Protecting archaeological sites: Alien fever dreams fuel Peruvian grave robbings
CASSANDRA GARRISON and MARCO AQUINO, of Reuters, report on the need for greater action to stop looting in the remote Nazca region…
Brussels seeks UNESCO heritage mark for puppetry, flower carpet
Brussels, Belgium Reuters Brussels is looking to protect two of its historical traditions: rod puppetry and a 1,680-square-metre flower carpet rolled out every second year in front of the Belgian capital’s city hall, by granting them the UNESCO intangible cultural heritage status. Puppets are seen at the Royal Toone Theatre, in Brussels, Belgium, on 28th […]
World War I cemeteries, Rwanda genocide sites, Argentine torture centre declared UNESCO World Heritage
Paris, France Reuters World War I cemeteries in Belgium and France, the hills of Rwanda’s 1994 genocide and a former torture centre in Argentina have been declared UNESCO World Heritage sites as the UN agency ends a moratorium on memorial sites for human suffering. So far, the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp in Poland and the Hiroshima […]
Venice avoids being added to UNESCO list of endangered sites
Rome, ItalyReuters A UNESCO committee has decided not to add Venice to the organisation’s World Heritage List in Danger, disregarding a recommendation from experts and sparing the Italian government from an embarrassing verdict on the city’s condition. “The World Heritage Committee…has made the decision not to inscribe Venice and its Lagoon on the World Heritage […]
Australia’s Great Barrier Reef off UNESCO danger list, still under “serious threat”
Sydney, AustraliaReuters A UNESCO heritage committee on Tuesday stopped short of listing Australia’s Great Barrier Reef as a site that is “in danger” but warned the world’s biggest coral reef ecosystem remained under “serious threat” from pollution and the warming of oceans. A colony of mushroom leather coral grows on the Great Barrier Reef off […]
Angry Russia refuses to speak at UN meeting on its attacks on Ukraine’s key port city of Odesa
United NationsAP In an escalation of Russia’s anger at Ukraine and its Western backers, Russia refused to speak at a UN Security Council meeting called to disuss Moscow’s recent devastating attacks on the key port of Odesa immediately following its refusal to extend the Black Sea grain deal. The confrontation began at the start of a council […]
Brazilian school awarded UNESCO stamp for efforts to protect the ocean
Rio de Janeiro/Brasilia, BrazilReuters A group of Brazilian school children gleefully remove pieces of plastic and trash on the sand of a Rio de Janeiro beach during an outing to teach them about the importance of protecting the environment. Their school, called Notre Dame, is located on the city’s tourist hot spot of Ipanema beach […]
Sudan’s cultural heritage in peril as fighting rages
Cairo, EgyptReuters In Sudan’s capital, precious books in a major library have been burned and the national museum has been cut off for weeks by fighting. In Darfur, another museum is at risk from seasonal rains after projectiles punctured the roof. The conflict that has been raging between rival military factions in Sudan since mid-April […]
United States planning to rejoin UNESCO organisation – announcement
Paris, FranceReuters The United States plans to rejoin the UNESCO organisation from this July onwards, UNESCO announced on Monday. The United States withdrew from the UN cultural agency in December, 2018, under President Donald Trump over accusations of anti-Israel bias and mismanagement. The UNESCO logo is seen during the opening of the 39th session of […]
Heritage “disaster”: Restoration lags for Syria’s famed Roman ruins at Palmyra and other war-battered historic sites
ABBY SEWELL and ALBERT AJI, of Associated Press, report on the issues facing the preservation and restoration of Syria’s ancient heritage sites…