Tag Archives: October 2023

News, Newspapers, Views

The New York Times — Monday, October 30, 2023

Leave a comment
Image

How Years of Israeli Failures on Hamas Led to a Devastating Attack

Before the attack by Hamas on Oct. 7, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and top Israeli security officials believed the greatest threats to Israel were Iran and Hezbollah.

Israeli officials completely underestimated the magnitude of the Oct. 7 attacks by Hamas, shattering the country’s once invincible sense of security.

34 Hours of Fear: The Blackout That Cut Gaza Off From the World

Gazans line up at a bakery in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip on Friday.

As Israeli forces entered Gaza on Friday to fight Hamas, phone and internet service was severed, sowing chaos for Palestinian civilians and leaving rescuers driving blindly toward explosions.

Reaction to Hamas Attack Leaves Some Jews in Hollywood Feeling Unmoored

The response to the Oct. 7 assault, and to Israel’s retaliation, has revealed a schism in the entertainment world that many did not realize was there.

Matthew Perry, Star of ‘Friends,’ Is Dead at 54

He was known for playing the sarcastic but lovable Chandler Bing and for his struggles with drugs and alcohol, which he chronicled in a memoir.

Cities, Tourism, Tours, Travel, Videos

Travel Guide: What To Do For One Day In Paris (DW)

Leave a comment

DW Travel (October 29, 2023) – A visit to Paris without seeing sights like the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre or the Sacré-Cœur is almost unimaginable – despite the throngs of tourists. How can one of the world’s most visited cities become more sustainable, for Parisians and tourists alike?

Video timeline: 00:00 Intro 00:27 Eiffel Tower 01:55 Louvre Museum 02:27 Sacré-Cœur Basilica, Montmartre 04:52 Seine riverbank 07:26 Pont Neuf 08:17 Bistro “La Timbale”, Montmartre

From the banks of the Seine to Montmartre, DW reporter Swati Bakshi takes you to places in the French capital where you can observe the city’s transition to sustainability.

Art, Arts & Literature, Exhibitions, Museums, Previews, Reviews

Previews: Holbein And The Renaissance In The North

Leave a comment
Salome with the Head of John the Baptist (detail; c. 1520–24), Andrea Solario. Kunsthistoriches Museum, Vienna

Apollo Magazine (October 27, 2023) – This exhibition at the Städel Museum in Frankfurt places work by Hans Holbein the Younger and the Elder, Albrecht Dürer and Hans Burgkmair in dialogue with that of their contemporaries working in the city of Augsburg and elsewhere in Germany, and in Italy and the Netherlands (2 November–18 February 2024).

Holbein and the Renaissance in the North

2 Nov 2023 – 18 Feb 2024

“The Städel Museum is prized far and wide for its major Old Masters exhibitions. After Rubens, Rembrandt and Reni, it now holds yet another exceptional show in store for the public. The Städel Museum is presenting the Renaissance in the North—a new and entirely unique style of painting that originated more than 500 years ago in the North of Europe at the threshold from the Middle Ages to the Early Modern period.“

Philipp Demandt, Director, Städel Museum
Renaissance in the North

It brings together some 130 painting, drawings and prints by leading artists of the Northern Renaissance dating from the period of the 1480s through to the 1530s. These include two masterpieces by Holbein the Younger – the Solothurn Madonna (1522), on loan from the Kunstmuseum Solothurn, and The Madonna of Jacob Meyer zum Hasen (1526–28) from the Würth Collection.

READ MORE

 Find out more on the Städel’s website.

Foreign Affairs, Government, Politics, Reviews, Society, Videos

Turkey At 100 – Ataturk’s Dream & Erdogan’s Reality

Video Leave a comment

DW News (October 29, 2023) – Turkey is celebrating its 100th birthday. Events are taking place across the country to mark the anniversary of its founding.

In the capital Ankara, Pesident Recep Tayyip Erdogan laid a wreath at the mausoleum dedicated to Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the country’s founder, who created a modern, secular republic from the ruins of the Ottoman Empire in 1923.

The centennial is also a personal milestone for Erdogan, who has been in power for more than 20 years. But challenges loom large as Turkey looks to the future. More from our correspondent Julia Hahn in Istanbul.

News, Podcasts, Politics, Stories

Sunday Morning: Stories And News From London, Hong Kong And Helsinki

Audio Leave a comment

October 29, 2023 – From London, Emma Nelson, Isabel Hilton and David Bodanis on the weekend’s top news stories. Also, Monocle editorial director Tyler Brûlé in Hong Kong and our Helsinki correspondent, Petri Burtsoff.

Documentaries, Tours, Travel, Videos, Wilderness

Travel: Arctic Territories Of Northwestern Canada

Leave a comment

TRACKS – Travel Documentaries (October 28, 2023) – Explore Canada’s natural beauty in this beautiful documentary, from high above Baffin Island, in the northern Canadian territory of Nunavut, we get a glimpse at the incredible Arctic wonders.

