendil was struck by drones in the Mediterranean somewhere southwest of Crete. In news, further agitating the bees in Putin's bonnet, the EU has agreed a 90 billion euros loan to Ukraine, though failed to agree to use frozen rather Russian assets to underwrite it. I'm joined now by Mark Galeotti, political analyst and author of many fine books on Russia, including Forged in A Military History of Russia From Its Beginnings to today. Mark, welcome back to the Daily. Did President Putin have anything especially interesting to say today?
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C
Well, I mean, the sad truth of the matter is having labored my way through four and a half hours of it, it was probably the least interesting of all the various direct lines, which is, you know, frankly saying something. But there were points and in particular I thought what was interesting talking about the whole issue with the war with Ukraine is that while he clearly said that his demands hadn't changed and it was all Kiev's fault, etc. Nonetheless he did suggest that there was some evidence that movement might be happening. But again, I think think his view is the movement has to come from Kyiv.
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On that thought, did he betray any, I guess inclination of how interested in peace he actually is? Because several Russia analysts we have spoken to over recent weeks as the Americans have got excited to one degree or another about their peace plan, have just kept saying that President Putin does not want this war to end. What's your view?
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C
I mean, I think from his point of view, and I think it was effectively reinforced by his performance today is that, to a degree, he feels in a kind of win, win situation, as far as he's concerned, he is winning the war on the ground. And yes, it's incredibly bloody and expensive, but nonetheless, from his point of view, he doesn't have to fight a war forever. He just has to be able to fight longer than Ukraine can. And, and he thinks that that point is coming. He may well be right, he may more likely be wrong, but he believes that. So he's willing to keep the war going. But on the other hand, he is aware of the costs. Not just 1.1, 1.2, 1.3 million dead and wounded, but also the impact on an economy which is sliding into recession and so forth. And so if these negotiations bring him to a deal that he thinks he's happy with, then he's perfectly willing to take it. But the point is that he's also perfectly willing to walk away because he thinks otherwise. In 6 or 12 months time or whenever, he'll be able to impose even harsher terms on Kyiv.
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Those numbers of casualties you refer to, I mean, if they are anywhere near accurate, we are past the point probably, at which probably pretty much everyone in Russia at least knows somebody who knows somebody who has been killed or injured fighting this war. Was any of that reflected in any of the questions he took, whether it was from the assembled journalists or from the public?
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No.
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C
I mean, I think there is clearly a considerable push for making sure that veterans, their families, and the families of those who fell in the war have the benefits that they were promised and have them in a timely fashion. But I think we have to remember that unlike previous wars, this is not being fought by conscripts or even in the main, mobilized reservists. This is a war that is being fought by people largely from impoverished parts of the country who are being offered eye watering sums of money. And so not only is there, I think, a sense that in some ways they are playing a particularly bloody lottery, that, well, if they die, then their families get a lot of money, and if they survive, then they get a lot of money. But as a result, I think there is almost that sense of, well, you know, they made a choice. And so I think so long as Putin can continue to staff his war that way, and this is where the economy comes in, and I think it's going to become increasingly difficult over the coming year to do that, but as long as he can, then actually, the political pressure from the countryside as a whole is relatively limited.
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We should talk about this drone strike on An Oman flagged tanker in the Mediterranean, a long way from the theater of conflict being claimed by Ukraine. Do you they picked today of all days to do that in order to spoil Putin's big set piece? And even if they didn't, how big a development is this?
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C
Well, I mean, in terms of timing, yes, it's quite likely that they did. I mean, obviously they also had to make sure that it was a time when they could launch the strike and also that the ship wasn't full of oil. Because, look, it's bad enough, I mean, let's be brutally clear, I mean, this is actually a breach of international law to strike a cargo ship away from the theatre of operations. But if it had also created some terrible polluting event, then that would have been even more problematic. So, you know, again, there were constraints, but I'm sure, yes, they're perfectly aware of the timing in terms of the impact. I mean, I think in some ways it depends on whether or not this is a one off incident that is designed to put political pressure on Putin or whether it's the start of a campaign. Now, Putin actually was asked about this in his marathon and he just simply said, look, this is just an attempt to drive up insurance costs, which may be true. I mean, actually insurance costs can be really quite important in affecting who puts their ships where. But as I say, that will require this to be the start of something bigger. So I think the Russians at the moment, they're at least affecting to be fairly relaxed. Though of course they have also launched a massive air campaign against the port of Odessa just now, which looks like their kind of retaliation for this.
