Category Archives: Politics

Culture: New York Times Magazine – Feb 26, 2023

The New York Times Magazine – February 26, 2023:

Three Years Into Covid, We Still Don’t Know How to Talk About It

Most Americans think they know the story of the pandemic. But when a writer immersed himself in a Covid oral-history project, he realized how much we’re still missing.

‘The Democratic Party in New York Is a Disaster’

After losing crucial seats in the congressional midterms, a bitter civil war over the moribund state organization has spilled into the open.

News: Ukraine War After One-Year, U.N. Condemns Russia, Nigeria Elections

February 24, 2023: We mark one year since the invasion of Ukraine with Kateryna Yushchenko, the country’s former First Lady. Plus: Nigeria heads to the polls, the day’s newspapers and the latest business news.

Putin’s Hidden War: The Russians Fighting Back

The Economist (February 23, 2023): The invasion of Ukraine left Russians with a stark choice: carry on as normal or make a stand against the war. But speaking out in Russia carries huge risks. How is the opposition managing to resist the regime – and at what personal cost?

Video timeline: 00:00 – One year on 01:37 – The first wave of protests 05:43 – Crackdown on dissent 10:04 – Individual acts of rebellion 13:51 – Partial mobilisation 16:20 – Russia’s mass exodus 23:06 – The future of Russian rebellion

Arts & Life: FT Weekend Magazine – Feb 25, 2023

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FT Weekend Magazine – February 25, 2023 issue:

Joshua Reynolds’ ‘Portrait of Omai’ is a national treasure. Why is Britain struggling to keep it?

The fight to save the iconic work reflects a painful truth about the UK’s financial state

It’s time for a serious tax on guns in America

‘Not one inch’: unpicking Putin’s deadly obsession with the details of history

News: NATO’s Bucharest Nine, UN-Ukraine Meeting, Austria Neutrality Debate

February 23, 2023: Joe Biden’s meeting with Nato’s Bucharest Nine and a look ahead to the UN’s special session on Ukraine. Plus: a special interview with Austria’s minister for foreign affairs, a flick through today’s papers, a global statistics round-up and Laura Kramer speaks to ‘Liaison’ star Vincent Cassel.

Previews: The Guardian Weekly – February 24, 2023

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The Guardian Weekly 24 February 2022 – exactly a year since the date of this week’s Guardian Weekly magazine – Vladimir Putin unleashed his brutal offensive on Ukraine. As our senior international affairs correspondent, Emma Graham-Harrison, wrote in the following day’s Guardian newspaper: “The continent awoke to the shock of scenes it once believed it had left in the 20th century: helicopters strafing homes outside the capital, long lines of tanks ploughing ever deeper towards Ukraine’s heartland, roads choked with refugees, and civilians huddled in underground stations to escape bombardment.”

Much has been written since then about the state of the war and how it might end, but this week we focus on a key plank of the west’s response: the wide-ranging economic sanctions against Moscow that it was hoped would throttle Putin’s war effort.

News: Putin Exits Nuclear Treaty, South Africa Hosts Russia Navy, Brazil Floods

February 22, 2023: We report on the international reaction to Vladimir Putin’s state of the nation speech, and why South Africa hosts maritime exercises involving Russia.

Plus: an update on the devastating floods in Brazil, the day’s technology news and a newspaper round-up.

News: Putin Gives Speech On War, China Diplomats In Russia, Tunisia Arrests

We report as China’s top diplomat heads to Russia: will Beijing consider supplying weapons for the war in Ukraine? Plus: arrests of opposition figures in Tunisia, the latest business news and Burberry’s first show under new chief creative officer, Daniel Lee.

Opinion: Inflation Stays High, Obi Remakes Nigeria, Male Contraception Pills

February 20, 2023: A selection of three essential articles read aloud from the latest issue of The Economist. This week, why inflation will be hard to bring down, Peter Obi’s plans to transform Nigeria (9:55) and a promising step towards a male contraceptive pill (15:20).