News: Israel Strikes 500 Military Targets In Syria, Macron Battles Far Right

Monocle Radio Podcast (December 11, 2024): Following the overthrow of the Assad regime, what will happen to the millions of Syrians who were granted asylum abroad? We give you the latest and look at why strikes are continuing.

Plus: Emmanuel Macron’s grand coalition talks, China sends its largest fleet in nearly 30 years to the Taiwan region – and we meet Finland’s ambassador to the UK, Jukka Siukosaari, and Business Finland’s director for western Europe, Jukka Holappa.

The New York Times — Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2024

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Suspect in C.E.O. Killing Withdrew From a Life of Privilege and Promise

The suspect, Luigi Mangione, was an Ivy League tech graduate from a prominent Maryland family who in recent months had suffered physical and psychological pain.

How a Realtors’ Nonprofit Quietly Funds Conservative Advocacy Groups

The National Association of Realtors has created a nonprofit that gives more heavily to one side of the political aisle and to groups that have little to do with real estate and housing.

What to Know About Syria’s Notorious Sednaya Prison

Amnesty International described it as a “human slaughterhouse,” where, other rights groups say, tens of thousands of people were detained, tortured and killed during the 13-year civil war.

Rage Grows Over a Spate of Brutal Murders of Women in Kenya

Almost 100 women have been killed in the span of three months, the police say. Rights groups want President William Ruto to declare femicide a national crisis.

Country Life Magazine – December 18, 2024 Preview

Country Life Magazine (December 10, 2024): The latest issue features ‘The Christmas Double Issue’…

A story of homeliness

The Revd Dr Colin Heber-Percy considers the Christmas story told in familiar rituals

Earth stood hard as iron

Frost casts a garden’s structure into sharp relief. Tiffany Daneff enters a sparkling world

The Very Revd Jo Kelly-Moore’s favourite painting

The Dean of St Albans chooses a canvas full of uplifting light for dark times

The legacy

Kate Green pays tribute to Dame Ninette de Valois, the ‘godmother of ballet’

Where Britain’s first saint lies

In the first of two articles, John Goodall traces the saintly history of the ancient abbey church of St Albans, Hertfordshire

Love to hear the robin go tweet, tweet, tweet

The feisty robin is the undisputed avian king of Christmas. Mark Cocker wonders why

It’s a most wonderful time of the year

From weaving wreaths to corralling choristers, the work is ramping up for country people, who talk to Kate Green and Paula Lester

Baby, it’s gold outside

Catriona Gray meets the artists capturing Nature’s beauty in gold

Silence is golden

Stop and listen to Nature’s voice, urges John Lewis-Stempel

Each year you bring to us delight

Hanging treasured decorations is all part of the magic. Matthew Dennison opens the bauble box

Look out! Look out! Jack Frost is about

Deborah Nicholls-Lee dares to unveil the mysterious figure

The Editor’s Christmas quiz

Take on our quizmaster — and, more importantly, your family and friends

Anyone for indoor cricket?

Melanie Cable-Alexander buckles up for riotous country-house-corridor games

No Risk, no reward

Harry Pearson takes over the world with the classic board game

Make ’em laugh

Jonathan Self chortles at British comedy

The Christmas Story: ‘Bring me flesh and bring me wine’

The spirit of Christmas works its magic on a curmudgeonly baronet in Kate Green’s tale

Interiors

Natural scents win for Arabella Youens

While shepherds watched their flocks

The sheep and its patient guardians have long delighted artists, finds Michael Prodger

Luxury

Knitting, diamonds and Giles Coren’s treats

It takes a village

Is the perfect rural habitation real, wonders John Lewis-Stempel

Don’t mince your words

Modern mince pies are but pale shadows of the past, believes Neil Buttery

You’re one hot roast potato

Who can resist a roastie? Not Emma Hughes, nor anyone else in their right mind

Kitchen garden cook

Melanie Johnson builds a gingerbread house

That’ll do, pig

Glazed and succulent, the Christmas ham is the king of the feast for Tom Parker Bowles

Lay, lady, lay

Give wine time to age, urges Harry Eyres

Crown Him with many crowns

John Lewis-Stempel gathers in the holly, once divine diadem, now a cow’s Christmas feast

The straw that broke the camel’s back

Labour’s family-farm tax will mean ruin for a beleaguered sector, says Minette Batters

 ‘Growing old is mandatory, but growing up is optional’

Sam Leith opens the well-worn covers of the childhood books we will always cherish

Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee

From frogs to rat armies, the natural world has inspired countless ballets. Laura Parker straps on her pointe shoes for the bunny hop

Highlights, delights and lowlights

Michael Billington awards his accolades to the stars — and the scourges — of the stage

Spectres of the feast

Operas with food and wine may be rousing, but there are perils, warns Henrietta Bredin

Unputdownable: the page turners of 2024

Country Life reviewers select their top books

Literarature: The Paris Review – Winter 2024-2025

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Paris Review Summer 2024 (September 10, 2024) — The new issue features:

Fredric Jameson on the Art of Criticism: “Ideological critique has to end up being a critique of the self. You can’t recognize an ideology unless, in some sense, you see it in yourself.”