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Putin did refer to this loan that the EU have announced, and there's been some harrumphing from other Russian sources, etc. But privately, might Putin be considering this a bit of a win? Because obviously 90 billion euros is not at all nothing. And it will in theory at least, sustain Ukraine for another couple of years of this. But it's not quite what Ukraine's more hawkish allies wanted, that is to use Russia's frozen assets to underwrite this loan. Might Putin be thinking he's got away with something here?
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C
Yes, definitely. Remember, as far as Putin is concerned, in his own mind, he sees this not as a war against Ukrainians who want to preserve their sovereignty and security. He sees this as a proxy war with, well, I was going to say the west, but increasingly it's with Europeans. So in some ways I don't think he ever imagined that the Europeans wouldn't be stumping up the money, because he thinks that they are the real sort of warmongers. And in that context, the fact that firstly, they're actually going to have to stump up the money themselves rather than use Russian money for it is a good thing for him. But also just simply the spectacle, I mean, this was something that people like Ursula von der Leyen and indeed German Chancellor Merz had really made into a big deal about the fact that there was going to be this massive gesture of European solidarity, solidarity with Ukraine, and they were going to take this sequestered Russian sovereign assets and spend them continuing to support Ukraine. And they failed. Yes, they managed to find a perfectly workable, serviceable response instead, but they failed because of internal divisions. It wasn't just because Belgium dug its heels in, because it wasn't willing to take full responsibility if legal action, as the inevitable legal actions would be launched, but also because other countries, including Italy and possibly including Spain, but also we hear actually including France, which is a real kick in the teeth to Metz, decided to not go for this. So anything that makes it look as if the Europeans are unwilling to unify around the Ukrainian cause and if anything, are actually beginning to turn against it, well, that is very much what Putin wants to see.
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Martin, just finally, how much encouragement would he have drawn from one particular indicator of those divisions, which was earlier today, Poland's Foreign Minister, Radek Sikorski, posting in general direction of Viktor Orban on social media a picture of the medal of the Order of Lenin.
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C
Yeah, I mean, this is a long standing grudge, frankly, between Sikorsky and the Hungarians. So look, yes, it's something that I'm sure we're going to see tomorrow morning being picked up in the Russian press with a certain amount of entertainment because they want to magnify this to this division. But to be perfectly honest, that actually is par for the course. I wouldn't quite say it's something that happens on a weekly basis, but it's certainly by no means unusual.
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Mark Galeotti, thank you as always for joining us. You're listening to the Monocle Daily. You're listening to the Daily on Monocle Radio. And to the United States, where, as elsewhere online sleuths are usually far more often a hindrance than a help. Uncountable anonymous keyboard Sherlocks who think they know better than the actual detectives trying to crack a given case. A rule proving exception may be December 13's mass shooting at Brown University, which left two people dead, nine people injured, and the FBI apparently flummoxed, despite leadership of the intellectual Calibre of Kash Patel and Dan Bongino. The suspect, Claudio Neves Valente, has now been found dead, but substantially due to social media. Well, I'm joined now from Providence by Marisa Masria Katz, arts journalist and regular monocle voice. Marisa, where you are, was there general surprised that it proved so hard to find the culprit?
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Yes, it definitely did. I mean, it became clear right after the shooting that because there were no publicly identified images of him inside Brown University, I mean, it was just so hard to know what this person really looked like. And eventually these images started to trickle in. But even then it was really difficult to know who we were looking at. And so there was a challenge almost immediately that was put basically to the community, I would say, in the periphery of Brown to help to try to crack this case. And I think to your point, this sort of online sleuthing came in as well and buttressed this sort of hunt, I guess you could call it, for.
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The suspect, that call, I guess, or the suggestion that the police required help to identify the suspect. How did people react to that? Was there sort of a genuine enthusiasm for going out and helping, or were people sort of more concerned by the fact that there was a self evidently extremely violent individual on the loose?
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I think it was probably a bit of both. I think it's important to say that Providence is a very small town, and because of that, everybody is really in a way impacted by what happened. So there was this fear that was pulsing through the community, and at the same time, we were all trying to, in effect, kind of figure out ways that we could help. And so when the call came out, we were obviously quite nervous. The fact that there was such little or seemingly so little information on this person, but everybody did what they could and it was really all hands on deck. And I think because of that, we, we are in the position that we're in now where we figured out who the suspect is.
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So what do we understand about how social media found him when the police couldn't?
