As the northern hemisphere cools and leaves fall, it’s worth remembering that it’s summer somewhere – specifically in Keurboomstrand, a small, unpretentious beach town along South Africa’s coastal Garden Route. A few hours east of Cape Town, where mid-December temperatures linger near 26C, the town remains a well-kept secret among those who return year after year for its long, lazy days by the water and evenings spent barbecuing with friends and family.

Until recently, most holidaymakers in Keurboomstrand would rent houses or stay in a hotel in the nearby town of Plettenberg Bay. That changed with the stylish arrival of Blou in Keurbooms, a collection of eight whitewashed beachside cottages from the team behind The Newt in Somerset and Babylonstoren in the Cape Winelands. Only visible from a small bay, the cottage selection boasts ocean views and bright, open spaces. The self-catering bungalows mimic Cape Dutch-style architecture, which features white walls, pitched ceilings and glass-walled kitchens along with neutral living rooms and patios (complete with those aforementioned BBQs). The best choices for booking are the ocean-facing suites with decks looking out to dolphins surfing the wild Indian Ocean. In the leafy courtyards, you’ll find a swimming pool, sauna and steam room. 

There isn’t an overwhelming number of places to eat and shop in this neck of the woods but that’s precisely the charm. The town’s only restaurant, Enrico Ristorante, is worth the visit to enjoy exquisite views of the beach, teamed with its fresh, flavourful dinner offerings. On busy nights, patrons waiting for a table can sip on crisp gin and tonics while overlooking the sand. Once seated, Monocle recommends an order of the daily catch with lemon butter and a glass of chilled wine. 

Twenty minutes east, you’ll find a handful of farms producing stellar sparkling wine. Small wineries such as Kay & Monty and Newstead Lund Family Vineyards are making a name for themselves, not only for their fizz but also thanks to their picturesque dining spots. At Newstead, its restaurant is situated in a farmhouse-style building that tumbles onto a wide green lawn fringed with grapevines. Gathered around long tables, patrons can enjoy locally-sourced food with a glass of chenin or sparkling wine. Nearby, Kay & Monty is set in a giant glass-walled barn, offering a menu featuring cured meats, local cheeses and flatbread topped with lamb and yoghurt dressing. 

On the western side of Keurboomstrand is the busier town of Plettenberg Bay, where sunseekers flock for their fix of pilates, green juices and sea air. Days begin with a dip in the sea before a perfectly balanced coffee at Seakrit Spot, where tables spill out onto a lush green patio. The main drag is decorated with boutiques inviting a leisurely browse: stop by the The Village Bookshop, which delivers a robust collection of work by African authors, and Pezula for coastal-living furnishings including coffee-table books, glassware, throws and hand-painted ceramics. Just a 10-minute drive away is Ice Dream Land – an Italian-owned gem whose theme-park-like name belies its credentials. Expect wood-fired pizzas, silky gelato and even homemade burrata to take away.

This stretch of the coast is to South Africans what the Riviera and Amalfi Coast are to Europeans in summer – but decidedly more laid-back. Don’t forget to stock up on cheese, preserves and bread at Thyme and Again, just five minutes from Blou. Back at base, uncork a bottle of local wine and fire up the braai as the waves crash below. Staying here is a gentle reminder that somewhere far north it’s boot season but here, it’s most certainly not.

When it comes to the cornerstones of journalism, few are as crucial as cultivating contacts. Stories simply don’t exist without people. A journalist’s contacts book is a most treasured possession, built up over time and reflecting the many hours put into networking, chasing leads and fostering trust with wary sources. I recall being mugged on the streets of Bangkok early in my career and it wasn’t the lost phone, keys or wallet that caused me great distress but the passport-sized, pale-brown leather address book that contained all the names and numbers that I had procured so far.
 
