Odysseus was the first privately built vehicle to make it to the moon, and points to a future in which NASA, companies and others rely on commercial lunar delivery services.
The Guardian Weekly (February 22, 2024) – The new issue features ‘Ukraine’s Lonely Road’ – After two years, is there a way out of Putin’s war?…
Shaun Walker reports on this week’s big story, the fall of the strategic town of Avdiivka to Russian troops has come at a grim time for Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy. While the army is struggling to hold ground, war fatigue is setting in among parts of the population and disagreements among the leadership have been spilling into the open.
At the same time, the death of the jailed Russian critic Alexei Navalny last week – widely seen as another political assassination – appears to emphasise the strengthening hand of Vladimir Putin, who is expected to secure another six-year term as Russia’s president in tightly controlled elections next month. Amid a familiar wave of international outrage, our Russia affairs reporter Pjotr Sauer asks what Putin might do next.
Coupled with the possibility of a Donald Trump victory in the US elections later this year, it all makes for a deeply worrying outlook for Ukraine, reflected in the Kyiv-based illustrator Sergiy Maidukov’s haunting cover artwork for the magazine this week.
“This war is the hardest test of my life, similar to an endless ultramarathon,” writes Sergiy. “It is good to try to not think about the finish when running long distance. This is important knowledge to endure.”
Russian aggression and American wavering reveal just how ill-equipped the continent is
Russia is becoming more dangerous, America is less reliable and Europe remains unprepared. The problem is simply put, but the scale of its solution is hard to comprehend. The security arrangements based on nato that emerged from the second world war—and have prevented a third—are so much part of Europe’s fabric that remaking them will be an immense task. European leaders urgently need to jettison their post-Soviet complacency. That means raising defence spending to a level not seen in decades, restoring Europe’s neglected military traditions, restructuring its arms industries and preparing for a possible war. The work has barely begun.
The action under consideration could prevent people from making asylum claims during border crossing surges. The White House says it is far from a decision on the matter.
The Maricopa County attorney in Arizona said she would fight to keep a man who authorities believe bludgeoned a woman to death in a New York City hotel.
The Globalist (February 21, 2024):G20 foreign ministers gather in Rio de Janeiro as a diplomatic spat engulfs Brazil and Israel. Then: Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger juntas confirm their commitment to form a new tri-state confederation, the Philippines conducts joint air patrols with the US and we hear from Portugal’s foreign minister, João Cravinho on Ukraine and Israel.
Plus: the commercial airport set to open on Italy’s Amalfi Coast this summer.
The United States said the resolution could have disrupted its negotiations to free hostages and secure a temporary cease-fire, but its vote drew outcry from many diplomats and aid workers.
The decision, along with an order this month declining to block West Point’s admissions program, suggests that most justices are not eager to immediately explore the limits of its ruling from June.
The international police organization has toughened oversight of its protocols, which autocrats have used to pursue dissidents. But the autocrats have adapted.
Wife, Protector and Now Political Heir: Yulia Navalnaya Rallies Russians
The wife of Russia’s most famous opposition leader long shunned the spotlight, but his death in prison may make that impossible. “I have no right to give up,” she said.
The Globalist (February 20, 2024):Israel’s war cabinet sets a date for the ground invasion of Rafah, while Russia’s foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, continues his Latin American tour in Venezuela. Sweden’s defence minister, Pål Jonson, tells us about his country’s path to Nato.
Plus: the EU’s mission to protect vessels against Houthi attacks, turmoil at Austrian property company Signa and a round-up of fashion news.
Trump. Indian food. Matthew Perry. And books, books, books. Excerpts from letters obtained by The Times show Mr. Navalny’s active mind, even amid brutal prison conditions.
The Globalist (February 19, 2024): We discuss the latest from the Japan-Ukraine Conference for Promotion of Economic Growth and Reconstruction, and Andrew Mueller sits down with Greece’s prime minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, at the Munich Security Conference as it becomes the first Orthodox-Christian nation to legalise same-sex marriage. Plus: TV highlights with critic and broadcaster Scott Bryan.
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