Nina Moleva, a renowned art critic and historian dubbed “Putin’s art aficionado,” has passed away at the age of 98, leaving behind an exceptional collection of paintings by iconic masters such as Rembrandt, Da Vinci, and Michelangelo.

Moleva was highly regarded in the Russian literary and artistic circles, having authored 120 books on Russian painters and attaining a doctorate in History. She held memberships in both the Union of Writers and the Union of Russian Artists, solidifying her reputation as a significant figure in the preservation and promotion of Russian art. However, her recent demise has piqued the interest of several media outlets due to the enigmatic nature of her vast collection, estimated to be worth around 1.8 billion euros.

The Russian Ministry of Culture announced the passing of Nina Mikhailovna Moleva, highlighting her exceptional contributions as a writer, historian, art scholar, journalist, and war veteran. Even beyond Russia, Moleva’s influence and accomplishments have been lauded by various cultural media. Art historian Éric Turquin, who had the privilege of witnessing her collection in the early 1990s, acknowledged that while it may not have been worth the estimated value Moleva claimed, it undeniably comprised a spectacular assemblage of religious artworks from the 16th and 17th centuries.

The origin of this extraordinary collection has raised many questions. As per family accounts, Moleva inherited the artworks from her late husband’s grandfather, Ivan Grinyov, who was a performer in Moscow during the Tsarist era. Allegedly, Grinyov managed to conceal his riches in a false attic when the Bolsheviks seized power. It was only four decades after his death that Moleva and her husband, Ilya Belyutin, the acclaimed founder of the avant-garde New Reality art movement, stumbled upon these hidden treasures.

However, researchers have expressed doubts regarding the authenticity of this narrative. No records of Grinyov’s involvement in any theater archive have been found, and prominent collectors of that era have been extensively documented, according to a recent publication in ArtreView. An investigation by Moscow Times in 2015 presented an alternative theory, suggesting that the works might have been smuggled out of Europe during World War II and commissioned by Belyutin himself, who reputedly had connections to the intelligence services. In other words, the art hunter was potentially a dissident hunter with an eye for wartime spoils.

Remarkably, this amateur collector amassed approximately 1,000 paintings, sculptures, and other artworks during the Stalin era. The collection included masterpieces by renowned artists such as Titian, Diego Velázquez, Bernardino di Contino, and Antonio Rossellino. In 2013, Moleva decided to bequeath the entire collection to President Putin, subsequently leading to a constant police presence outside her modest three-room apartment in central Moscow, where even Fidel Castro once shared a meal.

While President Putin is not widely recognized as an art enthusiast, his palaces feature a fusion of postmodern and classical elements. It is possible that he may have perused some of Moleva’s books during her lifetime, which encompassed monographs on Bogdan Saltanov, an Armenian painter of Persian descent known for his work at the Kremlin Armory painting workshop during the reign of Alexis I of Russia. Above all, Moleva’s treatise on the cultural significance of the presidential palace, a fortified compound where Putin increasingly sought refuge from his official duties, could have piqued the president’s interest.

The war in Ukraine, which will reach its second anniversary next week, has gone through all kinds of phases, from a military, diplomatic, political and economic point of view.. Without a doubt, the most pessimistic moment can be identified in the days after the invasion, when everyone in Brussels, headquarters of the community institutions but also of NATO, assumed that Kiev would fall in a matter of weeks, if not days.. The Russian army seemed unstoppable, the Ukrainian defenses insufficient, and all calls were for Volodymyr Zelensky and his men to withdraw or be evacuated immediately.. But it didn't happen. They did not leave, nor did the country fall nor was the Russian power so formidable. And with heroic resistance, and multimillion-dollar military aid from the allies, the conflict stalled.

Now, however, 24 months later, the feeling is increasingly negative. There was a warning at the return of summer. In Washington, fed up with Zelensky not listening, paying attention to reasons or accepting nuances, they gave a severe wake-up call through an article published in The New York Times talking about the fissures in the Ukrainian military strategy, the problems of understanding, how Pentagon help was seriously compromised. In kyiv they did not pay much attention and the situation has only gotten worse. At the end of August, the European ministers, meeting in Toledo, showed their growing concern. The electoral framework does not help, but there were also, even among the most faithful supporters of the resistance, fissures, doubts, and fatigue.. And the figure of President Zelensky was beginning to turn out to be more of a problem than an asset in some capitals.

