Thousands of children have been killed in the enclave since the Israeli assault began, officials in Gaza say. The Israeli military says it takes “all feasible precautions” to avoid civilian deaths.
0:15 Kiel is Germany’s first zero-waste city –Kiel has put 107 waste-reducing measures in place. They include practical changes, such as ‘pay-to-throw’, a scheme in which households pay a fee for the amount of landfill waste they generate. Other measures include recycling collection ‘islands’ around the city, discounts for shoppers who bring their own containers and banning disposable products at all city events.
1:33 Gender balanced companies outperform others – According to a BlackRock study of 1,250 of the world’s biggest companies. Over the past decade, the companies with the most equal gender balance achieved a 7.7% average annual return on assets (RoA). Those with the highest share of men delivered a 5.6% RoA, while those with the highest share of women returned a 6.1% RoA. The study concluded it was ‘diversity that counts’ rather than the dominance of a single gender.
3:08 US wants to convert empty offices into homes – The government will offer funding and technical support to help cities turn unused workspaces into affordable apartments. US office vacancy rates have hit a 30-year peak as more staff clock in to work remotely. Meanwhile, rents in the country remain at historic highs after a surge during the pandemic converting offices to apartments can be challenging.
4:48 Rwanda and Kenya open borders to other Africans – Rwanda and Kenya have made significant strides in promoting African unity by opening their borders to other Africans, enabling visa-free travel for all citizens of the continent. This move positions Rwanda as the fourth African nation to remove such restrictions, following Benin, The Gambia, and Seychelles. Kenya is set to join them on December 31, 2023.
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VIRTUAL JAPAN Films (November 17, 2023) – “Autumn Night Walk” was started with the idea of utilizing the assets of Showa Kinen Park to convey the charm of the park at night. The “Katarai Ginkgo Trees” shine in golden light, and the “Japanese Garden” reflects the night scenery on the water surface.
Monocle on Saturday, November 18, 2023:Sian Bayley, news editor at ‘The Bookseller’, joins Georgina Godwin to look at the week’s global news and culture.
Plus, the two discuss the winner of this year’s Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction. John Vaillant’s winning book, ‘Fire Weather: A True Story From a Hotter World’, delves into the devastating wildfires that struck Fort McMurray, Alberta – the hub of Canada’s oil industry – in May 2016. It examines the conflicting priorities of the oil industry and climate science, the immense destruction caused by modern wildfires, and the lasting impacts of these disasters on the lives of those affected.
Economic despair dominates social media as young people fret about the cost of living. It offers a snapshot of the challenges facing Democrats ahead of the 2024 election.
The resolution from Representative Michael Guest, a Republican, sets the stage for a vote shortly after Thanksgiving.
Facing Financial Ruin as Costs Soar for Elder Care
The United States has no coherent system for providing long-term care, leading many who are aging to struggle to stay independent or to rely on a patchwork of solutions.
A Journey Into Northern Gaza: Ruins, Wreckage and Darkness
New York Times journalists traveled with an Israeli military convoy to catch a rare glimpse of conditions inside wartime Gaza. They saw houses flattened like playing cards, and a city utterly disfigured.
A resilient labor market and healthy household finances should keep a recession at bay, even if the postpandemic spending boom loses a bit of its vigor.
THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW (November 19, 2023): This week’s issue featuresFuchsia Dunlop’s seductive new exploration of Chinese cuisine, “Invitation to a Banquet”; Michael Lewis Tells His Own Story of Sam Bankman-Fried; He Carried the Bags (and the Secrets) for the Beatles – A new biography resuscitates the colorful, tragic life of Mal Evans: roadie, confidant, procurer, cowbell player…
INVITATION TO A BANQUET: The Story of Chinese Food, by Fuchsia Dunlop
“A really good cookbook,” Jan Morris wrote, “is intellectually more adventurous than the Kama Sutra.” Fuchsia Dunlop’s masterly new book, “Invitation to a Banquet: The Story of Chinese Food,” is not a cookbook per se. But it has an earthiness that calls to mind Morris’s comment.
AUDIOBOOKS
Listen to a Wellness-Culture Satire That Delves a Few Levels Deeper
In Jessie Gaynor’s debut novel, “The Glow,” read by Gabra Zackman, a P.R. rep immerses herself in the woo-woo world of a cultlike “spiritual retreat,” and its enigmatic leader.
Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco (November 17, 2023) – Bringing a new perspective on the beloved Renaissance artist, “Botticelli: Rhythm of the Line” reveals the central role that drawing played in Sandro Botticelli’s art and practice. This short documentary takes viewers through the streets of Florence, where the artist lived and worked, to the Uffizi galleries, home of Botticelli’s most striking masterpieces.
