RVN TIMES

This article is from a series by the invaluable William Brumfield, (Wikipedia), Professor of Slavic Studies at Tulane University, New Orleans, USA.

Brumfield is the world's leading historian of Russian architecture.  He makes frequent trips to Russia, often to her remote regions, and records the most unusual examples of surviving architecture with detailed, professional photography.  

Orlov is one of our favorite essayists on Russia and all sorts of other things. He moved to the US as a child, and lives in the Boston area.

Ekh Dorogi is a Russian popular favorite to this day. It was written in 1945. The famous Russian baritone Dmitry Khvorostovsky frequently performed it, so Western readers may find it familiar. The title means 'Ahh, the roads'. Translation below.

Dear friends,

Over the past few years one of my main efforts was to try to convince as many people as possible that Russia was preparing for war.  I also tried to caution about the completely misguided notion that because the Russian people feared war (they do!) they somehow were not ready for it (they are!). 

View Entire Post ›

View Entire Post ›

View Entire Post ›

Revealed: EU chief negotiator’s diaries, The Great Illusion, give blow-by-blow account of moves behind UK’s departure

Britain’s post-Brexit future was determined by “the quarrels, low blows, multiple betrayals and thwarted ambitions of a certain number of Tory MPs”, the EU’s chief negotiator has said in his long-awaited diaries.

The UK’s early problem, writes Michel Barnier in The Great Illusion, his 500-page account, was that they began by “talking to themselves. And they underestimate the legal complexity of this divorce, and many of its consequences.”

US FDA expected to follow Canada’s lead ‘very soon’; Leo Varadkar hopes for return to normality in Ireland by late summer; Kenya finds cases of India variant

7.51pm BST

7.43pm BST

The number of new Covid-19 infections in France is rising much more slowly and hospitalisations declined on Wednesday, in the first week after the French government eased its third nationwide lockdown. The number of new positive cases rose by 26,000 for a total of 5.71 million, an increase of 2.52% compared to a week ago and the lowest week-on-week increase since late July 2020, health ministry data showed. Late March to mid-April, week-on-week increases were as high as 5% to 6%, Reuters reports. The number of patients with Covid-19 in French hospitals dropped by 741 to 27,686 in the sharpest one-day drop since the end of November, in the last days of France’s second nationwide lockdown.

Conservative Isabel Díaz Ayuso vows to continue combative approach to dealings with Spanish government

Isabel Díaz Ayuso, the conservative president of the Madrid region who inflicted a stinging defeat on her leftwing opponents in Tuesday’s snap election, has vowed to carry on acting as a “counterweight” to Spain’s Socialist-led coalition government.

Although her People’s party more than doubled its seat count and won more seats than the three leftwing parties combined, Ayuso fell just short of an absolute majority, meaning she will have to rely on the support of the far-right Vox party to form a new regional government.

חברת הכנסת מימינה, שסומנה בשבועות האחרונים כמי שאולי עשויה לטרפד את הקמת ממשלה עם לפיד, סער וחלק ממפלגות השמאל, הביעה תמיכה ביו"ר מפלגתה. בחשבון הפייסבוק שלה כתבה שקד כי "לא אתן יד להשמצות פרועות: בנט אמר מההתחלה שינסה להקים ממשלת ימין וכך עשה"

יועצו הבכיר של הנשיא לשעבר טראמפ מקים את הארגון בשם "מכון הסכמי אברהם לשלום" שמטרתו להגביר את הסחר והתיירות בין ישראל לבין האמירויות, בחריין, סודאן ומרוקו. לשר החוץ אשכנזי הוצע להיות שותף במכון לאחר סיום תפקידו אך האחרון לא השיב תשובה סופית

שר הכלכלה ויו"ר העבודה לשעבר הודיע בחשבון הפייסבוק שלו כי לאחר ששקל את הדברים בכובד ראש, הוא החליט לא להתמודד על התפקיד. פרץ כתב: "מודה לחברי הכנסת ואנשי הציבור שהביעו תמיכה". המועמדים העיקריים לתפקיד: בוז'י הרצוג ומרים פרץ

Transportul public din zona București-Ilfov va intra, începând cu luna aceasta, într-un proces de reorganizare. Anunțul a fost făcut de către Asociația de Dezvoltare Intercomunitară pentru Transport Public București – Ilfov. Proiectul își propune să optimizeze actuala rețea de transport de la nivelul întregii regiuni.

Primarul Sectorului 6 Ciprian Ciucu a anunțat că va face o plângere administrativă la Poliție, pe motiv că „a fost luat la mișto” de către un polițist! Într-un mesaj postat pe Facebook, edilul a relatat...

Ministrul Justiției a trimis trei adrese judecătorilor pentru calculul salariilor magistraților! Stelian Ion le-a transmis instanțelor de judecată că deja au cheltuit 25% din creditele bugetare până în luna martie.