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Heritage · Society
Trump withdraws the United States from UNESCO again, effective at the end of 2026
Donald Trump is to withdraw the United States from UNESCO for a second time. The decision will take effect at the end of 2026. According to State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce, “continued participation in UNESCO is not in the national interest of the United States.” In 2017, during Trump'
NB! · Observations · Society
Let Us Cease Our Grumbling, Gentlemen!
Architecture · Moscow · Heritage · Society
Dukhovskoy apartment house of 1904 demolished in Moscow's Bolshoy Levshinsky Lane
Some buildings are entered on the protected lists, while others are quietly demolished, the features of old Moscow being ever more thoroughly wiped from the face of the city. Over the past weekend the Dukhovsky apartment house at 19 Bolshoy Levshinsky Lane was razed to the ground. The house, built
Architecture · Moscow · Heritage · Society
142 architectural monuments of Moscow entered in the Unified State Register of Cultural Heritage Sites
142 architectural monuments of Moscow have been entered in the Unified State Register of Cultural Heritage Sites. The list now includes 3,975 historic buildings and structures. All of these sites are under state protection. Among the sites entered in the register today are the building of V.N. von
Society · People · Pop Culture
Valery Gergiev's Concert Cancelled in Italy
On 27 July, as part of the "Summer of the King" festival, Gergiev was due to perform with the Verdi Philharmonic Orchestra of Salerno, joined by soloists of the Mariinsky Theatre. The announced programme included works by Giuseppe Verdi, Pyotr Tchaikovsky and Maurice Ravel. Earlier, Pina Picierno, Vice-
The East · Books · Society
Chinese vessels are badly built, and although the Chinese cannot conceal their astonishment at the ships in which we come to them, their shipwrights are nonetheless amazed when invited to take our ships as a pattern
Chinese vessels are badly built, and although the Chinese cannot conceal their astonishment at the ships in which we come to them, their shipwrights are nonetheless amazed when invited to take our ships as a pattern. They say that in China it has been the custom from time immemorial to
Observations · Society
Belgian farmer suffers mustard gas burn from First World War shells he found
A Belgian farmer came across shells dating from the First World War and suffered burns from the mustard gas they contained. He was fortunate not to have breathed in the gas, and the substance merely soaked slightly into his clothing. Experts say it may take decades before all the shells
Archive · Moscow · Society · People
In 1920 Alexandra Tolstaya, daughter of Leo Tolstoy, was arrested on a charge of involvement in a counter-revolutionary organisation and sentenced to three years' confinement in a concentration camp at the Novospassky Monastery in Moscow
She wrote: “My father, whose views I share, openly denounced the tsarist government and yet remained free even then. <...> I do not conceal that I am not a supporter of Bolshevism; I stated my view openly and plainly at the trial, but I have never spoken out, and
Archive · Books · Mores · Society
Germain de Lagny on the Condition of Russian Serfs and the Knout in His 1853 Book
The law protects only the life and property of the boyars. The serf, regarded as a ploughing machine, has no need of laws; a plough may spend the night in the street, in the snow, in the rain. What else is a serf in Russia but a wandering plough? For
Archive · Moscow · Society · People
Mikhail Frunze's horse in the funeral procession on Red Square, 3 November 1925
At the funeral of Mikhail Frunze, his horse was led in the procession. 3 November 1925, Red Square, photograph by Arkady Shaikhet. The horse became a full participant in the funeral cortège and walked behind its master's coffin together with the leaders of the Soviet state: Stalin, Zinoviev,
Art · New York · Society
Christie’s sums up the first half of 2025: revenue of $2.1bn, in line with the same period last year
Christie’s has sums up the first half of 2025: revenue came to $2.1bn, in line with the same period last year. As Christie’s chief executive Alex Rotter noted, the steady results were driven by increased demand for the art of the 20th and 21st centuries. The most