The story is told by Furio Rinaldi, curator of drawings and prints at the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, Jonathan K. Nelson, art historian at Syracuse University in Florence, and Cecilia Frosinini, art historian at the Opificio delle Pietre Dure in Florence. These voices speak in chorus to give us an original narrative that illuminates Botticelli’s life, process, and legacy.
Botticelli Drawings is the first exhibition ever dedicated to the drawings of Renaissance artist Sandro Botticelli (ca. 1445 – 1510). Exploring the foundational role drawing played in Botticelli’s work, the exhibition traces his artistic journey, from studying under maestro Fra Filippo Lippi (c. 1406 – 1469) to leading his own workshop in Florence. Featuring rarely seen and newly attributed works, the exhibition provides insight into the design practice of an artist whose name is synonymous with the Italian Renaissance.
Botticelli’s drawings offer an intimate look into the making of some of his most memorable masterpieces, including Adoration of the Magi (c. 1500), which will be reunited with its preparatory drawing, surviving only in fragments. From Botticelli’s earliest recorded drawings through expressive designs for his final painting, the works on display reveal the artist’s experimental drawing techniques, quest for ideal beauty, and command of the line.
Botticelli Drawings is on view from November 19, 2023 – February 11, 2024.
THE NEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINE (November 17, 2023): The latest issue featuresHow David Zaslav blew up Hollywood – The inside story of a novice movie mogul in an age of disruption, discontent and disaster ; Russell Brand’s Alternate Reality – The British entertainer built an army of fans with his conspiracy-minded podcast. Now, amid sex-assault claims against him, they’ve become his whole world; Sofia Coppola’s Subversive Search for Truth in ‘Priscilla’ – Hollywood is addicted to mythologizing biopics. ‘‘Priscilla’’ offers something different…
It was April 2022, and David Zaslav had just closed the deal of a lifetime. From the helm of his relatively small and unglamorous cable company, Discovery, he had taken control of a sprawling entertainment conglomerate that included perhaps the most storied movie studio on the planet, Warner Brothers. The longtime New Yorker had always loved movies, and against the advice of several media peers, he had moved to Hollywood and taken over Jack Warner’s historic office, hauling the old mogul’s desk out of storage and topping it off with an old-time handset telephone. So far things were going great. He had met all the stars and players, was widely feted as the next in line to save the eternally struggling industry and was well into the process of renovating a landmark house in Beverly Hills.
Hollywood is addicted to mythologizing biopics. ‘‘Priscilla’’ offers something different.
By Rafaela Bassili
As with much of her other work, the opening of Sofia Coppola’s latest film, “Priscilla,” is all about textures. A pair of manicured feet sink into a shag carpet; a fingernail is carefully polished in red; we see the back of a prodigious black bouffant, then the dexterous painting of a dramatic cat eye with black liner. Priscilla Presley (Cailee Spaeny) paces around Graceland relentlessly. There’s nothing for her to do, and too much for her to process.
The Local Project (November 17, 2023) – When an architect designs a breathtaking home connected to nature, the results can be mesmerising. Six Square House by Young Projects is one such example, and this house tour, which takes viewers inside and documents how an architect designs a breathtaking home, captures the contemporary home and surrounding landscape in all its glory.
Video timeline:00:00 – Introduction to the Breathtaking Home 00:55 – A Rural Hamptons Location 01:48 – A Family and Landscape Centred Brief 02:24 – The Organisation of The Home 03:25 – Experiencing The Landscape Surrounding the Home 05:03 – The Exterior Material Palette 05:47 – A Neutral and Art Focused Interior 06:37 – The Brazilian Furniture Design 07:00 – Proud Moments
Nestled deep into the large property, this house is defined by half a dozen cubes, which tesselate from a centre point, resulting in a dynamic piece of architecture set amid a lush garden. As architect Bryan Young says, “the gabled modules are arranged to align roof ridges and create continuity from one module to the next.” The contemporary form is connected to nature in a myriad of ways – the cubic volumes feature openings, which act as conduits to the garden; apertures from within frame the landscape; and the internal courtyard captured in the house tour features a garden bed beneath a timber pavilion.
It is holistic and intentional – the type of effect achieved when an architect designs a breathtaking home. The house tour takes viewers inside where the interiors are bright and connected to nature. The living area unfurls to the east and the kitchen sits to the west along the home’s central spine. Up above, the lines of the hybrid roofscape can be traced across the ceiling. Lofty and bright, the sense of openness is unexpected in comparison to the strict, geometric exterior. Bryan speaks to this, saying, “if each of the six volumes can be read as autonomous elements from the outside, from the inside, you begin to realise that in fact they’re conjoined in a very interesting way.”
News, Views and Reviews For The Intellectually Curious
Fine Arts Museums of San Franc
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