Monocle on Saturday, January 13, 2024: A discussion of the the Israel-Hamas conflict and the Iowa caucuses. And why are people upset at artificial intelligence finishing Keith Haring’s ‘Unfinished Painting’?
Join Georgina Godwin and communications consultant Simon Brooke for this and more from the week’s news and culture.
The Economist Magazine (January 12, 2024): The latest issue features ‘China’s EV Onslaught’ – An influx of Chinese cars is terrifying the West; Europe’s Silicon Valley; ‘America Fights Back’ – The new contest for sea power; Why Olaf Scholz is no Angela Merkel – Germany is unable and unwilling to lead Europe; What science says about old leaders…
The Globalist Podcast (January 12, 2024) –US and UK forces have carried out air strikes against the Houthis in Yemen with mission support from the Netherlands, Australia, Canada and Bahrain.
Targets reportedly include sites in the capital city, Sana’a, the Red Sea port of Al-Hudaydah, Dhamar and the northwestern Houthi stronghold of Sa’ada. We discuss the political consequences of South Africa’s case against Israel at the International Court of Justice.
Also, an eventful week in US politics ahead of this year’s presidential election, Greece plans an initial public offering of Athens International Airport and the latest theatre news.
The American-led strikes came in response to more than two dozen Houthi drone and missile attacks against commercial shipping in the Red Sea since the Israel-Hamas war began.
A U.N.-affiliated panel said the territory could tip into famine very soon. International laws to protect people from human-made famines offer little help.
The assassination of a Hamas chief in Lebanon. A terror attack on mourners of an Iranian former general. Commercial shipping in the Red Sea targeted by Yemeni rebels, and a US airstrike in Iraq.All were separate events in the Middle East last week but all were linked, in one way or another, to the presence of autonomous but Iranian-backed militia forces in the region.
When asked to visualise the threat of war engulfing the Middle East, for this week’s cover, illustrator Carl Godfrey took a literal approach. “I wanted to convey the tense and unpredictable situation,” says Carl, “and there’s nothing more tense than looking down the barrel of a gun. Especially when those barrels are pointing in all directions, and the risk of war is expanding in all directions.”
The Globalist Podcast (January 11, 2024) –Assessing the possibility of the International Court of Justice ordering Israel to halt its campaign in Gaza.
Plus: Taiwan’s all-important election this weekend, Poland’s political meltdown and the latest business news.
They are not just the churchgoing, conservative activists who once dominated the G.O.P.
Trump’s Argument for Immunity in 2024 Is the Opposite of His Stance in 2021
During his second impeachment trial, the former president argued that criminal prosecution was a more appropriate way to seek accountability since he had left office.
A three-judge panel appeared unlikely to grant the former president’s request that it throw out federal criminal charges that he plotted to overturn the 2020 election.
Saudi-Israel Ties Depend on Steps Toward a Palestinian State, Blinken Says
In meetings with Israeli leaders, the U.S. secretary of state held out the prospect of Saudi recognition to prod Israel to curb combat operations in Gaza and accept a path to Palestinian statehood.
To Win Iowa, Trump Turns to Allies Like Marjorie Taylor Greene
With the former president busy defending himself in court from 91 felony charges, his campaign has deployed high-profile conservatives to help fill the gaps in Iowa.
A Glimpse Inside a Devastated Gaza
In the ruins of two Gazan towns, New York Times journalists witnessed the sheer destruction that Israel’s war has wrought and the devastation of Hamas’s operations.
News, Views and Reviews For The Intellectually Curious