The Monocle Minute

The Netherlands’ spat with Turkey helped Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte see off a populist threat at the polls this week but the gloves are still off in this increasingly absurd diplomatic dispute. Some 40 Holstein cows are due to be sent back from Turkey to the Netherlands as a symbolic gesture of cutting ties, while Turkey’s foreign minister has apocalyptically warned of a future “holy war” in Europe. It’s headline-grabbing stuff and perhaps intentionally so: the dispute has buried a string of bad news for Turkey. Youth unemployment and the budget deficit for the month of February are at their highest since 2009 and a damning new UN report details human-rights violations by the security services in the predominantly Kurdish southeast. Next month’s constitutional referendum is crucial for president Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government – and Ankara will want to spin this story out for as long as it can.

Victoria’s government has confirmed that Melbourne will get a third airport as its existing two begin to feel the burn of increased traffic. But as residents of Sydney will confirm, the announcement of a new airport is just the first step. It has been four decades since Australia’s largest city first mooted a second airport; it remains unbuilt. Instead Melbourne will hope to follow in the footsteps of Queensland. The Gold Coast and Brisbane were winners at this week’s Skytrax World Airport awards, while the state’s small privately owned airport Brisbane West has also been a surprise success. Privately owned and with a healthy balance of international freight work and domestic passenger connections, it may be a model for Melbourne to follow.

The Parisian cult concept store Colette celebrates its 20th anniversary this month but its founders aren't resting on their laurels. Colette changed the retail landscape with its collaborations, eye for fresh young designers and versatility as a destination for fashion, beauty, design, books and food and drink. “The way to stay innovative is to think about the next day and pay attention to designers, brands and artists all around the world,” says Sarah Andelman, who co-founded the shop with her mother Colette Rousseaux. To celebrate 20 years she has organised 20 exclusive collaborations with brands such as Nike and Maud Heline, as well as “The Beach”, an artistic installation by Snarkitecture. “In 20 years many things have changed, especially with the internet and social media,” she adds. “But at the end of the day we still work the same way, with the same energy and goal: to find the best and to share it with as many people as we can.”

The silhouettes of Raúl de Nieves’s beaded figures in one corner, the shadow of a stark sculpture by Harold Mendez in another, both complemented by the tinkle of jazz: they are just some of the highlights at the 78th Whitney Biennial in New York, which opens today. As the longest-running survey of American art, the biennial curated by Mia Locks and Christopher Y Lew brings together 63 artists in the museum’s new Renzo Piano-designed home. It also acts as a barometer for the nation’s socio-political landscape. While Harold Mendez’s “American Pictures” – a skewered tree trunk covered in crushed insects – paints a dark vision of the country’s future, other displays are more hopeful. Kamasi Washington’s melodious jazz tunes play on the idea that beauty in music and life is composed of differences, while de Nieves’s installations trumpet a positive transformation in turbulent times.

All Olympic Games host cities must consider their legacy and whether the price of hosting is actually worth it. We look back to Rio de Janeiro, Sydney and more.