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Right.
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So basically after those images came out, right, those grainy, hard to define images, basically of a man who was wearing dark clothing, he was walking around with a mask, and he was near campus, you basically started to get a trickle through these ring cameras of people who found a person who is in close proximity to him. Once that image came out and the person was able to connect that they were in fact in close proximity to the suspect, that's what cracked open the case. And that's where Reddit came in more than any other social media platform to help identify the suspect. So basically what happened was when the image of the person who is in proximity to him was posted, he, we assume it's him, although I can't be for sure, posted something on Reddit to the effect of he was in contact with this person, basically had an interaction with him, and then said in quote, I'm being dead serious, the police need to look into a gray Nissan with Florida plates, possibly a rental. So basically he had noticed this guy walking around this car, posted that, and within a day spoke with the FBI and from there the attorney general and people in Providence government, city government, were saying that this helped to crack it open. And they were able then to trace the car which had, by the way, had gone on to Brookline where an MIT professor was killed as well by assuming the same suspect, and then eventually to New Hampshire to the storage unit where the suspect was found dead from self inflicted wounds.
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How have police responded or what have they said about the role social media played in this event?
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They're saying it was key. I mean, there's no denying how critical it was. And it's really interesting because I feel like often it's looked down upon, right? It's sort of seen, as you had mentioned, like a kind of nuisance. But in this case it was critical. And you know, I go on the Providence Reddit a lot. I'm not really a big social media user, but it feels like a community board. It feels like the original Internet in many ways. And I have to tell you, online right now, everybody is kind of giving each other a virtual high five. And so I think, you know, everyone's very excited that this was able to assist what, you know, was looking like a very dire situation as we head into the holidays. I mean, it was very gloomy here. We were all so saddened by what happened and the fact that we didn't know who it was. It just transformed the city.
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Marisa Masriya Katz in Providence, thank you for joining us. You're listening to the Monocle Daily. You're listening to the Daily on Monocle Radio with me, Andrew Muller. And joining me for one last ditch wrap up of cultural news before he bolts for the airport is Monocle's senior correspondent, Fernando Augusto Pacheco. Fernando, welcome to the Daily. Pleasure to be here, but we'll steady on. But, but on that note, I think we need to let some light in on the magic a little bit. We are broadcasting from the past.
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Oh, yes. And you know, you know, I don't like to do this, Andrew. I'm the kind of guy, I like to do things live. But I need to catch my flight. I know I'm heading to Brazil tonight.
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So we are actually talking if you're listening to this live, dear listener, about an hour and a half ago. So if anything extraordinary has occurred in the 90 minutes to two hours since that we don't mention, there's the reason. But let's start with Brazil, Fernando, because that is where you are going. There is a thing with beach huts in Rio de Janeiro and I think.
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I'm kind of an expert on beach huts in Rio de Janeiro.
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More particular, is that a hotly contested field?
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Very much so. I even wrote an opinion piece for Monaco this year because. Well, this is a different subject but apparently there was going to be a few changes.
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Sorry. There are two opinions it's possible to have about Rio beaches.
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Well, first of then, you know, I think earlier in the year the mayor said he wants to organize a little bit more at kind of the beach front in Rio. So for example, you wouldn't be able to have a beer on glass. And I thought that was shocking. So I wrote a very critical piece and he changed his mind a week after. So clearly he's been listening to me and other fellow kind of karaoke is as well.
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Okay, well, we know that there's somebody who reads the Fernando Augusto Pacheco in the Monocle minute. Such is your power and influence.
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But this is a different story. So from the 21st of December. So you know, in two days when summer starts in Brazil, some of those beach huts, thanks to the city hall of Rio, they will look a little bit different. So I think they want to bring some more uniformity to the beach front. So they will have new kind of kiosks and they are in the shape of a kite in a way. There's actually a picture here. I believe this is AI for now, but this is what it's going to look like. Not everywhere, but they want to kind of implement that and apparently they're very easy to use. You can actually remove them very quickly. You know, it's. And I think it's. It looks quite breezy. I do like the design. Okay. Like Rio de Janeiro, the city.
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Well, indeed. But is this attempt to regularize the Rio de Janeiro beach hut causing great controversy and brouhaha?
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Not at moment. But you know, I think people in Rio, they like to be free. They don't like sometimes the state telling things to do. But I genuinely think he looks pretty and one of the architects. I love this quote. He says he wants to try to organize the mass with beauty and poetry. But at the same time, Rio is interesting precisely because it is a little bit messy. So, you know, here I am. Maybe I don't have massive opinions on it yet, but I'm heading to Rio soon. So then I can tell you in person, actually.