All this makes the posters put up recently on the Washington Metro by investigative journalism outlet ProPublica seem a little like cheating. In the advertisements, a heroic-looking woman in a smart suit with a phone in hand stares into the middle distance, a slight frown crossing her brow, as if something of great significance were weighing on her mind. 
 
“Someone on this train has the next big story. Is it you?” the text reads, along with a Signal tip line and a website address.

There is no question about the need for truth-tellers in Washington today. The media faces many challenges from the White House, including President Trump calling the press the “enemy of the people” and launching lawsuits against many outlets. In September, The Pentagon issued new rules stating that reporters can only publish officially approved information, before backtracking to a position that merely threatens journalists with the loss of their 1st Amendment protection – slightly less authoritarian but no less unconstitutional. Meanwhile, FBI director Kash Patel made agents undergo polygraph tests in an attempt to find insiders that might be leaking information.
 
But shouldn’t contacts be made by pounding the pavements, working the phones and hobnobbing at diplomatic gatherings? Simply asking the next potential Deep Throat to pick up the phone and hand you a story on a plate seems a little forthright. There is an army of disgruntled federal workers in this overwhelmingly Democrat-voting city and you can only imagine that they will be very happy to flood the phone lines with their anonymous gripes and grumbles. The challenge for journalists then is to sift through the bias and the animosity to uncover the genuine tips about misdeeds taking place in the corridors of US power. 
 
This is undoubtedly a new era of American journalism. Trust in mainstream media is at a record low and any approach that has the whiff of vengeance will simply erode that trust even further. But ProPublica, a nonprofit, is an outstanding source of investigative journalism. It has won eight Pulitzers, including one this year for reporting on the effects of abortion bans. It has broken many stories, including the relationship between billionaire conservative donor Harlan Crow and Supreme Court justice Clarence Thomas and the lavish holidays that Crow paid for him to take. When the administration is doing everything in its power to ensure that its narrative is the only one allowed to see the light of day, I must applaud any innovations that news gatherers are taking to make sure that the real stories are still getting out. 
 
Faced with increasing restrictions, ProPublica is finding new ways to reach sources and using all the tools at its disposal to uncover the truth. And if that truth happens to be lurking in the head of a jaded commuter, then I wish the organisation the best of luck in digging it out. But trust is not born in a text – listening to stories and being present matter, especially when the stakes are this high.
 
Charlotte McDonald-Gibson is a Washington-based journalist and regular Monocle contributor. For more, read her recent articles about the Maga-friendly restaurant in the US capital and US Marines’ unpreparedness for trumped-up domestic duties.

Argentina has given its president, Javier Milei, something that he has lacked since day one: the ability to turn his reformist agenda into law. After two years of governing with less than 15 per cent of congressional support, the libertarian firebrand won a surprising midterm landslide. The decisive vote saw Milei’s La Libertad Avanza (LLA) and its allies in the centre-right coalition take around 40 per cent of the lower chamber and a third of the Senate. While still short of a majority, Milei is now strong enough to negotiate. For the first time, he has the muscle to pursue his mandate and gain momentum. But to do that, Milei must move beyond theatrics and build alliances. The chainsaw got him this far. Now he needs a chisel.

At the start of Milei’s term, his shock therapy – sweeping spending cuts, deregulation and a relentless push to shrink the state – delivered major wins, including the country’s first fiscal surplus in almost 15 years. It was a decent enough start but society continued to struggle. Argentine politics, however, never ceases to surprise. Only weeks ago, Milei’s approval was sinking, the peso was plummeting and a Peronist landslide in a local election suggested that Milei’s government was in freefall. Markets asked the question that haunts every Argentine reform experiment: Can it last?

The greatest uncertainty in Milei’s programme was not so much economics – it was politics and social tolerance. Fiscal adjustment always hurts. The question was whether Argentines would endure the pain long enough to see the benefits – the midterm results suggest that the patients are responding well to treatment. 

