In 1991 when Sir Elton John bought a duplex-apartment at Park Place on Peachtree Road in Atlanta’s coveted Buckhead neighbourhood, he couldn’t have imagined the extent to which the city would transform him personally and professionally.
All posts by She Seeks Serene
Politics: The Guardian Weekly – January 11, 2024
The Guardian Weekly (January 10, 2024) – The new issue features ‘Middle East on the brink’ – The threat of a regional war. Also, Inside the Post Office Horizon IT scandal…
The assassination of a Hamas chief in Lebanon. A terror attack on mourners of an Iranian former general. Commercial shipping in the Red Sea targeted by Yemeni rebels, and a US airstrike in Iraq. All were separate events in the Middle East last week but all were linked, in one way or another, to the presence of autonomous but Iranian-backed militia forces in the region.
When asked to visualise the threat of war engulfing the Middle East, for this week’s cover, illustrator Carl Godfrey took a literal approach. “I wanted to convey the tense and unpredictable situation,” says Carl, “and there’s nothing more tense than looking down the barrel of a gun. Especially when those barrels are pointing in all directions, and the risk of war is expanding in all directions.”
News: The South Africa Genocide Case Against Israel, Taiwan Elections
The New York Times — Thursday, January 11, 2024
At World Court, Israel to Confront Accusations of Genocide
Israel has categorically rejected the allegations being brought this week in the International Court of Justice by South Africa.
The Day Hamas Came
No Israeli town suffered more bloodshed than Be’eri in the Hamas attacks on Oct. 7.
Trump Is Connecting With a Different Type of Evangelical Voter
They are not just the churchgoing, conservative activists who once dominated the G.O.P.
Trump’s Argument for Immunity in 2024 Is the Opposite of His Stance in 2021
During his second impeachment trial, the former president argued that criminal prosecution was a more appropriate way to seek accountability since he had left office.
Research Preview: Nature Magazine January 11, 2024
Cancer-fighting CAR T cells could be made inside body with viral injection
Scientists are devising ways to edit the genomes of immune cells without having to extract them from the people being treated.
Japan earthquakes: the science behind the deadly tremors
A massive quake that triggered tsunamis, fires and multiple aftershocks was the largest on the country’s west coast in more than a century.
Boosting microbiome science worldwide could save millions of children’s lives
Studies of the microbes living on and in our bodies are conducted mainly in a few rich countries, squandering opportunities to improve the health of people globally.
The Economist Special Report: ‘Philanthropy’
The super-rich are trying new approaches to philanthropy
They are hoping to get money to the needy faster, says Avantika Chilkoti
A nudge is not always enough to force change within an industry. Sometimes a series of forceful shoves is required. In the rarified world of Western philanthropy, the shoves began in 2020. The covid-19 pandemic, protests for racial justice across America that summer and the outflow of refugees from Ukraine starting in early 2022 created a new urgency around charitable giving and revealed failings in how it worked. Donors began to consider how they could disburse money faster and with more impact.
No-strings philanthropy is giving charities more decision-making power
Organizations on the ground know best how money should be spent
Give Directly does what it says on the tin
Cash hand-outs can transform communities
Arts/Books: Times Literary Supplement – Jan 12, 2024
Times Literary Supplement (January 10, 2024): The latest issue features ‘Have a good trip’ – On the uses of psychedelic drugs; Hisham Matar’s novel of London exile; A West Bank tragedy; Puzzled by crosswords; French Band Aid, and more…
News: NATO Allies Meeting On Ukraine Air Defenses, Humanitarian Aid In Gaza
The New York Times — Wednesday, Jan 10, 2024
Appeals Court Seems Skeptical of Trump’s Immunity Claim
A three-judge panel appeared unlikely to grant the former president’s request that it throw out federal criminal charges that he plotted to overturn the 2020 election.
Saudi-Israel Ties Depend on Steps Toward a Palestinian State, Blinken Says
In meetings with Israeli leaders, the U.S. secretary of state held out the prospect of Saudi recognition to prod Israel to curb combat operations in Gaza and accept a path to Palestinian statehood.
To Win Iowa, Trump Turns to Allies Like Marjorie Taylor Greene
With the former president busy defending himself in court from 91 felony charges, his campaign has deployed high-profile conservatives to help fill the gaps in Iowa.
A Glimpse Inside a Devastated Gaza
In the ruins of two Gazan towns, New York Times journalists witnessed the sheer destruction that Israel’s war has wrought and the devastation of Hamas’s operations.
Previews: Country Life Magazine-January 10, 2024
Country Life Magazine – January 9, 2024: The latest issue features ‘Walk This Way’ – England’s secret sunken roads; Return of the curly-coated retriever; Tom Parker Bowles on the comfort of pie; Britain’s most poisonous plants, and more…
Curls, curls, curls
The intelligent, powerful curly-coated retriever was favoured by the Victorians and is still winning plaudits as a working breed, discovers Katy Birchall
Rolling in the deep
Ben Lerwill follows in the foot-steps of our ancestors to explore the history of holloways, those sunken and often secret routes criss-crossing the countryside
Little crop of horrors
From hemlock and henbane to giant hogweed, Britain is home to a host of poisonous plants. John Wright reveals how to spot the dangerous and the deadly
Why we all cry for pie
Tom Parker Bowles earns his crust with an ode to the enduring appeal of this humble, yet oh so heavenly savoury creation
Lady Violet Manners’s favourite painting
The broadcaster chooses a poignant work that speaks of absolute parental devotion
A distant horizon conquered
Fiona Reynolds explores the ancient Wiltshire Downs, with her sights set firmly on the far-off landmark of Cherhill Monument
The future as a footstool
The landmark 1980s restoration of London’s Liverpool Street Station is under threat from new proposals, argues Ptolemy Dean
The Midas touch
In the first of two articles, John Goodall investigates the early history of Madresfield Court, Worcestershire, which has been in the same family for 900 years
I can’t believe it’s British butter
Butter is making a comeback in a welcome celebration of our dairy heritage—Jenny Linford meets the artisan makers who are helping to spread the word
The good stuff
Tackle the snow in style this winter with Hetty Lintell’s pick of the best skiing accessories
Sweet dreams are made of these
The gardens at Villa Durazzo-Pallacini in Italy are Heaven on Earth for Charles Quest-Ritson
‘I have seen a very pretty thing…’
Lucien de Guise reveals how you can add a true touch of Ottoman opulence to your home
Interiors
Amelia Thorpe selects the hottest new stoves, fires and range cookers, and Giles Kime examines the growing range of options fuelled by bioethanol
Money for old rope
Deborah Nicholls-Lee looks at how hemp can help in the battle against climate change
Boomers Daily 