Cinema · Society · People

And history, and our fairy tales, and our byliny, and all the rest are being revived

And history, and our fairy tales, and our byliny, and all the rest are being revived. I sometimes watch them with pleasure myself, with my own little ones. Vladimir Putin on domestic cinema

Architecture · Heritage · Society

Programme to attract 300 billion roubles from investors for restoring architectural monuments in Russia

Russia launches a preferential lending programme for the restoration of cultural heritage sites. The programme will make it possible to attract 300 billion roubles of extra-budgetary funds for the restoration of architectural monuments in unsatisfactory condition. At present Russia has more than more than 156,000 cultural heritage sites,

Geography · Heritage · Society

Venice to increase the number of paid city visit days from 30 to 54

In 2025 Venice will raise its day-tripper tax to €10. The original charge of €5 was introduced to curb the flow of tourists. According to the city authorities, however, the measure failed to achieve its aim, and thanks to the Venice Biennale the number of visitors has actually grown.

NB! · Faith · The East · Society

The woman Bishop of Stockholm has proposed that churches in her diocese remove images of the cross and install signs indicating the direction of Mecca

NB! · Architecture · Observations · Society · Paris

Beneath the main nave of the Grand Palais in Paris, the largest temporary indoor ice rink in the world has been open since 14 December!

Beneath the main nave of the Grand Palais in Paris, the largest temporary indoor ice rink in the world has been open since 14 December! A spectacle of great beauty, but I warn you at once: to get inside, you must arrive at least 2 hours ahead, as the whole

Art · Museums · Heritage · Society

Spain identifies 5,126 items confiscated from private collections after the Civil War

Spain's Ministry of Culture Returns to Their Historical Owners Works of Art Seized by the Franco Regime. The ministry has identified 5,126 such items, including paintings, sculptures, books and jewellery, which after the civil war of 1936–1939 were confiscated from private collections and handed over to

Screenshot of a The i Paper article with a photograph of an astronaut in a spacesuit on the lunar surface.

NB! · Science · Society · Humour

Half of Britons would not fly to the Moon for free, seeing no point in the trip

Half of Britons would turn down a free trip to the Moon, fearing that “there is not much to see” or that it would “take too long”. People complained that there is nothing to do and nothing to look at on the Moon, and that flying there “makes no sense”

NB! · Faith · Observations · Society

At Least We Have Football Fans to Thank for the Reminder That Europe Is Still Christian

Books · Society · Pop Culture

A little girl in boots is weeping: The poor mite has lost her mother!

A little girl in boots is weeping: The poor mite has lost her mother! Enough of tears and sobbing, We must go and find her mother. Literal translation Do you know whose verses these are? Those of Elena Ulyeva, the most frequently published author in Russia after Korney Chukovsky, and

View from above of a column of green, blue, yellow and red tractors filling a wide street between old stone buildings.

NB! · London · Observations · Society

English farmers block Westminster with their tractors

Tractors have blockaded Westminster. English farmers: complete understanding and respect

NB! · In the Press · The East · London · Monarchies · Society

Former President of Israel says Queen Elizabeth refused to admit Israelis to Buckingham Palace because she believed that "every Israeli is either a terrorist or the son of a terrorist"

In the Press · Faith · Observations · Society

New banknote series by federal district drops images of religious objects

Deputy Governor of the Central Bank Sergei Belov has told Izvestia in an interview that the Bank has decided to abandon religious buildings altogether as images on banknotes:. "...when we changed the concept of banknote design and moved from the city series to the regional one (each banknote is