But banning the money-printing that fuels inflation is not enough to overturn decades of dysfunction. The country’s economy has barely grown since the early 2010s, leaving living standards depressed and frustration mounting. It needs policies that attract investment, boost productivity and lift wages out of stagnation. Without deep reform, the country risks remaining trapped in the same boom-bust cycle that eroded faith in the political establishment – and helped to carry Milei from the TV studio to the presidency. 

The president appears to recognise the need for a political shift, calling the elections an “inflection point”. On Sunday night, he left the leather jacket at home and thanked the allies that he once mocked – a small signal that he knows his style must mature. Recent months have shown how quickly things can go south in a volatile market such as this. Argentina has been here before: optimism flickering, then smothered by politics. Market-friendly president Mauricio Macri won midterms by a similar margin in 2017 – but crashed out of office two years later after a financial collapse. 

The question is not whether Milei has a mandate. It is whether he can use it before it evaporates. To do so, the president must remain economically daring while becoming pragmatic in the art of negotiation and showing voters that sacrifice, savvy and skill can lead to stability. If he can learn to govern effectively, Argentina might finally break its cycle of false starts. 

David Feliba is a Buenos Aires-based journalist.

Read next: Milei wants to use economic optimism to snatch back Argentines’ “mattress money”

There are very few design events, let alone design weeks, that take over their home city like the Dutch Design Week (DDW). Hosted each October in Eindhoven, it sees 2,600 designers from around the world display their work at more than 120 venues across town. This year’s edition, which wrapped up at the weekend, saw the city’s showrooms, studios and creative hubs – such as the Design Academy Eindhoven and the Piet Hein Eek – packed with creatives and design-enthusiasts.

The event speaks to the city’s quiet emergence as the undisputed design capital of the Netherlands. Once a Philips company town, Eindhoven is now the heart of the country’s creative economy, outcompeting Rotterdam and Amsterdam. The Design Academy, the Technical University’s design faculty and a thriving tech sector have made the industry part of the city’s DNA – and DDW only reinforces that. About a third of the festival’s funding is public, reflecting a civic understanding that design shapes societies. And, of course, the city doesn’t mind the 300,000 visitors that come each year.

One of the many things that sets DDW apart from the crowded calendar of design festivals is its bottom-up character. Born from the need for Dutch designers to show their work outside Milan’s commercial fairgrounds, the event remains content driven rather than sales focused. “We are not here to sell, we are here to show what design can be,” says Miriam van der Lubbe, the event’s co-founder and creative head. That ethos runs through every installation, from worms digesting architecture to experiments in regenerative materials. Dutch design has always been pragmatic and honest – designer-driven, not brand-led – with a focus on solving problems rather than creating desire for items.

For visitors, DDW offers a glimpse of the future: young graduates tackling global challenges and a city proving that design can be both an economic engine and a social lifeline. In a saturated design calendar, it is refreshing to have events that not only look at what design is but what design can be.

Here are three highlights from this year’s edition of Dutch Design Week.

1.
Kiki & Joost
Celebrated Dutch design duo Kiki van Eijk and Joost van Bleiswijk marked their 25th anniversary with a lively, hands-on exhibition in their Eindhoven studio space. The show brought their creative world to life through colourful woven tapestries made with the Textiel Museum, live screen-printing sessions and even clay-blasting experiments. It offered a rare, sensory insight into their process – craft-focused, playful and deeply personal – something not often seen at large design festivals.

2.
‘Class of 25’
At Eindhoven’s Klokgebouw, the Class of 25 exhibition shone a spotlight on emerging designers from Dutch academies and beyond. Curated as a glimpse into design’s near future, it showcased innovative material research, bold digital experiments and projects addressing sustainability and social change. Reflecting DDW’s theme, “Past Present Possible”, the show captured the excitement and promise of a new generation shaping what design can become.

