Monocle on Saturday, October 14, 2023: A look at the week’s news and culture with Georgina Godwin. Also in the programme: David Bodanis reviews the morning’s papers and Meryl Halls, managing director at the Booksellers Association, tells us about Bookshop Day.
Tag Archives: Ukraine
The New York Times — Saturday, October 14, 2023
Israel Sticks to Call for Gaza Evacuation and Readies a Possible Invasion
The United Nations and others condemned the call for more than a million people to leave northern Gaza, and Israel softened its initial 24-hour timetable.
For Jewish New Yorkers, Shared Grief Puts Divisions on Hold
Usually lively and often fractious, political conversations are set aside among the large community of Jews in the city.
Thousands Flee Northern Gaza as Israeli Evacuation Order Stirs Panic
Some residents fear a start of another permanent displacement. Gaza authorities said at least 40 people were killed when Israeli airstrikes hit some vehicles heading south.
Across U.S., Chinese Bitcoin Mines Draw National Security Scrutiny
Microsoft reported one site in Wyoming because of its proximity to a data center and nuclear missile base. Records show other cryptocurrency facilities have ties to the Chinese state.
The New York Times — Friday, October 13, 2023
Humanitarian Crisis in Gaza Worsens as Israel Prepares a Possible Invasion
As Israel retaliates for the Hamas assault last weekend and plans a potential ground attack, its airstrikes have left Gazans without power, water and medical care.
As Israel Prepares for War in Gaza, Debate Is Over How and How Long
The country’s new unity government agrees that Hamas must be destroyed so it can never attack Israel again, but there is little appetite for a reoccupation.
The Retired Israeli General Who Grabbed His Pistol and Took On Hamas
By rushing to confront the attackers himself, Israel Ziv has become a public symbol of Israel’s former military successes — and its failure this time.
Sam Bankman-Fried’s Closest Friends Become His Foes in Courtroom Clash
The FTX founder’s criminal trial has made clear just how much his inner circle has turned against him.
Previews: The Economist Magazine – Oct 14, 2023
Will Israel’s agony and retribution end in chaos or stability?
Much depends on its offensive in Gaza—and its politicians and neighbours
Briefing
Hamas’s atrocities and Israel’s retaliation will change both sides for ever
The miscalculations of Israel’s and Gaza’s leaders are being laid bare
The New York Times — Thursday, October 12, 2023
Israel Forms Unity Government and Bombs Gaza in the Wake of Hamas Attack
Following the deadliest assault on Israel in half a century, the country is vowing to crush Hamas, and both sides are bracing for an escalating war.
How Israel’s Feared Security Services Failed to Stop Hamas’s Attack
Israel’s military and espionage services are considered among the world’s best, but on Saturday, operational and intelligence failures led to the worst breach of Israeli defenses in half a century.
A Texas Community Attracts Migrant Home Buyers, and Republican Ire
The development near Houston offers cheap land and unconventional financing to buyers, many of them undocumented immigrants. Gov. Greg Abbott has called for hearings.
Who Runs the Best U.S. Schools? It May Be the Defense Department.
Schools for children of military members achieve results rarely seen in public education.
The New York Times — Wednesday, Oct 11, 2023
Israel Retakes Towns Near Gaza as Its Military Readies Major Offensive
“The next step is to move forward, go on the offense,” an Israeli general said, as the country called up more reservists in response to devastating attacks by Palestinian gunmen who killed more than 900 people.
Washington Rallies Behind Israel, but a Lasting Consensus May Prove Elusive
Democrats and Republicans put aside an increasingly partisan divide over Israel to condemn the Hamas attack. But that support may be harder to maintain as Israel retaliates.
‘It’s Not a War or a Battlefield. It’s a Massacre.’
A Times reporter and photographer visited an Israeli village raided by Palestinian gunmen.
Nowhere to Hide in Gaza as Israeli Onslaught Continues
Residents and health authorities say that mosques, hospitals and schools are being targeted by airstrikes.
