Tag Archives: Poetry

THE NEW YORK TIMES – FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2026

Iran Is at Work on Missile and Nuclear Sites, Satellite Images Show

Repairs at key missile sites began soon after they were hit by Israeli and U.S. strikes last year, but work at Iran’s nuclear facilities has been slower.

U.S. and Iran Prepare for Talks in Oman

The Dark Side of A.I. Weighs on the Stock Market

The prospect of disruptions from A.I. has hung over the U.S. economy for years. But this week, advances in tools precipitated a sell-off on Wall Street.

The Olympics Are a Show of Global Harmony. The World Is Anything But.

The Winter Games, which officially open in Italy on Friday, are rooted in international cooperation. That feels out of place to some in a world where old rules no longer apply.

Senators Clash Over Immigration Enforcement, Risking a D.H.S. Shutdown

With eight days until a deadline to keep the Department of Homeland Security running, bipartisan talks on reining in immigration agents’ tactics appeared to sputter.

Uber Is Found Liable for Rape by Driver, Setting Stage for Thousands of Cases

In a federal bellwether case, the jury ordered the ride-hailing giant to pay $8.5 million to Jaylynn Dean, who said an Uber driver assaulted her in 2023.

THE NEW YORK REVIEW OF BOOKS – FEBRUARY 26, 2026

THE NEW YORK REVIEW OF BOOKS: The latest issue features Fintan O’Toole on the murders in Minneapolis, Trevor Jackson on the problem with central banks, Ingrid D. Rowland on Fra Angelico, Namwali Serpell on Toni Morrison’s sense of humor, Julian Gewirtz on the new microchip race, Vivian Gornick on Arundhati Roy, Joy Neumeyer on Poland’s far right, Ian Tattersall on all creatures great and small, Maurice Samuels on escaping the Nazis in Vichy France, Ben Rhodes on Robert McNamara’s sins, poems by Mary Jo Salter and James Arthur, and much more.

The Crime of Witness

Fintan O’Toole

Renee Good and Alex Pretti were murdered for daring to interfere with the Trump administration’s efforts to normalize abductions and state violence.


The Struggle for the Fed

Trevor Jackson

The Fed is under attack. Can it be both protected and held accountable?

Our Money: Monetary Policy As If Democracy Matters by Leah Downey

Private Finance, Public Power: A History of Bank Supervision in America by Peter Conti-Brown and Sean H. Vanatta

Our Dollar, Your Problem: An Insider’s View of Seven Turbulent Decades of Global Finance, and the Road Ahead by Kenneth Rogoff

When the Chips Are Down

President Trump’s reversal of a ban on sales of advanced semiconductors to China undercut the strategic logic behind years of American policy that was meant to keep the US ahead in the race to develop AI systems.

The Gilded Cage: Technology, Development, and State Capitalism in China by Ya-Wen Lei

The Thinking Machine: Jensen Huang, Nvidia, and the World’s Most Coveted Microchip by Stephen Witt

The Nvidia Way: Jensen Huang and the Making of a Tech Giant by Tae Kim

THE NEW YORK TIMES – THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2026

Surge in Immigration Cases in Minnesota Pushes Prosecutors and Judges to the Brink

A prosecutor’s outburst revealed how courts in the state were buckling under the weight of a deluge of cases arising from the Trump administration’s campaign.

Nuclear Arms Control Era Comes to End Amid Global Rush for New Weapons

Beijing, Moscow and shaken American allies are seeking new warheads as President Trump ends more than a half century of nuclear arms control with Russia.

China’s Xi Presses Trump on Taiwan in Phone Call

Both leaders gave versions of what they discussed, but Xi Jinping’s take made clear the issue of the island was front and center.

Venezuela Is Said to Detain Maduro Allies Targeted by the U.S.

The questioning of the businessmen, Raúl Gorrín and Alex Saab, who have ties to Nicolás Maduro, signaled deepening cooperation between the two nations.

THE NEW YORK TIMES – WEDNESDAY, FEB. 4, 2026

A Winter of Anguish for Minneapolis Children

“It’s like living in fear all the time,” a teenager said about the federal immigration raids that have shattered families.

Federal Crackdown Means Another Repair Job for the Minneapolis Police Chief

Brian O’Hara, who took over a troubled police force and has spent years rebuilding community trust, fears the long-term damage wrought by federal agents.