Hanif Kureishi on the Art of Fiction: “When I was in hospital in Rome, having the experience of being a paralyzed man nearly dead, my only excitement was in the thought that I could write some of this shit down.”

Gerald Murnane on the Art of Fiction: “A fatal question—what are people reading these days? Never mind what people are reading these days. What should I be writing about is the fundamental question.”

Prose by Dan Bevacqua, Caoilinn Hughes, Silas Jones, Alec Niedenthal, Adania Shibli, and Abdulah Sidran.

Poetry by Sargon Boulus, Egill Skallagrímsson, Rachel Mannheimer, Simone White, and Hua Xi.

Art by Ann Craven, Ala Ebtekar, and Josh Smith; cover by Seth Becker.

News: Future Of Syria To Be Discussed At United Nations, Netayahu Trial

Monocle Radio Podcast (December 10, 2024): Following the collapse of the Assad regime, the UN Security Council meets to discuss what comes next in Syria.

Also in the programme: the UK’s prime minister, Keir Starmer, makes a historic visit to Cyprus; we meet the president and CEO of Future Caucus; and a flick through the new handbook launched by Monocle last night. Plus: Fernando Augusto Pacheco on 2025’s Golden Globes.

The New York Times — Tuesday, December 10, 2024

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Shock, Glee and Unease as Syrians Celebrate the Unthinkable

A day after the regime of President Bashar al-Assad fell, civilians poured into the streets of Damascus, weeping in disbelief. Many sought word of relatives held in a notorious prison on the outskirts of the city.

Daniel Penny Is Acquitted in Death of Jordan Neely on Subway

Mr. Penny choked Mr. Neely in a minutes-long struggle on the floor of an F train. The case reflected the pathologies of post-pandemic New York.

Suspect Is Charged in C.E.O.’s Murder After Arrest in Pennsylvania

Luigi Mangione was arrested after a tip from a McDonald’s in Altoona. On Monday night, Manhattan prosecutors charged him with murder.

Spying on Student Devices, Schools Aim to Intercept Self-Harm Before It Happens

New technology alerts schools when students type words related to suicide. But do the timely interventions balance out the false alarms?

Paris: Inside Notre Dame Cathedral’s Recovery

CBS Mornings (December 9, 2024): Saturday was a special day in Paris as Notre Dame Cathedral held its first mass in more than five years after a fire in April 2019 destroyed much of the cathedral’s roof. Senior foreign correspondent Seth Doane has been following the renovation over the years.

Preview: The New Yorker Magazine – Dec. 16, 2024

Santa exits the subway.

The New Yorker (December 9, 2024): The latest issue features Eric Drooker’s “A Seasonal Delivery” – Santa Claus—he’s just like the rest of us.

President Emmanuel Macron Has Plunged France into Chaos

Lawmakers have toppled the government for the first time since 1962. How did we get here? By Lauren Collins

What Will Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy Accomplish with Doge?

Two political newcomers have arrived to slash big government, but so far the project seems less revolutionary than advertised.

News: Assad Flees Syria To Russia, Whe Rebels Victory Was So Swift, South Korea

Monocle Radio Podcast (December 9, 2024): The latest on Syria as Bashar al-Assad flees to Moscow and rebels claim Damascus. Plus, the future of Yoon Suk Yeol, Romania’s cancelled election and Saudi Arabia’s new date-based soft drink.

The New York Times — Monday, December 9, 2024

The Campaign by Syrian Rebels to Topple Assad Was Swift

President Bashar al-Assad had kept opposition forces at bay for a decade with help from Russia and Iran. But rebels struck at a moment of weakness for those countries.

Syrians Mourn All They Have Lost, Even as They Celebrate

Thoughts of loved ones dead or missing complicate joyous relief at the prospect of Bashar al-Assad’s losing power.

Bogged Down in Ukraine, Russia Pays a Price in Syria

With the fall of President Bashar al-Assad of Syria, Vladimir V. Putin has suffered one of the biggest geopolitical setbacks of his quarter-century in power.

Want a Job in the Trump Administration? Be Prepared for the Loyalty Test.

Applicants for government posts, including inside the Pentagon and the intelligence agencies, say they have been asked about their thoughts on Jan. 6 and who they believe won the 2020 election.

News, Views and Reviews For The Intellectually Curious