The Monocle Minute

Yesterday saw the official opening of the Farnborough International Airshow, one of the aviation industry’s biggest trade events and a spectacle that alternates each year between Paris and Farnborough in the UK. There was a great deal of movement in the industry in the run-up to the show, with US airline JetBlue and Indian carrier Vistara placing major orders. The former ordered 60 Airbus A220s (a jet that was until recently the Bombardier CSeries before Airbus took over the programme from the Canadian manufacturer). “I wasn't expecting so many commercial orders,” says Rob Morris, global head of consultancy Flight Ascend. “We’re seeing continued exuberance but I’d urge a bit of caution. We’ve had nine years of growth and it can’t keep going. Plus, the global Worry Index is increasing, with various uncertainties such as the possibility of a trade war and slowing growth in China.”

The EU-China Summit is not renowned in diplomatic circles for being the easiest of affairs. Among the many “special relationships” throughout the world, that of the EU and China is arguably one of the least special: even the wording of the 15-year-old “strategic partnership” belies a marriage of convenience rather than good faith. Differing interests have meant that in previous EU-China Summits it has been impossible for participants to sign a joint statement. But as 2018’s proceedings draw to a close today, there is an altogether different atmosphere. “There is more of an urge to find points to agree on and to demonstrate symbolic unity,” says Angela Stanzel, a fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations. Given trade disputes that both economies are facing from the US administration, we can expect the EU and China to find more to agree on in the immediate future.

The US Secret Service is pulling out all the stops to try and put a stop to gun crime – well, sort of. Last week it released a step-by-step guide to help everyone from the police to schools better understand what machinations lie behind a gun attack. The manual, put together by the Service’s National Threat Assessment Center, mentions a range of potentially troubling behaviour – from feelings of alienation to mood swings – that could indicate a possible threat. Previous findings by the centre have established that in more than 80 per cent of cases a bystander had an inkling that an attacker was planning something. A previous manual came out in 2002 but, judging by the attacks at schools around the country in the intervening years, it wasn’t particularly successful. Alas, in the face of a continued impasse in Congress, perhaps this is the best we can hope for.

One of Hong Kong’s liveliest neighbourhoods is about to get a little quieter after Mong Kok’s district council called time on a pedestrianised street popular with buskers. Outdoor performances on Sai Yeung Choi Street South will come to a halt at the end of July and traffic will soon be allowed on the road. On hearing the news, dismayed street performers promised to restrict the noise but their pleas fell on deaf ears. The ruling has been welcomed by residents and retailers, the latter having logged 1,200 complaints of excessive noise because they believe that the constant din has had a negative impact on sales. Removing the melodies of buskers and replacing them with the hum of traffic is a duff note for Mong Kok’s famous street life; the return of cars and motorcycles to Sai Yeung Choi Street South will ultimately result in a much less enjoyable kind of jam.

As the Hayward Gallery celebrates half a century, Robert Bound takes a look at why it was built, the art it has housed and its importance in London. He is joined in the studio by Jane Morris, editor at large of The Art Newspaper, and architecture and culture writer Owen Hatherley.

Monocle Films heads to the leafy suburbs of southeast London, where entrepreneurs Peter Milne and Alex Beltran have given up their corporate jobs to set up a charming garden centre.