This edition of Monocle on Saturday was first broadcast on the 4th of January, 2025 on Monocle Radio.
Hello, I'm Georgina Godwin broadcasting to you live from Midori House in London.
This is Monic on Saturday.
Coming up on today's program, we'll have a look through the week's news and culture with the UK Correspondent for Austrian weekly magazine Falter.
That's Tessa Siskovitz.
Plus, the American West, a big wilderness, places you can actually get lost in.
Jessica Bridges takes us on a wild ski trip to Utah's Deer Valley.
That's all ahead here on Monocle on Saturday with me, Georgina Godwin.
First, though, here's the news.
The administration of President Joe Biden has notified Congress of a proposed $8 billion arms sale to Israel, a US official said on Friday.
With Washington maintaining support for its ally whose war in Gaza has killed tens of thousands, Washington says it's helping its ally defend against Iran backed militant groups like Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen.
Myanmar's military government will release 5,864 prisoners, including 180 foreigners under an amnesty marking the Southeast Asian nation's Independence Day, state media said today.
The junta has said it will hold elections this year, but the plan has been widely condemned by opposition groups as a sham.
And US President elect Donald Trump will be sentenced on January 10 in the criminal case in which he was convicted on charges involving hush money paid to a porn star.
The judge in the matter wrote that he was not inclined to sentence Trump to jail and a sentence of unconditional discharge, meaning no custody, monetary fine or probation, would be the most viable solution.
And about a dozen nuns performed hand chops and high kicks, some of them wielding swords, as they showed off their martial arts skills to hundreds of cheering well wishers at the long awaited reopening of their nunnery in Nepal.
The group of kung fu nuns aged from 17 to 30 are members of the 1,000-year-old Drukpa lineage, which gives nuns equal status as monks and is the only female order in the patriarchal Buddhist monastic system.
Hello and welcome to Monocle on Saturday.
I'm joined now in the studio by Tessa Siskevitz, who's an author and a political journalist.
It's lovely to have you back here with us, Tess.