0:00

You're listening to The Globalist, first broadcast on 10th

0:02

April 2024 on Monocle Radio, The

0:06

Globalist, in association with UBS.

0:30

Hello, this is The Globalist broadcasting

0:32

to you live from Midori House

0:34

in London. I'm Georgina Godwin. On

0:36

the show ahead, Joe Biden and

0:39

Fumio Kishida are meeting in Washington

0:41

to maintain and strengthen relations between

0:43

Japan and the US. We'll examine

0:45

their agenda. Turkey is

0:47

restricting exports to Israel, but how

0:49

much of this is really about

0:51

Erdogan's domestic agenda? We'll have more

0:53

from Ankara. In Russia, military

0:55

wives and mothers are using their saucepans to

0:57

send a message to the government. But

1:00

will the Kremlin listen to kitchenware? Plus…

1:17

You may not know much about particle

1:19

physics, but you will have heard of

1:21

Higgs-Boson. We'll look back at the life

1:24

of Peter Higgs, who made the scientific

1:26

breakthrough. We'll have a round-up of business

1:28

news, flick through the international papers, and

1:30

lastly, we'll hear who's made the shortlist

1:32

for the highly prestigious International Booker Prize.

1:35

That's all ahead here on The Globalist, live

1:37

from London. First,

1:47

a look at what else is happening in the news. Russia

1:50

and Kazakhstan ordered more than 100,000

1:53

people to evacuate after swiftly

1:55

melting snow swelled mighty rivers beyond

1:57

bursting point in the worst flooding

1:59

ever. in the area for at least 70 years.

2:03

Arizona's top quarters revived a ban

2:05

on nearly all abortions, further

2:07

restricting reproductive rights in a

2:09

state where terminating a pregnancy was already

2:11

barred at 15 weeks of gestation.

2:14

And Vietnam aims to start

2:16

building two high-speed railway lines

2:18

linking its capital Hanoi with

2:20

China before 2030. Do stay

2:22

tuned to Monocle Radio throughout the day for more

2:24

on those stories. Now, Japanese

2:27

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and US

2:29

President Joe Biden are having a summit

2:31

meeting this week aimed at shoring up

2:33

the alliance between the two countries. Meeting

2:35

in Washington, the two leaders want

2:37

to keep the momentum of the

2:40

bilateral relationship going and forge a

2:42

global partnership, all whilst keeping a

2:44

wary eye on China. Well,

2:46

I'm joined now by Julie Norman, who's the

2:48

co-director of University College London's Centre

2:51

on US Politics and on

2:53

the line from Tokyo by Tomahiko Kanaguchi,

2:55

who's a former special advisor to

2:57

the cabinet of Shinzo Abe. Tomahiko,

3:00

I wonder if we could start with

3:03

you. Kishida outlined his aims before leaving

3:05

Tokyo. What did he say? He said

3:08

the traditional and time-honoured

3:11

alliance relationship between

3:13

the United States and Japan is

3:15

now supposed to serve greater purposes

3:17

of maintaining international order that is

3:20

based on rules

3:23

and he is going to call

3:25

the alliance global partners

3:27

for the future and this

3:29

for the future means

3:31

a wide range of issues. Such

3:34

as? Such as, shouldering

3:39

the responsibilities that have

3:42

been traditionally covered solely

3:44

by the United States.

3:47

I think he's going to call the United States

3:49

a partner with which Japan is willing to

3:51

work for the

3:54

public goods that

3:56

the United States again traditionally has

3:59

Chosen. To show that

4:01

by themselves, knowing and

4:03

being aware that mounting

4:06

challenges make it imperative

4:08

for Japan to work

4:10

more closely. With the

4:12

United States, denies has cannot

4:14

solely alone provide public goods

4:17

to the international community. Subtly

4:19

Norman decide to come see you.

4:21

How would you characterize the relationship

4:23

between Japan and the Us? So.

4:25

We're obviously this is always then a

4:28

strong alliance but what we're seeing now

4:30

is really and major strengthening. You know

4:32

our eyes had been somewhere else. Where

4:34

in the world? But this is really

4:36

a significant development in Asia right now

4:38

to has and Japan sifting in terms

4:40

of it's descent. Spending and terms as

4:42

it's I investments into descends and the

4:44

U S is very interested in that.

4:46

They want this alliance to stay strong

4:48

on defense and security. And of course,

4:50

while you're a lot about economic and

4:52

Dad had cooperation today too. but I

4:54

think defense is really. Going to top the

4:57

agenda and light of growing threats from China

4:59

from North Riyadh to some degree from Russia

5:01

as wow. Still, the To: how's it

5:03

being viewed back in Japan? Whoop Whoop whoop.

5:05

What's the what's what's the idea of the

5:08

summit? Their. These stones have

5:10

been laid price a previously by

5:12

the a late Prime minister Says

5:14

Wahlberg who called Reliance Alliance for

5:16

Alliance of Hope meaning that are

5:19

denied status by must work more

5:21

closely for the betterment of for

5:23

the future of the world So

5:25

it's natural expenses and there has

5:27

been very little deviancy from a

5:30

A between the opposition and the

5:32

A ruling party's when it comes

5:34

to the salient said he points

5:36

and importance to be put on

5:38

the. He was to alliance but

5:40

the challenge for the prime minister is

5:43

it's not going to be necessarily translated

5:45

into the great of popularity. That

5:48

he could enjoy from the domestic

5:50

voters. and i

5:52

wanted to see what this is the

5:55

best possible outcomes so this would be

5:57

some from bidens prospectus not not system

5:59

the relationship with Japan, but also for

6:02

his domestic base? Sure.

6:05

So there's a couple of things in place.

6:07

One I would say it is a big

6:09

deal that this is official state visit, official

6:11

state dinner, a congressional

6:13

address. So in terms of just

6:16

showcasing, I would say, a very

6:18

positive foreign policy relationship, that's very

6:20

helpful for Biden. I would

6:22

say on the economic side, there's

6:24

some more political touchy elements in

6:26

terms of a Japanese

6:28

steel company trying to buy US steel.

6:30

That's politically kind of testy for Biden

6:32

right now. So there's some of those

6:35

conversations that I think will be a

6:37

little bit more on the sidelines than

6:39

the official conversations. But for Biden, they

6:41

do matter. And they're things that other

6:43

Americans, I think, will be looking to,

6:45

especially Republicans and GOP and Biden

6:47

opponents. Tomahiko, I

6:49

wonder how this meeting fits him with

6:51

Kishida's greater foreign policy aims. He's

6:54

been following basically what his

6:57

predecessor has chosen

6:59

to follow, namely to bring

7:02

Japan on the center

7:04

stage of the international community, again,

7:07

being aware that the international

7:10

order, especially in the Indo-Pacific

7:12

area, has been constantly challenged

7:14

by revisionist, authoritarian regimes from

7:17

Russia, North Korea to China. And

7:21

the aims that Kishida is after

7:24

during this summit meeting

7:26

are, once again, pretty much

7:29

the natural extension of

7:31

what he has been doing. So

7:34

let's just pick up on defense, as you've been

7:36

also speaking about. Julie, we

7:38

know that on Thursday, Kishida will join

7:40

Biden and the Philippine President, Ferdinand Marcus

7:42

Jr., to discuss the Chinese coast guard

7:45

aggression in the South and

7:47

the East China Seas. So tell

7:49

us more about that focus on defense. Yeah.

