Analysis: Ukraine’s Deadly ‘Storm Shadow Missiles’

Wall Street Journal (July 29, 2023) – Storm Shadow missiles equip Ukraine’s military counteroffensive with the ability to hit Russian targets more than 150 miles away with pinpoint accuracy.

Video timeline: 0:00 A weapon to help with counteroffensive 0:30 How Storm Shadow missiles work 4:31 Weaknesses 6:07 What’s next?

The weapon has three times the range of that on the HIMARS rockets in Ukraine, forcing Moscow to rethink its logistics. WSJ takes a look at how these long-range, deep-strike missiles work and why the Storm Shadow is equipped to take out key Russian command and control centers.

#Russia #Ukraine #WSJ

World Economic Forum: Top Stories- July 29, 2023

World Economic Forum (July 29, 2023) – This week’s top stories of the week include:

6 energy saving tips for hot weather – When it’s hot, your ceiling fan should turn anti-clockwise. This creates a downdraft and circulates the cool air. On winter mode, fans move clockwise instead. Pulling hot air upwards and dispersing it around the room.

France will help pay for people’s clothing repairs – The government will refund €6-€25 of the cost of mending shoes and clothes. It hopes the scheme will cut textile waste and help to create a more circular textile sector. 700,000 tonnes of clothing are thrown away in France every year. Two-thirds of it ends up in landfill. The global textile industry is a major source of both pollution and CO2. It generates 10% of the world’s total CO2 emissions. By 2050, this could be 25%.

This Finnish island wants you to turn off your phone – This summer, Ulko-Tammio is encouraging visitors not to look at their devices. Ulko-Tammio is a small island in the Eastern Gulf of Finland. It’s uninhabited and home to rare birds and plants. Visitors arrive by boat to birdwatch, hike and camp. Now, the island is encouraging them to switch off their devices, take a break from emails and social media and focus attention on their surroundings rather than their screen.

Japan is encouraging more women into science – Currently, only 1 in 7 Japanese scientists are women. So from 2024, a dozen universities are introducing quotas to urge more women to major in science, technology, engineering and maths, also known as STEM. The Tokyo Institute of Technology wants women to make up 20-30% of new students, up from 13% today. Nagoya University, Shimane University and the University of Toyama are also putting quotas in place. Currently, only 7% of female students in Japan major in science and engineering. The lowest in the OECD.

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The World Economic Forum is the International Organization for Public-Private Cooperation. The Forum engages the foremost political, business, cultural and other leaders of society to shape global, regional and industry agendas. We believe that progress happens by bringing together people from all walks of life who have the drive and the influence to make positive change.

Art Deco Design Tour: Prince De Galles Hotel ‘Lalique Suite’ In Paris

the Luxury Travel Expert Films (June 29, 2023) – A full tour of 5-star Prince De Galles, a Luxury Collection Hotel in Paris, France.

Video timeline: 0:00 Intro 2:08 Facade 4:12 Lobby 7:27 Suite Lalique 16:43 Rooftop 25:13 Restaurants 27:57 Courtyard 30:10 Brunch 34:59 Dinner 41:46 Breakfast 44:15 Gym & Spa

The iconic Art Deco hotel is home to Paris’ most exclusive hotel suite, the Suite Lalique by Patrick Hellmann (a dazzling duplex suite with stunning design & rooftop).

Saturday Morning: News And Stories From London

Monocle on Saturday, July 29, 2023: A look at the week’s news and culture with Georgina Godwin.

We’re joined by the deputy publishing editor of ‘Newsweek’, Paul Rhodes, to flick through the morning’s papers and Monocle’s culture editor, Chiara Rimella, guides us through Italian beach club culture. 

Finance Preview: Barron’s Magazine – July 31, 2023

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BARRON’S MAGAZINE – JULY 31, 2023 ISSUE

Disney’s Magic Will Return. It’s Time to Buy the Stock.

Disney’s Magic Will Return. It’s Time to Buy the Stock.

A renewed focus on lower costs and doing what it does best could help the media titan’s shares recover from a long slump.

Investing in Liberty Stock Is Tricky. Do It Anyway.

Investing in Liberty Stock Is Tricky. Do It Anyway.

The Liberty Media cluster of companies is dauntingly complicated for investors. Now may be the right time to get in.

Drugmakers Want to Crush Medicare’s Pricing Power

Drugmakers Want to Crush Medicare's Pricing Power

The industry has launched a legal war against a new law that would let Medicare negotiate prices. The odds are in Big Pharma’s favor.Long read

The New York Times — Saturday, July 29, 2023

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New Trump Charges Highlight Long-Running Questions About Obstruction

Former President Donald J. Trump alone on a stage with a blue curtain behind him.

The accusation that former President Donald J. Trump wanted security camera footage deleted at Mar-a-Lago added to a pattern of concerns about his attempts to stymie prosecutors.

Fighting for Anthony: The Struggle to Save Portland, Oregon

The city has been stepping up efforts to take down tents and relocate people to shelters. But many of them simply packed up their belongings and pitched tents elsewhere.