In Washington, aid is effectively blocked. The Senate gave the green light this Tuesday barely and after serious disagreements, but now it has a more than uncertain future in Congress. The doubts come from the Republican Party, the one that belonged to Reagan or Bush, the one that called for tearing down the Berlin Wall and wanted to suffocate the Kremlin. A growing number of your congressmen and senators, radicalized, nihilistic, authoritarian, today buy Putin's interpretation and speech word for word and refuse to continue sending money. The US has set aside 75,000 million euros in these two years, and all the members of NATO, more than 100,000 million, as the Secretary General of the Alliance, Jens Stoltenberg, repeated this Thursday at the end of the meeting of the Defense Ministers of the 31.

Membership in the community club

In recent weeks, the European Union has given the green light to the start of accession negotiations for Ukraine and Moldova and approved a mechanism, within the review of the community budget, to financially support Kiev for the next four years, with 17 billion in transfers. and 33,000 million more in loans. But also with reservations. It's not just Hungary, but partners like Slovakia want to put on the brakes. The Netherlands does not yet have a government, but the winner of the elections, Geert Wilders, has never hidden his sympathies either.. And there are more, either because of ideology or because of exhaustion, who would not suffer much by changing their mind.

In the corridors of the Alliance, the concern, the doubts. Because of the bloody nature of the conflict, because of the threat of a possible new Russian offensive when the spring ends. For its rearmaments, with the direct or indirect help of China, North Korea and others. Because of the divisions in kyiv, after Zelensky replaced the commander in chief of the Armed Forces, Valeri Zaluzhni. And because diplomats and analysts warn of a tired, mobilized country that will be very difficult to lead in the coming months and in peace.. Ukraine desperately needs billions to avoid losing the war, but that is not even enough to win it.

The debate these days in Brussels has turned towards what exactly it means to win or lose. What can be admissible, acceptable, tolerable. Politically but also socially. Resistance in the Black Sea is formidable, but Ukraine fails to disrupt communication lines between Crimea and Donbas. The view at headquarters is that we are facing a new challenge and learning as we go, because Eastern Ukraine is a combination of the trench warfare of the First World War, combined with modern 21st century technology, especially drones .

NATO, as always, has reiterated through its ministers, and after listening to the Ukrainian about the situation on the ground, its support and committed more help. “In recent days new packages have been announced, including with Canada, Finland or Norway, which will provide spare parts and material for the F16 and air defenses,” said Stoltenberg.. Additionally, a group of allies has announced a collaboration with the aim of providing up to one million drones to Ukraine.. In addition to resources to help clear the liberated territories of mines, which are almost 50% of the total that was occupied in 2022.

This drone coalition will be made up of the United Kingdom or Latvia, but there are also countries such as Germany, Denmark, the Netherlands and the rest of the Baltic countries interested.. Drones are not only small observation and espionage devices, but they have changed the way war is conducted. They can carry weapons and equipment, bomb and be used as missiles. The Iranians have helped Moscow attack Ukrainian cities, and vice versa. By air but also by sea, something key to weakening the Russian Navy in the Black Sea. There are purely military ones and those for civil use but converted, much cheaper and which have become essential at borders and barricades.

“The UK continues to do everything it can to give Ukraine what it needs.. We are increasing our support to £2.5bn this year and committing a further £200m to manufacturing drones, making us Ukraine's largest drone supplier.. Today we go even further. I am proud to announce that the UK and Latvia will co-lead an international coalition to develop Ukraine's vital drone capabilities. Together, we will give Kiev the capabilities it needs to defend itself and win this war, to ensure that Putin fails in his illegal and barbaric ambitions,” the British Defense Minister explained during the meeting in Brussels.

In total, Stoltenberg has calculated that there may be up to a million of them at Ukraine's disposal in 2024, a gigantic figure.. A few days ago, in an appearance with Jake Sullivan, North American National Security Advisor, the Secretary General stressed that the industrial base is critical, because now we are facing a war of attrition and a war of attrition inevitably becomes a war of logistics.. “Drones have played an important role throughout this war. Türkiye has provided Bayraktar drones since before the large-scale invasion. And now they are setting up a new factory to produce more in Ukraine.”