7:52

So again, defense will, I think, play a

7:54

part in the bilateral, as well as

7:56

in this additional meeting with the Philippines.

7:59

And Again, the I Japan has over

8:01

the last several years. Ben increasing

8:03

defense spending, Has restructured

8:06

their security strategy. And

8:08

there's a couple t things the Us

8:10

and Japan will be discussing. Wind is

8:12

just greater an eye coordination. Between

8:14

there are there different troops in Japan,

8:16

the Us has about fifty thousand service

8:19

person's eyes station. They're still be talking

8:21

a lot about new initiatives for and

8:23

defense industry for defense equipment for I'm

8:25

for of arms sales and these kinds

8:28

of things which is a new area

8:30

of conversation for these two countries, on

8:32

and off the possible participation, other security

8:34

partnerships and that certainly include the Philippines

8:37

with both to town and thought the

8:39

Philippines and we some the U S

8:41

perspective on the again being somewhat subject

8:43

to this increasing. Aggressive aggression from

8:45

China from Than Ah You aggression

8:48

and I in in the

8:50

Pacific region and trying to disrupt.

8:52

Deterrence. that and of the day says

8:54

filmmaker speaking about minutes partnerships I mean

8:57

the worst excesses that japan much to

8:59

an Opus that's the by less will

9:01

security. Deposits of Indo Pacific region

9:03

between. Australia, the United Kingdom

9:05

and United States. Dorcas see like

9:07

I will, I will. I wonder

9:09

how likely that isn't were written

9:11

with sits within the Japanese pacifist

9:13

constitution. I think

9:16

it's so become much much

9:18

likelier our but certainly Japan

9:20

is not going to be

9:22

able to provide nuclear powered

9:24

submarine fleet to Australia or

9:26

which are they call pillow

9:28

one but pillar to include

9:30

a lot of initiatives especially

9:32

on the high technology areas

9:34

where Japan could contribute to

9:37

the enhancement of the Royal

9:39

Australian Navy's capacity by extension

9:41

d or overall capacity of

9:43

the naval pause of of

9:45

the. United States, Australia, Japan

9:47

and the United Kingdom which

9:49

has a over the last

9:52

couple of years been a

9:54

very close maybe terribly to

9:56

Japan. My Rights And

9:58

and Tr S and. Few

10:00

questions a given the a

10:02

impending crises The.japan his face

10:05

to daily of coming from

10:07

my China. Most notably there

10:09

is a wider recognition among

10:12

the Japanese populace that more

10:14

to be done more should

10:16

be done to beef up

10:18

to pass defense and deterrence

10:21

capacities. We know

10:23

of course isn't election coming up in the

10:25

United States soon? and of course everything might

10:27

change. How much can the biden administration to

10:29

to make sure that to censor dream is

10:32

that a person's a place now are at

10:34

sleep some. Priests to see like

10:36

yeah, It's a good question I

10:38

think it's one that both to allies

10:41

and adversaries. Are aware of about

10:43

many of the agreement. That or

10:45

perhaps need under the Biden administration

10:47

or may. Not last. At least not

10:49

last. And their time for a mom under

10:51

a new president seen especially under Trump. And

10:54

with that said, ios on the of

10:56

these relationships and especially. The one with

10:58

Japan I do think will be on

11:00

a solid solid alliance even are under

11:02

a potential at Trump presidency. One

11:04

area where the party's do. Agree is

11:07

on being somewhat tough on countering China

11:09

and I think both parties seats bolstering

11:11

this relationship with Japan as part of

11:13

overall a against on. The details may

11:15

differ, but it's idea of seeing Japan

11:18

as a strong ally as a strong

11:20

partners or maybe some the distance side

11:22

is something that I think would continue.

11:25

That summer he says I saw Tokyo

11:27

has ties, keeps trade measures against sign

11:29

and low keys. Clearly Japan doesn't want

11:31

to antagonize it's top trade partner will

11:34

die to see says that. How can

11:36

that be it seems. Whilst keeping the

11:38

status quo. The.

11:40

A Japanese companies are,

11:43

as you say, very

11:45

much concerned. About

11:48

the repercussion. to

11:50

be coming from china in

11:53

response to the retaliatory measures

11:55

taken by the united states

11:58

and japan but silently but

12:00

steadily more and more

12:02

Japanese companies are reshoring

12:04

their operations, divesting

12:07

from China and investing into

12:09

its own country, its own

12:11

homeland country. Remember that

12:14

the Japanese currency is extremely

12:17

cheap and labor,

12:20

cost and everything has become much,

12:22

much more competitive in Japan even

12:24

compared to China. So economically it

12:26

makes a lot of sense to

12:29

move the production basis from

12:32

China to Japan these days. Tomahiko,

12:35

thank you very much indeed. I understand that

12:37

both leaders will be serenaded by Paul Simon

12:39

at an official dinner. Julie

12:42

Norman, Tomahiko Tanaguchi, thank you very

12:44

much indeed. This is The Globalist. UBS has

12:50

over 900 investment analysts from over 100 different

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countries. Over

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900 of the sharpest minds and

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out how we can help you, contact us

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at ubs.com. The

13:10

Globalist It

13:15

is 9.13 in Ankara, 7.13 here in London. Turkey

13:19

has announced its placing export restrictions

13:21

on goods going to Israel until

13:23

such time as a ceasefire is

13:25

declared. As well as calling

13:27

for an immediate ceasefire, Ankara has supported

13:30

steps to try Israel for genocide and

13:32

sent thousands of tons of aid for

13:34

garzons. I'm joined now by

13:36

Victoria Craig, who is a journalist based in

13:38

Ankara. Good morning to you Victoria. These

13:41

trade restrictions came into place yesterday.

13:43

Was there a particular incident

13:45

that prompted them? Good morning.

13:47

There's been several reasons why President

13:50

Erdogan and his government may have

13:53

pursued something like this, sort of a push and a

13:55

pull. I think the one thing that the Turkish Foreign

13:57

Minister cited was that they were not going to be

13:59

able to do that. was that Israel

14:01

denied a request from Turkey to air drop

14:03

aid into Gaza. And you mentioned how much

14:05

Turkey has sent. So this is,

14:07

this has been something that Turkey has been really

14:09

passionate about since, since

14:11

the conflict began back in October. They've

14:13

been really rallying on the side of

14:15

Gazans and Palestinians. And so

14:18

that was what sort of prompted this

14:20

response by Turkey. Turkey's foreign minister vowed

14:22

retaliation in a press conference on Monday

14:24

night and said that there's no excuse

14:26

for Israel to block our attempt to

14:28

airlift aid to starving Gazans. But

14:30

there are also several domestic factors as well.

