The operation at the main hospital complex in Gaza came after Israel released videos showing what it said were weapons inside a children’s hospital in the enclave.
A mission to rescue cancer-stricken children from the violence in Gaza has involved multiple countries and last-minute connections in the chaos of war.
Jewish Groups Rally for Israel on National Mall
The rally was a response to large protests across the United States and the world denouncing the Israeli military campaign in Gaza.
Freeway Closed? Just Take the 10 to the 110 to the 5, Angelenos Say.
Southern California residents are bracing for longer commutes over the next month, after a fire forced the closure of a central freeway segment. But they don’t seem to be panicking yet.
The Economist The World Ahead 2024 (November 14, 2023) – Future-gazing analysis, predictions and speculation including Ten trends to watch in 2024; 2024 will be stressful for those who care about liberal democracy; America will need a new vocabulary to discuss its presidential election; Europe needs to step up support for Ukraine; Don’t give up on peace in the Middle East, and more…
Life comes at you fast. Whether it’s the upsurge in armed conflict, the redrawing of the global energy-resources map or rapid progress in artificial intelligence (ai), the world is changing at mind-boggling speed. From the situation in the Middle East to the adoption of electric vehicles to the treatment of obesity, things look very different from the way they did just a year or two ago. Our aim is to help you keep your worldview up to date—and tell you what might be coming next. To kick things off, here are ten themes to watch in the coming year.
In theory it should be a triumphant year for democracy. In practice it will be the opposite
By Zanny Minton Beddoes
More than half the people on the planet live in countries that will hold nationwide elections in 2024, the first time this milestone has been reached. Based on recent patterns of voter turnout, close to 2bn people in more than 70 countries will head to the polls. Ballots will be cast from Britain to Bangladesh, from India to Indonesia. Yet what sounds like it should be a triumphant year for democracy will be the opposite.
The fragility of the Western coalition is a crucial weakness
By Patrick Foulis
As 2023 drew to a close, wars were raging in Africa, Israel and Gaza, and Ukraine. These crises are explosive in their own right. Combine them with a presidential race in America and 2024 promises to be a make-or-break year for the post-1945 world order.
The 2020s were destined to be dangerous. The West’s share of world gdp has fallen towards 50% for the first time since the 19th century. Countries such as India and Turkey believe the global institutions created after 1945 do not reflect their concerns. China and Russia want to go further and subvert this system.
Scientific American – November 2023: The issue features The New Nuclear Age – Inside America’s plan to remake its atomic arsenal; The Most Shocking Discovery in Astrophysics Is 25 Years Old – Scientists are still trying to figure out dark energy; Behind the Scenes at a U.S. Factory Building New Nuclear Bombs – The U.S. is ramping up construction of new “plutonium pits” for nuclear weapons….
One afternoon in early 1994 a couple of astronomers sitting in an air-conditioned computer room at an observatory headquarters in the coastal town of La Serena, Chile, got to talking. Nicholas Suntzeff, an associate astronomer at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory, and Brian Schmidt, who had recently completed his doctoral thesis at the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian, were specialists in supernovae—exploding stars. Suntzeff and Schmidt decided that the time had finally come to use their expertise to tackle one of the fundamental questions in cosmology: What is the fate of the universe?
The point of the thing was to forever change our concept of power. When the U.S. military assembled a team of scientists, led by physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer, to build a nuclear bomb during World War II with the hope of beating the Nazis to such a terrible creation, many of those involved saw their efforts as a strange kind of civic destiny. The Manhattan Project, wrote Richard Rhodes, Pulitzer-winning author of The Making of the Atomic Bomb, was “compelled from the beginning not by malice or hatred but by hope for a better world.” Oppenheimer himself once said, “The atomic bomb was the turn of the screw. It made the prospect of future war unendurable. It has led us up those last few steps to the mountain pass; and beyond there is a different country.”
National Geographic Magazine (December 2023 Issue) – National Geographic has revealed photographers’ most breathtaking and culturally relevant photos from around the world in its annual Pictures of the Year issue.
On Tuesday, National Geographic editors revealed their top selections chosen from stories they assigned to photographers in 2023 for the fourth annual year-end retrospective. The final photos were narrowed down from a pool of 2 million.
MICHELIN Guide (November 14, 2023) – A local product par excellence, Maltese honey represents the country’s history and culinary riches – and no mention can be made of Maltese cuisine without it being referenced.
In this video, beekeepers Ray Sciberras and Jorge Spiteri take us back to the time of the Romans and tell us all about the Apis Mellifera Ruttneri – the Maltese honeybee. We also see how the honey they produce plays a key role at the Camilleri & Sons Bakery, where among the many delicacies, you’ll find delicate Zeppoli Ta’ San Guzepp pastries drizzled with honey.
But it doesn’t stop at pastry, as chef Robert Cassar of the MICHELIN-recommended restaurant Root 81 makes clear. “Honey, in my eyes, is like butter – you can use it with everything,” he says.
