Israel said it struck more than 400 targets in Gaza in its broadest single-day assault of the conflict. Palestinian officials said more than 700 were killed, the highest one-day toll of the war.
A ground invasion in Gaza could produce some of the fiercest street-to-street fighting since World War II.
‘I Went Through Hell,’ Freed Israeli, 85, Says of Subterranean Captivity in Gaza
Yocheved Lifshitz, a grandmother and Israeli peace activist, was kidnapped, beaten and held in tunnels built by Hamas for 17 days.
Cohen Denounces Trump During Courtroom Face-Off
Michael D. Cohen accused his onetime boss, Donald J. Trump, of manipulating his net worth as Mr. Trump stared blankly ahead. It was their first interaction in five years.
Architectural Digest (October 24, 2023) – Today Architectural Digest travels to Lower Manhattan to tour the newly completed Perelman Performing Arts Center. An integral part of the new World Trade Center site, architects Joshua Ramus and David Rockwell were eager to give the arts a new home in the area.
Ramus calls the building a “mystery box” as the theater’s 3 auditoria ingeniously extend and combine to create over 62 stage-audience configurations, resulting in a different space each time you visit. But what makes this building so special is revealed at dusk when the chandeliers shine through its 5,000 marble tile exterior, causing it to glow.
As this unique space finally opens its doors, the ultimate hope for Perelman is to inspire artists to create profound work–in turn inspiring the public.
FRANCE 24 English (October 24, 2023) – The French Mediterranean island of Corsica attracts two million holidaymakers every summer. To properly discover the so-called Isle of Beauty, what better way than on a cruise ship?
Aboard a week-long cruise on La Belle des Océans, passengers explore Corsica’s most beautiful beaches, as well as the local gastronomy and breathtaking panoramas – such as the medieval town of Bonifacio, perched 40 metres above the Mediterranean. FRANCE 24 brings you a little taste of summer.
The Local Project (October 24, 2023) – Believing that architecture is about creating something permanent, Butler Armsden Architects built Valley of the Moon Retreat as a beautiful modern home that is everlasting.
Video timeline:00:00 – Introduction to the Beautiful Modern Home 00:48 – A Countryside Location 01:35 – Belonging to the Landscape 02:32 – The Layout of the Beautiful Modern Home 04:39 – The Exterior Material Palette 05:22 – Preserving The Surrounding Landscape 05:36 – Designing For Climate Changes
After remodelling the client’s city dwelling, the architect was tasked with creating a family holiday residence in Glen Ellen, a place the clients could retreat to and escape city living. As one turns onto the narrow driveway, the house tour begins with a picturesque trip to the modern abode. The architecture and interior design enables the family to create lasting memories whilst being connected to nature, which completely surrounds the beautiful modern home.
Nestled between the trees, the residence blends seamlessly into the landscape. However, as the house tour reveals, the façade of the beautiful modern home is relatively closed off until the breezeway is opened up to expose the valley beyond. As one walks through the breezeway, the large courtyard opens up to expansive vistas of the valley beyond, with a pool that offers an additional reflection of the natural surrounds. The architect ensures the family can either entertain and find moments of respite by introducing separate cabin-like pavilions that can be opened up or closed.
Country Life Magazine – October25, 2023: The new issue features Native Breeds – celebrating the noble Shire horse; Taken by storm – artists from Rembrandt to J.M.W. Turner in the eye of the storm; Lighting-up time – Magical autumn colours make Leonardslee Gardens in West Sussex….