14:32

There were local elections here in Turkey last

14:35

weekend. And President Erdogan's

14:37

ruling AKP party, the Justice and

14:39

Development Party, lost in many

14:42

provinces. Lots of people here saying

14:44

that they wanted to see more actual action

14:46

on Israel rather

14:48

than just tough talk. So these

14:51

two factors, I think, were probably the biggest in

14:54

sort of pushing Turkey to this response. So

14:56

how much trade has Turkey traditionally done

14:58

with Israel? Well, it's been

15:01

one of both, on both

15:03

sides. Both countries are big trading

15:05

partners with each other. Last year,

15:07

Israel was Turkey's 13th biggest export

15:09

partner. And for Israel, Turkey is

15:11

its fifth largest import partner. So

15:14

since the war began in October, Turkish exports

15:16

to Israel sell by about 30%. But

15:19

it's still a major trade ally. And

15:21

we can't forget that relations between Turkey

15:23

and Israel had been cooling in

15:26

recent months. It was only in September of

15:28

last year that President Erdogan met on the

15:30

sidelines of the UN General Assembly

15:32

in New York City with Prime Minister

15:34

Benjamin Netanyahu. And many had

15:37

called this a major milestone meeting. Tensions

15:39

had been mounting for more than a

15:41

decade over disputes, over policies that pertained

15:44

to Palestinians. And the two leaders

15:46

had then agreed to meet in each other's countries

15:49

when they called soon back then and

15:51

beef up economic links, including in energy.

15:54

But October 7th really put all of that

15:56

on hold and on ice and really ratcheted

15:58

up tensions. putting this thaw

16:00

and relations really on the back burner. So

16:03

what specific goods will now be banned? Well,

16:06

there are 54 goods on the list,

16:09

but there's importantly no details

16:11

by how much Turkey plans

16:13

to restrict any of these

16:15

exports to Israel. But some

16:17

of those exports include steel

16:19

products, cement, granite, construction machinery,

16:21

aviation fuel, things that

16:24

Turkey thinks could be used in

16:26

Israel's war efforts.

16:29

The Foreign Ministry said in a statement when

16:31

it announced those restrictions that the decision, as

16:33

you said, will be in place until Israel

16:35

declares an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and

16:38

allows sufficient and uninterrupted

16:41

humanitarian aid to Gaza. And then President

16:43

Erdogan released a video later in the

16:45

day yesterday, and he said that Turkey

16:47

has shown that we stand by the

16:49

Palestinian people in these difficult times. He

16:51

said Turkey has sent more than 45,000

16:53

tons of aid to the region and

16:55

vowed to continue to support the Palestinians

16:57

until the bloodshed in Gaza stops. So

17:01

we may see a ratcheting up of

17:04

these trade tensions. Israel has, for its part,

17:06

vowed to respond in kind, and it has

17:08

called on U.S. companies to

17:10

stop imports from Turkey to

17:12

try to sort of, I guess,

17:15

further increase the blow to Turkey's economy.

17:17

The Foreign Minister on Ex yesterday said

17:19

that Erdogan is, again, he said, sacrificing

17:21

the economic interests of the people of

17:23

Turkey for his support of Hamas, which

17:25

Turkey doesn't consider to be a terror

17:27

organization like many other countries around the

17:29

world does. Just don't pick that for

17:31

us, because Turkey is

17:34

a NATO member. As

17:36

you say, they don't consider Hamas to

17:38

be a terrorist organization. What's the relationship?

17:41

Well, there are lots of allegations that

17:44

members of Hamas are in Turkey, and

17:46

that President Erdogan isn't making any moves

17:48

to do anything about that. There

17:50

have been many pro-Palestinian

17:52

marches and

17:54

rallies across this

17:57

country. They, of course, not directly

17:59

related to Hamas, but

18:01

it sort of gives you a picture of

18:03

how much people here support the Palestinian cause

18:06

and movement. And like

18:08

I said, with local elections here last

18:10

weekend, many people said that the president

18:12

wasn't doing enough to support Palestinians and

18:14

Gazans particularly. And

18:16

like I said, President Erdogan doesn't consider Hamas

18:19

to be a terror organization. He's called them

18:21

a liberation group. In

18:23

the immediate aftermath of October

18:25

7th, he made allegations that

18:29

Israel was committing a genocide. He's

18:31

called Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu

18:34

a murderer. So they

18:36

really stand on two very different sides

18:38

of this issue. And President

18:40

Erdogan, I think, feeling the pressure from

18:43

people here in Turkey to do more

18:45

to actually respond and show more

18:47

support rather than just support of words.

18:50

And so going forward, what will this

18:52

signify for Turkey-Israel relations? Certainly

18:56

no rush in this effort to

18:58

better relations, that's for sure. Like

19:01

I said, President Erdogan has not been

19:04

shy about calling Benjamin Netanyahu, quote-unquote, the

19:06

butcher of Gaza. He

19:08

held what he called the Great Palestine Rally

19:10

last year to sort of drum up support

19:12

for Gazans. Thousands of people attended. But many

19:14

told me that what they really wanted to

19:16

see was more action from Middle Eastern countries

19:19

to help those in Gaza, whether through more

19:21

aid or immigration. And I

19:23

think the other thing, too, is President Erdogan has sort

19:25

of seen this as potentially an opportunity when

19:27

Western support for Israel may be waning. We

19:29

saw yesterday the UK said that it won't

19:32

block arms sales to Israel, but France had

19:34

floated the idea of sanctions to get more

19:36

aid into Gaza. So

19:38

President Erdogan may see this as an opportunity

19:40

to sort of get some of Israel's Western

19:42

allies more on his side. But

19:45

certainly this doesn't seem like an opportunity

19:47

to sort of repair a relationship

19:50

or build any bridges between the two

19:52

countries. But I think the real action

19:54

will be in seeing how much Turkey

19:57

does in fact restrict any of these

19:59

exports to Israel. Israel, because

20:01

like I said, no specific amounts

20:03

had been announced with this announcement

20:05

yesterday. So we'll have to

20:07

wait and see what the trade data actually

20:10

show happens and how much Israel will

20:12

respond with its own trade restrictions. Like I

20:14

said, it's been trying to rally support with

20:16

some of Turkey's allies, NATO allies, to

20:18

restrict its own trade between the two

20:21

countries. But those are really complicated relationships,

20:23

and it's not clear how the U.S.

20:25

will respond to

20:27

that encouragement, I suppose, from Israel as

20:30

well. Victoria, thank you. That's Victoria Craig

20:32

in Ankara, and this is The Globalist.

20:34

That's Turkey

20:46

heading back to the Middle East, because we're

20:48

going to continue now with today's newspapers.

20:50

And joining me down the line from

20:52

Istanbul is Ruth Michaelson, who's a journalist

20:54

and Middle East correspondent. And in fact,

20:56

Ruth, we want to start by looking

20:58

at the latest on the war in

21:00

Gaza. Tell us about

21:02

where we are on ceasefire negotiations.

