The Globalist (February 8, 2024): We discuss German chancellor Olaf Scholz’s trip to Washington, as he tries to bolster US support for Ukraine.
Plus: Dutch coalition talks, fashion news and the UAE’s luxury property boom.
Monthly Archives: February 2024
The New York Times — Thursday, February 8, 2024
Netanyahu Spurns Hamas Offer for Gaza Cease-Fire
The Israeli prime minister said that the proposed deal would leave Israel vulnerable to attack and that its forces were preparing to expand their operations.
The United States Has Been a Bulwark for Ukraine. What Happens if Support Collapses?
American officials concede there is nothing on the horizon that could match the power of a new, $60 billion congressional appropriation to support its war against Russian aggression.
From Ferguson to Gaza: How African Americans Bonded With Palestinian Activists
The relationship became closer during protests over police brutality, but brings political risks, like straining the alliance between African Americans and Jews.
King Pushed for Transparency on Diagnosis. He Raised Questions in the Process.
The king has let people know more about his health than other monarchs, but a decision to keep private the form of cancer he has is leading to speculation in lieu of facts.
Research Preview: Nature Magazine- February 8, 2024
Surprise find: a blood-based immune system is discovered in the gut
Immune guardians called complement proteins are manufactured by gut cells and help to protect against pathogens.
Black-hole observations solve cosmic-ray mystery
Data from an African observatory show that jets from a collapsed star are capable of producing some of the Galaxy’s fastest particles.
Obesity drugs have another superpower: taming inflammation
The blockbuster medications that reduce body weight also reduce inflammation in organs such as the brain, raising hopes that they can treat Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases.
Arts/Books: Times Literary Supplement – Feb 9, 2024
Times Literary Supplement (February 7, 2024): The latest issue features ‘Cancel Culture’ – The limits of academic free speech; An Auschwitz memoir; Wittgenstein’s bombshell; Horrible legions and Dutch artobiography…
News: Gaza War Talks, GOP Rejects Israel Aid, Border And Ukraine Bill Debated
The Globalist (February 7, 2024): We discuss the bill worth $118bn (€109bn), which will be debated by the US Senate today.
Plus: protests in Senegal after parliament delays the presidential election, Marine Le Pen meets with the Alternative for Germany party and we catch up with J A Bayona, director of ‘Society of the Snow’.
The New York Times — Wednesday, Feb 7, 2024
Federal Appeals Court Rejects Trump’s Claim of Absolute Immunity
The ruling answered a question that an appeals court had never addressed: Can former presidents escape being held accountable by the criminal justice system for things they did while in office?
What Israeli Soldiers’ Videos Reveal: Cheering Destruction and Mocking Gazans
An analysis of social media videos found Israeli soldiers filming themselves in Gaza and destroying what appears to be civilian property. The footage provides a rare and unsanctioned window into the war.
More Than a Fifth of Hostages in Gaza Are Dead, Israel Says
As Israel and Hamas inch closer to a deal to free hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners and a cease-fire, the military disclosed that at least 30 of the captives still in Gaza have been confirmed dead.
Republican Impeachment of Mayorkas Fails Amid G.O.P. Defections
In a stunning defeat, the House rejected impeachment charges against the homeland security secretary, as rank-and-file lawmakers balked at what they considered a misuse of the process.
The New York Review Of Books – February 22, 2024
The Case for Disqualification
The Supreme Court must decide if it will honor the original meaning of the Fourteenth Amendment and bar Donald Trump from holding public office or trash the constitutional defense of democracy against insurrections.
In Search of the Rare and Strange
In Dürer’s Lost Masterpiece, Ulinka Rublack traces the global connections of the merchants who were the creative agents of the European art market in the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries.
Dürer’s Lost Masterpiece: Art and Society at the Dawn of a Global World by Ulinka Rublack
The Forest Eaters
In 2017, the Brazilian journalist Eliane Brum moved from São Paulo to a small city in the Amazon. Her new book vividly uncovers how the rainforest is illegally seized and destroyed.
