All posts tagged: Briefing

Mandelson briefing on EU commissioners disclosed Hungarian counterpart’s ‘elite prostitute’ mistress

Mandelson briefing on EU commissioners disclosed Hungarian counterpart’s ‘elite prostitute’ mistress

Published by Sam

Lord Mandelson was briefed on how an EU counterpart spent his time with a “former elite prostitute” and another liked “going to the pub”, newly released files reveal. The Labour politician had sought a briefing from officials on representatives from other countries and “what makes them tick” after being appointed as European commissioner for trade. Documents released to the National Archives show that following his appointment in 2004, Lord Mandelson had wanted to “know rather more about his colleagues”. Kim Darroch, then head of the Cabinet Office European secretariat, wrote to ambassadors in August 2004 with the request. “This goes beyond the biographies already sent to the FCO. He would like to know about their politics, their personalities, their interests away from work, any known attitudes to the UK – in short, what makes them tick and how he might best connect with them.” In 2004, Peter Mandelson (back row, centre) wanted to know ‘rather more about’ his fellow EU commissioners – Herwig Vergult/EPA After ambassadors were asked to provide responses by the end of the …

The Books Briefing: What Americans Should Read Before the Election

The Books Briefing: What Americans Should Read Before the Election

Published by José

Alexei Navalny’s memoir, in particular, reminds readers how crucial the freedoms to vote and dissent are. The Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, right, makes a V sign for the media in court in Moscow on March 30, 2017. (Evgeny Feldman / AP) November 1, 2024, 11:30 AM ET This is an edition of the Books Briefing, our editors’ weekly guide to the best in books. Sign up for it here. If I were to assign one book to every American voter this week, it would be Alexei Navalny’s Patriot. Half memoir, half prison diary, it testifies to the brutal treatment of the Russian dissident, who died in a Siberian prison last February. Still, as my colleague Gal Beckerman noted last week in The Atlantic, the writing is surprisingly funny. Navalny laid down his life for his principles, but his sardonic good humor makes his heroism feel more attainable—and more real. His account also helps clarify the stakes of our upcoming election, featuring a Republican candidate who has promised to take revenge on “the enemy from within.” …

Nottingham Post vindicated over reporting of police attack briefing

Nottingham Post vindicated over reporting of police attack briefing

Published by Sam

Nottinghamshire Live’s homepage coverage of the IPSO decision Update 18 October 2024: The Nottingham branch of the NUJ has issued an open letter hailing the Nottingham Post’s IPSO win over Nottinghamshire Police as “a victory for the free press”. The letter, addressed to Nottingham Post editor Natalie Fahy, can be found in full at the bottom of this article. Original story, 19 September 2024: The Nottingham Post has been vindicated after publishing articles about a “non-disclosable” police briefing relating to a stabbing attack that rocked the city last year. The Reach-owned title reported in February and March that Nottinghamshire Police had held a “non-disclosable briefing” for press about contact they had with Valdo Calocane before he committed a triple murder spree. In June last year Calocane stabbed to death two university students, Barnaby Webber and Grace O’Malley, and school caretaker Ian Coates. Thanks for subscribing. Close The Nottingham Post and its website Nottinghamshire Live published the headline: “Police don’t want us to tell whole story of attacks investigation / Police ask Post not to publish details …

The Books Briefing: The Best Books for the Olympics

The Books Briefing: The Best Books for the Olympics

Published by skeptic

This is an edition of the Books Briefing, our editors’ weekly guide to the best in books. Sign up for it here. This week, I’ve been engaging in a high-stakes round of planning. The flurry of text messages lighting up my phone will dictate how my next two weeks will go, and my window for solidifying the logistics is closing swiftly. I’m talking, of course, about the plans my friends and I are making for watching the Olympics at local bars: what events we’ll prioritize, which patios have the best TVs, and who’s free during key moments in Paris. (I’m partial, as I told one pal, to “gymnastics, swimming, women’s soccer, and horses.”) But first, here are three new stories from The Atlantic’s books section: The Olympics can stir up sports fandom in the least jock-inclined out there by playing on a heady mix of patriotism, awe, drama, and spectacle. As Amanda Parrish Morgan wrote this week, “Athleticism, exercise, and sports all lend themselves to heightened narrative stakes.” Thankfully for the bookworms among us, she …

The Books Briefing: The Books That Keep Readers Awake at Night

The Books Briefing: The Books That Keep Readers Awake at Night

Published by skeptic

This is an edition of the Books Briefing, our editors’ weekly guide to the best in books. Sign up for it here. Every person alive likely knows how it feels to lie in the dark, willing sleep to come but failing, minute after minute, to drift off. Even if you’re in bed next to someone, once you close your eyes, you’re isolated, with nothing but your own racing thoughts to keep you company. This week, M. L. Rio, who has struggled with insomnia since graduate school, offered a list of books to comfort the restless in the lonely predawn hours—and included a few that might, hopefully, lull them into dreamland. Her list was inventive and instructive, but it made me think of an adjacent category of books: the ones that keep you awake far past your bedtime. But first, here are three new stories from The Atlantic’s Books section: On the whole, I’m blessed with the ability to sleep peacefully once I lay my head down. However, I do not always possess the discipline to …