21:06

Well, the process at the

21:08

moment on ceasefire negotiations is

21:10

not particularly positive. The

21:14

latest news being that Hamas has

21:16

said that they

21:19

are reviewing the latest ceasefire proposal

21:21

that was discussed in

21:24

Cairo, that was presented by mediators

21:26

there before leaving

21:29

Cairo. And

21:31

a senior member of Hamas told The Washington Post

21:33

that talks were on hold. And

21:37

The Washington Post basically

21:40

going through the kind of ups and

21:42

downs that have happened with

21:44

these talks that we've seen

21:46

the Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz

21:49

saying earlier this week that negotiations have reached

21:52

a critical point. But

21:54

Hamas saying that the terms that were presented

21:56

to them on the table in Cairo were

21:58

essentially nothing new. and another

22:01

senior, a spokesman from Hamas, Bassem Naim,

22:03

talking to the New York Times, describing

22:05

the latest proposal as worse than the

22:08

previous ones and saying that many of

22:10

the things that were put on the table in Cairo this

22:12

time were actually not

22:15

as good or they were less than what was

22:17

previously offered. And how are

22:19

the papers covering the fact that there does seem to have

22:21

been a bit of a sea change here from Washington? Well,

22:25

widespread coverage of Joe

22:28

Biden's remarks towards Benjamin Netanyahu.

22:30

We've seen, we've been covering for a

22:32

long time, the kind of increasing public

22:36

pressure from Joe Biden on

22:38

Benjamin Netanyahu in public criticism

22:40

of his trial of government.

22:43

And this seems to have reached the

22:46

latest peak. So

22:48

in an interview with Univision, which has

22:50

been widely quoted, the Guardian, France 24,

22:53

running these comments, saying

22:56

that Benjamin Netanyahu's approach with

22:58

Gaza was a mistake in the words

23:00

of Joe Biden, and

23:02

saying, I don't agree with his approach

23:04

and demanding an immediate ceasefire. And

23:08

I mean, this does mark a significant shift

23:10

from his previous comments. That

23:12

does. I mean, certainly

23:15

if we look at how Biden was

23:17

talking at the beginning of

23:19

the war on Gaza, and

23:22

that in the beginning there was certainly a lot

23:24

more kind of hedged criticisms

23:27

of Netanyahu's choices. But

23:30

now we're seeing a lot more kind of open

23:32

discussion, particularly when

23:34

it comes to the approach to aid. So

23:38

he basically said that

23:41

Israel should let more aid into

23:43

Gaza. And he said

23:45

that he'd spoken to leaders in Saudi Arabia,

23:47

Jordan and Egypt, that they were prepared to move

23:49

food in. And he said

23:52

there's no excuse not to provide for the medical and

23:54

food needs of those people. It should be

23:56

done now. But of course, things

23:58

are about to get much worse. Benjamin Netanyahu

24:00

has said that a date has been set

24:03

for a ground military operation in Rafa. I

24:05

don't think he's actually said when it is,

24:07

but there's been widespread condemnation of this. Absolutely.

24:10

I mean, this has, you

24:13

know, provoked understandably huge concern

24:15

given that there is over

24:18

a million people considered to be in

24:20

the city of Rafa in southern Gaza.

24:23

Netanyahu has said there is a

24:26

date, comments described by Al

24:28

Jazeera as doubling down, saying

24:31

that Israel will proceed with its goal

24:33

of eliminating all of Hamas's brigades, including

24:35

in Rafa, and

24:38

extremely forceful comments from Benjamin Netanyahu,

24:40

literally saying there is no force

24:42

in the world that will stop

24:44

us. Let's

24:46

go to a good news story.

24:49

It's a group of older Swiss women. They've won

24:51

a landmark ruling at the European Court of Human

24:53

Rights. It's declared that the

24:55

Swiss government violated the right to life

24:57

of its citizens by failing to do

24:59

enough about the climate crisis. This really

25:01

is a landmark ruling. Tell

25:04

us more. Yes, been hailed

25:06

by the lawyers, comment

25:08

that this case is a historic ruling. I think

25:10

it certainly does have the power to reverberate

25:14

across Europe. So

25:16

this is a group

25:18

of Swiss senior women,

25:20

average age 73, called

25:23

the Klimasinurinen. And they

25:25

brought this ruling in, brought a case

25:27

to, in the court in Switzerland, saying

25:29

that the country had failed to reduce

25:32

its greenhouse gas emissions fast enough to

25:34

meet its own targets. Switzerland

25:38

didn't respond to this case, and they escalated

25:40

it to the European Court of Human Rights, which

25:43

ruled in their favor. And

25:46

so it's, you know, according to the Washington

25:48

Post, shows how governments can

25:50

potentially be held to account in

25:52

court for climate-related issues and could

25:55

influence similar litigation worldwide. Although

25:57

there were a couple of other cases heard on the same

25:59

day. Portuguese youngsters

26:03

were bringing a case as was the former

26:05

mayor of a French coastal town both of

26:07

those thrown out. Yeah I

26:09

think there was some the impression from

26:11

lawyers that were speaking to the press

26:13

was that they wanted all three cases

26:15

to pass in kind of one big

26:18

sweep to demonstrate the power of this

26:20

kind of climate change legislation

26:23

or legislation to fight against government

26:25

inaction on climate change rather. The

26:28

case brought by these six young people

26:30

in Portugal particularly interesting all born

26:32

between 1999

26:34

and 2012 and they basically argued

26:37

that the existing and future effects of climate

26:39

change particularly looking at the spate of heat

26:42

waves and wildfires that had hit parts

26:45

of Central Europe exposed them to

26:47

harm. The court essentially said

26:49

that because their case was brought against

26:51

every member state that

26:54

is a member of the European Court

26:56

of Human Rights that it was inadmissible and

26:58

threw the case out. Right and of

27:01

course the French mayor I think lost his case

27:03

because he's no longer the mayor of that town. He

27:05

was worried because the town is on the coast

27:07

it's very low lying and of course there's

27:09

a risk of flooding there and well

27:11

people might worry about water in

27:13

France. We're looking at a story now where

27:16

a water charity in Paris has

27:18

very bad news for the upcoming Olympics they've been

27:20

testing the water in the Seine and it's

27:23

not great. Yes

27:25

extremely concerning news for the upcoming

27:28

Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games so

27:30

this water charity the

27:32

surf rider foundation of Europe said a

27:35

shadow looms over the quality of the

27:37

water in the Seine River they found

27:39

alarming levels of bacteria in the river

27:41

including E. coli. They tested

27:43

the water around

27:46

the Alexandre-Troy bridge which

27:49

will be the starting point for

27:51

the Olympic and Paralympic triathlon and

27:53

marathon swimming events the centerpiece of

27:55

the Olympic Games and

27:58

essentially said that there are a these

28:00

alarming levels of bacteria

28:02

and E. coli in the water. Lots

28:06

of mention of the idea that increased

28:08

rainfall might also basically

28:10

counter efforts by the mayor of Paris

28:12

to clean up the River Seine. But

28:15

also lots of statements given

28:17

to the local media by

28:20

the mayor of Paris essentially saying, no, we're doing

28:22

the cleanup operations. Everything will be

28:24

fine in 100 days' time when these

28:27

events start. The

28:29

piece in CBS, for example,

28:31

shows a picture of a

28:33

test event for swimmers diving off the

28:36

bridge into the water that happened last

28:38

year. So potentially some of these athletes

28:40

have already been exposed to whatever's going

28:42

on in the water. So

28:44

any chance that it might have to be cancelled?