Stoltenberg also confirmed this Thursday what was an open secret. NATO will establish, hopefully by the end of this year, a training center for Ukrainian troops in Poland. It is not yet known who will lead it, what budget it will have or how many soldiers will be able to train.. “The details are yet to be decided. We already have the political decision and we must implement it. It is the beginning of the process. We want to learn from the Russian war and for it to be a platform or framework to train Ukrainian soldiers alongside the allies. I hope that the final decision will be adopted later this year,” said the Secretary General.

In a tragic incident, a missile attack in the city of Belgorod, along the border with Ukraine, claimed the lives of six individuals, including a one-year-old girl. Another 17 people, including four children, were injured and hospitalized, with six in critical condition. Increasingly targeted since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Belgorod is the closest major Russian city to the border, facing frequent attacks.

According to Vyacheslav Gladkov, the regional governor, two children have already been discharged for outpatient treatment. One of the victims, a one-year-old girl named Valentina, was in the care of her grandmother, who also lost her life. Expressing condolences, Gladkov acknowledged the deep pain that cannot be eased by words alone.

The Russian Ministry of Defense claimed that its air defense systems successfully intercepted and destroyed 14 Ukrainian missiles over the region. This attack on Belgorod marks the deadliest assault on a Russian city since the war’s inception in February 2022, with 25 civilians killed in a previous attack in December.

Poor anti-aircraft protection

The Belgorod area, located close to the frontlines, has limited anti-aircraft protection compared to more remote regions like Sochi, where one of President Vladimir Putin’s residences is situated. Residents have reported authorities withholding information on shelter locations, exacerbating the vulnerability of the area.

In response to the tragedy, the Russian Ministry of Health dispatched a team of medical specialists to Belgorod from federal centers. Visual evidence of the attack circulated on social media, showing shattered windows at a local supermarket and damaged apartments nearby. Emergency responders hurried to aid the injured at an outdoor sports complex that also suffered damage.

Roman Starovoit, the governor of the neighboring Kursk region, revealed that a shopping center, open-air sports facility, and residential areas were targeted in the attack. He described the deliberate targeting of civilian groups by the enemy. The Ukrainian government in Kyiv has yet to provide any comment on the attacks.

Maria Zakharova, a spokesperson for the Russian Foreign Ministry, labeled the events as an “act of terrorism by the Kyiv regime” on Telegram. She also announced Russia’s intent to bring the matter before the UN Security Council.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban is missing. After the resignation a few days ago of the country's president, Katalin Novák, and the Minister of Justice, Judi Varga, for pardoning the deputy director of an orphanage complicit in pedophilia, Orban has not shown his face in a matter that delegitimizes a government that has made the protection of children and traditional family values the cornerstone of its policy.

The scandal also affects the powerful Hungarian Reformed Church, to which Orban belongs.. The request for pardon allegedly came from the president of the synod of that church, Bishop Zoltán Balog..

“The Government is working,” was the only explanation that Orban has given and through his Facebook page. One of the opposition parties, Momentun, has filled the streets of Budapest with posters of Orban and the sign “missing, we are looking for him”. Momentun, a centrist party founded in 2017, has not offered a reward, but has put forward the questions that Orban will have to answer when he appears: “Did he know about the pardon request before the decision was made? Did he know that someone was pressuring Katalin Novák to ask for a pardon? Did he himself ask Katalin Novák to grant a pardon? Did he know about the pardon decision before it came to light?”

The deputy director of the orphanage in question, Endre K, was serving a three-year prison sentence for persuading children to withdraw their testimony against the center's director for sexual abuse, who received an eight-year prison sentence.. Endre K was one of the 25 people pardoned by the president during a visit by Pope Francis last year. But his name was not made public until February 2.

Orban will be able to avoid the questions, but he will not ignore the fact that he has lost two very important figures who for him and for his party, Fidesz.. In 2021, with its parliamentary majority, it allowed a law, criticized by the EU as homophobic, that prohibits speaking to minors about homosexuality, which it relates to pedophilia.