Trump Repeats Call to ‘Nationalize’ Elections, as White House Walks It Back

President Trump’s extraordinary comments were the latest iteration of his unsubstantiated claims that U.S. elections are rigged as Republicans face potentially big losses this fall.

For Peace, More Ukrainians Consider the Once-Unthinkable: Surrendering Land

Polls show a growing acceptance of territorial concessions among a war-weary public, if Ukraine receives adequate security guarantees.

THE GUARDIAN WEEKLY – FEBRUARY 6, 2026 PREVIEW

THE GUARDIAN WEEKLY: The latest issue features ‘USA-IRAN’ – Collision Course….

Have Donald Trump’s hard talk and the arrival of a strike-ready flotilla finally made Tehran blink? It certainly seemed so by Monday evening, when Iran said it was willing to talk. A week of trading threats turned to strong indications that Steve Witkoff, Trump’s envoy, and Abbas Araghchi, Iran’s minister for foreign affairs, were readying to meet in Istanbul on Friday. In this week’s big story, Ashifa Kassam and Andrew Roth chart how momentum to war slowed and fears of a wider regional conflict eased, albeit marginally.

The background to Trump’s war of words against Tehran was the huge protests that rocked Iran last month, until they were brutally repressed by the regime. Analysts suggest a fragile domestic security situation prompted the Iranian government’s softening towards US demands. Our diplomatic editor and longtime Iran watcher, Patrick Wintour, explains that while the streets are now quiet, a shift in the balance of power between the people and the government has emboldened domestic demands for a full investigation of the killing and imprisonment of protesters.

Spotlight | The Epstein files, part two
Daniel Boffey details the biggest bombshell among the 3m newly released documents: disgraced former minister Peter Mandelson’s deep and compromising relationship with the convicted paedophile

Environment | Nature runs wild in Fukushima
Free of human habitation after the 2011 earthquake, tsunami and nuclear meltdown, Fukushima is now teeming with wildlife. But this haven could vanish if people come back, finds Justin McCurry

Features | From hope to despair
The postwar new town of Newton Aycliffe with its boarded up shops is a symbol of the Britain’s economic gloom – and a warning for Labour as it battles the rise of Reform UK, reports Josh Halliday

Opinion | Art, groceries, Greenland – thieves are everywhere
Jonathan Liew reflects on how we all seem to live in a world defined by petty theft and no one, whether it’s the pickpocket or the big AI company, seems to get punished

Culture | Small acts of magic
Mackenzie Crook tells Zoe Williams how his approach to comedy has mellowed with age. Gone is the nervous, awkward energy of Gareth from The Office, to be replaced by the gentle curiosity that animates his new series Small Prophets

THE NEW YORK TIMES – TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2026

Trump, in an Escalation, Calls for Republicans to ‘Nationalize’ Elections

President Trump’s comments, made on a conservative podcast, follow a string of moves from his administration to try to exert more control over U.S. elections.

Trump Is Said to Have Dropped Demand for Cash From Harvard

On Eve of Peace Talks, Russia Hits Power Plants in Frigid Ukraine

Missiles targeted electrical facilities in Kyiv and other parts of the country, according to local officials, despite President Trump’s request for a pause.

China’s Generals Are Disappearing

For three years, Xi Jinping has been cleaning out his military elite, bringing high-level dismissals and disappearances to nearly every arm of the military.

THE NEW YORK TIMES – MONDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2026

Gaza Crossing to Egypt Reopens in Step Forward for Fragile Cease-Fire

Israel and Egypt had disagreed for months about how to resume operations at the Rafah border crossing, which has been largely closed since May 2024.

How the Supreme Court Secretly Made Itself Even More Secretive

Amid calls to increase transparency and revelations about the court’s workings, the chief justice imposed nondisclosure agreements on clerks and employees.

Why The Times Is Expanding Its Supreme Court Coverage

Small Businesses in Minneapolis Serve a City in Crisis: ‘This Is Our New Normal’

In Minneapolis and St. Paul, business owners work to lift up a community that has been shaken by the presence of thousands of immigration agents.

Protesters Press Target to Take a Stand Against ICE Crackdown in Minneapolis

The Minnesota-based retail chain has avoided criticizing anyone, even after federal agents detained two employees. Its new C.E.O. faces pressure to do more.

THE NEW YORK TIMES – SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 2026

Federal Courts Undercut Trump’s Mass Deportation Campaign

A policy intended to keep immigrants detained indefinitely has led to a deluge of lawsuits, overwhelming some federal courts and resulting in many releases.