28:48

There has been some discussion,

28:50

certainly questions to the

28:52

president of the Paris 2024 Olympics, the

28:56

Tony S. Dange, who

28:58

basically said that the triathlon competition

29:00

could be delayed, the swimming leg

29:03

could be cancelled, and that would

29:05

be due to adverse weather conditions,

29:07

so increased rainfall. But he basically

29:09

said it would only

29:11

have to be probably pushed off by a few

29:13

days and that swimmers are very tough. If you're

29:15

a competitive swimmer, you're used to this sort of

29:18

facing these kinds of difficulties. Let's

29:22

end with this wonderful story from Germany.

29:24

I feel extremely sorry for this man

29:26

who has been fired from a German

29:28

art gallery. Tell us more. Well,

29:31

I mean, it's one way to make sure that your

29:33

work gets into a museum, which is to go in

29:35

there and hang it yourself, especially

29:38

if you are part of the

29:40

technical team at the Munich Art

29:43

Museum, the Pianakatek de Mauderna.

29:46

And so there was a technician

29:49

and, in the words of

29:51

the Guardian aspiring artist, and actually I think

29:53

in the words of the Suddeutsches item, which is

29:55

from Munich, talking about this man's artistic ambitions, and

29:57

apparently, early on, he was a very good person.

30:00

this week, the museum

30:02

said that it had fired a

30:04

member of its technical services team

30:06

who managed to hang his painting

30:08

in the gallery near Andy Warhol

30:11

for an entire day. And

30:14

a spokesman from the Pina Tech told the

30:16

Guardian, the employee considers himself an artist and

30:18

most likely saw his role in the museum's

30:20

installation team as a day job to support

30:23

his true calling. Well, yeah, I've scrolled through

30:25

various links to this and I cannot see

30:27

a picture of his painting. Have you seen?

30:29

Is he any good? Unfortunately

30:31

not. It seems like the museum

30:34

didn't want to give him any more

30:36

publicity by saying that he had a

30:38

painting. But there was also mention in

30:40

Sudoch Wietung that there was another museum in

30:42

Bonn where this happened, where

30:45

the museum did react rather favorably.

30:47

So this is the Kunzhalle in

30:49

Bonn. Somebody came into the

30:51

museum and or a student who smuggled

30:53

one of her own paintings into the

30:56

museum and attached it to the wall

30:58

with double-sided tape, they mentioned. And

31:00

the Kunzhalle said, we think this is funny and

31:02

would like to get to know the artist. So

31:05

get in touch. There will be no

31:07

trouble. How fantastic. Ruth, thank you very

31:09

much indeed. Now here's what else we're

31:11

keeping an eye on today. Russia

31:15

and Kazakhstan ordered more than 100,000 people to be

31:17

evacuated after

31:19

swiftly melting snow swelled mighty rivers

31:21

beyond bursting point in the worst flooding

31:23

in the area for at least 70 years.

31:26

The snow melt is an annual event in

31:29

Russia, but scientists say climate change has made

31:31

flooding more frequent worldwide.

31:33

Arizona's top quarters revived a ban

31:35

on nearly all abortions under a

31:37

law from 1864, half

31:40

a century before statehood and

31:42

women's suffrage, further restricting reproductive

31:44

rights in the state where terminating a

31:46

pregnancy was already barred at 15 weeks

31:48

of gestation. President Joe

31:51

Biden called the Arizona ruling the

31:53

result of the extreme agenda of Republican

31:55

elected officials who are committed to ripping

31:57

away women's freedom. And

32:00

Vietnam aims to start building two

32:02

high-speed railway lines linking its capital

32:05

Hanoi with China before 2030, another

32:08

sign of a recent warming of ties between

32:10

the two communist ruled neighbours. Trade

32:13

between Vietnam and China in the first quarter

32:15

of this year rose 22%, though

32:18

the two countries remain embroiled in

32:20

a years-long maritime dispute in the

32:22

South China Sea. This is

32:24

The Globalist. Stay tuned. Now,

32:34

a movement in Russia formed by the

32:36

wives of soldiers has started a regular

32:38

protest, calling for their husbands to

32:40

be allowed to return home. Joining

32:42

me in the studio now is Stephen Diel,

32:44

who's a Russia analyst and a regular Monocle

32:47

contributor. Stephen, welcome back to the studio. Thank

32:49

you. Tell us about this movement. It's

32:51

called The Way Home, Putdamoi

32:54

in Russian. They have a

32:56

very active Telegram channel, Telegram being the

32:59

social media of choice for many Russians.

33:02

And it started some months ago

33:04

with the idea

33:06

not so much to stop the war, although some

33:09

of them clearly feel that that would be the

33:11

best solution for Russia and Russians, but

33:14

actually to bring home their

33:16

husbands, principally, but also brothers,

33:19

cousins, uncles, fathers,

33:22

who were called up under the mobilization

33:24

announced by President Putin in September 2022

33:28

and have never been given leave. So

33:30

we're talking about more than 18 months now. They've been

33:32

at the front. They

33:35

were not regular soldiers. They

33:37

may have had a little bit of training, but

33:40

none of them have been allowed home. And

33:42

so that's what sparked off this movement. And

33:45

for some months, women have

33:47

been putting on a white headscarf, and

33:49

at 12 o'clock local time going to

33:51

their local memorial to the

33:53

unknown soldier, the main one, of course, in Moscow,

33:55

just under the Kremlin walls. But

33:58

they're across Russia and other cities. and

34:00

laying flowers and that was a form of

34:02

protest. And they've now decided to take this

34:04

one step further. As of last Saturday, and

34:06

they're calling for every Saturday, at five o'clock

34:08

on local time, for people to go out

34:10

on their balconies or if they're at their

34:13

dacha, go in the garden of their dacha

34:15

and bang saucepans. So they're

34:17

calling it the march of

34:19

the empty saucepans. And on

34:21

last Saturday, in at least

34:24

20 cities and areas

34:27

across Russia, women took

34:29

part in this. Some men took part in this as well.

34:31

On the Telegram channel, there are various videos that

34:34

people have sent in. This

34:36

of course is a brave thing to do. It's

34:38

a demonstration, but they're saying, well, you're

34:40

at home. Surely the authorities can't arrest

34:42

you for doing something on your

34:45

own territory. Well, we know the authorities

34:47

can and will do exactly as they like in

34:49

Russia. So why is the Kremlin leaving them alone?

