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Trump Puts Iran's Culture in the Line of Fire

Trump Threat About Iranian Cultural Sites Is Controversial

World bodies have prohibited attacks on heritage sites

(Newser) - Iran's ancient and rich cultural landscape has become a potential US military target as Washington and Tehran lob threats and take steps toward a possible open conflict, the AP reports. President Trump tweeted Saturday that the US has a list of 52 potential targets should Iran retaliate for the...

'Sorrow Beyond Imagination': Japan's Shuri Castle Burns

Okinawa landmark was a World Heritage Site

(Newser) - A castle first built centuries before Okinawa was annexed by Japan has been devastated by fire. Police say a fire that broke out around 2:30am Friday has destroyed much of Shuri Castle, which was erected under the Ryukyu Dynasty around 500 years ago, the Guardian reports. The wooden structure,...

UNESCO List Gets New Sites, Cries of Anti-Semitism Follow

Statement follows decision recognizing Palestinian site

(Newser) - The West Bank city of Hebron's Old Town, as well a religious site it houses, were added to the UNESCO list of world heritage in danger in a 12-3 decision in Poland on Friday, drawing praise from Palestinians and outrage from Israelis. Israel, which claims Hebron as the birthplace...

Humans Taking a Toll on 100 World Heritage Sites

New study raises alarm on degradation

(Newser) - Almost half of all natural world heritage sites are slowly being degraded, and experts have a clear suspect: humans. A study based on the Human Footprint Index—which evaluates agriculture, infrastructure, population density, and other factors—identifies more than 100 of 229 sites that are suffering from human activities, reports...

Retired American May Be World's Busiest Traveler

Checking off destinations has become a full-time hobby for Don Parrish

(Newser) - When a man in Illinois retired from Bell Labs just over 10 years ago, he decided it was time to see the world. Only Don Parrish really meant that—he wanted to "see everything," and he's since flown some 5 million miles, visited all 193 UN member...

Iraq's 'Garden of Eden' Added to Prestigious List

Wetlands of southern Iraq are one of 12 new UNESCO world heritage sites

(Newser) - Fed by the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, vast and remote wetlands along the border with Iran in southern Iraq that are considered to be the biblical "Garden of Eden" have just been named a UNESCO world heritage site, the United Nations reports. Among the 12 new sites added to...

Alamo Is First Texan World Heritage Site

But UN isn't in control of site, officials stress

(Newser) - "Remember the Alamo" is now a United Nations directive as well as a rallying cry. The San Antonio site and four other Spanish Colonial missions in the area have been designated UNESCO World Heritage sites for their "outstanding cultural or natural importance to the common heritage of humanity,...

Report: ISIS Now Controls 50% of Syria

Destroying priceless artifacts in Palmyra may be a top priority

(Newser) - Two big ISIS headlines this morning: The first, an assertion by the director of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights that the militants "now control 50% of Syria." The group estimates ISIS holds about 37,000 square miles, an area about the size of Indiana . The Guardian reports...

UN: Sites From 'Dawn of Civilization' Ruined in Syria

Satellite images show war devastation of 290 cultural heritage sites

(Newser) - Insurgents camping inside the 900-year-old Crac des Chevaliers Crusader medieval castle and snipers firing from atop Aleppo's Citadel illustrate the sad plight of Syria's oldest cultural heritage sites—some of them dating back to what Reuters calls the "dawn of civilization." Satellite images have revealed that...

Mysterious Stone Spheres to Be Protected

They join more than 1K sites now on UN list of World Heritage sites

(Newser) - The planet now has more than 1,000 UNESCO World Heritage Sites : places "of outstanding value to humanity" that UNESCO helps to safeguard and preserve. The World Heritage Committee wrapped up its 38th session on Wednesday by adding 26 sites to its list and expanding four more; that list...

6 Countries Seek Protection for Remarkable Road

Qhapaq Nan among 12 sites to be reviewed this week by World Heritage Committee

(Newser) - A 3,000-year-old road that runs from Colombia to Chile and winds through four other countries along the way is officially seeking protection. The South American countries (Peru, Ecuador, Argentina, and Bolivia are also among them) have banded together to ask that 435 miles of the Qhapaq Ñan or...

UN to Australia: You Have Year to Protect Barrier Reef

Will be listed as 'in danger' if government doesn't curb development, pollution

(Newser) - Australia's Great Barrier Reef may lose its world heritage status if the country doesn't clean up its act. UNESCO has postponed a decision to put the 133,000-square-mile coral reef system on its " World Heritage in Danger " list, giving the Australian and Queensland governments a year...

Extremists Smash More Timbuktu Sites

'World heritage doesn't exist,' Ansar Dine fighters say

(Newser) - Islamic extremists destroying historic sites in the ancient city of Timbuktu have vowed to keep going until there's nothing left. Gunmen in the Malian city destroyed two tombs at the 700-year-old Djingareyber mosque yesterday, adding to a trail of destruction which includes the mausoleums of numerous Islamic saints, considered...