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The East · Geography · Society
Forever in Iran's Hands
A Persian inscription on a propaganda billboard depicting the Strait of Hormuz in Tehran. Photo: Abedin Taherkenareh, EPA agency
Architecture · Faith · Art · Heritage · Society · Paris
Will Claire Tabouret's Ugly Botch Still Replace Viollet-le-Duc's Historic Windows, Which Survived the Burning of Notre-Dame?
So, let us take matters in order. In December 2023 Macron announced that in the six chapels of the south nave of Notre-Dame, which came through the fire of 2019 undamaged, Viollet-le-Duc's stained glass would be replaced with contemporary windows by the French artist Claire
NB! · The East · Society · Humour
So Atatürk turns his back on you as the money runs out
NB! · Archive · Moscow · Society
Dzerzhinsky Square during the days of the GKChP, 20–21 August 1991, photograph by Sergey Rusanov
Science · Society · Nature · Ethnography
Gibraltar is home to Europe's only wild monkeys: Barbary macaques, about 230 of them
Gibraltar is home to Europe's only wild monkeys: Barbary macaques, about 230 of them. Tourists feed them ice cream, crisps and bread, despite a fine of £4,000. Yes, Gibraltar is a British territory, disputed by Spain. A recent study records that in response to this diet the
Books · Observations · Society · Humour
The woman who denounced the writer Vladimir Sorokin has spoken about censorship in literature, expressing regret at having started her campaign against him and asking:
Who wrote two million denunciations? Well, all of us "wrote" them No, madam (and "esteemed" is the last thing you are), not all of us wrote them. You did
Art · Books · London · Society · People
Ai Weiwei, one of the best-known and most politically inconvenient artists of our time, has published a book about censorship
His father, the poet Ai Qing, cleaned latrines in a labour camp. Ai Weiwei himself was detained in 2011 for 81 days without charge. His studio was demolished, his exhibitions were shut down, and the Chinese chatbot DeepSeek was specially configured so as not to know of his existence. The
Faith · Cinema · Society · Rome
Martin Scorsese has made a film about Pope Francis, "Aldeas, Pope Francis's Last Dream"
Martin Scorsese has made a film about Pope Francis, "Aldeas, Pope Francis's Last Dream". The premiere took place in the Vatican itself, some time after the pontiff's death. The promotional materials describe the project as "a powerful fusion of the visions of Scorsese
NB! · London · Society · Nature · Humour
The Retriever in the British Parliament Has Long Since Understood Everything About Everyone
Archive · Books · Mores · Society
People stand outside banks with faces that bear the stamp of dull despair
People stand outside banks with faces that bear the stamp of dull despair. This is not the fury of 1991; it is the weariness of people who have been cheated once again. A question hangs in the air: can it really be starting all over again? Marietta Chudakova on the
Architecture · Moscow · Observations · Society
Alexy II and Yury Luzhkov at the opening of the Moscow Ring Road after its reconstruction in September 1998
When it opened in 1962, the MKAD (the Moscow Ring Road) was considered a cutting-edge highway by Soviet standards. It had two lanes in each direction and a broad grass strip down the middle as a divider, and 33 cloverleaf interchanges were built along its length. It was said