Observations · Society · Reportage · Ethnography
The Russian village has fallen still. Among their pressing problems, the villagers name the cemetery: the authorities will not allot land for a new graveyard, though for dozens of kilometres around the village lie abandoned fields, meadows and forests. "There is no land!" Once the village had its
NB! · Moscow · Museums · Observations · Society
Observations · Society · People · Humour
A frame destined for the history books. This is not photoshopped. Angela Merkel at the Marlow bird park during a visit to her former constituency of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, three days before the federal elections in Germany. Why former? Merkel has announced that she will no longer stand for the Bundestag,
In the Press · Interviews · Society · People · Nature
First and foremost, Bardot spoke of the “barbarians, bastards, vile, rotten monsters” who inflict suffering on animals. She recalled, among other things, the shocking tragedy of the bloody slaughter of 1,428 cetaceans in a fjord in the Faroe Islands; on this occasion she wrote to the Prime Minister of
Cinema · Society · Paris · People · Pop Culture
Brigitte Bardot Criticises the Memorial Policy of Macron, Whom She Detests. The actress looks sceptically on the funeral of her friend Belmondo: “Jean-Paul Belmondo would not have liked his funeral at Les Invalides.” He was “a charming man”, but “I do not understand the origins of the national reverence
Coming Up · Society
Following on from the day before yesterday's subject: the results of the first competition for the distribution of funds to cultural projects have yet to be tallied, and already it is time to submit applications for the next. The intake of applications for the next competition of the
Art · Society · Humour
France. Conscription by lot. A peasant is handed a hat containing two tickets: the black one will send him off to serve, the white one will exempt him from military duty and, on the whole, save his life. The fellow twigs that both tickets in the hat are in fact
Observations · Society
The time has come to "reap the harvest" for those who did, after all, apply for presidential grants in the field of culture. The experts of the Presidential Foundation for Cultural Initiatives, which this year is distributing 3.5 billion roubles among cultural projects, have familiarised themselves with
Art · Heritage · Society · Humour
On Sunday morning a new monument to Napoleon appeared in Rouen: on a bicycle, in a worn tracksuit, Air Maxes and Lacoste, in the colours of a food courier's uniform, and in a Napoleonic bicorne. The art object has been installed on the plinth of the real monument
Observations · Society · Paris · Humour
Hidalgo is finally ready! Destination: the Élysée Palace. I do not know who hides behind the pseudonym Coco at the newspaper Libération, but this documentary image vividly reminded me how, on my last trip to Paris, I happened to meet more rats than Parisians. The fault lay not with my
Monarchies · Mores · Society · Humour
A 55-year-old Australian claims to be the secret son of Prince Charles and Camilla Parker. For years now, Simon Charles Dorante-Day has been trying to prove it. By his account, he was born to 19-year-old Camilla by 17-year-old Charles. Adopted at ten months
Archive · Faith · Monarchies · Society
As is well known, Béla IV warned the pontiffs of the Mongol menace more than once; he wrote to Gregory IX as well, begging for help, but these pleas went unanswered. Nor did any European state respond to the call to defend Hungary, and in the end the whole country