Banzeiro Òkòtó: The Amazon as the Center of the World by Eliane Brum, translated from the Portuguese by Diane Whitty
Classical Music: Top New Releases – February 2024
- Nordic Symphonies: https://brilliant-classics.lnk.to/Nor…
- J.S. Bach: Mattäus Passion: https://brilliant-classics.lnk.to/JSB…
- Poulenc: Piano Music: https://PianoClassics.lnk.to/PoulencP…
- Field: 18 Nocturnes: https://PianoClassics.lnk.to/Field18N…
- Chopin: Études: https://PianoClassics.lnk.to/ChopinLP…
- Vivaldi: Sonatas for 2 Violins: https://brilliant-classics.lnk.to/Viv…
- Antonioni: My River, Music for Strings: https://brilliant-classics.lnk.to/Ant…
- Muffat: Componimenti Musicali: https://brilliant-classics.lnk.to/Muf…
- Reicha & Neukomm: Quintets: https://brilliant-classics.lnk.to/Rei…
- Viotti: Violin Concerto No.22; Cherubini: Symphony in D: https://brilliant-classics.lnk.to/Vio…
- Duarte: Works for Solo Guitar: https://brilliant-classics.lnk.to/Dua…
- Music for Viola & Piano by Reinecke, Schumann, Vieuxtemps, Wieniawski, Sibelius and Bridge: https://brilliant-classics.lnk.to/Mus…
- Pejacevic: Chamber Music: https://brilliant-classics.lnk.to/Pej…
- Dvorak: 2 Serenades: https://brilliant-classics.lnk.to/Dvo…
- Tales from Sardinia: https://brilliant-classics.lnk.to/Tal…
Previews: Country Life Magazine- February 7, 2024
Country Life Magazine – February 6, 2024: The latest features The Travel Issue – View the world from the very best hotels; The map-makers who broadened our horizons; Out of the ashes – Chillingham Castle rescued and Waxwing explosions and snowdrop heaven….
Travel
- Richard MacKichan rides with the eagle hunters of Mongolia
- Jo Rodgers asks what makes a good hotel great as we introduce Country Life’s inaugural list of the world’s top establishments
- All the latest travel news and new openings with Rosie Paterson
- Nigel Tisdall tails the elusive jaguar in Belize
- Catherine Fairweather is on the strait and narrow in Istanbul
- Richard MacKichan puts the fun back into flying
- Pamela Goodman swims with pigs in the Caribbean
A castle of curiosities
The history of Chillingham Castle in Northumberland is a turbulent and memorable one, peppered with family disputes, imprisonments and a live toad. John Goodall explores
Windows on the world
The urge to chart our surroundings is centuries old. With map in hand, Matthew Dennison ventures forth in search of mammoth tusks and globes
Irruption of the waxwings
Mark Cocker marvels at the exquisite plumage of this European songbird as it flocks to our shores to feed on a glut of its favoured winter berries
Get down on your knees
James Alexander-Sinclair joins the wandering throng as snow-drop lovers descend on Thenford in Northamptonshire to luxuriate in 900 varieties of Galanthus
Joanna Jensen’s favourite painting
The founder of Childs Farm chooses a rural scene to sum up ‘a picture of my England’
Groundhog day
The shortest month can also feel like the longest, delaying the arrival of spring, but what can February tell us about the year ahead? Lia Leendertz reveals all
Thunderous waterfalls and torrents hoarse
From the most dramatic plumes to the calmest cascades, we seek out the corners of the kingdom where water and gravity collide to magical effect
The good stuff
Hetty Lintell says green for go with a selection of stylish and useful khaki travel accessories
Interiors
Sally Stephenson on the secrets of illuminating period houses and Amelia Thorpe’s lighting picks
London Life
- Russell Higham on piazza plans for the Docklands
- Carla Passino meets the man who shaped Mayfair
- Martin Fone reveals the saga of ‘London’s Eiffel Tower’
Kitchen garden cook
Melanie Johnson harnesses the delicious flavours of rosemary
Architecture Tour: ‘OG House’ In Halifax, Canada
Video timeline: 00:00 – Introduction to the Architects Own Home 00:55 – The Family Centred Brief 01:58 – The Layout and Walkthrough of the Home 03:42 – A Focus on the Light and Sculpted Areas 04:28 – The Neutral Material Palette 04:59 – Customised Furniture Pieces 05:57 – Proud Moments and Favourite Aspects
As the project’s architect, Omar, says, the brief for this home was to create a house for his family as well as a new studio space for his budding practice. As it happens, his architecture studio grew rapidly over the course of the build, and as such, the ground floor studio space is now an extension of his original waterfront studio and a place to work on community projects with his team. This project illustrates a seamless understanding of how domestic and non-domestic principles can coexist within an architects own home.
The footprint of this house was heavily defined by the site and its setbacks from abutting properties and to the street. Cleverly, Omar has used these parameters to gently guide the architecture and ensuing build. In the house tour of an architects own home, Omar highlights the site’s various constraints, which have been reinterpreted as opportunities in designing a compelling piece of architecture. As Omar says, “the volume was resolved from the outset, so it became a process of articulation and sculpting, and in some cases, sacrificing overall square footage for moments of joy, delight and surprise.”
Boomers Daily 