Monday Briefing: Among Some Israelis, Muted Sympathy for Gaza

Monday Briefing: Among Some Israelis, Muted Sympathy for Gaza

Published by Sam

Blame for Hamas and little sympathy for Gazans Some Israelis are struggling to show concern for the people suffering in Gaza, according to interviews conducted in right-wing and liberal strongholds in southern Israel, and with residents from across the country. Even though Israelis know about the devastation in the enclave, many in the country ask why they should show pity when they say Palestinians there showed none on Oct. 7. They blame Hamas for starting the war and embedding itself in residential areas of Gaza, which endangers civilians. And the pain of the attacks on Oct. 7 — which was the deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust — is still raw and increasingly overlaid with anger. Israel’s mainstream media also rarely focuses on the suffering of Gaza’s civilians and routinely leads broadcasts with the funerals and profiles of soldiers who have died in battle. Diplomacy: Yoav Gallant, Israel’s minister of defense, visited Washington yesterday for meetings with senior U.S. officials. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel aired new grievances over the Biden administration’s distribution …

Ukraine war briefing: ‘Drone sanctions’ burn Russian oil reserves | Ukraine

Ukraine war briefing: ‘Drone sanctions’ burn Russian oil reserves | Ukraine

Published by skeptic

A Ukrainian defence source confirmed a drone attack was used to blow up oil storage tanks near the town of Azov in Rostov, southern Russia. Agence France-Presse said the defence source described it as a “successful” attack and said it caused “powerful fires in the installations”. The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) “will continue to impose ‘drone sanctions’ on Russia’s oil refining complex and reduce the enemy’s economic potential, which provides the aggressor with resources to wage war against Ukraine”. Video published by Russia’s emergencies ministry showed thick smoke and flames billowing out of what appeared to be multiple oil storage tanks over a large area. About 200 Russian firefighters and emergency personnel were sent in. The Rostov region sits directly across the border from Ukraine and is home to the operational headquarters overseeing Russia’s invasion. A Russian drone attack left a man, 70, in hospital and damaged a multi-storey residential building in Lviv city, Andriy Sadovyi, the mayor, said on Wednesday. It hit the village of Malekhiv within the city district and damaged many …

Ukraine war briefing: Kharkiv counts cost of Russian air strikes | Ukraine

Ukraine war briefing: Kharkiv counts cost of Russian air strikes | Ukraine

Published by skeptic

Volodymyr Zelenskiy urged a group of top defence officials at a Singapore security conference to attend the Swiss summit this month on ending the Russian war on Ukraine. Zelenskyy told the Shangri-La Dialogue security forum on Sunday that he was “disappointed” some world leaders had not yet confirmed attendance at the conference in about two weeks. The Ukrainian president did not specify any country by name, but the possible participation of China, Russia’s most important ally, has been seen as a key issue. The Chinese defence minister, Dong Jun, spoke earlier in the day at the Shangri-La conference but did not appear to be in the room when Zelenskyy made his appeal. Zelenskiy said on Sunday that he met with the US defence secretary, Lloyd Austin, on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue. “We discussed what’s key: the defence needs of our country, the strengthening of the Ukrainian air defence system, the F-16 coalition and the preparation of a bilateral security agreement.” A Russian missile strike on residences injured 13 people including eight children in …

The Books Briefing: The ‘Lurid Metaphors’ of Illness

The Books Briefing: The ‘Lurid Metaphors’ of Illness

Published by skeptic

This is an edition of the Books Briefing, our editors’ weekly guide to the best in books. Sign up for it here. Sickness, like love and grief, is a universal part of the human condition—but it also feels completely subjective, so much so that conveying the accompanying sensations and emotions can be hard. Doctors sometimes ask patients to rate their pain on a scale of 1 to 10: Are you at a 5 or an 8? My mind always freezes in such moments. How can I know what 5 is if I don’t know what 10 feels like? In Meghan O’Rourke’s much acclaimed 2022 book, The Invisible Kingdom, she combined her own medical experiences and copious research to try to understand chronic illnesses, a category of sickness that often evades medicine’s established definitions and classifications. These conditions can be capricious and are too frequently overlooked; patients constantly need to assert and prove themselves to a disbelieving world. It made perfect sense, then, for O’Rourke to write for The Atlantic’s June issue about a new cultural …

Ukraine war briefing: Russian attacks kill three during Orthodox Easter | Ukraine

Ukraine war briefing: Russian attacks kill three during Orthodox Easter | Ukraine

Published by skeptic

Russian attacks on Orthodox Easter Sunday killed a woman, burying her under rubble, and injured 24 in Ukraine’s north-eastern city of Kharkiv and surrounds, regional officials said. Public broadcaster Suspilne reported power cuts in parts of Kharkiv region and in the adjacent Sumy region after reports of drone attacks and explosions. Vadim Filashkin, head of the military administration in Donetsk region, said two people were killed by shelling in the town of Pokrovsk and two injured in Chasiv Yar, west of the Russian-held town of Bakhmut. In his Easter address, Volodymyr Zelenskiy called on Ukrainians to be “united in one common prayer”. Standing in front of Kyiv’s Saint Sophia cathedral, Zelenskiy called on Ukrainians to pray for each other and the soldiers on the frontline. “And we believe: God has a chevron with the Ukrainian flag on his shoulder,” said the president, dressed in a traditional embroidered Ukrainian vyshyvanka shirt and khaki trousers. “So with such an ally, life will definitely win over death.” A majority of Ukrainians identify as Orthodox Christians, though the church …