34:52

That's a very good question. My own feeling

34:54

is that they're

34:56

wary of these

34:59

women and they're wary of the numbers of

35:01

them. We're talking thousands. Let's keep it in

35:03

perspective. We're not talking millions of people across

35:05

the country yet, but nevertheless, when

35:08

you've got thousands of women who are

35:10

making a protest, they're perhaps slightly more

35:12

wary of arresting women, particularly on mass,

35:14

than they would be arresting men. And

35:17

there's this feeling that, well,

35:22

how do we blame them

35:24

or say they've committed

35:26

a crime when all they're doing is

35:28

either wearing a white headscarf and putting flowers

35:31

or banging a saucepan? And

35:33

I think that this is a

35:35

reflection of President Putin's biggest

35:37

fear in Russia. His biggest fear, as

35:39

I've said in this studio before, is

35:42

not nuclear war. It's not NATO. It's

35:44

an uprising from below. And when

35:47

you've got women whose husbands haven't returned, maybe

35:49

are never going to return because they've already

35:52

been killed, there's a feeling

35:54

that they've got nothing to lose. And

35:56

these women, as we saw in

35:58

the Afghan war, When a

36:00

lot of mothers protested and started a

36:02

real social movement of soldiers' mothers, when

36:06

they feel that they've lost what's most precious

36:08

to them and they say, what the hell,

36:11

my husband's dead, my son's dead, what else have

36:13

I got to lose? They

36:15

will fight. Russian women have this reputation for

36:18

being incredibly tough and I

36:20

think that is what is preventing

36:22

the Kremlin from really pushing hard

36:24

on them because it

36:26

could then spark out of control and then

36:28

if you get what the Russians call bunt,

36:30

this uprising from below, that's what

36:32

frightens Putin most of all. And

36:35

are these women anti-patriotic? Are they against the

36:37

war? They very much say

36:39

that they are patriotic. You

36:42

do get comments coming back to them on Telegram

36:45

accusing them of being unpatriotic and

36:48

using terms that one wouldn't repeat on the radio.

36:51

But on the whole, they say, no, no,

36:53

we're patriotic. What we're asking for is our

36:55

government to fulfill its obligations. It's

36:58

just not right to call men up

37:00

to the army for whatever reason and

37:02

then not give them any leave. They

37:05

say that the starting point is that

37:08

they're protesting about their loved ones not

37:10

being allowed home at all for leave,

37:12

which is in any circumstance is

37:14

very unusual. I mean, in the Second World War,

37:16

for example, armies were allowed to

37:19

have soldiers go on leave for R&R,

37:22

restaurant recuperation. But

37:25

this is not happening at all. And also, of

37:27

course, we know how brutal the Russian army is

37:29

being to its own people. Soldiers

37:31

who refuse to fight, maybe they've got

37:34

PTSD, they simply cannot go on, are

37:36

being thrown into a pit and

37:38

not fed until they agree to come out and go and

37:40

fight. The Russians have done

37:42

some incredibly dreadful and brutal

37:45

things to Ukrainians in Ukraine and

37:47

torture and mass rape and so

37:49

on. But they're actually very

37:52

cruel to their own people, too. And

37:54

so this is what the women also are saying. Why should

37:56

my husband be thrown into a pit? Because he's been on

37:58

the front line for 18 months. and just

38:00

need a break. We know that Russia's desperately

38:02

short of troops, but what might

38:04

be the other reasons for not allowing them

38:06

leave? Is it because they would bring news

38:08

back from the front lines? I think

38:10

you're absolutely right, Georgina. I think that is

38:13

the worry. The

38:15

Russian authorities have clamped down on any

38:18

information that doesn't put across the official

38:20

view that this is not a war,

38:22

but a special military operation, that the

38:26

Russian army is liberating Russians

38:29

in Ukraine, that they're fighting Nazis in

38:31

Ukraine, they're now fighting NATO in Ukraine,

38:34

all of which is nonsense. The only Nazis

38:36

in Ukraine are Russian soldiers who behaved so

38:38

atrociously. Anything

38:41

that actually brings the message back has

38:44

happened again in Afghanistan. This was one of the

38:46

things that the war in Afghanistan lasted

38:48

nearly 10 years. I

38:51

said this for a long time, and I think

38:53

it's generally accepted now, not just because I said

38:55

it, but that the war in Afghanistan played a

38:58

crucial role in the collapse of the Soviet Union.

39:00

One of the reasons was you had soldiers who'd

39:02

serve up there who were being told they were

39:05

doing their internationalist duty, and then coming back and

39:07

going back to their villages or towns all over

39:09

Russia and saying, hey, they were shooting at us.

39:11

My friend got his arm blown off. When

39:15

the horrors of war do come back, the

39:17

Russians know from their experience from Afghanistan

39:19

that this can have a knock-on effect,

39:21

and it could really cause real trouble

39:24

amongst the Russian population. Stephen Diehl, thank

39:26

you very much indeed. You're with

39:28

Monocle Radio. UBS

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40:22

The Globalist This

40:27

is The Globalist on Monocle Radio with me,

40:29

Georgina Godwin. It's 7.40pm here in London.

40:32

Peter Higgs, the Nobel Prize winning

40:34

physicist who discovered a new particle known

40:36

as the Higgs boson, has died. He

40:39

was 94. Higgs was awarded the Nobel

40:41

Prize for Physics in 2013 for his work, which

40:45

showed how the boson helped bind the

40:47

universe together. To look back at

40:49

his life and legacy, I am joined now by Dr Chris

40:51

Smith of the Naked Scientists podcast

40:53

and a virologist at Cambridge University.

40:56

Chris, we used to speak to you almost on a

40:58

daily basis back in the good old days of Covid.

41:01

We miss you. Well,

41:03

thank goodness, because that means Covid isn't such

41:06

a problem. But I miss you too. Chris,

41:08

can we start by explaining to the likes of me, who

41:11

are very ignorant on this, the

41:14

particle Higgs boson and why it's

41:16

important? Well,

41:18

Peter Higgs, who was born in Newcastle on time

41:20

94 years ago and died

41:22

on Monday, was a physicist. And

41:25

in the 1960s, he

41:28

was reading various bits of theoretical

41:31

physics, because that was his field,

41:33

theoretical physics. And

41:35

he landed on a course of

41:37

work, which in 1964 led to the

41:39

publication of two papers. Well, he submitted

41:41

for publication, I should say, two papers,

41:43

one of which was rejected. And

41:46

it was rejected because the pair of them were

41:48

literally a matter of lines long and

41:50

a handful of equations. But the

41:53

insight that was there was that they

41:55

explained something that was missing in particle

41:57

physics, which had enjoyed a real explosion.

42:00

in the 50s, 60s, 70s, because

42:02

scientists began to assemble, or got

42:04

close to assembling, what we call

42:06

the standard model. When

42:08

we look at the universe, we

42:10

see that it's made up of particles, and

42:12

those particles are made up themselves of particles

42:14

that are smaller than they are, and

42:16

they're bound together by various forces. And

42:19

there are various ways of arranging all of this

42:21

so that the system works. It's

42:24

effectively like the spice rack in your kitchen

42:26

wall of how you make matter. But

42:29

there was one thing missing, which is that

42:31

this could explain how matter worked, but it

42:34

didn't explain where it got its mass from.

42:36

In other words, when I put some of

42:38

those spices and other things on the weighing

42:40

scales, they register a weight. They've got mass,

42:42

which when it's acted on by gravity, has

42:45

a weight. And what Peter

42:47

Higgs's equations that were presented in those 1964

42:49

papers did was to convey a

42:51

way, a notion that

42:54

you could have a particle, or a series

42:56

of particles, which would create the force field,

42:58

which would pervade the universe. And

43:01

when things that had mass interacted, or

43:03

things, particles that existed, interacted with that

43:05

force field, they would feel that force,

43:07

and that would give them their mass.