From the towering ice fields lining the waters of Eclipse Sound in the Arctic Archipelago, to the natural wonders of Sirmilik National Park.

Covering 1.5 million square kilometres, or about one seventh of Canada, the Northern Arctic Ecozone extends over most of the nonmountainous areas of the arctic islands and parts of northeastern Keewatin, western Baffin Island, and northern Quebec. It is among the largest arctic ecosystems in the world.

Winters pass in near darkness with the polar night measured in weeks and months rather than hours. Snow may fall any month of the year and usually remains on the ground from September to June. Extremely low temperatures and an average precipitation of about 200 mm per year characterize the climate. When not covered in snow, much of the landscape is typified by barren plains covered in frost-patterned soils and the occasional rock outcrop.

News, Newspapers, Views

The New York Times — Sunday, October 29, 2023

Leave a comment
Image

Israel-Hamas War Enters ‘Second Stage,’ Netanyahu Says

Israeli armored vehicles near the border with Gaza on Saturday.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel did not describe the ground incursion as an invasion, but it was accompanied by an enormous aerial and artillery bombardment.

Gaza’s Tunnels Loom Large for Israel’s Ground Forces

A man in a military uniform is seen holding a gun inside a dark narrow tunnel.

Hamas is believed to hide weapons, fighters and even command centers in miles of subterranean pathways and chambers.

For Mike Johnson, Religion Is at the Forefront of Politics and Policy

The new House speaker has put his faith at the center of his political career, and aligned himself with a newer cohort of conservative Christianity that some describe as Christian nationalism.

Kanye and Adidas: Money, Misconduct and the Price of Appeasement

A year ago, after producing hundreds of shoe styles and billions of dollars together, Adidas broke with Kanye West as he made antisemitic and other offensive public comments. But Adidas had been tolerating his misconduct behind the scenes for nearly a decade.

Arts & Literature, Books, Newspapers, Previews, Reviews

The New York Times Book Review – October 29, 2023

Leave a comment
Image

THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW (October 29, 2023): This week’s issue features  “A Haunting on the Hill,” by Shirley Jackson; ‘I Feel a Human Deterioration’ – making sense of the violence and loss in Israel; Is It Time to Pull Up Stakes and Head for Mars? – Probably not, Kelly and Zach Weinersmith argue in “A City on Mars”….

A Fitting — and Frightening — Homage to ‘The Haunting of Hill House’

Apparitions, black hares and time warps festoon the pages of Elizabeth Hand’s “A Haunting on the Hill,” set in the same moldering mansion as Shirley Jackson’s classic horror novel.

‘I Feel a Human Deterioration’

Etgar Keret at home in Tel Aviv. “I think that this entire nation is going through PTSD,” he says.

The Israeli writer Etgar Keret has spent the last few weeks trying to make sense of the violence and loss around him. So far, he can’t.

Is It Time to Pull Up Stakes and Head for Mars?

This is a black and white illustration of our solar system.

Probably not, Kelly and Zach Weinersmith argue in “A City on Mars.”

By W. M. Akers

A CITY ON MARS: Can We Settle Space, Should We Settle Space, and Have We Really Thought This Through?, by Kelly and Zach Weinersmith

Face it, folks. Earth is finished. It’s overheated, overcrowded, overregulated. It’s the ultimate fixer-upper, a dump we inherited from our parents that we’d be cruel to pass on to our children. It’s time to pull up stakes. It’s time for Mars.

Or maybe not.

Lighting out for the solar system is an appealing fantasy, but “A City on Mars,” an exceptional new piece of popular science by the “Soonish” authors Kelly and Zach Weinersmith, suggests we shouldn’t be so quick to give up on Earth. Forceful, engaging and funny, it is an essential reality check for anyone who has ever looked for home in the night sky.

Adventure, Documentaries, Tours, Travel, Videos, Views

Travel: A 630-Mile Driving Tour Of The Faroe Islands

Leave a comment

Lucas T. Jahn Films (October 27, 2023) – An exploration of 10 of the 18 Faroese Islands, from Viðoy in the north to Suðuroy in the far south. In total, more than 1000 km were driven during the 16 days.

The Faroe Islands is a self-governing archipelago, part of the Kingdom of Denmark. It comprises 18 rocky, volcanic islands between Iceland and Norway in the North Atlantic Ocean, connected by road tunnels, ferries, causeways and bridges. Hikers and bird-watchers are drawn to the islands’ mountains, valleys and grassy heathland, and steep coastal cliffs that harbor thousands of seabirds.

News, Podcasts, Politics, Stories

Saturday Morning: News And Stories From London

Audio Leave a comment

Monocle on Saturday, October 28, 2023: Terry Stiastny and Carlota Rebelo discuss overnight developments in the Israel-Palestine conflict and the new US House Speaker, Mike Johnson.

Plus, Monocle’s Alexei Korolyov meets the feminist non-binary choir taking Austria by storm. Join Monocle on Saturday every week for a review of the latest news, arts, and culture in the week’s global papers.