The former president Novak radiated an image of “mother of the nation”, very integrative and identified with popular policies to encourage couples to have more children.. The former Minister of Justice was tougher. He was to lead Fidesz in the battle against the “Brussels bureaucrats” in the June European elections. She has now resigned as an MP and retired from public life.

A few minutes after Judit Varga's resignation, her ex-husband, Peter Magyar, a powerful member of Fidesz, announced: “I do not want to be part of the coalition. “I don't want to be part of another minute of a system in which the real culprits hide behind women's skirts.”

“For a long time I believed in an ideal, in a national, sovereign and civic Hungary. However, in recent years and especially today, I have realized that all this is nothing more than a political product, a sugary coating that only serves two things: to hide the operation of the power factory and to acquire enormous wealth.” , he denounced.

The bishop, in the spotlight

The head of Orban's secret services, Antal Rogan, and Bishop Balog, personal advisor to the prime minister, are now in the spotlight, although the latter, for the moment, seems to have gone to safety.. On Tuesday he met with the so-called deacon-custodians to discuss the exact role he played in the clemency case of the former deputy director of the Bicske children's home. After the hearing, a vote was taken on whether Zoltán Balog should remain as pastoral president of the synod and the result was overwhelmingly favorable.. He obtained 86% of the votes. Balog published a video on the Reformed Church website after that meeting, which lasted almost five hours, in which he announced that he would not resign from his ecclesiastical position.

“Viktor Orban, as a member of the Reformed Church, trusts in the ecclesiastical leaders and in the strength of the Church,” said Orban's press chief, Bertalan Havasi, who described the information that appeared in the newspaper as “nonsense and nonsense.” press about Zoltán Balog and of which he accused the “leftists.”

The bishop and the pardoned person, Endre K., deputy director of the Kossuth Zsuzsa Children's Home in Bicske, had known each other since at least 2010 and the Hungarian media have verified that the religious intervened in his favor for the granting of the presidential pardon.

Orban remains silent, but a revolt is brewing in the streets and on social networks. Opposition parties have filed demands to investigate how the pardon was granted, how the State is managed and to call for the direct election of the next president. The response from the government and the pro-government media has been furious.

“We do not respond to the desperate attempts of people in desperate situations,” repeats Orban's spokesman. From the pages of Zsolt Bayer, the government's flagship newspaper, commentator Magyar Nemzet stated that “we must demonstrate our strength, because the pack of hyenas, those completely amoral and lying bastards now smell blood because they believe the time has come.” wrote.

He then proposed a show of force by the Government's supporters on March 15, a national holiday: “Let's show them that the damn time has not come!”

After two Chinese New Year holidays working as a rental girlfriend, and another two of confinement at home due to the pandemic closures, Shui has finally been able to spend these holidays with her family. She left her job last fall and now, at 26, is trying to make her way as a streamer selling skincare products on an e-commerce platform.

In 2020 we met her in Tianjin, northern China. She was quite nervous because she was going to spend an entire week with a client who paid her 1,176 euros a day to accompany him to his hometown during the New Year. The young woman emphasizes that she only rented out her time, never her body.

“He was a gay businessman with a very traditional family. His parents kept pressuring him to get married and have children. Since he was afraid to tell them the truth, he hired me to pretend to be his partner. Last year, when the pandemic restrictions eased, I returned to continue with the charade,” Shui reveals.

A few months ago, a heated debate erupted on Chinese social media about the intense societal pressure young people face to get married, sparked by an investigative report published by a Chinese journalist who posed as a customer on a rental bride website. That’s where he met Mumu, an administrator who earned an additional salary for a daily rate of 170 euros.

She shared that some of her clients, mostly individuals over thirty, even paid her to play the role of a bride at a fake wedding, complete with a banquet. Others were single individuals from rural areas who hired her during national holidays for company.

“During Chinese New Year, there are always 1,000 new users who need a girlfriend to introduce to their parents,” said Cao Tiantian, founder of Hire Me Plz, in an interview. Hire Me Plz is one of several applications in the country where men and women offer themselves as rental partners.

