Heritage
WORLD
Iranian Heritage Under Threat From All Sides
As civil unrest spreads across Iranian cities in early January 2026 and President Trump renews warnings about military options, the country's 28 UNESCO World Heritage sites sit vulnerable to dangers from multiple directions.
LIFESTYLE
Italy’s UNESCO Victory: Shared Mediterranean Food Gets a National Label
UNESCO has crowned Italian cooking an intangible treasure, but in a shared Mediterranean kitchen it raises a question: how far can one country claim what ends up on the plate?
EUROPE
Trafficked Antiquities: Where Southern Europe’s Treasures Actually Go
Global police dismantle a long-running antiquities trafficking network, seizing 3,000 looted artefacts worth over €100 million.
EUROPE
Spain Removes Francoist Symbols: History’s Place in Public Space
Spain's plan to catalogue and remove remaining Francoist symbols has reopened a deeper debate about what a society should preserve and what it must release.
BUSINESS
Rails Across Continents: The Orient Express and Hejaz Line Revived
Two legendary railway lines, one in Europe and one crossing the Middle East, are being restored in 2025, proving that infrastructure can tell stories across time.
Popular
Barnier Reopens Britain’s EU Exception Fight
Barnier says Britain could rejoin the EU and keep the pound and Schengen opt-out, weakening the claim that re-entry would mean total submission to stricter terms.
The UAE Deploys an AI Spokesman for the State
The UAE's new AI spokesman is not a communications novelty: it is a sign of how the state wants authority to sound in the age of artificial intelligence.
Hydrogen Powers Up, but the Real Fuel is Subsidies
Hydrogen power has moved one step closer to the grid, but that does not mean the economics are settled.
Britain’s Restaurant Bust Feeds the New Diet Gospel
Britain's restaurant downturn and the rise of rule-based diet trends belong to the same food mood, one that treats eating out as risky and eating correctly as virtue.
Russia Burns Ukraine’s Most Sacred Monastery
The strike on the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra shows that Russia's war is not only territorial: it is also aimed at Ukraine's sacred and historical legitimacy.
