A map showing the percentage of gas imported by European countries from Russia is rather old, dating from 2006, and Nord Stream is not yet on it, but it is nonetheless highly picturesque

A map showing the percentage of gas imported by European countries from Russia is rather old, dating from 2006, and Nord Stream is not yet on it, but it is nonetheless highly picturesque. More up-to-date information can be found in a graphic by The Economist. France depends on Russian gas for 21%, buying the remainder from Norway, the Netherlands and Algeria. Germany's dependence on Russian gas supplies stems from its abandonment of nuclear power in favour of wind, which needs to be supplemented by alternative sources of energy, in this case gas, to generate power in periods of windless weather.

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September digest: archaeological finds, exhibitions, museums, theatre and the Church

In the finale of the Strugatskys' Roadside Picnic, the Golden Ball is told: "Happiness for everybody, free, and let nobody go away unsatisfied!" I do not promise to offend nobody, but the digest really does come free of charge. So, here is the main business of the

Frederic Leighton

Frederic Leighton. “Daedalus and Icarus”, 1869 Daedalus warns his son not to climb too high: the heat of the sun may melt the wax, but Icarus is already gazing into the distance, and the lamentations of a foolish old man interest him not in the least

A map showing the percentage of gas imported by European countries from Russia is rather old, dating from 2006, and Nord Stream is not yet on it, but it is nonetheless highly picturesque

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September digest: archaeological finds, exhibitions, museums, theatre and the Church

Frederic Leighton

Attempts to resolve the problems of many years of uncontrolled mass migration

Characters from Gogol's "Petersburg Tales" on the pedestal of the monument to Nikolai Gogol on Nikitsky Boulevard, photograph of the 1960s