The most recent census conducted in 2021 revealed that there were 220 million single people living in China, which accounts for 13.3% of the population. The census also highlighted that the country had nearly 35 million more single men than women, with the majority falling between the ages of 20 and 40.

Qingdao, located on China’s east coast, is known for its beer festival and German colonial heritage. Recently, it made headlines as local authorities created a dating app to match singles in the area.

In Shandong province, where Qingdao is situated, the Communist Party’s youth have organized group dating parties to match singles in many towns. This initiative aims to counter the prevailing conservative mindset and encourage young people to marry, have children, and address the current demographic crisis.

While Valentine’s Day is celebrated in many parts of the world on February 14th, in China, it is known as the Qixi Festival and is typically observed in the seventh month of the lunar calendar, which usually falls in August. On the last Valentine’s Day, the government of a city in Sichuan province planned to broadcast live wedding ceremonies, assuming many couples would wed on this day. However, to their surprise, not a single couple appeared at the registry to get married.

The nightmare of the Spanish-Venezuelan Rocío San Miguel, a prominent figure in civil society, has only just begun. The serious accusations leveled against her by the Chavista Attorney General’s Office, accusing her of participating in an alleged assassination attempt against Nicolás Maduro, have resulted in an anti-terrorist judge ordering her unconditional imprisonment in one of the most notorious places on earth: Helicoide, the headquarters of Nicolás Maduro’s political police in Caracas. Helicoide is a sinister place of confinement that is notorious for torture, mistreatment, and extreme cruelty, as documented in United Nations reports.

“We need to know the state of her physical condition. We demand her immediate release and an end to the unleashed Bolivarian fury,” demanded Lexys Rendón, director of the Peace Laboratory, who was surrounded by human rights activists. This group of women and men have an indomitable spirit and have earned a special place in the fight for freedom in Venezuela.

Local lawyers will be filing an appeal on behalf of San Miguel and her five relatives to challenge the imprisonment. As the president of Citizen Control for Security, Defense, and the National Armed Forces, San Miguel is charged with the alleged crimes of terrorism, treason, and conspiracy, unlike her former partner, Alejandro González, who is accused of revealing military secrets and is also being held in the dreaded Caracas headquarters of the General Directorate of Military Counterintelligence (DGCIM).

Tarek William Saab, Maduro’s prosecutor, has attempted to explain his reasons for accusing San Miguel in a plot that, he claims, “sickens me,” but has failed to present any evidence. He stated that San Miguel had the mission, revealed by the detained soldiers, to communicate the progress of the terrorist actions in real time. This refers to ‘Operation White Bracelet’, an alleged attack planned against the 21st Brigade of the Bolivarian Army Infantry, where weapons were allegedly going to be obtained to target Governor Freddy Bernal and then Maduro.

Saab has claimed that through “telephone extractions,” they have discovered extremely delicate evidence linking San Miguel to a campaign against the Bolivarian National Armed Forces (FANB), in which she admits her role in conspiring in Europe and the United States.

The other four relatives of San Miguel have been conditionally released. One of them is Miranda Díaz San Miguel, Rocío’s daughter, who also has Spanish nationality and lives in Madrid. The young woman, 24 years old, disappeared for three days after being deceived by DGCIM agents at the airport.

The judge has imposed precautionary measures on Miranda, preventing her from returning to Madrid and making public statements, and she is required to appear in court periodically. The same limitations have been imposed on her father, Víctor Díaz, and her uncles Miguel Ángel and Alberto San Miguel.

“The entourage of Rocío San Miguel has attempted to cover up evidence,” accused the prosecutor, who has now targeted human rights activists as well.

First, it was one of Maduro’s ministers, and now Saab himself, who have threatened NGOs such as Provea and Amnesty International, which have expressed support for San Miguel. The head of the Public Ministry deemed their actions as criminal, but his attempts to justify the more than 100 hours that San Miguel was held in forced disappearance have been unsuccessful. Such forced disappearances have been a common practice of the Bolivarian regime, as noted in UN reports.

The political storm is brewing in Washington. The Republican bench managed to carry out, on the second attempt and by a single vote difference, a political trial against a member of the Government that had not occurred in a century and a half of American history.. The House of Representatives voted this Tuesday, by 214 votes in favor and 213 against, to submit to an impeachment process Secretary of Homeland Security, Alejandro Mayorkas, for his alleged mismanagement of the border with Mexico after a year of record in the number of illegal crossings through that border crossing.

