Monocle on Saturday, November 18, 2023:Sian Bayley, news editor at ‘The Bookseller’, joins Georgina Godwin to look at the week’s global news and culture.
Plus, the two discuss the winner of this year’s Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction. John Vaillant’s winning book, ‘Fire Weather: A True Story From a Hotter World’, delves into the devastating wildfires that struck Fort McMurray, Alberta – the hub of Canada’s oil industry – in May 2016. It examines the conflicting priorities of the oil industry and climate science, the immense destruction caused by modern wildfires, and the lasting impacts of these disasters on the lives of those affected.
Economic despair dominates social media as young people fret about the cost of living. It offers a snapshot of the challenges facing Democrats ahead of the 2024 election.
The resolution from Representative Michael Guest, a Republican, sets the stage for a vote shortly after Thanksgiving.
Facing Financial Ruin as Costs Soar for Elder Care
The United States has no coherent system for providing long-term care, leading many who are aging to struggle to stay independent or to rely on a patchwork of solutions.
A Journey Into Northern Gaza: Ruins, Wreckage and Darkness
New York Times journalists traveled with an Israeli military convoy to catch a rare glimpse of conditions inside wartime Gaza. They saw houses flattened like playing cards, and a city utterly disfigured.
The Israeli military said troops had uncovered a Hamas tunnel shaft underneath the Al-Shifa Hospital complex, as well as a vehicle on the hospital grounds packed with weapons.
Jewish Celebrities and Influencers Confront TikTok Executives in Private Call
TikTok faces escalating accusations that it promotes pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel content. “Shame on you,” Sacha Baron Cohen said on the call.
How R.F.K. Jr. Has Turned His Public Crusades Into a Private Windfall
The causes Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has championed have brought him admiration, criticism — and tens of millions of dollars.
The Economist Magazine (November 18, 2023): The latest issue features The World Ahead 2024 – 90-page guide to the coming year; How the young should invest – Markets have dealt them a bad hand. They could be playing it better; Better ways to fund science – Too much of researchers’ time is spent filling in forms; The best films of 2023 – They featured cattle barons, chefs, composers, physicists and whistleblowers…
Ashadow looms over the world. In this week’s edition we publish The World Ahead 2024, our 38th annual predictive guide to the coming year, and in all that time no single person has ever eclipsed our analysis as much as Donald Trump eclipses 2024. That a Trump victory next November is a coin-toss probability is beginning to sink in.
Rising prices and animal spirits give it a long-awaited opportunity
Global investors are giddy about Japan again. Warren Buffett made his first visit to Tokyo in more than a decade this spring; he has built up big holdings in five trading houses that offer exposure to a cross-section of Japan Inc. Last month Larry Fink, ceo of BlackRock, the world’s biggest asset manager, joined the pilgrimage to Japan’s capital. “History is repeating itself,” he told Kishida Fumio, the prime minister. He likened the moment to Japan’s “economic miracle” of the 1980s. Even disappointing gdp figures released on November 15th will not dent investors’ optimism.
The operation at the main hospital complex in Gaza came after Israel released videos showing what it said were weapons inside a children’s hospital in the enclave.
A mission to rescue cancer-stricken children from the violence in Gaza has involved multiple countries and last-minute connections in the chaos of war.
Jewish Groups Rally for Israel on National Mall
The rally was a response to large protests across the United States and the world denouncing the Israeli military campaign in Gaza.
Freeway Closed? Just Take the 10 to the 110 to the 5, Angelenos Say.
Southern California residents are bracing for longer commutes over the next month, after a fire forced the closure of a central freeway segment. But they don’t seem to be panicking yet.
The Economist The World Ahead 2024 (November 14, 2023) – Future-gazing analysis, predictions and speculation including Ten trends to watch in 2024; 2024 will be stressful for those who care about liberal democracy; America will need a new vocabulary to discuss its presidential election; Europe needs to step up support for Ukraine; Don’t give up on peace in the Middle East, and more…
Life comes at you fast. Whether it’s the upsurge in armed conflict, the redrawing of the global energy-resources map or rapid progress in artificial intelligence (ai), the world is changing at mind-boggling speed. From the situation in the Middle East to the adoption of electric vehicles to the treatment of obesity, things look very different from the way they did just a year or two ago. Our aim is to help you keep your worldview up to date—and tell you what might be coming next. To kick things off, here are ten themes to watch in the coming year.
In theory it should be a triumphant year for democracy. In practice it will be the opposite
By Zanny Minton Beddoes
More than half the people on the planet live in countries that will hold nationwide elections in 2024, the first time this milestone has been reached. Based on recent patterns of voter turnout, close to 2bn people in more than 70 countries will head to the polls. Ballots will be cast from Britain to Bangladesh, from India to Indonesia. Yet what sounds like it should be a triumphant year for democracy will be the opposite.
The fragility of the Western coalition is a crucial weakness
By Patrick Foulis
As 2023 drew to a close, wars were raging in Africa, Israel and Gaza, and Ukraine. These crises are explosive in their own right. Combine them with a presidential race in America and 2024 promises to be a make-or-break year for the post-1945 world order.
The 2020s were destined to be dangerous. The West’s share of world gdp has fallen towards 50% for the first time since the 19th century. Countries such as India and Turkey believe the global institutions created after 1945 do not reflect their concerns. China and Russia want to go further and subvert this system.
The Globalist Podcast (November 14, 2023) –The latest as tensions rise on the Israel-Lebanon border. Also, Ukraine’s role in the Nord Stream pipeline explosion, and writer and broadcaster Yassmin Abdel-Magied discusses the EU’s warnings of genocide in Sudan.
Plus, Monocle’s transport correspondent, Gabriel Leigh, on the Dubai Airshow.
“I’m watching patients die in front of my eyes,” one doctor at a besieged hospital said, “and I can’t provide them the slightest bit of help.” Israel said its forces were targeting Hamas fighters.
The Democratic congresswoman from the Detroit area and the only Palestinian American in the House faces a complicated landscape in her district.
What It Means to Be a Texan Is Changing in Surprising Ways
White people make up a declining minority in Texas, even among those born in the state. And all those people moving in? They’re as likely to be Black, Hispanic or Asian.
Behind Public Assurances, Xi Jinping Has Spread Grim Views on U.S.
Speeches by the Chinese leader show how he was bracing for an intensifying rivalry with the United States from early in his rule.
The Globalist Podcast (November 13, 2023) –‘Haaretz’ journalist Allison Kaplan Sommer from Tel Aviv discusses the latest updates from the Middle East and we discuss urban warfare in Gaza with expert Antônio Sampaio.
We get a roundup of the day’s headlines with Vincent McAviney, discuss a meeting of Indian and US ministers in New Delhi, and assess the outcomes of last night’s presidential debate in Argentina.
News, Views and Reviews For The Intellectually Curious
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