43:09

So this was the missing part of

43:12

the explanation for why things weigh something

43:14

when you put them on your weighing

43:16

scales. And initially, people said, well, it's

43:18

just a theory. And many famous scientists

43:21

said that this god particle should

43:23

be called the goddamn particle because it'll

43:25

never be discovered. It's too difficult. And

43:27

even Stephen Hawking said, I'll bet

43:29

another, he bet another scientist $100 that

43:31

it didn't exist. He even said to Peter Higgs

43:33

about 20 years ago, I hope this

43:36

is never discovered because meaning he'd lose his bet, but

43:38

also he just didn't think it was likely to be

43:40

a reality. And Peter Higgs had

43:42

retired a long time before. They

43:44

finally had enough power at the particle

43:47

accelerator in CERN, the Large Hadron Collider,

43:49

which could achieve the sorts of energies

43:51

that you need by colliding protons,

43:53

positive particles together, to

43:55

create the sorts of disruptions in

43:57

these fields and the sorts of

43:59

particles. decays that the theory

44:01

predicted would only be seen if

44:05

the Higgs boson and the field

44:07

that these particles therefore create existed

44:09

and two independent experiments which were

44:11

done completely separate to each other

44:13

at the LHC both kept

44:15

their data separate and brought it together

44:17

on one day and said look we've

44:20

independently both detected to a

44:22

very high level of certainty the

44:24

findings that would agree with what

44:27

Peter Higgs's theory sets out so

44:29

he's probably right and that's when they accepted in 2012 it

44:31

was July the 4th 2012

44:34

the Higgs boson the particle he'd

44:36

seen in as a possibility in

44:38

1964 predicted was

44:40

real and what is his

44:42

legacy how does his work influence the life

44:45

of ordinary people well

44:47

I think the fact we're talking about it is one

44:49

of the most powerful legacies this the fact that we

44:51

understand why things have mass doesn't

44:53

really matter to the average man woman and

44:56

child on the street at any second but

44:58

the fact we're talking about it the fact

45:00

that we're showing that this is what science

45:02

can do it brings us a step further

45:04

along the path of explaining how the universe

45:06

works and ultimately unlocking the power of other

45:08

technologies yet to be discovered or harnessed that's

45:10

the real power of this and I think

45:12

the the legacy is that a he's got

45:14

a particle named after him which will never

45:17

change in the history of humankind going forward which

45:19

is a pretty cool thing to have done he's

45:21

got a Nobel Prize which is another pretty cool

45:23

thing to have done and and and we're talking

45:25

about it and we'll continue to invoke this particle

45:27

in this piece of physics from the 1960s for

45:30

the rest of our lives and the lives of

45:32

our children and so on Dr. Chris Smith

45:34

thank you very much indeed Peter Higgs

45:36

has died at the age right

45:50

let's move over to Australia it's time

45:52

to talk business with the National Business Reporter and

45:55

presenter at ABC News Rachel Papazoni

45:57

he joins us now from Perth

46:00

Rachel, the Reserve Bank of New Zealand

46:02

kept interest rates on hold today. When

46:04

are they tipped to start cutting? Yeah,

46:08

no surprise to market watchers today, Georgina,

46:11

when they held rates at 5.5%. They've

46:14

been at that rate almost a

46:16

year since May last year. The

46:19

expectation is that they'll stay there

46:21

for most of this year as

46:24

well. The NBS forecasting that that

46:26

first rate cut probably not likely

46:28

until November. They expect,

46:30

though, that the bank will then

46:33

continue to cut every meeting through

46:35

2025 to get

46:37

to a terminal rate of 3.75% by a quarter four in 2025. Now,

46:43

New Zealand actually entered the technical

46:46

recession in the last couple

46:48

of weeks. They have inflation still very high at

46:50

4.7%, way off their target of 1% to 3%

46:52

range. Unemployment

46:56

still at 4%. So

46:58

clearly a lot more work to do

47:01

there, even though listeners may recall

47:03

that the Bank of New Zealand

47:05

was one of the first to

47:07

start lifting the official interest rates

47:09

back in Right.

47:12

And of course, they're not the only ones. The Bank

47:14

of Canada is tipped to hold today, though. The European

47:16

Central Bank tomorrow, is this all about waiting to see

47:19

what the US Fed does? It

47:22

really is. We're all sort

47:24

of waiting to see how things

47:26

play out in the US and then

47:28

we'll likely respond to that. So

47:31

the Bank of Canada at 5%, European Central Bank

47:33

at 4%, as you said, unlikely

47:35

to change this week. What

47:37

we'll get overnight, though, is

47:40

the US inflation number. And

47:42

that is going to be the biggest

47:44

marker for what we may see

47:46

the US Fed do when it meets at

47:49

the end of this month and also on

47:51

May 1, third day, two of its meetings.

47:53

At this stage, we're not expecting to see

47:55

any change to interest rates in the US

47:57

at its meeting later this month, but it

47:59

does all the depend on this inflation

48:01

data due out later

48:03

today or overnight my time. We've

48:06

seen inflation in the US very,

48:08

very sticky, in fact, dodging our

48:11

falls month to month, the last few

48:13

months and surprising to the upside.

48:16

The US Fed chair Jerome Powell said last

48:18

week that it was too soon to say

48:20

whether the recent readings represent more than just

48:22

a bump in the sort of inflation

48:26

story. And if it

48:28

overshoots again this month, that has the

48:30

potential to really see the market lose

48:32

some patience. We may have

48:35

to see some action from the

48:37

US Fed. One

48:39

of those big parts, of course, playing into

48:41

inflation globally is oil prices. They continue

48:43

to rise on the back of conflicts

48:47

in the Middle East and in Europe. Reading

48:50

just today, for example, that Mexico

48:52

has announced cuts to its

48:54

exports of oil. Many

48:56

factors playing into one of the biggest drivers of

48:58

inflation at the moment. Now South

49:00

Korea is voting today. How important is

49:03

the cost of living crisis for

49:06

those voters in the election? Just

49:09

as it is for everyone in all

49:12

the countries we've mentioned so far today,

49:14

Georgina, inflation is still high in South

49:16

Korea. It's at 3.1%. The

49:19

interest rate there at 3.5%. Their

49:22

bank meets on Friday, also unlikely

49:24

to change. So 30%

49:26

of voters have already cast

49:29

their ballots in today's election.

49:32

But what we've seen in the lead up to today

49:34

is a lot of coverage of a

49:37

disconnect between our President

49:39

Yoon and everyday Koreans

49:41

who are facing these

49:43

costs of living pressures that so many

49:45

people around the world are familiar with.

49:48

President Yoon is not up for re-election. He's

49:50

into year three of his five-year term.

49:52

But he came in in 2022, vowing

49:55

to cut taxes, ease

49:58

business regulations, and it expand

50:00

family support for Koreans.

50:03

And there's been a lot of discontent

50:05

that a lot of those promises haven't

50:07

been met. So analysts are

50:09

pretty split on how things could fall in

50:12

the election today. So there's still a few

50:14

more hours until polls close in South Korea.

50:16

But for Australia, it's a big trading partner

50:18

for us. So we're keen to see how

50:21

that all plays out. Of course, it's a

50:23

big year of elections with

50:25

the biggest one, of course, the US

50:27

presidential race when voting there occurs in

50:29

November. Mm hmm. Finally, let's

50:31

have a look at EVs, electric vehicles.

