Ukraine’s new enemy: war fatigue in the West - The Economist   

FOR MORE than 600 days of full-scale war, America has been Ukraine’s greatest saviour as it marshalled arms, money and more to help repel Russia’s invasion. Now America has become one of Ukraine’s greatest worries. Its aid for Ukraine is fast running out, and dysfunction in Congress is blocking new assistance. Nobody is sure when—or whether—it will be restored.

The effect is being felt at the front as America tries to stretch its dwindling funds. “In the spring the flow of military supplies was a broad river. In the summer it was a stream. Now it is a few drops of tears,” says one informed Ukrainian source. Ukraine faces a bleak winter amid great uncertainty: its counter-offensive has failed to break through Russian lines; its enemy is increasing its arms production; and its vital ally is paralysed by political turmoil and distracted by Israel’s war in Gaza.

Lloyd Austin, America’s defence secretary, visited Kyiv on November 20th to reassure Ukraine that the United States will support Ukraine “both now and into the future”. Yet Mr Austin knows that the power of the purse belongs to Congress; and the balance of power in Congress is held by an isolationist wing of the Republican party, especially in the House of Representatives, where one of their sympathisers now serves as the speaker. Twice since September Congress has passed a “continuing resolution” to avoid a shutdown of the federal government; and twice it excluded new aid for Ukraine.

Continued here

Will China save the planet or destroy it? - The Economist   

THOUGH HE LAY dying of brain cancer, Tu Changwang had one last thing to say. The Chinese meteorologist had noticed that the climate was warming. So in 1961 he warned in the People’s Daily, a Communist Party mouthpiece, that this might alter the conditions that sustain life. Yet he saw the warming as part of a cycle in solar activity that would probably go into reverse at some point. Tu did not suspect that the burning of fossil fuels was pumping carbon into the atmosphere and causing the climate to change. In that issue of the People’s Daily, a few pages before his paper, there was a photo of grinning coalminers. China was rushing to industrialise with the aim of catching up economically with the West.

Today China is an industrial powerhouse, home to over a quarter of the world’s manufacturing—more than America and Germany combined. But its progress has come at a cost in terms of emissions. Over the past three decades China has pumped more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, in total, than any other country (see chart 1). It now emits over a quarter of the world’s greenhouse gases each year, according to Rhodium Group, a research firm. That is about twice as much as America, which comes second (though on a per-person basis America is still worse).

Much, then, depends on China if the world is to keep global warming since the Industrial Revolution well below 2°C, as governments pledged at the UN’s annual climate summit in 2015. When those governments gather in Dubai for this year’s summit, which opens on November 30th, China will have both good and bad news for them.

Continued here

Could a Drug Give Your Pet More Dog Years? -    

Longevity drugs for our canine companions are moving closer to reality. They also raise questions about what it might mean to succeed.

Renzo, an 11-year-old Shih Tzu that participated in a study run by Loyal, one of many biotech companies working to bring longevity drugs for dogs to market.Credit...Loyal

The life of a pet dog follows a predictable trajectory. Over time, the floppy-eared puppy that keeps falling asleep in his food bowl will become a lanky-legged adolescent with an insatiable interest in squirrels — before eventually settling into adulthood as a canine creature of habit, with a carefully chosen napping location and a well-rehearsed greeting ritual.

Continued here

Godard Est Godard - The New Yorker   

Extérieur: Philharmonic Hall. End-of-summer twilight. Long shot reveals people hurrying toward Hall, across open plaza with fountain—singles and couples. Closeup of poster near fountain reading, “3rd NEW YORK FILM FESTIVAL.” Closeups of singles and couples hanging around fountain, eying each other carefully, nervously, grimly. Many girls alone, wearing tight-fitting pants. Many young men alone, wearing tight-fitting pants. Some sloppy, intellectual-looking types regarding everybody else with hatred. Some Festivalgoers greeting each other with exaggerated exuberance, false friendliness, and making references to Cannes, Berlin, and Venice. Twilight deepens. Taxi draws up to curb. Slightly built man in his mid-thirties gets out of taxi in leisurely way and pays driver, taking a loose bill from his pocket. He is wearing a dark suit, white shirt, knit tie, moccasins, and horn-rimmed glasses with slightly tinted lenses. His face is completely immobile as he calmly takes his time about examining change he gets from taxi-driver. His face in closeup reveals eyes, behind glasses, likewise devoid of expression. Hand-held camera follows young man as he moves away from curb, walking toward Philharmonic Hall, paying no attention to other Festivalgoers, many of whom stare at him and start talking, in an effort to be overheard by him: “Jean-Luc Godard . . . Jean-Luc Godard . . . Jean-Luc Godard . . . ‘Breathless’ . . . Brilliant technique . . . ‘Vivre Sa Vie’ . . . Genius . . . Golden Bear Award . . . Innovator . . . Sexual liberation . . . ‘Une Femme Est une Femme’ . . . Anna Karina . . . Jean-Paul Belmondo . . . Cahiers du Cinéma . . . ‘The Married Woman’ . . . Jean-Luc Godard . . . Jean-Luc Godard . . . Jean-Luc Godard.”

Intérieur: The lobby of Philharmonic Hall. Hand-held camera goes through revolving door with young man. We see his image multiplied by glass in revolving door. Camera plays for a while with other images seen in glass of revolving door, then reveals distorted image, in glass of revolving door, that emerges as a derby-hatted dwarf clutching copy of Cahiers du Cinéma. Camera plays a while longer with revolving door, now seen upside down. Festivalgoers seen upside down. Finally, hand-held camera hurries to catch up to young man, showing him from rear. Camera somewhat shaky, but no matter. All part of technique. Camera shows Festivalgoers pawing over movie-literature table set up in lobby. Copies of Films in Review, Films & Filming, Film Quarterly. Derby-hatted dwarf reading Films in Review. Ready now for inside jokes. Closeup of montage of scenes from films “Breathless,” “My Life to Live,” “The Married Woman,” and “Contempt.” Cut to closeup of the married woman’s nude back from “The Married Woman.” Cut to closeup of a woman’s hand, rings on fingers, paging through Films in Review on lobby table. Closeup of woman’s forefinger and thumb turning page showing sexy scene from “My Life to Live” to reveal page showing sexy scene from “Breathless.” Camera shows literature-examiners quickly turning from literature and following young man. Dwarf runs after him, his face immobile, too. Hand-held camera accompanies young man up escalator, focusses on his face, still immobile, his eyes showing nothing, nothing at all, in the way of reaction to what is around him. Camera shoots young man on escalator from a few steps above him, showing faces of young men and women below him regarding him with adoration. Then camera shoots from a few steps below him on escalator, showing heads turned down toward him, regarding him with what looks from this angle like even more profound adoration. Camera zooms in on metal steps of escalator, showing feet of Festivalgoers. Lots of sandals. Black boots. Courrèges-type white boots. Space shoes. A woman’s bare feet. The young man’s moccasins. The woman’s bare feet move in on the moccasins. One bare foot brushes one moccasin. Cut to young man’s face. Immobile. Still cool. Sound now gets louder and louder. The click-click-click of the escalator, which had started as barely audible, now becomes louder and more insistent. Very metallic.

Intérieur: The seats in the Hall. Young man is not to be seen. Camera, still hand-held, moves jumpily along rows of seats. Faces upturned. Very little buzzing. Several middle-aged and elderly ladies in each row, among grim-faced pants-wearers. Some obvious celebrities in audience. One young woman wearing transparent black lace tights and matching top, escorted by foppish young man. All they do is look, look, look. Many young men in audience wearing sweaters instead of shirts and jackets.

Continued here