3.
‘Forward Furniture’
Curated by Liv Vaisberg, Forward Furniture explored the future of collectible and functional design through the work of dozens of forward-thinking creators. The exhibition blended art, craft and innovation, showcasing everything from special editions to conceptual pieces. Designers reimagined materials such as recycled plastics and bio-based composites, offering a fresh, imaginative take on where furniture design is heading next.

Perti Burtsoff is Monocle’s Helsinki correspondent. 

Italians are addicted to their cars. In fact, the bel paese has among the highest car ownership in Europe, ranking just behind Poland and Luxembourg, according to the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association. All of which makes it difficult for a new mobility player to break into a market so attached to their precious vehicles. 

But that’s not the only problem. Italy hasn’t always welcomed mobility upstarts with open arms. With taxi licenses tightly controlled, Euractiv has described the country’s taxi lobby as “mafia-like”. Foreign players such as Uber and Bolt have struggled to gain ground due to stringent regulations. The former only operates its premium Black service in Milan and Rome, and it costs more than a conventional taxi.

Despite the challenging environment, it’s clear that Italy needs more services that provide affordable, viable alternatives to private cars. A flexible service that arrives directly to a user could be key in a nation with a rapidly ageing, less mobile population. That’s where Wayla, a point-to-point van ridesharing service, comes in.

Operating in Milan since 2024, the €1.2m that Wayla recently raised through crowdfunding might be small change compared to global mobility giants. But it shows solid proof of public interest. Could this be the start of an Italian mobility revolution? Monocle spoke to Wayla’s co-founder and chief strategy officer, Mario Ferretti, to find out.

What market dynamics sparked the idea for Wayla, and how are you positioning yourself within Italy’s mobility landscape?
Mario Ferretti: Italy is peculiar when it comes to urban mobility. There’s a structural supply-demand gap, so we need new alternatives to move around our cities – and that’s where Wayla comes in. We are importing the idea to the country and defining it in a way that best fits our culture and is compliant with Italian laws. 

We are currently active in Milan. The system is simple: you download the app, sign up and then you can request a point-to-point ride in the urban area. Once requested, a van of ours will come and pick you up. During the ride, other users can join the journey, making it a cheaper option than other alternatives.

Italy has historically been a challenging market for mobility innovators, particularly due to the taxi lobby’s power and its resistance to foreign ride-hailing competitors. How has Wayla navigated this so far?
We are completely compliant with Italian laws, and we are an Italian startup with Italian employees. So our story is different from those of foreign companies. In a political sense, that’s probably why the market has been more welcoming to us than some of the other players in the past. Still, we are bringing competition where it’s needed – and it’s important to do so. We believe there’s room for everyone. There’s a huge and growing demand in Italy from both residents and tourists. Alternatives are needed.

A similar ride-pooling initiative, Moia, recently ceased operations in Hanover. What strategic or operational lessons have you taken from that example as you expand across Italy?
You need to have a clear vision. Moia is more focused on becoming a tech company [than us] and also more focused on providing autonomous vehicles. That’s growing in Italy as well, albeit at a slower rate than in Germany. Germany’s competitive landscape is also different from Italy’s. We have more space to grow here, and we are already doing well in Milan. We are planning to expand into many other cities, where both the municipalities and other private players are calling for us to go. We are pioneers in this country, so we also expect other players to follow us to the market, which is fine. We can grow together. 

How central are electric vehicles to Wayla’s business model?
We are growing a fleet of electric vehicles. We think it’s essential, and not greenwashing. Our vision is to be a sustainable model for urban transportation. We are already using EVs and we will be doing so more in the future. Italy is a bit lagging when it comes to electrification but our role as a mobility player is to push and invest in the decarbonisation of our fleet and that’s what we’re doing. 

You’re right that Italy is often seen as lagging in the adoption of new technology. How are you working with that perception? 
There’s certainly much to do when it comes to communicating the right things, even beyond our country. It’s the responsibility of everyone and anyone in the ecosystem. We need to attract talent, investments and ideas from abroad. There is room to innovate and there is space to disrupt. That’s what we are trying to do with Wayla – and that’s what’s needed for the future of our country.