50:34

This has led to a record number of car

50:36

carrying ship orders. Tell us more about that. Yeah,

50:40

I guess that just a great

50:42

indication of how interconnected the

50:45

global economy is. So we've seen, of course,

50:47

a boom in EV demand.

50:49

It has pared back a little bit

50:51

and not sort of met expectations in the last

50:53

few months, but still on that

50:56

upward trajectory. And of course, you've

50:58

got to get those electric vehicles from where they're

51:00

made, mostly in China to

51:02

the customer around the world. So China

51:04

has increased its order for

51:07

car carrying vessels. Currently, it has

51:09

33 car carrying

51:11

ships and it's put an order in for 47 more.

51:14

So clearly more than doubling its

51:16

current load. And if

51:19

that does indeed take place by 2028, as

51:22

expected, it'll become the fourth largest

51:25

owner of car carrying vessels. But still

51:27

a long way to go compared to

51:29

Japan. It's the world's largest. It has

51:31

283 car carrying ships. Norway

51:36

has 102. South Korea has 72.

51:38

So China would become

51:41

fourth after that list. And

51:43

a lot of that buying is coming from

51:46

carmakers themselves. For example, if

51:49

a giant BYD is put in order

51:51

for car carrying ships, it exported more

51:53

than 240,000 EVs last year. Expect

51:57

to almost double that to 400. So

52:00

it needs to get those cars from

52:03

China to the customer, as I explained,

52:05

and that happens on ships. I

52:07

was recently in Australia and I

52:10

did see a parking lot full

52:12

of these Chinese-built electric vehicles, but

52:14

they were there in showrooms, not

52:17

for sale. Are there a

52:19

lot of them on the road there? I

52:22

definitely feel that we are starting

52:24

to see a lot more. We

52:27

are seeing a lot more Teslas

52:29

as well, Georgina, but definitely, particularly

52:31

the BYD, Build Your Dream branded

52:33

car. I've seen a lot more

52:35

of them. I actually took one for a test drive

52:37

a couple of months ago because I was interested just

52:40

to see what all the hype

52:42

is about. They drive just

52:44

as smoothly as the Tesla.

52:46

Obviously, at a lower price point,

52:49

they are much more attainable for a

52:51

larger portion of the population.

52:54

Australia's biggest challenge, of course, though,

52:56

isn't going anywhere and that is

52:58

the distance. We need a lot more

53:01

charging stations dotted throughout the

53:03

country to make EV uptake

53:05

really upsurge here in Australia.

53:07

Great. Well, thank you very

53:09

much indeed. That's Rachel Papazoni and this is The

53:11

Globalist on Monocle Radio. And

53:19

finally today, the shortlist for the

53:21

prestigious Literary Award, the International Booker

53:23

Prize has just been announced. In

53:25

all, it spans six languages, six

53:27

countries and three continents. So

53:30

let's go through the shortlist now

53:32

with Ramesh Ganesakara, who is the award-winning

53:34

author and a judge of the International

53:36

Booker, 2024. Ramesh,

53:39

it's lovely to speak to you again. Ramesh, through

53:41

the shortlist and where the authors come from. Hi,

53:44

Georgina. Lovely to be here.

53:47

Thanks for having me. So

53:50

we've got a shortlist that, as you

53:52

say, covers a lot

53:55

of places. It's very buried.

53:57

Nauta River is an Argentinian

53:59

novel. Kyros from Germany,

54:01

the details

54:04

from Sweden, Meta2-10

54:07

from South Korea, you were

54:09

talking about Korea. What

54:12

I'd rather not think about is the Dutch novel

54:15

and Crooked Cloud from Brazil. Mm-hmm.

54:19

A lot of these are from independent

54:21

publishers. I wonder why we

54:23

see independent publishers making the list so

54:26

often. The big houses don't feature nearly

54:28

so much. Yeah,

54:30

it's an interesting one, I guess. And

54:33

I think generally, looking

54:35

at the submissions that we had

54:37

for this prize, there are

54:39

a lot of independent presses. And the reason

54:44

for that I

54:46

really don't know. Other than,

54:49

I guess, there are

54:51

more small presses coming up,

54:53

publishing a book is not as

54:56

technically complicated as it used

54:58

to be ages ago. And

55:01

therefore, people are starting out. And I

55:03

think they're interested in exploring different

55:06

fiction. And taking

55:09

more risks, yeah, than the bigger

55:11

publishing houses. You've been shortlisted for

55:13

the Booker yourself. I think that was 94. What

55:16

difference does this kind of recognition make

55:18

to a writer? I

55:21

think it makes a huge difference.

55:23

I mean, the game,

55:25

if you like, was different back in 94.

55:28

It was a different sort of thing. We

55:30

didn't have long lists. It was just a

55:32

short list. And there

55:34

is a difference between the Booker Prize and

55:36

the International Booker Prize. Of course, the

55:39

prize we're talking about now

55:42

is for translated fiction, whereas

55:44

the Booker Prize is for fiction written in

55:46

English. And translated

55:48

fiction has been growing

55:51

in popularity, in exposure

55:54

over the last few years,

55:56

back in the 90s. it

56:00

would have been much more difficult to

56:02

find, I suppose. Whereas at the moment,

56:04

as I understand it, it's

56:07

the most sort of fastest

56:09

growing area of fiction

56:12

and fiction reading, certainly under

56:15

in certain groups of readers,

56:17

particularly readers under the age, I think of 35.

56:20

So there's a real boom there, I think.

56:23

And the reasons for that are

56:26

interesting to look at really. And

56:30

just finally, what are the

56:32

challenges of judging books from

56:34

such diverse places? Well,

56:37

it's a challenge, but it's also what's really,

56:39

really interesting to me and what drew me

56:41

to it when I was invited to do

56:43

this. I thought it would be great because

56:46

it's a chance to look

56:49

at writing in other languages or

56:51

the cultures, obviously translated

56:53

into English, but it's

56:56

carrying on that conversation that books

56:58

are all about, but in a

57:00

much wider context and across

57:03

cultures. And I

57:05

think for me, it's hugely

57:07

eye-opening. It's great to see what people

57:09

are writing, what fiction

57:12

means in a different language, how

57:14

you open it up. And for

57:16

me as a reader, it's about bringing an

57:19

open mind to it. Ramesh,

57:21

thank you so much. That's

57:23

Ramesh Gunasakara. And if

57:25

you'd like to know more about Ramesh's own work,

57:28

there's a wonderful interview with him in

57:30

our VARF Meet the Writers Archive, which

57:32

you can find on our website. And

57:34

also the winner of the International Booker

57:37

Prize will be announced on the 21st

57:39

of May. And

57:42

that's all for today's programme. Thanks to

57:44

our producers, Sophie Monaghan-Koons, Carlotta Rubella and

57:46

Monica Lillis, our researcher, George

57:49

Ruskin, and our studio manager, Steph

57:51

Chungu. After the headlines, there's

57:53

more music on the way and the briefing

57:55

is live at midday in London. That's with

57:57

me. I'm Georgina Godrion. And I'll

58:00

return... on the globalist at the same time.