The city has long grappled with street homelessness and a shortage of housing. Now fentanyl has turned a perennial problem into a deadly crisis and a challenge to the city’s progressive identity.

Wall St. Pessimists Are Getting Used to Being Wrong

The S&P 500 is up more than 19 percent this year, but some still warn that the future may not be as rosy as that implies.

The New York Times Book Review — July 30, 2023

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THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW – JULY 30, 2023:

On this week’s cover, we feature biographies of composers Arnold Schoenberg and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart that emphasize the extent to which each was a singular genius attuned to his culture and times; our reviews are by Anthony Tommasini (formerly The Times’s chief classical music critic) and the composer John Adams.

Masterpieces Galore: When Mozart Met the Enlightenment

This painting shows the profile of a man with brown hair and a dark brown collar. The background is black. Some of the painting appears to be unfinished.

In Patrick Mackie’s “Mozart in Motion,” the socially observant composer embraces modernity.

Musicians tend to be wary of ascribing specific meanings to music or making too much of a piece’s extra-musical associations. In one of his Norton Lectures at Harvard in 1973, turning to Beethoven’s “Pastoral” Symphony, Leonard Bernstein asked the audience to forget all about “birds and brooks and rustic pleasures” and instead concentrate on “pure” music. He then demonstrated how every phrase of the entire first movement is derived from little motifs of notes and rhythms in the first four bars of the score.

Make It New and Difficult: The Music of Arnold Schoenberg

This painting shows a balding middle-aged man, in suit, vest and tie, from the waist up. The suit jacket and vest are beige and white; the tie is dark brown.

John Adams reviews “Schoenberg: Why He Matters,” in which Harvey Sachs explores the artistic, academic and spiritual life of a 20th-century cultural giant.

In 1955 Henry Pleasants, a critic of both popular and classical music, issued a cranky screed of a book, “The Agony of Modern Music,” which opened with the implacable verdict that “serious music is a dead art.” Pleasants’s thesis was that the traditional forms of classical music — opera, oratorio, orchestral and chamber music, all constructions of a bygone era — no longer related to the experience of our modern lives. Composers had lost touch with the currents of popular taste, and popular music, 

Travel: Tour Of Catania On The Island Of Sicily, Italy

MYGEMPICTURES (July 28, 2023) – Catania is an ancient port city on Sicily’s east coast. It sits at the foot of Mt. Etna, an active volcano with trails leading up to the summit. The city’s wide central square, Piazza del Duomo, features the whimsical Fontana dell’Elefante statue and richly decorated Catania Cathedral.

In the southwest corner of the square, La Pescheria weekday fish market is a rowdy spectacle surrounded by seafood restaurants.

Culture: Artisan Olive Oil Soap In Tripoli, Lebanon

Insider Business (July 28, 2023) – Artisans have been producing traditional olive oil soap at Masbanat Awaida for over 140 years. A century ago, there were dozens of soap factories like this in Tripoli, Lebanon. Today, Masbanat Awaida is the only one remaining.

Design Tour: ‘Solid Air’ Apartment In Sydney

The Local Project (July 28, 2023) – Located in Sydney’s Elizabeth Bay, Solid Air by Anna.Carin Design Studio is an interior designer’s own home that is imbued with a renewed rhythm and voice that speaks to the owner’s Scandinavian heritage.

Video timeline: 00:00 – Intro to the Nordic-Inspired Apartment 00:25 – An Inner-City Suburb Location 00:48 – The Instant Connection 01:21 – A Walkthrough of the Nordic-Inspired Apartment 01:51 – The Process of Identifying a Unique Aesthetic 02:30 – The Initial Stages of the Design Process 03:20 – A Monochromatic Mood 03:33 – A Predominant Material Colour 04:26 – Repurposing and Reusing

Upon arrival, the apartment immediately stood out to the owner with its arched windows, high ceilings and window seats that complemented the home’s interior. Yet, as with all projects, Anna.Carin Design Studio worked to draw out the unique aesthetic of the apartment with architecture and furniture design.

Beginning with removing some of the walls in the apartment, Anna.Carin Design Studio delved into an array of contemporary design methods that revealed the home’s true nature. Additionally, as the inspiration of song comes into play with each project that Anna.Carin Design Studio works on, Anna-Carin chose the song Solid Air by John Martyn to influence the interior design. With the apartment tour beginning in the hallway space, Anna.Carin Design Studio has placed two main rooms on the left and two to the right.

On the left, the light-filled study allows space for work and play, whilst the master bedroom is stationed on the right side of the hall, along with the main and guest bathrooms. The primary living spaces include a kitchen, dining and living room that are all filled with a natural light from the large arched bay windows.

Through renovating the interior and architecture, Anna-Carin also considered how she wanted to feel within her own home, the emotions she wanted to evoke and, most importantly, how she wants to live there. As such, Anna-Carin McNamara sought to find three emotive words that would express the space of her apartment and decided on ‘serene’, ‘evocative’ and ‘cosmopolitan’.