Tag Archives: Russia

The New York Times Magazine – May 12, 2024

THE NEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINE (May 11, 2024): The ‘Retirement Issue’ features…

These Couples Survived a Lot. Then Came Retirement.

Yvonne McCracken stands behind Richard McCracken while he stares at a computer. Pretzel crumbs are scattered across some papers on the table.

For many relationships, life after work brings an unexpected set of challenges.

By Susan Dominus

This spring, Barbara and Joe, a retired couple in their 60s, sat down with me at a bistro in suburban Connecticut to talk about their relationship. That they were sitting there together at all was something of a triumph. In the past few days, they had hurled at each other the kinds of accusations that couples make when they are on the brink of mutual destruction. They were bruised from the words that had been exchanged, and although they sat close to each other, their energy was quiet and heavy.

How to Make Retirement Less Scary

A Times financial columnist and an illustrator share an exercise that can prepare you for life after work.

By Ron Lieb

Saturday Morning: News And Stories From London

Monocle on Saturday (May 11, 2024): The Eurovision final is nearly here. Latika Bourke, Sîan Pattenden and Georgina Godwin discuss the latest news from Malmö as well as Sîan’s eleventh consecutive charity live draw.

Monocle’s resident Eurovision expert, Fernando Augusto Pacheco, speaks to the show’s production designer, Florian Wieder, and the lighting and screen-content designer, Fredrik Stormby, from the competition’s main stage. Plus: David Lammy in the US and the tourist crackdown in the Balearic Islands.

The New York Times — Saturday, May 11, 2024

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U.S. Criticizes Israel for Failure to Protect Civilians in the Gaza Conflict

In a report, the State Department avoids sweeping conclusions but raises the prospect that Israel may have violated humanitarian laws.

Biden Is Not the First U.S. President to Cut Off Weapons to Israel

Other presidents, including, Ronald Reagan, used the power of American arms to influence Israeli war policy. But the comparisons underscore how much the politics of Israel have changed over the years.

U.S. to Announce New Tariffs on Chinese Electric Vehicles

The administration could raise tariffs on electric vehicles from China to 100 percent in an attempt to protect American auto manufacturers.

News: U.S. To Withhold Weapons To Israel Over Rafah, China-Nicaragua

The Globalist (May 10 , 2024): Israeli build-up continues outside Rafah despite US warnings that it will withhold weapons if a major invasion is launched.

Then: disappointment for China as Nicaragua cancels a controversial canal linking the Atlantic and Pacific and Malaysia’s plan to offer orangutans to the biggest importers of its palm oil. Plus: we’re in Malmö, Sweden, with the latest from Eurovision.

The New York Times — Friday, May 10, 2024

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Breach Grows Between Biden and Israel’s Leaders Over Rafah Invasion

Defiant Israelis have vowed to do “whatever is necessary” in the Gaza Strip despite the American president’s threat to withhold weapons.

At a Dinner, Trump Assailed Climate Rules and Asked $1 Billion From Big Oil

At a private meeting at Mar-a-Lago, the former president said fossil fuel companies should donate to help him beat President Biden.

How Poor Tracking of Bird Flu Leaves Dairy Workers at Risk

Farmworkers have been exposed to milk infected with the bird flu virus. But there has been virtually no testing on farms, and health officials know little about who may be infected.

Israel’s Shutdown of Al Jazeera Highlights Long-Running Tensions

The network will keep covering the war in Gaza, but it will be harder for Israelis to watch. Israel calls the network a security threat, while Al Jazeera says Israel wants to conceal its brutality.

The Economist Magazine – May 11, 2024 Preview

The new economic order

The Economist Magazine (May 9, 2024): The latest issue features ‘The New Economic Order’….

The liberal international order is slowly coming apart

Kier Starmer holding a rose with his mouth

Its collapse could be sudden and irreversible

At first glance, the world economy looks reassuringly resilient. America has boomed even as its trade war with China has escalated. Germany has withstood the loss of Russian gas supplies without suffering an economic disaster. War in the Middle East has brought no oil shock. Missile-firing Houthi rebels have barely touched the global flow of goods. As a share of global gdp, trade has bounced back from the pandemic and is forecast to grow healthily this year.

“Judge-mandering” and how to cure it

The assignment of judges to cases should be random, not political

Singapore under new management

Under Lawrence Wong, the city-state has a new chance to change

China Shock II

Despite Xi Jinping’s protestations, China does have an overcapacity problem

Gangs on Latin America

How to pacify the world’s most violent region

The New York Times — Thursday, May 9, 2024

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Johnson Survives Greene’s Ouster Attempt as Democrats Join G.O.P. to Kill It

Republicans and Democrats banded together to block a motion by the right-wing Georgia congresswoman to remove the speaker.

How 360,000 Haitians Wound Up Living in Empty Lots and Crowded Schools

In a worsening humanitarian crisis, Haitians have been forced to flee their homes in the face of gang onslaughts, but the international response has failed to keep up.

Turning Point or Breaking Point? Biden’s Pause on Weapons Tests Ties to Israel.

President Biden hopes the decision to withhold the delivery of 3,500 bombs will prompt Israel to change course in its war in Gaza.

House Republicans Clash With Leaders of Public Schools Over Antisemitism Claims

Politicians said educators had not done enough. But the New York chancellor said members were trying to elicit “gotcha moments” rather than stop antisemitism.

Politics: The Guardian Weekly – May 10, 2024

The Guardian Weekly (May 8, 2024) – The new issue features ‘Nowhere to call home’ – Inside Europe’s housing crisis…

Elections for the European parliament are less than a month away and far-right parties are predicted to make significant gains in many of the bloc’s 27 member states. The dire shortage of housing, leading to rising rents and property prices, is becoming a unifying focus for voters’ discontent with their current political leaders.

The issue has sparked protests from Amsterdam to Prague and Milan, as the Guardian’s Europe correspondent, Jon Henley, reports. The data is undeniably worrying as young Europeans spend up to 10 times an average salary on rent and mortgage payments, and big cities from the Baltic states to the Iberian peninsula have registered average property price rises of close to 50%. As a result more EU residents live with their parents for longer and put off life-decisions later into adulthood.

While housing does not fall within MEPs’ remit, it is a visible locus for the sense of social unease that has beset the whole bloc and has become a pivot for the far right to turn on racialised minorities. But as European community affairs correspondent Ashifa Kassam discovers, it is those communities that are doubly penalised through discrimination from landlords who, research has shown, turn away potential renters with “foreign” surnames. The political and social ramifications of the housing crisis in Europe is mirrored elsewhere across the globe and is a subject we will return to in the Guardian Weekly in this year of elections.

Arts/Books: Times Literary Supplement – May 10, 2024

Times Literary Supplement (May 8 2024): The latest issue features ‘Reverie and revolution’ – Ian Penman on Surrealism; Crime fiction gets political; Scorsese’s English masters, women pianists and more….

News: Israel Seizes Rafah In Gaza, Russia Nuclear Drills, Xi Jinping In Serbia

The Globalist (May 8, 2024): We get the latest on the Rafah crossing as Israel and Hamas continue negotiations.

Then: Russia is ready to hold nuclear weapons drills, China’s Xi Jinping touches down in Belgrade and we speak with Neil J Young about his new book ‘Coming Out Republican’. Plus: fashion news and the economics behind doner kebabs in Germany.