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Lebanese Ministry of Culture Urges UNESCO to Grant Enhanced Protections to Cultural Property

Lebanon’s Ministry of Culture has appealed to UNESCO to provide additional protection for the nation’s cultural heritage as the U.S.–Israel–Iran conflict spills into its southern borders. According to a ministry statement on Wednesday, Culture Minister Ghassan Salamé spoke by phone with Khaled El-Enany, director-general of UNESCO, urging the United Nations agency to intervene on Lebanon’s behalf. The minister reportedly told El-Enany: “In light of the current security situation in Lebanon and in the region, [we ask you] to intervene with neighboring states or belligerent parties to remind them of the need to take all preventive measures, during this armed conflict with Lebanon, to protect and preserve Lebanese cultural heritage and refrain from targeting it.” Ghassan Salamé directly appealed for greater protection of the National Museum of Beirut, a repository of thousands of years of Mediterranean history, as well as Lebanon’s archaeological and historical sites, including Baalbek...
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Hexagon | NovAtel Sets a New Benchmark for Assured GNSS in Airborne Missions

As modern conflicts evolve, so too does the battle for the electromagnetic spectrum. Satellite-based navigation—long considered a reliable backbone for positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT)—is increasingly under threat from sophisticated jamming technologies that are becoming both more powerful and more accessible. In response to this rapidly changing operational landscape, Hexagon | NovAtel has introduced a new solution designed to ensure mission resilience in contested environments. The Calgary-based technology leader has launched the GAJT-AE3 , the latest addition to its trusted GNSS Anti-jam Antenna Technology (GAJT) portfolio, bringing advanced protection to airborne platforms that rely on uninterrupted satellite navigation. The announcement marks a significant milestone in the evolution of assured PNT capabilities, particularly as defence and aerospace operators confront an increasingly complex spectrum environment. A Growing Challenge in the GNSS Domain Global Navigati...
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Where Did the IMLS’s Funding for Museums and Libraries Go? Into Trump’s ‘Freedom Truck’ Road Show, It Seems 

Have you always wished that you could visit a museum devoted to U.S. history, like maybe the one at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., but wished that rather than a brick-and-mortar museum in the nation’s capital, it could be on a tractor trailer in, say, Ft. Campbell, Kentucky, or Slippery Rock, Pennsylvania? Well, the Trump administration is making those dreams come true with a fleet of six “Freedom Trucks”—mobile museums that will travel the nation throughout 2026, marking 250 years since the signing of the Declaration of Independence. On display are artifacts like a draft of the Declaration of Independence, the Aitken Bible (“the first complete Bible published in an independent America,” per the Library of Congress ), a musket used by the British Army known as the Brown Bess, and a pair of George Washington’s spectacles.  The rolling museums are part of the “Freedom 250” initiative, a self-described non-partisan organization leading the semiquincentennial celeb...
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$7.6 M. Grant from William Penn Foundation Will Support Low-Income and Disabled Museum-Goers in Philadelphia

Earlier this week, the William Penn Foundation announced a slew of grants, totally $7.6 million, that will support access to museums for low-income families and people with disabilities. The grants apply to six specific organizations based on the number of ACCESS visitors each received during the 2024-25 fiscal year. (The ACCESS card allows people who receive public assistance or identify as having a disability to receive heavily discounted tickets to participating cultural institutions, of which there are nearly 100 in the Philadelphia area.) The following organizations will receive funds from the William Penn Foundation: The Academy of Natural Sciences, the Franklin Institute, the Morris Arboretum and Gardens, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Philadelphia Zoo, and the Please Touch Museum. Art-Reach, the organization that administers the ACCESS program, also received financial support as part of this series of grants. John Orr, executive director of Art-Reach, said in a statem...
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Club Rugby Highlights Series: First Phase Finishes

Celebrating community rugby 2016-25 in highlights. Over the break, Club Rugby collated and sorted all our video clip highlights that were recorded and saved in the decade between the 2016-2025 seasons. As we continue add to these clips to our library, it is intended that they will all be posted online – but this is...
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Toronto’s Royal Ontario Museum Names New Director

The Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto has named Nicholas R. Bell as its next director and CEO. Bell, who was selected via an international search, will start in the role on July 6. He succeeds Josh Basseches, who stepped down at the end of last year after a decade in the role. Bell is currently president and CEO of Glenbow, an art museum with a collection of more than 250,000 objects in Calgary, Alberta. There since 2019, he has focused on developing the institution’s strategic plan, which “prioritized financial sustainability, increased inclusion and accessibility, and furthered Indigenous community engagement and reconciliation,” according to a release. He also established an endowment that made the museum admission free, a first for a major museum in Canada, and launched Glenbow Reimagined, a $250 million capital campaign that includes a renovation of the museum’s campus, set to open in 2027. In a statement, Glenbow board chair Lori Van Rooijen said, “The Board is deeply grateful ...
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Dalí Museum in Florida Announces $65 M. Expansion Planned for 2028

The Dalí Museum in St. Petersburg is planning a major expansion expected to begin construction in 2026, with the new facilities slated to open in 2028. The museum said the approximately 35,000-square-foot addition will cost an estimated $65 million and is intended to grow the exhibition spaces, create a dedicated learning center, and introduce new immersive experiences combining art and digital technology. The project will be designed and built by the Beck Group, which also constructed the museum’s current building that opened in 2011. Founded in 1982, the museum holds one of the largest collections of works by the Surrealist artist Salvador Dalí outside Spain. According to the institution, it has welcomed more than 10 million visitors since opening. Executive director Hank Hine described the expansion as a way to accommodate growing audiences and deepen the museum’s educational programming. “It’s not about being bigger; it’s about being bolde...
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