The Monocle Minute

The assassination attempt on former president Donald Trump was an act of political violence of a kind not seen in the US in decades. Those resounding pops at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday evening left one spectator dead and others injured. In their wake, Republicans will gather today in Wisconsin for their pre-election convention, where they will anoint Trump as their man for November’s election. Expect him to arrive with a bandaged ear and a re-energised campaign that will help to rally Republicans, some of whom have been cautious about their candidate until now. The politicking this week will muddy important discussions about access to assault rifles and how the suspected shooter was able to bypass security and get into position.

There are, of course, calls for unity and calm across the US airwaves and the left-right divide. But in this sweltering summer, the political temperature has just risen to boiling point and no one is quite sure how to cool things off. Vermont’s senator Bernie Sanders has called for less “radical rhetoric” and more “boring” politics. The speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, wants to “turn the rhetoric down”. I fear that this too might be rhetoric and a little too late: American politics is in a frenzy and it’s only July. With months still to go until the election, Joe Biden and Trump will continue to warn the country that their opposite number will destroy the US, while many voters will still not be sold on either man.

It feels as though things are edging towards breaking point. We can only hope that what happens next is not more violence. Like many, I watched the events of Saturday evening in Pennsylvania with horror. Friends who would never otherwise vote for Trump tell me that they were somewhat surprised at their reaction: how sad the moment made them for the former president and for American democracy itself. This attack was a shot heard around the world and it also signalled a moment when America should stop, reflect and find ways to dial things down. It must not become the starting gun for a bloody electoral campaign.

Christopher Lord is Monocle’s US editor.

Last summer The Monocle Minute reported that things were looking bad at Rai, Italy’s public broadcaster. The change of government and the swearing-in of the country’s hard-right prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, were finally being felt in its boardrooms and on its editorial floors. At the time, the resignations of several much-loved presenters over what they felt was political overreach caused much concern. But was it just an overreaction to the fairly standard practice of a new government changing the guard at Rai to reflect its values?

After a year of editorial and political slippage, it now seems clear that in June 2023 the writing was already on the wall – or rather, the screen. The most recent blunder came as France held the second round of its legislative elections on 7 July. Where privately owned networks Mediaset and La7 broadcast the results live as they came in, reporting on the surge in votes for the left-wing New Popular Front, RaiNews 24 chose to cover the unrelated Festival of Identitarian Cities in Pomezia. Soon, many in the world of journalism and beyond were calling for the resignation of Paolo Petrecca, the pro-Meloni director of RaiNews24, who had also presented the footage from the festival.

On Liberation Day in April, which commemorates the victory of the Italian resistance movement against Nazism and Mussolini’s puppet state, Rai pulled an antifascist speech by writer Antonio Scurati at the eleventh hour. This led to further resignations and even a strike of Rai journalists. By May, Il Sole 24 was reporting that viewing figures for Rai 2 and Rai 3 had all but collapsed. Reporting in January 2023, Monocle visited RaiNews 24’s impressive new studios, designed by Renzo Piano. “We need to constantly diversify and adapt our product,” Petrecca said at the time. But with many in Italy now calling the public network “TeleMeloni”, it seems that Rai’s transformation is turning a once authoritative brand into an authoritarian one.

David Plaisant is Monocle’s Rome correspondent. For more opinion, analysis and insight, subscribe to Monocle today.

Seoul has announced plans to mass-produce laser weapons that can shoot down drones invading South Korean airspace. Authorities have aptly named the programme the “Star Wars project”. According to Lee Sang-yoon of the country’s Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA), the flagship Block-I laser system will destroy small military drones by frying their electronics from the inside. A single shot will cost just 2,000 won (€1.34), as the weapons only need electricity to function instead of live munitions.

The technology is expected to be operational later this year. In the past, South Korea has had to send fighter jets and helicopters to respond to North Korean provocations, which has been costly. With drones in use in war zones worldwide – including in Ukraine and across the Middle East – this technology is set to give South Korea’s defence sector a welcome boost. Other countries should take note.

In an ever-changing retail landscape, it seems that securing a spot at the right resort location is now more desirable than a concession inside a big department store. That’s why fashion labels have turned their attention to sunny spots across the globe. Casa Loewe opened inside the Marbella Club at the start of the season, while Fendi took over the Puente Romano beach resort nearby and Copenhagen’s By Malene Birger hosted a pop-up shop inside the Melisses Gallery in Hydra.

Across the pond, Munich-based Mytheresa introduced one of the summer’s most creative concepts in East Hampton. The retailer took over a former car-repair shop near the town’s train station and turned it into a luxury boutique, featuring summer collections by the likes of Etro, Dries Van Noten and Missoni. In a nod to the shop’s past, metallic shelving shaped into a miniature racetrack was also included as part of the design. Los Angeles-based apothecary Flamingo Estate is selling a range of pantry products on the shop floor in collaboration with Mytheresa – an unlikely yet successful marriage that has quickly earned Hamptonites’ approval.

Monocle heads to Bali to bop at DJ Harvey’s Klymax Discotheque. Harvey’s 40-year career in the music industry has taught him what makes the perfect night club. Good hospitality and a glittering disco ball are key, of course, but it turns out that you also need a shower in the booth and 2.6 million holes in the wall.

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We’ve crunched the numbers, canvassed the locals and hit the bars. And now Monocle’s Quality of Life Index is here: the definitive ranking of the top places to live in 2024. Where does your city rank? We also meet five mayors who are preening their patches, learn some breezy branding lessons and have a big night out in Bali – it is summer, after all. And our bumper double issue will see you through the season in style.