MONOCLE RADIO (February 6, 2025): Jordan and Egypt lead reactions to a seismic shift in US foreign policy in the Middle East. Then: why Taiwan is sending marines to its airport, why Austria can’t form a government and why Nissan and Honda won’t be doing business together. Plus: arts news with Ben Luke.
The New York Times – Thursday, February 6, 2025
Trump’s Gaza Plan Is Unworkable, Analysts Say. Does He Really Mean It?
President Trump’s proposal to transfer millions of people out of Gaza was hailed by the Israeli right and condemned by Palestinians. Some experts say it may be a negotiating tactic.
Inside Trump’s Hastily Written Proposal to ‘Own’ Gaza
Although the president had been talking about the idea for weeks, there had been no meetings on the subject, and senior members of his government were taken by surprise.
Trump Signs Order Barring Transgender Student-Athletes From Women’s Sports
The president said schools that violated the order would jeopardize their federal funding.
New Leaders of Justice Dept. Move to Assert Control Over Agency
The department’s No. 2 official, Emil Bove, escalated his conflict with the interim leaders of the F.B.I., accusing them of “insubordination.”
Nature Magazine — February 6, 2025 Preview
NATURE MAGAZINE (February 5, 2025): The latest issue features ‘Sight Unseen’ – Infrared capabilities of JWST reveal horde of previously undetectable asteroids…
Even at one month, a baby’s brain shows an aptitude for smell
Brain regions linked to the sense of smell in adults were activated in infants exposed to the odours of petrol, strawberry and more.
How a wobbly arrow can achieve superpropulsion
A flexible dart with a weighted tip can have 60% more kinetic energy than a rigid one, experiments show.
Who’s the new furry neighbour? It might be a wolverine
The large carnivores are spreading out of remote mountains and into areas settled by humans.
What lies beneath Europa’s icy surface? Perhaps a heart of metal
One of Jupiter’s biggest moons has the potential to harbour life in a subsurface sea. The nature of its core will provide information about that ocean.
The New Statesman Magazine — February 2025
THE NEW STATESMAN (February 5, 2025): The latest issue features ‘The New Gods of AI’ – China, the US and the battle to control the future…
Donald Trump is planning ethnic cleansing in Gaza
This imperialistic “Riviera” project could have been dreamt up by the Israeli far right.By Rajan Menon
The Do No Harm dilemma
What happens when a drug that can save lives could also ruin them? By Hannah Barnes
Class war: the battle over private schools
Labour must recover its radical tradition and close Britain’s education privilege gap.By David Kynaston and Francis Green
Country Life Magazine – February 5, 2025 Preview
COUNTRY LIFE MAGAZINE (February 5, 2025): The ‘Travel Issue’ features The Romance and Risk of a Big Adventure….
The inimitable Wodehouse
Roderick Easdale marvels at the ‘pure word music’ of P. G. Wodehouse, whose aristocratic comedies are still treasured as English-language classics
All I have to do is dream
Nod off with Tree Carr as she investigates what it means when our sleeping hours are filled with enchanting visions of wildlife and the natural world
London Life
· Giles Kime admires The Goring’s stylish new look
· All you need to know in the capital this month
· Arabella Youens visits the best second-hand markets
Travel
· Richard MacKichan dives into Canada
· Kate Eshelby treks across Pakistan
· Rosie Paterson takes a chance on Italy
· Adam Hay-Nicholls follows in Bond’s tyre tracks in the Swiss Alps
· Rosie Paterson ventures into the US wilderness
· Hetty Lintell selects top travel accessories
· Christopher Wallace relives a Cape Town-to-Cairo adventure
· Pamela Goodman visits a faithful old geyser
Jason Goodwin’s favourite painting
The writer and historian selects a pencil drawing alive with energy
Ruin and rebirth
In the second of three articles, John Goodall tells how Bramham Park in West Yorkshire rose from the ashes of an 1828 fire
The legacy
Octavia Pollock places David Garrick centre stage for his role in revolutionising the theatre
Interiors
The latest lamps and lighting options, with Amelia Thorpe
Pottery winners
Tiffany Daneff talks terracotta with Beth Tarling, a Cornish collector with a passion for flowerpots
Foraging
All flash and no flavour — John Wright pans the scarlet elfcup
Arts & antiques