Country Life Magazine – November 15, 2023:The latest issue features the annual Georgian Group Architecture Awards; Horns of plenty – The Bull, monarch of the meadow has been a key mythological figure since ancient times; the sensitive restoration of Somerton Castle in Lincolnshire, a once-neglected medieval stronghold; the great thatching renaissance, and more…
Here’s to the Georgians
Imaginative restoration, from Stowe House to Stroud canal, is lauded in the annual Georgian Group Architectural Awards
No, you’re not going batty
Jane Wheatley investigates the development pitfalls of finding a pipistrelle on your property
Back to the strawing board
The art of thatching is enjoying a renaissance as architects are drawn to its eco credentials, as Sarah Langford discovers
Horns of plenty
The monarch of the meadow has been a key mythological figure since ancient times. Ian Morton takes the bull by the horns
The toast of the town
Jonathan Self finds comfort in every crunchy, buttery mouthful and asks: how do you like yours?
Buried treasures
Christopher Stocks goes under-ground to examine the centuries-long allure of glittering grottos
The great country-house revival
Director-general Ben Cowell celebrates Historic Houses and half a century of achievement
Sir David Hempleman-Adams’s favourite painting
The explorer chooses a work that demonstrates the beauty and colour of the natural world
Hebridean overtures
Jamie Blackett runs the gauntlet of the ‘Grand National’ in pursuit of ever-elusive South Uist snipe
From ruin to rebirth
Nicholas Cooper marvels at the sensitive restoration of Somerton Castle in Lincolnshire, a once-neglected medieval stronghold
Native breeds
Kate Green meets the docile and floppy-eared British Lop
The good stuff
Need a sparkling conversation starter? Hetty Lintell picks out a fistful of fabulous cocktail rings
Dressed to impress
The sartorial centre of Savile Row provided the perfect setting for our Gentleman’s Life party
Interiors
Painting a floor is a fun way to add colour and pattern to a room, finds Amelia Thorpe
A touch of glass
Victorian glasshouses are feats of engineering that deserve a new lease of life, says Lucy Denton
Big apple
Charles Quest-Ritson is wowed by the display of trained apples in the 18th-century walled garden at The Newt in Somerset
Kitchen garden cook
Melanie Johnson savours the sweet earthiness of a chestnut
Shakespeare, but not as we know it
Sir Kenneth Branagh’s Lear may be off beam, but Michael Billington is buoyed by a stirring portrayal of the Bard’s wife
National Geographic (November 14, 2023) – Dominica: The Nature Island (2023) follows the National Geographic Pristine Seas team as they partner with local leadership to conduct the first full-island survey of the marine ecosystems around the island.
The scientific results from the international team’s weeks of work will help inform the Dominican government and its people in their resilience planning to ensure their marine environment’s irreplaceable assets continue to sustain the well-being of many generations of Dominicans.
After the harrowing experiences of Hurricane Maria in 2017, Dominica committed to transforming the island into the world’s first climate resilient nation.
The Local Project (November 14, 2023) – White Rock is a secret cabin hidden in the woods in the Gaspereau Valley, an agricultural community in Nova Scotia, Canada. Designed by architect Omar Gandhi as a retreat for his family, a close friend’s family and their circle of friends and colleagues,
Video timeline:00:00 – Introduction to the Architect’s Own Secret Cabin 00:55 – A Shared Childhood Dream 01:26 – A Walkthrough and the Layout of the Cabin 02:39 – A Sparse and Simple Material Palette 04:01 – The Modern Kitchen Design 05:33 – Evolving The Design Elements 05:56 – Favourite Aspects of the Project
it is a deeply personal project that adds a dynamic layer to his studio’s portfolio. It is possible to visualise this secret cabin hidden in the woods in other forest settings, yet the architectural nuances bring a specificity to the design that belong only to this place. From a distance, the cabin is but a small disruption amid the ever-changing colours of the forest, yet up close, its architectural presence is monumental. The steel form is a confident expression of simple geometries and a bold reinterpretation of a typical secret cabin hidden in the woods.
A house tour reveals an aesthetic that is elemental and layered, from the bedrooms to the kitchen. The interior design, which is defined by smoked oak, raw steel shelving and wall-mounted industrial light fixtures, complements the architecture of this secret cabin hidden in the woods. As the lead architect, designer and homeowner, Omar embraced the opportunity to inject his personality into the design. He saw this project as an opportunity to experiment within the framework of his practice, thus, several pieces of furniture created in collaboration with local artisans and makers dot the interiors.
The Globalist Podcast (November 14, 2023) –The latest as tensions rise on the Israel-Lebanon border. Also, Ukraine’s role in the Nord Stream pipeline explosion, and writer and broadcaster Yassmin Abdel-Magied discusses the EU’s warnings of genocide in Sudan.
Plus, Monocle’s transport correspondent, Gabriel Leigh, on the Dubai Airshow.
“I’m watching patients die in front of my eyes,” one doctor at a besieged hospital said, “and I can’t provide them the slightest bit of help.” Israel said its forces were targeting Hamas fighters.
The Democratic congresswoman from the Detroit area and the only Palestinian American in the House faces a complicated landscape in her district.
What It Means to Be a Texan Is Changing in Surprising Ways
White people make up a declining minority in Texas, even among those born in the state. And all those people moving in? They’re as likely to be Black, Hispanic or Asian.
Behind Public Assurances, Xi Jinping Has Spread Grim Views on U.S.
Speeches by the Chinese leader show how he was bracing for an intensifying rivalry with the United States from early in his rule.
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