Monocle on Saturday, December 30, 2023: Latika Bourke and Georgina Godwin look back at the biggest news and culture stories of 2023. Plus: Andrew Mueller gives us his alternative take on this year’s events.
Monthly Archives: December 2023
The New York Times — Saturday, Dec 30, 2023
How the Supreme Court May Rule on Trump’s Presidential Run
The legal issues are novel and tangled, experts said, and the justices may be wary of knocking a leading presidential candidate off the ballot.
Russia Pounds Ukrainian Cities in One of the Largest Air Attacks of the War
The missile and drone attacks killed at least 30 people and damaged critical industrial and military infrastructure, part of a wintertime campaign that Ukraine had been dreading.
Where Was the Israeli Military?
A Times investigation found that troops were disorganized, out of position and relied on social media to choose targets. Behind the failure: Israel had no battle plan for a massive Hamas invasion.
How America’s Diet Is Feeding the Groundwater Crisis
As dinner tables and snack menus feature far more chicken and cheese, farms are expanding where water is scarce.
Finance Preview: Barron’s Magazine – January 1, 2024
BARRON’S MAGAZINE – JANUARY 1, 2024 ISSUE:
Inside Saudi Arabia’s $3 Trillion Plan to Move Past Oil
The world’s largest oil exporter has a plan to transform its economy into a high-tech hub for global business. How investors can ride along.
The Best Income Investments for 2024
Stocks with dividends lead our annual listing. Energy pipelines and utilities also look like good bets.
Changes Could Be Coming to Your 401(k) in 2024
Secure 2.0 included new benefits for savers—but many employers have been slow to add them.
Nature Magazine Podcast: ‘A New Kind Of Solar Cell’
On the outskirts of Brandenburg an der Havel, Germany, nestled among car dealerships and hardware shops, sits a two-storey factory stuffed with solar-power secrets. It’s here where UK firm Oxford PV is producing commercial solar cells using perovskites: cheap, abundant photovoltaic (PV) materials that some have hailed as the future of green energy. Surrounded by unkempt grass and a weed-strewn car park, the factory is a modest cradle for such a potentially transformative technology, but the firm’s chief technology officer Chris Case is clearly in love with the place. “This is the culmination of my dreams,” he says.
Australia Design: Tiny House Tour In Fitzroy
Video timeline: 00:00 – Introduction to the Architects Own Tiny House 01:32 – A Family Centred Brief 02:01 – A Walkthrough and the Layout of the House 03:18 – Integrating the Landscape and Exterior 03:50 – A Robust and Grounded Material Palette 04:54 – The Connected Design Approach
Andrew Child of Andrew Child Architecture creates a family home designed with both the present and the future in mind that eloquently responds to its inner-city Melbourne location. Andrew was immediately drawn to the original home, which is one of five Victorian terrace homes in a historically rich street in Fitzroy – a vibrant locale with lots of old buildings mixed in with new pieces of architecture. The brief for an architects own tiny house was to create a residence that would accommodate Andrew and his family into the future and be open to change.
“I also wanted something quite informal, that felt relaxed. We want to have fun here,” says Andrew. Fitzroy Laneway House is founded on the notion of connection to the site and the surrounding area. “I wanted the house to feel like a sanctuary, but I still wanted it to feel like we are connected to Fitzroy,” notes Andrew. As such, large windows offer views of the garden, neighbouring buildings and across rooftops. “If things change, like trees knocked down, we have installed shading blinds, timber screens, metal screen curtains, drapes and hanging planters, which all help with managing privacy while still making us feel connected to the locale,” says Andrew.
News: Election Issues As Maine Bars Trump From Ballot, UK Immigration
The New York Times — Friday, December 29, 2023
Israel Expresses Regret for ‘Unintended Harm’ to Civilians in Gaza Airstrike
The Israeli military said it was “working to draw lessons” from an attack in central Gaza that was reported to have killed dozens of people.
Earth Was Due for Another Year of Record Warmth. But This Warm?
Scientists are already busy trying to understand whether 2023’s off-the-charts heat is a sign that global warming is accelerating.
The Covenant Parents Aren’t Going to Keep Quiet on Guns
A group of parents reeling from a mass shooting at their children’s private Christian school believed no one was in a better position to persuade the G.O.P. to enact limited gun control.
Preview: Foreign Policy Magazine – Winter 2024
The Promise and Peril of Geopolitics
The world’s most dismal science could make Eurasia safe for illiberalism and predation—or protect it from those forces.
By Hal Brands, a professor of global affairs at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies.
Alexander Dugin is a bit of a madman. The Russian intellectual made headlines in the West in 2022, when his daughter was killed, apparently by Ukrainian operatives, in a Moscow car bombing likely meant for Dugin himself. Dugin would have been targeted because of his unapologetic, yearslong advocacy for a genocidal war of conquest in Ukraine. “Kill! Kill! Kill!” he screeched after Russian President Vladimir Putin’s first invasion of that country in 2014, adding: “This is my opinion as a professor.” Even at his daughter’s funeral, Dugin stayed on message. Among her first words as an infant, he claimed, were “our empire.”
Tour: Frank Lloyd Wright-Inspired Home In New York
Inspired by the work of legendary architect Frank Lloyd Wright, the property is lined with five kinds of wood, and countless types of stone, while legions of windows offer uninterrupted views of the river beyond.
One of only a handful of properties built on the Hudson River, the house is a rarity since the law now prohibits building new homes less than 100 ft from the riverbank.
Previews: The Top Five Stories To Watch In 2024
Video timeline: 00:00 – The World Ahead 2024 00:33 – Vital votes 03:34 – Taxis take off 07:10 – AI rules 10:19 – Industry cleans up? 13:48 – BRICS build
Boomers Daily 