Carla Passino reveals the tale of the Royal Academy’s Prince and ponders the identity of the sitter for a 16th-century Venus
Let there be light
Matthew Dennison enlightens us on the history of the chandelier from its origins as a candlelit ‘crown of shimmering gold’
Alright, petal
Catriona Gray meets the talented botanical illustrators celebrating 30 years of chronicling Chelsea Physic Garden’s plant collection
Essay: ‘Russia’s Costly Conquest In Ukraine’
FOREIGN AFFAIRS MAGAZINE (February 5, 2025): Today, about 20 percent of southeastern Ukraine is under Russian occupation, including Crimea and large parts of the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia regions. Russian President Vladimir Putin has painted the war in Ukraine as a nationalist campaign to repel Western advances and reclaim territory that, in his view, rightfully belongs to Russia. But conquest has another motivation: economic gain. If Russia maintains military control over these regions, it may be hoping to reap that benefit. At this stage, however, it is hardly clear that they would become economic assets for Moscow; supporting the war-torn territories could just as easily become a drain on its coffers.
The human costs of this war are enormous. Russian forces are ruling occupied Ukraine with an iron fist, engaging in a ruthless campaign of torture, kidnapping, violence, and arbitrary killing. Any assessment of the war’s economic consequences should not minimize its awful depravity or the immense suffering it has inflicted. But its economic outcome will affect future judgments of Putin’s decision to invade in February 2022. If Russia benefits economically from the occupation of Ukraine, the war may be remembered as a strategic success, albeit a coldblooded one. If Russia instead suffers economically, the invasion will be seen as a self-defeating, barbaric blunder.
Times Literary Supplement – February 7, 2025 Preview
TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT (February 5, 2025): The latest issue features ‘Turbulent Priest’ – Pope Francis’s autobiography; Richard Flanagan in the atomic age; Poetry from Gaza; Richard Ayoade’sdoppelganger and Eimear McBride on repeat…
News: A New Turkey-Syria Strategic Partnership, US Plan For Gaza “Takeover”
MONOCLE RADIO (February 5, 2025): As Ahmed al-Sharaa, Syria’s transitional president, meets Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara, we ask: what role is Turkey seeking to play when it comes to regional security?
Then we discuss Benjamin Netanyahu’s trip to the White House to see Donald Trump. Plus, a ceasefire in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, former Nato chief Jens Stoltenberg makes a comeback in Norwegian politics and press freedom in Czechia.
The New York Times – Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2025
Inside Musk’s Aggressive Incursion Into the Federal Government
The billionaire is creating major upheaval as his team sweeps through agencies, in what has been an extraordinary flexing of power by a private individual.
Elon Musk’s X Becomes Weapon in Government Cost Cutting
The billionaire has used the social media site to boast of victories, lash out at enemies and conduct polls for the initiative he calls the Department of Government Efficiency.
China Counters Trump’s Tariffs As Talks Remain in Limbo
After a 10 percent tariff on Chinese products took effect on Tuesday, China announced retaliatory measures, including tariffs and an investigation of Google.
Senate Panel Pushes Through Kennedy’s Nomination Along Party Lines
Senator Bill Cassidy, a Republican torn between his concerns as a doctor and supporting President Trump, voted to send Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s nomination as health secretary to the full Senate.
The Trump Tariffs: Why McKinley Dumped Them
The Wall Street Journal (February 4, 2025): President Donald Trump often cites the 25th President, William McKinley, as an inspiration for tariffs.
Chapters: 0:00 Trump’s tariff idol 0:50 Revenue 3:30 Restriction 5:02 Reciprocity 7:17 Trump today
The ‘McKinley Tariffs’ were some of the largest hikes in U.S. history, but in his second term, McKinley changed his mind, and argued for more free international trade as a way of helping the U.S. economy. WSJ explores how McKinley used tariffs, how Trump is following a similar playbook and why McKinley. Actually came to speak out against them.
Boomers Daily 