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NEWS ABOUT: UNESCO

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Venice: Cruise Ships Are Killing Us

Tourism surging, residents worry about Costa Concordia disaster

(Newser) - Fragile, waterlogged Venice has long been unhappy with the onslaught of ever-larger cruise ships that inundate its picturesque port. But the wreck of the Costa Concordia has sent fears soaring, and many in the city are calling for regulations to cut down on the 650 cruise ships that come to... More »

Israel Punishing Palestinians With Rushed Settlements

Funds also frozen after Palestine's UNESCO membership

(Newser) - Palestine's membership in UNESCO has met a fierce response from Israel. A day after Palestine joined the United Nations' cultural body , Israel ordered the accelerated construction of 2,000 new homes in East Jerusalem and the West Bank. In what officials acknowledge is punishment for "unilateral actions,"... More »

US Cuts Off Funding to UNESCO Over Palestine

Political workaround unlikely to go anywhere

(Newser) - The US has officially cut off all funding to the UN’s Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization over its acceptance of Palestine as a full member. The impact will be felt immediately, because the US had a $60 million dues payment due in November, the AP reports. The Obama administration’... More »

Palestine Named Member of UN Cultural Body

Controversial move prompts cheers at UNESCO

(AP) - Palestine became a full member of UNESCO today, in a highly divisive move that the United States and other opponents say could harm renewed Mideast peace efforts. US lawmakers had threatened to withhold roughly $80 million in annual funding to the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization if it... More »

Palestine Bid for UNESCO Membership Moves Forward

Initial approval granted yesterday

(Newser) - Palestine's bid for statehood took one step forward yesterday as it gained initial approval for full membership in the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization. Membership in UNESCO would allow Palestine to apply to protect its monuments and historical sites as World Heritage Sites, which would increase conflict... More »

Family Tells UN: We Own Machu Picchu

Asks UN agency to consider their case

(Newser) - Talk about a property dispute: A Peruvian family says it owns the land of the Machu Picchu ruins, and is taking the case to the United Nations. Seventy-year-old Edgar Echegaray Abril still has the sale deed showing that his family bought the land with gold in 1910. Yes, they sold... More »

Gadhafi May Be Hiding Weapons at Historic Site

Development could endanger Roman ruins at Leptis Magna

(Newser) - Libyan rebels say Moammar Gadhafi is hiding weapons at a UNESCO World Heritage site—and if arms are there, NATO won’t "rule out" bombing it, CNN reports. "We will strike military vehicles, military forces, military equipment or military infrastructure that threaten Libyan civilians as necessary,” said... More »

Man Plans Race Around the World—in Blimps

Trip would take about six months

(Newser) - Don Hartsell has a dream. He’s put up $2 million in hopes of creating a round-the-globe blimp race. The ships would take off at the prime meridian on Sept. 23, 2011, and wouldn’t cross the finish line until March 20, 2012. “We want to establish an event... More »

UN's Dance Dance Resolution: Protect the Tango

Cultural tradition placed on protected list, as with physical heritage sites

(Newser) - The tango is a cultural treasure worthy of the same kinds of protection as the Great Wall of China or the California redwoods, the United Nations declared today. The dance, submitted for such recognition by Uruguay and Argentina, “embodies and encourages diversity and cultural dialogue,” the UN Educational,... More »

Half the World's Languages Will Vanish by 2100

More than 2400 tongues at risk of extinction, as last speakers die out

(Newser) - Globalization has many benefits, but the preservation of the world's languages is decidedly not among them. Ever since the invention of agriculture 10,000 years ago, smaller tribes have assimilated into bigger ones and seen their native tongues lost, and the process has been speeding up, reports the Washington Post.... More »

China to Lop Off Tall Buildings in Hangzhou

Hangzhou aims to become World Heritage site

(Newser) - Hoping to turn the city into a World Heritage site, China is lopping top floors off tall buildings in Hangzhou, the BBC reports. Two hotels, a TV tower, and other buildings will get the shrinking treatment in a $5.8 million effort; the city’s government has said that all... More »

Sacred History Resonates in Kathmandu

Traditional building practices coexist with global trade in Nepal's capital

(Newser) - Decades of restoration have kept up the medieval splendor of a region long hidden from the world: Kathmandu Valley. Started by Germany in the 1960s and later spearheaded by a Harvard professor, the repairs have maintained many of the area's stupas and pagodas, Lucinda Lambton writes for Vanity Fair—but... More »

UN Eyes Congo After Gorilla Murders

Quadruple homicide, with 2 others missing, affects rare species

(Newser) - Four mountain gorillas were shot to death in a nature preserve in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and UNESCO is flying in to help with the unsolved crime, CNN reports. The massacre of an alpha male and three females follows the recent killing of three other mountain gorillas—only 700... More »

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