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Are you spending Christmas and or New Year in Rio?
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Christmas in Sao Paulo with my family. But New Year, yeah, in Rio.
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How big a deal is that in Rio? How chaotic does Rio get on New Year's Eve?
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Listen, as I said, they are a bit messy, but I think they know how to host a big event. They're used to host 2 million people in Copacabana or when they do those massive live shows. So actually they're not that bad, you know, but they have this kind of little cute chaos, as I would like to say.
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Well, let's move along to cultural news, which I, for one, Fernando, could not possibly care less about. But I think. I think you may have a different view. This is, I mean, this is a huge moment, I do understand, in the history of broadcasting in its way, because the Oscars are not going to be on television.
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B
No. So they're leaving ABC after 50 years. I mean, a super long relationship. And they're going to YouTube. There are good and bad things about this. Good, because YouTube is free. So any country in the world you can access and there will be no awkward relationships with studios because ABC belongs to Disney. So every time, let's say a Disney film is nominated, other studios might be a little bit upset. So can you imagine the Oscars going to Netflix? That would have caused a little bit of controversy. But YouTube is, you know, it's there, it's available. I think there are a lot of people, you know, all around the world can access. But there's one little problem here, and the lack of glamour. Actually, YouTube is not glamorous. It is everything, but it's not glamorous. And I think.
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A
Does YouTube itself have to be glamorous? Does it matter? As long as they put on a good show?
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I agree with you. You know, it's not the coolest kind of platform. Sorry if there's anyone from YouTube listening. But I use YouTube every day. Everyone, we all use YouTube, you know. So I think it's a chance to connect with a younger audience as well. Because the Oscars ratings are not what it used to be, let's be honest.
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A
I mean, I assume YouTube are not proposing to bung out the prizes in half an Hour dead in someone's shed. I mean they'll do a thing, right.
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The thing with YouTube as well. And you're right, you know, remember when we talk about Eurovision, that we like long Eurovision. You know, the thing is when it's broadcast on tv, there's been a lot of pressure for the Oscars to become a shorter show.
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It does go on for days.
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It does go on for days. And I think this will get worse because now it's gonna be on YouTube. They give completely freedom to the Academy to do whatever they want, you know. So I expect Oscars on YouTube are going to be actually longer than they already are. That's my kind of prediction.
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Do you think there's going to be even more categories for sort of like best stop motion animation by a left handed Polish director with a K in their surname potentially.
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B
And you know, I have a few names in mind already for that.
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But that, that, that thought I think I do want to explore a bit more about its dwindling audience because that sort of goes to the topic we will be discussing shortly as well. People have stopped watching the Oscars in anything like the numbers they did. But I think that's true now of most big cultural tentpole events because there's so many other claims on people's attention. The culture becomes much more fragmented, et cetera. Do you think YouTube has, have any hope of reversing that? Is it possible that ABC might actually be quite happy to have got shot of it?
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I think so as well because it's expensive. I mean they have an agreement, I believe of $100 million and, and you know, of course they sell a lot of ads. I think it's, it's, it's, it's a, it's a good thing to have for abc. But you know, of course the, the ratings have been dwindling for a few years, but I think the Oscar still matters because people talk about it. They might not watch the show, but they will read the newspapers after they will look on social media who is the best dressed. So there cachet to eat as well. That is becoming rare I think from the awards. I think the Oscars, and I tell everyone this, they kind of still matters more than the Grammys, the Emmys and all sorts of awards that you can think of.
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Well, sticking with our theme of cultural touchstones which I think it's fair to say matter grand scheme of things a lot less than they once did. The race for the UK's Christmas number one is decided today. And because we are broadcasting in the Past Fernando, we don't know who it's going to be, but by the time this show goes to air, I'll know at least. In fact, you might as well, if you've been keeping up with the news on your way to the airport. And we will play the show out on the winner. This was the compromise at which we arrived. So you have narrowed it down to two contenders and boy, are you gonna look like an idiot if it's neither of these. But. But introduce them in in turn.