Read next: In the UAE, flying taxis will soon be a reality

For the average European, South Korea is better known for its entertainment and technology industries than for its defence sector. But that familiarity with K-pop, LG appliances or Hyundai cars is about to extend to tanks and howitzers if Seoul’s government stays on target. Behind its sheen of cultural soft power, South Korea has quietly built a hard-power industry that wants to stock European arsenals.
 
The country’s 2022 weapons deal with Poland sent a clear message: a multiyear, multibillion-euro programme for K2 tanks, K9 howitzers and FA-50 jets put South Korea squarely on Europe’s shopping list. Between 2020 and 2024, Seoul rose into the top 10 of global arms exporters. President Lee Jae-myung’s government has since doubled down on that ambition with record R&D and innovation funding, a fast-track system for defence technology and an explicit target to join the world’s top four exporters by 2030. Just last week, Lee sent a special envoy to Europe with a mandate to secure billions of euros in co-production and long-term industrial deals.

The timing matters. Europe is rearming, buoyed by new funding and a wave of political resolve not witnessed since the end of the Cold War. For decision-makers in capitals scrambling to replenish depleted stocks, South Korean suppliers offer a compelling combination of speed, price and quality.
 
But tensions are inevitable – arms dealing is a political game. The Poland deal has already shown how financing can falter due to domestic frays: the new government in Warsaw openly questioned whether to proceed, calling the previously agreed financing offer from South Korea “unacceptable”. The EU’s new rules on industrial defence will make things harder too, favouring systems with a significant amount of European manufacturing and design, which will complicate how South Korean firms bid for grants or partnership contracts. Seoul’s success also risks irritating Washington. A growing presence in Europe could spark friction over market share and industrial subsidies unless Washington and Seoul co-ordinate carefully.
 
Fortunately for South Korea, logic implores Europe to be pragmatic. This means buying what works now – fast deliveries and ready-made systems – while also protecting Europe’s long-term independence as a manufacturer. Practically, that requires deals to guarantee meaningful technology transfer, unambiguous intellectual-property rules and joint R&D so that kit can be maintained, upgraded and integrated with European systems.
 
Looking ahead, three trends are likely to emerge. First, more co-production: South Korea understands that to sell to Europe it must be a partner, not just an exporter. Local assembly, jobs and shared production lines are bound to multiply. Second, cutting-edge niches – AI, drones and semiconductors for military use – will drive the next phase of defence sector growth. Seoul’s defence programme and President Lee’s emphasis on AI and robotics make it a natural supplier for next-generation systems. Third, diplomacy will be crucial: the country will need to walk the line between deepening co-operation with Europe and avoiding geopolitical blowback.
 
South Korea’s ambitious global-arms exports will shape technological excellence into secure, long-term industrial partnerships – as in the automotive industry, it’s a model that has worked well before. While Europe will still buy American, Seoul’s mix of affordability, reliability and hi-tech innovation makes it impossible to ignore.
 
Gorana Grgić is Monocle’s security correspondent. Further reading? Are Poland’s efforts to bolster its defences enough to deter Russia?

The promise of almost all technological progress is that it will make human life easier. This is understandable enough: there’s little sense in devoting time and resources to making things more difficult and annoying (though those responsible for updates to Microsoft Office appear to have formed a different view). The latest such advances to promise us freedom from drudgery and graft are artificial intelligence and next-generation robotics – but there are indications that these particular developments might have consequences not only unintended but verging on the opposite. 
     
New analysis by Microsoft suggests that those pleasant, air-conditioned office jobs created by previous leaps forward might be among the first for the chop in this one. The careers rated most likely to survive the coming reckoning include cement masons, firefighters, glass installers and embalmers – possibly because they’ll be called upon after newly redundant management consultants wreak terrible revenge upon their former workplaces. Manual labour might be making a comeback.