The New York Times — Tuesday, October 10, 2023
Views
Israel Orders ‘Complete Siege’ of Gaza and Hamas Threatens to Kill Hostages
Israel mobilized 300,000 reservists amid signs that it could be preparing for a major ground invasion of Gaza, and it bombed hundreds of sites, including mosques and a marketplace.
Attack Ends Israel’s Hope That Hamas Might Come to Embrace Stability
Israel had considered Hamas a terrorist organization but one that could play a useful role for Israel in the Gaza Strip, which the group controls. Now, senior Israeli officials say, Hamas must be crushed.
‘I Just Hope That They Are Alive’: How Hamas Abducted 150 Israelis
Palestinian militants kidnapped scores of Israelis in an unprecedented attack that took the Israeli-Palestinian conflict into unknown territory. Their relatives recount how they were captured.
Russia’s Economy Is Increasingly Structured Around Its War in Ukraine
The nation’s finances have proven resilient, despite punishing sanctions, giving it leeway to pump money into its military machine.
Previews: The New Yorker Magazine – Oct 16, 2023
Jake Sullivan’s Trial by Combat
Inside the White House’s battle to keep Ukraine in the fight.
On a Monday afternoon in August, when President Joe Biden was on vacation and the West Wing felt like a ghost town, his national-security adviser, Jake Sullivan, sat down to discuss America’s involvement in the war in Ukraine. Sullivan had agreed to an interview “with trepidation,” as he had told me, but now, in the White House’s Roosevelt Room, steps from the Oval Office, he seemed surprisingly relaxed for a congenital worrier. (“It’s my job to worry,” he once told an interviewer. “So I worry about literally everything.”)
The Crimes Behind the Seafood You Eat
China has invested heavily in an armada of far-flung fishing vessels, in part to extend its global influence. This maritime expansion has come at grave human cost.
By Ian Urbina
In the past few decades, partly in an effort to project its influence abroad, China has dramatically expanded its distant-water fishing fleet. Chinese firms now own or operate terminals in ninety-five foreign ports. China estimates that it has twenty-seven hundred distant-water fishing ships, though this figure does not include vessels in contested waters; public records and satellite imaging suggest that the fleet may be closer to sixty-five hundred ships.
The New York Times — Monday, October 9, 2023
Hamas Attack Raises Questions Over an Israeli Intelligence Failure
American and Israeli officials said none of Israel’s intelligence services had specific warning that Hamas was preparing a sophisticated assault.
‘There Were Terrorists Inside’: How Hamas’s Attack on Israel Unfolded
Palestinian militants from Gaza raided Israel on Saturday, killing and abducting hundreds. Survivors have begun to recount the most complex attack on their territory in half a century.
A Shaken Israel Is Forced Back to Its Eternal Dilemma
The attack by Hamas forces Israel once again to confront the conflict that has haunted it since the creation of the modern state.
Fearing Third-Party Spoilers vs. Trump, Biden Allies Try to Squash Them
With Democrats worried that a third-party bid could throw a tight race to Donald Trump, President Biden’s top aides have blessed a broad offensive to starve such efforts of cash and ballot access.
The New York Times — Sunday, October 8, 2023
‘We Are at War,’ Netanyahu Says After Hamas Attacks Israel
Palestinian militants from Gaza launched an early-morning assault on southern Israel, invading towns and firing thousands of rockets. Israel retaliated with huge strikes on Gazan cities.
An Attack From Gaza and an Israeli Declaration of War. Now What?
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is being pressured to launch a full-scale invasion that Israeli leaders have been scrupulously avoiding since 2005.
‘The Children Were Terrified.’ Fear Grips Israel and Gaza
As Hamas launched a surprise attack on southern Israel, Israelis huddled in shelters and Gazans flocked to supermarkets, fearing the Israeli military response.
Migrant Crisis Tests New Yorkers Who Thought They Supported Immigration
As the city’s resources strain under the influx of thousands of migrants, New Yorkers are still resolutely in favor of welcoming newcomers. But for how long?
Boomers Daily 