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B
Well, I'm gonna start with the one that, you know, is not a favorite because the second song, I think that's gonna be the number one. But this one, it is a contender. And in the great British trad, you know, kind of, you know, they're raising funds for people living Gaza. So there's series, of course, we had band Aid in the past, you know, we are the World as well. So I think this song could potentially be the. Be the winner, be the Christmas number one. But I'm not sure. It's a great. It's a beautiful song. It's a touching song. It's by a group of artists including Leanne Mabo and Adin Shah, together for Palestine with Lalia Bai. And we have a clip of it to play.
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Your mom will ha. Your mom.
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B
It is quite touching.
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A
It is. This is not. Is this one of those ones that does at some point kick it up a notch, or have they gone with the counterintuitive solemn Christmas song?
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B
It's solemn. I mean, it's even in the name Lullaby. You know, it's quite. It's quite solemn, you know, but I think there's still some sort of positivity in it. If you think about it, it is a contender. That's all I can say.
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Okay, well, let's go then with. Is this the bookmaker's favorite as well as your favorite?
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B
It's the bookmaker. I think she was actually ahead on the midweek chart. But again, it's been a tight race. It's been reported that, you know, it might be not, you know, together for Palestine. It could be Brenda Lee, it could be Mariah, it could be Wan again.
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A
So you're frantically covering your bases. Yes, absolutely desperate, Fernando. And the listeners can see through you as easily as I can.
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B
But I am very happy to say that Kylie is the favorite. And you know why I'm extra happy? Not only because I have a lot of sympathy towards Kylie, but it's a brand new song. So, you know, I think for a few years we Had Mariah Careyla went For Christmas Is yous went Last Christmas. Even Brenda Lee rocking.
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Because is this then and I still haven't heard this, so feel free to build it up. Is this Kylie Minogue attempting to add to the canon of unarguable Christmas bangers? Because you're right, it's a very limited category. It's the same songs every year. And even we think of All I Want For Christmas is you as a relatively recent Christmas song. But it is, what, 30 years old exactly.
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B
For 94.
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A
Yeah, yeah, well, exactly 30 years old. So has Kai. Do you think this is in with a chance, before I, or indeed many of our listeners hear it, of joining that pantheon?
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B
I think so as well. And. And the differences you were talking about the solar solemnity of the. Of the previous track. This one is up 10. You know, it is very much Kylie. It is very sunny. I think it does bring something new.
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A
To the charts as befits an Australian at Christmas.
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B
Exactly. I mean, you can have your own number one. That's amazing.
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A
It would be nice, actually. Yeah. So, okay, this becomes my favorite as well. And I have not yet heard a bar of it, but you're about to fix that.
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B
It's Kylie. And the title of the song is very simple. Xmas.
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E
X amaz.
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B
Oh, yeah, go with.
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C
Listen.
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A
That is dreadful.
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B
Listen, I do love Kylie, but this is not Kangachu out of my head or spinning around. But still, I think it would be fun to see her having number one.
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A
And I can see what she's done, though. And I kind of had figured this out even before Monica in the production booth started doing the move. She's trying to conjure a sort of YMCA variety dance craze, isn't she? And if this song gains traction, Fernando, if this song becomes a thing, can you imagine how much more annoying it is going to make every Christmas party, every tube ride home late at night during the festive season?
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B
X M A S Sorry I can't really sing, but you know, it's Kylie.
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A
Come on, Fernando. On that somewhat disheartening note, merry Christmas, Happy New Year Year, have an excellent time in Brazil and we shall hear from you again in 2026.
- [28:23]
B
Thank you.
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A
You're listening to the Daily with me, Andrew Muller. And finally, on today's show, and instead of our usual attempt to summarize what the past week has taught us, a wrap up of what we learned learned this year, We learned this week that the producers felt that we should try to extend ourselves. Oh, no, our response exactly. We learned that with year's end approaching, we were being encouraged to take a longer view and instead of, as usual, linking three or four vaguely amusing items from the week's news with silly sound effects and choruses of Monocle staff having their time wasted. I have all the time in the world for you, of course.
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B
It's my favourite.
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C
I'll see you there in just a second.
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A
Thanks all. Appreciate it. We should instead reflect on what we learned in all of 2025. After all, a lot of stuff did happen, and you'd reckon that between it the sum of the human knowledge should have been enlarged somewhat. We learned back in April, for example, of the futility of waging a trade war against remote islands inhabited by nobody at all.
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E
More bizarre still, the remote Australian territory of Heard island also tariffed 10%.
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A
Those tariffs may be hard to collect.
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E
Though, because its main inhabitants are penguins.