Native breeds
‘England’s past has been borne on his back’: Kate Green cele-brates the noble Shire horse, a gentle and patient servant
Taken by storm
Michael Prodger examines the artist in the eye of the storm, from a gale-tossed Rembrandt to a J. M. W. stomach-Turner
And still, as he lived, he wondered
More than a century after The Wind in the Willows was written, the exploits of Ratty, Mole and Toad continue to entertain, as Matthew Dennison discovers
In for a penny-farthing
Riding a Victorian high wheeler for 400 miles across war-torn Ukraine was a real eye-opener for adventurer Neil Laughton
Interiors
Kitchens can be so much more than mere functional spaces, as three leading interior designers reveal to Arabella Youens
Lighting-up time
Magical autumn colours make Leonardslee Gardens in West Sussex a place for all seasons, suggests Charles Quest-Riston
Jamie Hambro’s favourite painting
The Guide Dogs for the Blind chairman selects his favourite characterful animal painting
Medieval modernism
Mary Miers finds that the spirit of the Arts-and-Crafts Movement is alive and well as she visits Ballone Castle, a remarkable Scottish tower-house restoration
The whorled wide web
Simon Lester endeavours to untangle the natural wonder that is the spiderweb—gossamer thin, but stronger than steel
Scaling heart-attack hill
John Lewis-Stempel conquers the timeless Sussex Downs, before an October storm forces him to beat a hasty retreat
Luxury
Hetty Lintell explores bespoke eyewear, Penhaligon’s potions and remedies, and the life and legacy of Coco Chanel, Prof Tim Spector shares his favourite things, plus beautiful and practical navigation watches
Kitchen garden cook
Melanie Johnson welcomes pumpkins to her autumn kitchen
The Globalist Podcast (October 24, 2023) – The latest from the Middle East and why Israel is arming its civilians, the so-called ‘Venezuelan Margaret Thatcher’ Maria Corina Machadostorming the opposition primaries and the fallout of Australia’s Indigenous Voice referendum.
Plus: Why a French auction of the former Senegalese president’s possessions has been suspended and an arts-news round-up.
As two more hostages are released, American officials have urged Israel to delay a ground invasion, to allow time for negotiations and for more humanitarian aid to enter Gaza.
New Scientist (October 23, 2023) – Whilst writing narration for the latest Plant Earth series, David Attenborough had a moment that “made me hold my breath,” he says. In the scene, a leopard located high up in a tree attacks an antelope buck.
Wondering if the leopard could possibly survive falling from such a height, Attenborough says “suddenly you realise you haven’t written anything because, you know, you’re just completely held. And that may tell you that perhaps your words aren’t all that necessary”.
The New Yorker – October 30, 2023 issue: The new issue‘s cover features Mark Ulriksen’s “Spooky Spiral” – The artist discusses monsters, Halloween mishaps, and the frenzy surrounding the holiday.
Few citizens believe that China will reach the heights they once expected. “The word I use is ‘grieving,’ ” one entrepreneur said.Illustration by Xinmei Liu
Party officials are vanishing, young workers are “lying flat,” and entrepreneurs are fleeing the country. What does China’s inner turmoil mean for the world?
Twenty-five years ago, China’s writer of the moment was a man named Wang Xiaobo. Wang had endured the Cultural Revolution, but unlike most of his peers, who turned the experience into earnest tales of trauma, he was an ironist, in the vein of Kurt Vonnegut, with a piercing eye for the intrusion of politics into private life. In his novella “Golden Age,” two young lovers confess to the bourgeois crime of extramarital sex—“We committed epic friendship in the mountain, breathing wet steamy breath.” They are summoned to account for their failure of revolutionary propriety, but the local apparatchiks prove to be less interested in Marx than in the prurient details of their “epic friendship.”
The town of Spruce Pine, North Carolina, doesn’t have a lot to say for itself. Its Web site, which features a photo of a flowering tree next to a rusty bridge, notes that the town is “conveniently located between Asheville and Boone.” According to the latest census data, it has 2,332 residents and a population density of 498.1 per square mile. A recent story in the local newspaper concerned the closing of the Hardee’s on Highway 19E; this followed an incident, back in May, when a fourteen-year-old boy who’d eaten a biscuit at the restaurant began to hallucinate and had to be taken to the hospital. Without Spruce Pine, though, the global economy might well unravel.
News, Views and Reviews For The Intellectually Curious
FRANCE 24 English
New Scientist
Boomers Daily 