Anyone who works in a desk-bound field will presently be experiencing a certain existential itchiness, even those of us who fancy that we are creating something. AI can already crank out plausible simulacra of writing, music, pictures and film. It might all be pointless garbage but so is much of the writing, music, art and cinema that humans manufacture. If large numbers of people are unfussy enough to consume such mediocrity, they’re unlikely to be too bothered about whether it cost anyone anything to produce. A recent survey by US management consultants Bain & Co gleaned that about 40 per cent of people were willing to consume AI-generated music, 30-odd per cent unbothered if newspapers and magazines were written by machines and more than a quarter happy to sit down with a book authored by a few prompts tapped into an interface.

It is difficult for those of us who write anything for a living to consider these figures and the future they portend without trepidation. This is even more the case for those of us, your correspondent included, who were impelled towards writing stuff for a living at least partially by a lack of practical aptitude. I’m not a completely hopeless case; I can change a light bulb without burning the house down and so on. But if anything requiring the use of tools needs doing, it gets done by a professional, who I pay with the money that I earn by doing the thing I actually can do.

The question of what happens if such money is no longer on offer appears to have been anticipated in some quarters, at least. In the UK, 16-year-olds are to be offered new vocational qualifications called V-levels, a manifestation of the Labour government’s enthusiasm for reorienting post-school ambitions from degrees for the sake of degrees towards apprenticeships in how to build and fix things. 

This is a worthy and sensible cause. Among the British middle classes in particular, there has long been an absurd, snobbish horror of the idea that Junior should take up some sort of trade, even if there are few varieties of people more useful or admirable than those who can build and fix. Indeed, for someone as hapless in these respects as me, watching a competent carpenter or plumber at work elicits something of the wonder of seeing magic close up.

It is probably too late for me to retrain in anything involving tools, wires or hazardous substances – and it would likely be unsafe for anybody within a potential blast radius. But it would not be an altogether bad thing if more people were able to turn their hitherto uncalloused hands to something (arguably) more useful than circulating emails and sitting in meetings. And those of us who can still make a living commentating on politics might look forward to the populist-demagogue grievance merchants of the future trying to rabble-rouse the unemployed HR co-ordinators, social-responsibility managers and strategic alignment officers.

Andrew Mueller is the host of ‘The Foreign Desk’ on Monocle Radio and a regular Monocle contributor. For more opinion, analysis and insight, subscribe to Monocle today.

Read next: The great AI art hoax: how a fake band fooled millions – and what it means for creativity

Are you sitting comfortably? Without wanting to knock you from your perch, it turns out that where you choose to sit says a lot about who you are. The sofa in your living room can reveal a great deal about your priorities and outlook on life. But for designers or architects, there’s often an added layer of meaning: their choice can (or perhaps even should) reflect their core creative philosophies. This notion is explored in The Monocle Book of Designers on Sofas – available to buy now – for which we spoke to 50 leading architects and designers about their relationships with their settee, unpacking what it says about them and their design sensibilities.

For some, it was quite literal: take Danish architect Bjarke Ingels, who designed his own Brick sofa in collaboration with Lithuanian firm Jot Jot. Living on a houseboat in Copenhagen’s harbour, its shape is partly inspired by the sandbags found along the capital’s waterfront. Appropriate given that Bjarke’s “journey as a practising architect” ended up coinciding with his rediscovery of the harbour.”

The sofa, it seems, is both a silent witness and active participant in family and work life. For Hong Kong-based Betty Ng, her purchase of a Marenco sofa by Arflex symbolised the act of putting down roots. This informed the layout of her space, much like Naoto Fukasawa’s decision to install Maruni’s Hiroshima sofa in his studio-cum-residence. The Japanese designer was so intent on using this particular make that he had it craned into his top-floor living room prior to a renovation of the property; it was, he assures us, the only way to deliver the piece into the space.