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A proposition one might have assumed did not require empirical testing. But every day's a school day, and we can now tick that one off in the hope of underpinning this lesson with some pertinent numbers, or at least padding out another 20 seconds of this week's monologue. We did contact the press Office of U.S. customs and Border Protection, asking for some figures re how much they had actually collected in the way of tariffs on imports from the Heard and McDonald Islands. But they merely sighed somewhat wearily and hung up on us, which I think we can all agree is no way to respond to the honest inquiries of diligent reporters seeking to assiduously represent the interests of their listeners. Just get on with it, you know, I was going to say right here. So without further ado, but just for that impertinence, here's some further ado. There's more where that came from if you don't behave yourselves. Anyway, we mostly learned this year that returning to Earth's most powerful office, America's least qualified individual and eight years older and about eight times crankier than last time round, was going to go pretty much as might have been expected.
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D
I'm really good at this stuff.
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A
Your countries are going to hell or not. For we learned that President Trump, seeking perhaps, who knows, to atone for the division and suspicion he had sown on his previous watch, was now absolutely focused on bringing peace to our rancorous world, including between countries which had never fought with conceivably never heard of each other.
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D
Cambodia and Armenia was just starting, and it was a bad one. Think of that.
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A
We also learned that the President was no less resolute in his program of Domestic reform, for which he also found the time to furnish his own metaphor. The dramatic images.
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B
What was once the East Wing of the White House now a pile of rubble.
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A
For we learned that the White House was not the only American institution Trump was intent on demolishing, though he did at least spare the remnants of the rest of the US federal government. The redecoration of the ruins with what very strongly appeared the contents of a store storage locker acquired in the auction of the effects of the late Uday Hussein.
- [32:28]
E
You might have noticed some changes to the Oval Office since President Trump moved back in. Specifically more and more gold ornaments on the walls and adorning the fireplace door frames outlined in gold paint.
- [32:40]
A
Anyway, we learned that the world would have to do substantially without US foreign aid, US security guarantees, US environmental and climate programs. Honestly, pretty much any idea at all what the US was going to do, say or think from one day to the next. We learned basically that we would have to learn to live with the mightiest superpower ever gathered beneath one flag, apparently doing foreign policy by flinging darts at a whirling globe.
- [33:08]
D
We need Greenland for national security and even international security, and we're working with everybody involved to try and get it. What I'd like to see Canada become our 51st state. And above all, China is operating the Panama Canal. And we didn't give it to China, we gave it to Panama and we're taking it back.
- [33:32]
A
We have not learned when any of this is actually going to happen as such, but we have learned something about the preferred presidential time frame.
- [33:40]
D
But within about two weeks, I think we'll be able to say in America history, starting in about two weeks, we're building some brand new sections, large sections. I will make that decision, I would say, over the next two weeks. If you didn't have our military equipment, this war would have been over in two weeks.
- [33:58]
A
But we learned that we may not have that long to wait around. For if we learned One thing in 2025 about where all of the above and more besides may be headed, we may have learned it from Albania, who visited upon us this. That being Diella, Albania's new Minister of State for artificial intelligence, who is herself an entirely AI apparition. And while this audio only medium cannot do proper justice to Diella's splendid traditional Albanian costume, here's some traditional Albanian media music while you imagine it. We subsequently learned that Diella was to be endowed with not fewer than 83 parliamentary assistants who will keep notes on parliamentary proceedings and somewhat more ominously, offer advice to their flesh and blood colleagues, though it is not clear when we can expect this advice to tilt towards council that we wretched organic life forms submit to being pulped for biomass to fuel our new chatbot overlords. Or indeed, as in this instance, over ladies in two weeks possibly. It is arguable, of course, on the strength of humankind's endeavours this year, that it's about all we deserve. We shall check out of 2025 by putting this proposition to the general muttered agreement crew.
- [35:29]
C
Yeah.
- [35:30]
A
Yeah. And that is it for this edition of the Monocle Daily, and indeed of this year of the Monocle Daily. Thanks to our guests today, Mark Galeotti, Marisa Masria Katz and Fernando Augusto Pacheco. Playing us out what we now know is the UK's Christmas number one, as tentatively predicted by Fernando Fernando, It's Kylie with Xmas. It is my melancholy duty to report that everybody in the production booth is doing the dance. Today's show was produced by Monica Lillis and our sound engineer was Elliot Greenfield. I'm Andrew Muller here in London. The daily returns on January 5th. Thanks for listening in 2025 and all of you have an outstand standing 2026.