Facing Immigration Backlash, Trump Called Schumer to Cut a Deal

They Said They Weren’t Close to Epstein. New Documents Show Otherwise.

Materials released by the Justice Department revealed that leading business and political figures had enduring relationships with Jeffrey Epstein.

British Prime Minister Urges Former Prince Andrew to Testify to Congress Over Epstein Ties

Ukraine Peace Talks Delayed After Russia and U.S. Meet

Literary Review Of Canada – March 2026 Preview

March 2026 Archives | Literary Review of Canada

Literary Review of Canada The latest issue features:

Ulysses Unbound

Navigating this Age of Appetite by Krzysztof Pelc

Here’s a question I often bat around with graduate students in my International Political Economy seminar: In book 12 of the Odyssey, how do the shipmates know which Ulysses to trust?

You know the story. Ulysses and his crew have been on Circe’s island for a year. They’re finally about to depart when the goddess takes Ulysses aside and warns him of the dangers that await them. The first of these is the “piercing songs” of the Sirens. “So listen,” she says, “I will give you good instructions; another god will make sure you remember.”

Circe tells Ulysses to put wax in his sailors’ ears but that he can listen to the Sirens if he wants to — as long as his shipmates bind him “hand and foot” to the mast: “So bound, you can enjoy the Sirens’ song. But if you beg your men to set you free, they have to tie you down with firmer knots.”

As their ship approaches the Sirens’ sharp rocks, the wind dies down, they pull the sails, and they begin to row. As predicted, Ulysses yells out to his men to set him free. He is still their captain. But instead of obeying his orders, Eurylochus and Perimedes stand up and “tie him down with firmer knots.” How, I ask my students, do they know to trust the first Ulysses over the second? How is it that as readers, we never question their choice?

Cemented Legacy

Form follows Ford by Kelvin Browne 

Albert Kahn has been called “the father of industrial architecture” and “the architect of Detroit.” His firm was certainly prolific: it was responsible for the Ford Motor Company of Canada factory in Toronto, near a laneway that bears his name, and the General Motors assembly plant in Regina, along with nearly 900 buildings in Motor City alone. Kahn’s oeuvre encompassed offices, grand homes for his industrialist clients, and libraries and fraternity houses at the University of Michigan, in Ann Arbor, not to mention a post office, a synagogue, and multiple hospitals and skyscrapers. Many of Kahn’s buildings reflect a pastiche of styles that might be considered a precursor of a postmodern eclectic. Yet this prolific architect is relatively unknown today, especially outside of Michigan.

Albert Kahn Inc.: Architecture, Labor, and Industry, 1905–1961 by Claire Zimmerman

The MIT Press / 488 pages, hardcover

Floe State? – On trouble in Greenland

By Michael Strizic

The mood on the Sea Adventurer’s bridge was grim. “She’s only making eight knots,” said our expedition leader. “We need to hit at least fourteen to keep to our itinerary.” We were four days into a two-week sailing and anchored off Ilulissat, near a UNESCO World Heritage site nestled into the crenellated western coast of Greenland.

Earlier that day, I had found myself at the helm of a Zodiac, manoeuvring the rubberized craft through thick fog, near-freezing water, and growlers. The ten high-paying passengers under my care likely had no idea that this was my first trip with the tour operator or my first time north of the Arctic Circle.

THE NEW YORK TIMES – SATURDAY, JANUARY 31, 2026

Trump’s Choice for Fed Chair Has a Tough Job Ahead. It’s Not the First Time.

Kevin Warsh is known as a consensus builder, a skill he will need if he is to head the Federal Reserve when President Trump is demanding rock-bottom rates.

A Hawkish Fed Chair Could Haunt Bessent

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent tried to avoid providing President Trump with a clear recommendation to lead the central bank.

ICE Expands Power of Agents to Arrest People Without Warrants

Agents can now carry out broader sweeps of suspected undocumented migrants, in addition to targeted operations to arrest specific people.

Release of Three Million Epstein Pages Falls Short, Survivors Say

The Justice Dept. finished its release of files related to Jeffrey Epstein, though officials conceded it was unlikely to quell suspicions around the case.

Israel Launches Deadly Strikes in Gaza, as Rafah Border Is Set to Reopen

A local health official said at least 26 people had been killed in the attacks, which the Israeli military said had targeted Hamas commanders. The opening of the border was seen as progress in the cease-fire.