In putting this book together, it became clear that the sofa is far more than just a place to sit. Australian architect John Wardle’s Gentry sofa by Moroso has witnessed years of use by his children, friends and family. Now, as he prepares to move, it’s the one significant piece of furniture that’s coming with him. So, while sofas are often the largest item in a room, they also play a large role in our lives, collecting memories of family milestones, quiet evenings and lively gatherings. With this in mind, join us as we visit the homes of leading creatives to hear about their sofas. Get comfy, read on and don’t forget to plump the cushions when you’re done.  
 
Nic Monisse is Monocle’s design editor. You can order your copy of ‘The Monocle Book of Designers on Sofas’ now. 

Fighter jets bearing Qatar’s maroon-and-white insignia will start ripping through Idaho airspace in five years’ time. That’s the plan as announced this month by US defence secretary Pete Hegseth and Qatari defence minister Sheikh Saoud bin Abdulrahman al-Thani. A Qatar Emiri Air Force squadron is set to train at Mountain Home Air Force Base from 2030. The detachment will consist of 12 Qatari F-15QA fighter jets, supported by approximately 300 Qatari and US personnel.

The arrangement isn’t unusual. Luke Air Force Base in Arizona trains 70 per cent of the world’s F-35 pilots, while Sheppard Air Force Base in Texas is home to the Euro-Nato Joint Jet Pilot Training Programme. Mountain Home has hosted the Peace Carvin V detachment of the Royal Singapore Air Force since 2009.

Yet the prospect of Qataris training on US soil has raised hackles on both sides of the aisle. Democratic strategist Max Burns called it a “national security crisis”, while Natalie Ecanow, a senior research analyst at the neoconservative Foundation for Defense of Democracies, deemed Qatar a “frenemy” at best.

But the sharpest critique has come from the Republican far-right, which counts Idaho as a stronghold. The most bizarre objections come from elected officials such as state senator Brian Lenney, who is leery of welcoming foreign nationals whom he alleges pledge fealty to a Sharia legal system incompatible with US constitutional law and represent a country where Christianity cannot be practised. Qatari pilots would, of course, be subject to US laws. While Islam is Qatar’s religion, there are actually churches in Doha, though surely fewer than in Mountain Home.

Isolationist by nature, these America Firsters don’t trust Qatar as an ally, pointing to its poor track record combatting illicit funding to terror groups. Their worst fear is a repeat of the December 2019 incident when a Saudi airman training to be a pilot at a naval air station in Florida shot dead three US service members in a jihadist attack. (Though Idahoans should feel secure if they follow Lenney’s advice to remain well-armed – he wrote an entirely sincere children’s book titled Why Everyone Needs an AR-15! A Guide for Kids.)

These parochial protestations miss the opportunity for the US to enhance its soft power through hard power and for Idaho to position its sparsely populated land mass as an ideal training ground for allied air forces with constrained airspace. According to Pentagon officials, the Qatari deal was in the works for at least three years but the public unveiling of the proposed long-term training scheme comes at a pivotal moment in bilateral relations. Mere weeks after Israel’s norm-shattering strike at Hamas leadership in Doha, the White House issued a security guarantee that elevates Qatar to near-Article V status.

Like it or loathe it, Doha has ingratiated itself with the US and savvy minds in Washington should use that relationship to their advantage. For one, training access keeps Qatar writing cheques for the blockbuster $12bn (€10.32bn) deal that it made with the US in 2017 to buy 36 specially modified F-15s. For another, interoperability and shared training makes the country, which hosts the largest US base in the Middle East, a more reliable strategic ally in a volatile region. It could also provide further leverage to pressure the Qataris to up their counter-terrorism bona fides.

