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Niger opens inquiry into export of Martian meteorite sold at Sotheby’s for $4.3 million

In July, a Martian meteorite found in Niger in 2023 was sold at Sotheby's in New York for $4.3 million. The stone, known as NWA 16788, became the largest Martian meteorite ever sold at auction.

Only the other day, Niger opened an investigation into the circumstances of the find and its removal from the country, with a view to establishing whether its transfer and export were lawful. Sotheby's does not disclose who bought the lot or how the meteorite came to be offered for sale, while maintaining that the export and sale were carried out in accordance with the applicable procedures.

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The Betrothal Feast in Vlas Doroshevich's Satirical Novel “Mu-Xiang”

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The silliest thing about this renaming is its poor timing. For when the Pushkin Museum was offered, as a gift, the greatest collection of contemporary art of the second half of the twentieth century, the collection of Peter Ludwig, the very reason for the refusal was the condition that the

Niger opens inquiry into export of Martian meteorite sold at Sotheby’s for $4.3 million

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The Betrothal Feast in Vlas Doroshevich's Satirical Novel “Mu-Xiang”

Madonna with Cherubim in Milan's Brera: from Bellini to Mantegna

Pushkin Museum refused the Ludwig collection over the branch name

Yeeeehaw!