The Republican majority accuses him of violating “public trust” and of systematically and “deliberately” opposing “complying with the law.”. However, the process has little sign of prospering once it reaches the Senate on February 26, a chamber controlled by Democrats and which gave the green light to $95 billion in aid for Ukraine and Israel last Tuesday..

The measure is extraordinary, not only because it had only occurred on one previous occasion with William Belknap in 1876, the Secretary of War under President Ulysses Grant, but because Mayorkas is not accused of corruption or any personal crime.. The charges, in this case, have to do with a certain type of policy on the border that has not given the expected results, a decision that threatens to further lower the bar of requirements to propose impeachment..

The reaction of the president of the United States, Joe Biden, did not wait long. “History will not look favorably on House Republicans for their blatant act of unconstitutional partisanship that has targeted an honorable public servant to engage in petty political games,” said the president, knowing that the crisis on the border will be one of the political weapons that Republicans wield in the face of the November presidential elections.

Expulsion of George Santos

Mike Johnson, the spokesman for the Republican majority in the Lower House, not only faced the issue of impeachment in his appearance the following day, but also the embarrassing loss of a seat in the House of Representatives after the expulsion of George Santos, the Republican congressman accused of fraud and campaign finance violations. Democrat Tom Suozzi, congressman from New York, won a special election that reduces the majority of Republicans in the Lower House and injects a necessary dose of morale to progressives heading into November.

“Last night’s result is not something, in my view, that Democrats should celebrate too much,” Johnson said. “Their candidate won with a Republican speech, talking about the border and immigration.” However, the internal tension among the conservatives is evident, with an exchange of accusations between those who voted in favor of expelling Santos and those who opposed that has not ceased in recent hours.

Egypt is taking swift action in order to establish diplomatic ties with neighboring countries amid the impending Israeli offensive in Rafah, a city where over one and a half million Palestinian refugees from Gaza reside in overcrowded conditions. Discussions regarding a potential new ceasefire proposal involving Qatar, the United States, and Israel have hit an impasse. Meanwhile, Egypt has bolstered its military presence along its border with Rafah.

Cairo is concerned that the offensive will force thousands of Palestinians to flee towards its border, prompting a potential agreement to accommodate the displaced population. As a result, Egypt has issued a warning to break a crucial security treaty with Israel. In response to this dire situation, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El Sisi held talks on Wednesday with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to explore ways to prevent the unfolding humanitarian catastrophe in the Gaza Strip.

Turkey has been actively involved in mediating efforts since the conflict began, even receiving 700 patients from Gaza, including those suffering from terminal cancer, with the assistance of Egypt. During a press conference with his Egyptian counterpart, Erdogan strongly criticized the depopulation of Gaza, emphasizing the urgent need for a ceasefire to facilitate the unimpeded delivery of humanitarian aid to the region.

On his part, El Sisi has condemned Israel’s blockade against the entry of humanitarian assistance into the Gaza Strip and reiterated the significance of reaching a ceasefire agreement. Both leaders underscored the importance of enhancing cooperation to achieve regional stability.

Erdogan warned, “We will continue to stand in solidarity with Egypt. The international community cannot allow this madness to result in genocide,” referencing the impending Israeli attack on Rafah. While Turkey has denounced the Israeli offensive and labeled Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as “genocidal,” Ankara has not been directly involved in ceasefire negotiations. Nevertheless, it remains one of the most active nations in the region in providing humanitarian aid.

This visit marks Erdogan’s first trip to Egypt in over a decade, following a period of diplomatic estrangement triggered by Turkey’s support for the Arab Spring protests. After reappointing ambassadors and resuming diplomatic contact in 2021, both governments are striving to boost bilateral trade to reach fifteen billion dollars.

Egypt has also expressed interest in acquiring Turkish-made drones, which have proven successful in military operations in Ukraine, Azerbaijan, and Libya. Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan recently stated, “It is crucial for Egypt to possess this technology. We have an agreement to supply unmanned aerial vehicles and other technologies to Egypt.”