The New York Times — Thursday, June 6, 2024

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Hochul Halts Congestion Pricing in a Stunning 11th-Hour Shift

Weeks before New York was to charge motorists to enter Manhattan’s business district, Gov. Kathy Hochul postponed the program, citing economic concerns.

The G.O.P. Push for Post-Verdict Payback: ‘Fight Fire With Fire’

Republican leaders in and out of government are publicly pushing to prosecute Democrats as legal retribution for Donald Trump’s felony conviction.

The D-Day Battle France Chose to Forget. Until Now.

Far from Normandy’s beaches, French paratroopers and resistance members fought a rear-guard action to keep the Nazis at bay. But its tragic end had made it a battle to forget.

Israel Secretly Targets U.S. Lawmakers With Influence Campaign on Gaza War

Israel’s Ministry of Diaspora Affairs ordered the operation, which used fake social media accounts urging U.S. lawmakers to fund Israel’s military, according to officials and documents about the effort.

Arts/Books: Times Literary Supplement – June 7, 2024

Times Literary Supplement (June 5, 2024): The latest issue features Reading the Raj – E.M. Forster’s ‘A Passage to India’, Way-Out Philosophy, Michelangelo at the British Museum…

The New York Times — Wednesday, June 5, 2024

In Shift, Biden Issues Order Allowing Temporary Border Closure to Migrants

The move shows how drastically immigration politics have shifted in the United States. The American Civil Liberties Union said it planned to challenge the order in court.

To Restrict Migrants, Biden Leans on Trump’s Favorite Immigration Law

President Biden’s executive action addresses one of his most serious political vulnerabilities ahead of the presidential election.

Visiting Europe, Biden Will Find Both Solidarity and Isolation

The president arrived in France for a visit meant to mark the 80th anniversary of the D-Day invasion and showcase Western unity. But even as he rallies American allies in defense of Ukraine, he will defy them on the war in Gaza.

Culture: The American Scholar – Summer 2024

THE AMERICAN SCHOLAR (June 4, 2024): The latest issue features ‘An Olympian for the Ages’ – Why George Eyser’s feats at the 1904 Games deserve to be celebrated today; Joshua Prager on a forgotten Olympian, Mickalene Thomas and the art of remixing, new poetry from Ange Mlinko, and more…

A Forgotten Turner Classic

Who was George Eyser, the one-legged German-American gymnast who astounded at the Olympic Games?

Femmes Fantastiques

Mickalene Thomas and the art of remixing

We Are the Borg

Is the convergence of human and machine really upon us?

The Singularity Is Nearer: When We Merge with AI by Ray Kurzweil

In the fall of 2014, an MIT cognitive scientist named Tomaso Poggio predicted that humankind was at least 20 years away from building computers that could interpret images on their own. Doing so, declared Poggio, “would be one of the most intellectually challenging things … for a machine to do.” One month later, Google released an AI program that did exactly what he’d deemed impossible.

Previews: Country Life Magazine – June 5, 2024

Country Life Magazine (June 4, 2024): The latest issue features Britain’s Wildlife Safaris; Tulips, tanks and teddies – The great passions….

Stuff and nonsense

Collectors explain their peculiar passions, from tanks to taxidermy, tulips to teddy bears, to Kate Green, Agnes Stamp, Tiffany Daneff and Octavia Pollock

A walk on the wild side

Ben Lerwill embarks on a great British safari, seeking out the best places to witness the full colour of Nature, from red deer to golden eagles and brown argus butterflies to grey seals

Standing on ceremony

The spectacle of The King’s Birthday Parade will summon up a vision from a bygone age, suggests Simon Doughty, as he chronicles the evolution of the ceremonial uniform

Beccy Speight’s favourite painting

The CEO of the RSPB chooses a dramatic and evocative work

Crossing the channel

Carla Carlisle reflects on the 80th anniversary of D-Day and wonders ‘what comes next?’

