The Union flag that led Nelson's fleet at the Battle of Trafalgar could be bought by a UK museum after an export bar was imposed following its sale at auction. The Union Flag flew from the Royal Sovereign, the ship that led the British charge at the Battle of Trafalgar, and still features burn marks and splinters inflicted during the battle. It was recently put up for sale and sold for £450,000.
Serbia's President Aleksandar Vucic has long been accused of exercising total control over the Western Balkan country. Now he has embarked on a new field of activity: He has declared that he will personally file criminal charges against all those he accuses of the "economic sabotage of Serbia." This was prompted by news from the United States that Jared Kushner, the son-in-law and close confidant of US President Donald Trump, has canceled a huge, much-vaunted planned investment in Belgrade.
No water, no life, says Sheikh Nidham, a Mandaean religious leader living in the southern Iraqi city of Amarah, on the banks of the river in which he has been regularly immersed since he was a month old. Mandaeans are members of one of the oldest gnostic religions in the world. Southern Iraq has been their homeland for more than a thousand years, particularly in Maysan province. Amarah, the provincial capital, is built around the Tigris. Water is central to their faith and every major life event requires ritual purification. Marriage ceremonies begin in water, and before drawing their last breath, Mandaeans should be taken to the river for a final cleansing.
It was a night at the museum like no other. As the staccato sound of firecrackers and explosions rang out across Martyr's Square in the heart of Tripoli, for once it was not Libya's militias battling it out for a larger stake in the country's oil economy, but a huge firework display celebrating the reopening of one of the finest museums in the Mediterranean.
At slightly larger than California, the African nation of Cameroon is home to roughly 30 million people and more than 300 indigenous languages. But a long-lasting civil war and other humanitarian crises have made the future of those languages uncertain. Today, most Cameroonians in their 40s and 50s are as proficient in their indigenous languages (including Lamnso', Oroko, and Batanga) as they are in a colonial language such as English or French. Their parents, in contrast, spoke indigenous languages more dominantly.
Digital platforms in the Middle East increasingly integrate AI, virtual reality, and augmented reality to document, visualize, and translate cultural heritage across social media channels analyzed between January and December 2024; institutions deploy AI for automated tagging and multilingual captions, VR for reconstructed tours, and AR for on-site layered interpretation, expanding access and preservation capacities while often treating these technologies primarily as content-delivery mechanisms rather than tools for collaborative interpretation or co-curation.
Architecture and design enter 2026 in a moment of renewed experimentation, urgent environmental reflection, and an expanded global dialogue on the built environment. As cities confront the pressures of climate adaptation, demographic shifts, and technological transformation, this year's international calendar offers a lens into how the discipline is responding, creatively, critically, and collectively. From long-standing biennials to newly established platforms, the events of 2026 spotlight architecture's evolving role as both a record of our changing world and a driver of more equitable, sustainable futures.
For many, the city of Hanoi is a gateway to northern Vietnam 's great adventures-the emerald islets of Ha Long Bay, the terraced hills of Sapa, the karst valleys of Ninh Bình-but it's well worth pausing here before venturing on. Over more than a thousand years, the country's capital has seen imperial dynasties raising Confucian temples, French colonists carving out tamarind-shaded boulevards and yellow-walled villas, and revolutionaries leaving behind slogans, statues, and scars of self-determination-resulting in a gritty yet graceful second city.
Growing up in a Mexican household, it never truly felt like the holidays until my abuela, very aptly, broke out the yellow box of Abuelita chocolate from the tiny cupboard next to the stove. My family and I would decorate the Christmas tree, laughing and reminiscing over handmade ornaments. Then we'd soak up the beauty of the silvery lights in the sala, warming our palms with mismatched tazas of chocolate.
In that job, the 73-year-old Parkman used artifacts found in old ruins or the chemistry of rocks and layers of soil to piece together possible narratives about life in the Bay Area as far back as tens of thousands of years ago or as recently as the late 20th century. More than being a scientist or historian, Parkman has always seen himself as a storyteller with an innate curiosity about other worlds and a desire to imagine the people who lived in them.
We look at what this olive harvest really means for Palestinians and how it connects generations across the land. For Palestinians, the olive harvest is both an essential source of income and a treasured cultural tradition. Each year, families gather beneath the groves to pick olives, press oil, and celebrate a connection to the land that spans generations. But this season has seen increasing attacks from settlers and Israeli troops, damaging or uprooting thousands of trees.
When an ecosystem is so ingrained in your psyche, so essential to your culture and so central to the stories you tell about your reason for being, you have no choice but to safeguard it. This is the galvanizing sentiment behind the recent creation of an unprecedented commission for California that brings together five tribes to advise the U.S. government on the management of a monument that holds specific meaning to each and is a treasure to all.
As for what guests get to experience now, TravelHost explained the garden (which is also known as the Palace of Tranquil Longevity) is spread across four connected courtyards and punctuated by 27 structures, each designed as a personal retreat for the emperor. There are also stunning rock gardens, century-old trees, and streams providing the perfect sound effects throughout. The buildings are also full of treasures, including ornate decorations and furnishings.
The multi-million dollar Museum of West African Arts (MOWAA), a prestigious cultural project in Edo State in southern Nigeria, has suspended preview events scheduled for this week. MOWAA made the decision after around 20 men, some armed with wooden bats, stormed into the museum courtyard on Sunday during a pre-opening event. Guests, including ambassadors and donors, were forced to take refuge inside.
This week's practical must-reads from The Local include common traps that catch out property hunters, what increasing the 'franchise médicale' means for your health bills, and the small town in south-west France that's up there with Europe's big cultural guns. Buying a house always carries a risk, but it can be harder doing it in a foreign country where you are unfamiliar with the sales process, tax regulations or local bylaws.
The bronze "Momotaro" statue was reported missing earlier this month, cut from its stand in San Jose's Guadalupe River Park. This week, officials released new details about the theft and now believe the statue was cut down and taken on Sept. 25 just after 7 a.m. New photos from the day of the theft show two people appearing to take away the statue in a shopping cart. Police said the people were last seen walking north through the park.
A motion approved approved at Peel Regional Council last month proposes control of the Peel Art Gallery Museum and Archives (PAMA) be transferred to the City of Brampton, with a plan to enhance programming and modernize the funding model. The site, which was originally the Peel County courthouse and jail, was built in 1867. But for more than 55 years it's housed thousands of pieces of art and artifacts representing the history of the region.
Never mind that it was probably carried out by a couple of chancers with a crowbar: for some of the pessimists, it's civilisation itself that's being prised open. Funny how the same people who decry France's alleged dysfunctionalism probably marvelled at the Paris Olympics of summer 2024 that brief, dazzling interlude when the city actually worked, the trains ran on time, and millions around the world fell a little bit in love with France again.