Since the Florida attack, the US has rightly increased the scrutiny applied to foreign military students. I suspect that Idahoans meeting the Qataris who pass the vetting will find courteous and respectful young men with traditional values not so different from conservative Christians. They will certainly be anything but rabble rousers – a model of probity that US soldiers stationed abroad would be wise to emulate.

Gregory Scruggs is Monocle’s Seattle correspondent. For his take on why Trump’s troops on US soil might do some good, click here.

When I started tapping out last week’s column, somewhere high above Baffin Island, little did I know that I was creating an inbox monster that only stopped raging on Friday morning. In case you missed it, you can find it here. But to save you clicking around, the gist was how the language of travel marketing has become tedious and repetitive – particularly its rather misguided mission of helping fliers, guests and passengers find a sense of personal enlightenment when all they really want to do is get a tan around a pool with like-minded guests, shop, go for a good coffee after a brisk morning jog in a new city, shop again, find some well-priced art or objects that they can ship home and drink and dine till the wee hours. 

After 800 words and highlighting the issues with terms such as “meaningful journeys”, “purposeful escapes”, “authentic retreats” and the like, I asked readers to get a bit competitive, identify which overused word was not present in the column and send me a one-word answer in exchange for a prize from the Monocle retail world. Out of respect for time zones and to not give the Kiwis an unfair advantage, I said that the first correct answer from our three geographical regions would be getting a treat. While many complied with a single word, many tried to offer up a choice of terms (they were all disqualified) and many more used it as an opportunity to offer their own versions of fatigue and frustration with the feelings culture that has somehow seeped into almost every lobby, aircraft cabin and junior suite. Cheekier readers also used it as an opportunity to ask for some autumn Japan tips, so rather than writing a series of personal notes, this crowd will find a few tips at the end of the column. Before that – “Who won?” you’re asking. Here we go.
 
From APAC, Martina Bay was the first to my inbox and nailed it with “experience” and this: “The traveller walks slowly through the hotel lobby, looking ‘transformed’ – in reality, she’s wondering if the lobby’s scent diffuser is supposed to be this aggressive.”

From Europe, Aline Cristina Clementino da Silva was also quick on the comms front and will have a little something heading her way soon.
  
And finally, from the Americas, Michelle Lee gets the prize for being up so early/late and also identifying “experience”.
 
Many thanks to the hundreds who wrote in. Also, thank you for your kind words about the column, your love of Andrew’s column as well and all your support. For those of you who only get this newsletter and are not a paid-up subscriber, I encourage you to join the club by enrolling here. We’re talking less than the cost of a daily cortado (Spanish prices), so please treat yourself to some fine journalism, comment, imagery and more.
 
And now, back to Tokyo for those of you wanting the latest tips. After a full week in town, here are my responses to some of your queries.
 
Where to stay that’s fresh and new? 
Two answers here and both close by. Hyatt has just opened a branch of its Caption brand in Nihonbashi and it scores on a variety of fronts – buzzy lobby with good coffee, good rates and rooms designed for longer stays. Also nearby is Soil (it gets its close-up in our upcoming issue), a sharp addition to the increasingly cool yet still calm Nihonbashi.
 
Where do you recommend for a no-nonsense classic? 
Two words: The Palace. Balconies overlooking the Imperial Palace and Marunouchi, a great bar, good retail in the basement arcade and exceptional service make it my personal choice.
 
One retail hit worth checking out? 
I really liked the Takanawa Gateway City development. Yes, it’s a train station with a mall, offices and hotel atop but it’s exactly what Japan does best. This is the type of interchange other cities need to be building for locals and visitors alike.
 
What are you hearing about the return of the Park Hyatt? 
I’ve not just heard but also seen! I went for a spin around last week and I was relieved. All the bits we love about the PH are there, and they have been sensitive to John Morford’s vision. Of course, there are a few additions and deletions that will likely irk superfans but all in all they’ve done a good job and it reopens on 9 December.
 
Is there a bar where the Monocle team gathers after work? 
I couldn’t possibly say.

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