A Georgian vision

John Martin Robinson visits Gatewick in West Sussex and finds a modern country house harbouring an 18th-century spirit

The legacy

Kate Green hails F. M. Halford’s contribution to dry-fly fishing

The longest day and the shortest night

Harvest hopes and the magic of midsummer, with Lia Leendertz

Her green and pleasant land

Mary Miers paints a picture of Peggy Guggenheim’s rural idyll

Fresh as a summer breeze

Natasha Goodfellow picks out botanicals to add complexity and character to both food and drink

Interiors

A lambing shed turned home office wows Arabella Youens

London Life

  • Russell Higham on London Zoo memories)
  • Garden squares and gasholders
  • Gilly Hopper tucks into canal-side dining
  • Nick Foulkes indulges in The Emory experience

Floreat Etona

Education and horticulture still go hand in hand at Eton in Berkshire, as George Plumptre discovers

Kitchen garden cook

Savour tart gooseberries this summer, says Melanie Johnson

Native herbs

John Wright extols the virtues of the underused wild marjoram

The good stuff

Hetty Lintell’s deck-shoe shuffle

Travel

  • Emma Love sets sail on luxury yachts
  • Lauren Ho puts her best foot forward in Zambia
  • Pamela Goodman aces it

A little to the left

Being left-handed is no barrier to greatness, finds Bernard Bale

News: Gaza Ceasefire Plan Weighed, UK Accused Of Recruiting Spies By China

The Globalist Podcast (June 4, 2024): Israel and Hamas weigh up the latest plan for peace in Gaza. Meanwhile, China has accused the UK’s MI6 of recruiting a couple as spies in the latest incident of alleged espionage going public.

Plus: aviation news and why the Swiss Air Force is practising landing on motorways.

The New York Times — Tuesday, June 4, 2024

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Biden Is Expected to Sign Order Letting Him Seal Border With Mexico

The move, expected on Tuesday, would allow the president to temporarily close the border and suspend longtime protections for asylum seekers in the United States.

Voters in Mexico Cement the Governing Party’s Dominance

Expectations were high for the leftist Morena party, and it exceeded them, potentially giving President-elect Claudia Sheinbaum and her allies the power to enact systemic change.

A Surging Hard Right in Europe Stumbles Over Its Own Divisions

Elections starting this week for the European Parliament could leave far-right parties with more power than ever, but also expose the fissures among them.

Health & Nutrition Letter June 2024 Preview (Tufts)

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Tufts Health & Nutrition Letter (June 3, 2024): The new issue features ‘Prostate Cancer’ – There is no surefire way to prevent this disease, but a healthy lifestyle may be beneficial…

There is no surefire way to prevent this disease, but a healthy lifestyle may be beneficial.

June is National Men’s Health Awareness Month, a perfect time to consider screening for prostate cancer.
According to the American Cancer Society, about one in eight men in the U.S. will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in his lifetime. Although most men with this disease will not die from it, prostate cancer is still the second leading cause of cancer death in American men (after lung cancer).

Let’s Get Moving!

Physical activity is good for us—whatever we do, and wherever and whenever we do it.

All kinds of movement are important to health. Find what’s right (and fun) for you! Image © forest_strider | Getty Images

The benefits of physical activity are well-established. Not only can being physically active make you feel and perform better, but it can also reduce the risk of developing many chronic diseases, including cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, and Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias.

Finance Preview: Barron’s Magazine – June 3, 2024

Magazine - Latest Issue - Barron's

BARRON’S MAGAZINE – June 3, 2024 ISSUE:

Don’t Expect the Fed to Cut Interest Rates This Year

Don’t Expect the Fed to Cut Interest Rates This Year
Chairman Powell and his team had hoped to lower rates in 2024. But sticky inflation, a strong economy, and calendar quirks are thwarting their plans.

Where to Find 7% Yields on Preferred Stock

Where to Find 7% Yields on Preferred Stock

Some preferred stock offers a far better yield than the 4.65% rate on 30-year Treasuries. Here’s what to know.

Rockefeller’s Giant Lives On. Energy Industry Mergers Are Resurrecting Standard Oil.

Rockefeller’s Giant Lives On. Energy Industry Mergers Are Resurrecting Standard Oil.

A series of the mergers and acquisitions are putting together the oil company that was broken up by the Supreme Court in 1911.

International Art: Apollo Magazine – June 2024 Issue

June 2024 | Apollo Magazine

Apollo Magazine (June 2, 2024): The new June 2024 issue features ‘The awesome art of Caspar David Friedrich’; Should museums charge entry fees? and Picnicking with the Impressionists…

News, Views and Reviews For The Intellectually Curious