The Monocle Minute

As the latest in a long string of high-profile resignations from President Trump’s administration, Nikki Haley – the US ambassador to the UN – announced her departure yesterday. Despite her candid criticisms of Trump in 2016, Haley was appointed to the position just weeks after his election – and she’s remained willing to publicly disagree with him. “I think this indicates that she can no longer reconcile her views with both President Trump and his national security adviser John Bolton,” says Ted Piccone, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. “Bolton is vigorous critic of the UN and advocates an isolationist point of view; Haley’s resignation will lead to an even more go-it-alone US foreign policy.”

Last summer Chinese president Xi Jinping beamed with delight as he addressed Interpol delegates on his country’s growing role in global law enforcement – but that’s now looking a lot less likely. Meng Hongwei, the organisation’s chief for the past two years, is being held by the Chinese government on charges of bribery and a number of other (as yet unspecified) crimes. The short-term effect of the disappearance isn’t an irreparable issue: the organisation that co-ordinates the work of 192 police forces around the world will swiftly find another leader. Longer term, however, China’s lack of transparency – which many argued should have hindered Meng’s appointment in the first place – shows that it’s not ready, nor suitable, to take up the US’s mantle as a worldwide policeman.

“We invited Noel Gallagher to Number 10. It made for some very good pictures but it’s a double-edged sword: they might not like you further down the line and it might come back to bite you.” That’s what Lance Price, Tony Blair’s former director of communications, told us when he spoke to The Briefing yesterday. His words should serve as a warning to politicians who court the endorsement of those more popular than themselves. It wasn’t all that long ago that Donald Trump heaped praise on US popstar Taylor Swift, thanking her for posing for a photograph. Now the president says he likes Swift’s music “25 per cent less”, which presumably has nothing to do with her endorsement of Trump's political opponents for next month’s midterms.

Today marks the most important date in the publishing industry’s calendar: the Frankfurter Buchmesse. The largest of its kind, the fair welcomes more than 7,300 exhibitors from 102 countries; this year it’s celebrating its 70th edition with guests including Nigerian-American author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and Germany’s federal president Frank-Walter Steinmeier. In addition, every year the organisers choose a country to be their guest of honour – this time around it’s Georgia. “We have been working with Georgian delegates for the past five years in preparation for this,” says head of communications Kathrin Grün. “The country has a rich cultural heritage that is largely unknown to people in western Europe.”

A special report from the 12th instalment of Vienna Design Week and the Polish designers who took centre stage at this year’s event.

Monocle Films travels to Copenhagen and Mexico City with Audi to see how cities and their citizens are facing the challenge of building sustainable mobility in urban settings.