The average hotel room rate in the city is $301 a night, a record. A major reason: One of every five hotels is now a shelter, contributing to a shortage of tourist lodging.
In an Israeli prison infirmary, a Jewish dentist came to the aid of a desperately ill Hamas inmate. Years later, the prisoner became a mastermind of the Oct. 7 attack.
Condemnation Slows, but Does Not Stall, Israel’s Assault on Rafah
Despite fierce criticism, Israel insists it must take control of Rafah and the border with Egypt to prevent future arms smuggling.
Monocle on Saturday (May 25, 2024): Georgina Godwin is joined by Daniella Peled, managing editor at the Institute for War and Peace Reporting, for a look back at the week’s news and culture.
Plus: author Rupert Thompson joins to discuss his new book ‘How to Make a Bomb: A Novel’ and Monocle’s Helsinki correspondent, Petri Burtsoff, visits the independent publishing imprint Cozy.
An internal analysis found nearly twice as many pro-Trump posts as pro-Biden ones on TikTok since November, a sign of the right’s use of a liberal-friendly platform.
The city was once hailed for its response to addiction. But as fentanyl flooded the streets and officials shifted priorities, deaths hit unprecedented heights.
The Capital of Women’s Soccer
The success of Barcelona’s team has made Catalonia a laboratory for finding out what happens when the women’s game has prominence similar to the men’s.
The Globalist Podcast (May 24, 2024): China has launched two days of military drills around Taiwan as “punishment” following the territory’s inauguration of its new president.
Then: a “commitment for peace” between South Sudan’s government and rebel forces, and the EU signs off on a new bill legislating artificial intelligence. Plus: television news, a report from Lisbon by Design and this week’s ‘What We Learned’.
The Pentagon predicted that a stream of humanitarian aid would be arriving in Gaza via the floating pier, but little relief has reached the besieged strip, officials acknowledged this week.
The case concerned a constitutional puzzle: how to distinguish the roles of race and partisanship in drawing voting maps when Black voters overwhelmingly favor Democrats.
The Black and Latino families of Section 14, who made up much of the labor force of Palm Springs, are asking for reparations for what they say was a racially motivated attack.
As birth rates plunge, many politicians want to pour money into policies that might lead women to have more babies. Donald Trump has vowed to dish out bonuses if he returns to the White House. In France, where the state already spends 3.5-4% of gdp on family policies each year, Emmanuel Macron wants to “demographically rearm” his country. South Korea is contemplating handouts worth a staggering $70,000 for each baby. Yet all these attempts are likely to fail, because they are built on a misapprehension.
Governments’ concern is understandable. Fertility rates are falling nearly everywhere and the rich world faces a severe shortage of babies. At prevailing birth rates, the average woman in a high-income country today will have just 1.6 children over her lifetime. Every rich country except Israel has a fertility rate beneath the replacement level of 2.1, at which a population is stable without immigration. The decline over the past decade has been faster than demographers expected.
The Globalist (May 23, 2024): The latest from George Parker as the UK’s prime minister, Rishi Sunak, sets the date for a general election.
Also in the programme: Nina dos Santos discusses Emmanuel Macron’s visit to New Caledonia following violence in the French territory. Plus: business news with Rachel Pupazzoni and we speak to Julie Finch of Hay Festival as the hallowed literary gathering begins.
The moves, while largely symbolic, were welcomed by Palestinians and denounced by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who called them “a prize for terrorism.”
Nicole Shanahan, a lawyer who was married to Sergey Brin, a Google founder, led a rarefied and sometimes turbulent life in Silicon Valley, according to a Times examination.
The Globalist (May 22, 2024):We assess why Israel shut down the Associated Press Gaza live video feed. Then: why the Finnish government has proposed emergency legislation to prevent any further migrants from entering the country via the border with Russia.
Plus: we discuss the latest World Economic Forum Travel & Tourism Development Index, look at Dakar’s independent art scene and speak to this year’s Booker Prize winner.
News, Views and Reviews For The Intellectually Curious
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