World Heritage Site

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He Came, He Parkoured, He Broke an Ancient Building

Devon McIntosh, 23, part of UK's Team Phat, was filmed damaging structure in Italian city of Matera

(Newser) - A UK parkour group that says it's already been banned from Venice for its stunts has struck again, this time in another Italian city. Euronews reports that Devon McIntosh, 23, one of nine on the Team Phat sports team, was recently captured on video jumping from a building in...

Stonehenge Vandals Strike Ahead of Solstice

Environmental activists toss orange powder at monument ahead of annual event

(Newser) - A day before celebrations to honor the summer solstice at Britain's iconic Stonehenge, the monument received a surprise paint job. Environmental activists sprayed what authorities described as orange paint at two of the monument's megaliths on Wednesday, per the BBC . A video shared by the Just Stop Oil...

Ancient Mounds in Ohio Join Ranks of World Gems

UNESCO recognizes earthworks by Native Americans as a World Heritage Site

(Newser) - A network of ancient Native American ceremonial and burial mounds in Ohio described as "part cathedral, part cemetery, and part astronomical observatory" was added Tuesday to the UNESCO World Heritage Site list. Preservationists, led by the Ohio History Connection, and Indigenous tribes, many with ancestral ties to the state,...

Venice May Soon Be Labeled 'Endangered'

City isn't doing enough to counter risk of damage from tourists, climate change, UNESCO says

(Newser) - Venice isn't doing enough to protect its cultural heritage, according to experts at UNESCO, who are recommending that the Italian city and its lagoon be added to a list of endangered World Heritage sites. Mass tourism, overdevelopment, and rising sea levels linked to climate change put the site at...

Australia to UN: Don't Label Great Barrier Reef 'Endangered'

Nation's environment chief says new government is doing much better on climate change

(Newser) - Australia's environment minister said Tuesday her government will lobby against UNESCO adding the Great Barrier Reef to a list of endangered World Heritage sites, arguing that criticisms of government inaction on climate change were outdated. Officials from the UN cultural agency and the International Union for Conservation of Nature...

For Only the 3rd Time, a Site Loses World Heritage Status

UNESCO blames developments in Liverpool city center, England

(Newser) - Civic leaders in Liverpool expressed outrage Wednesday after the English port city was stripped of its World Heritage status by the United Nations' culture organization, per the AP . It is now only the third site to lose its World Heritage status since the list began in 1978, per the BBC...

After UNESCO Warning, a Big Move in Venice

Cruise ships, other large vessels will no longer be permitted to sail into city's lagoon

(Newser) - Giant cruise ships filled with tourists will no longer float past St. Mark's Square, or Piazza San Marco, in Venice after Italy put the kibosh on the longtime practice to protect the lagoon in which the city sits. Starting Aug. 1, cruise liners or other large ships, including yachts,...

Australia Is Not Happy With UN Warning on Barrier Reef
UN Warning on
Great Barrier Reef
Stuns Australia
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Jun 26, 2021 1:50 PM CDT

UN Warning on Great Barrier Reef Stuns Australia

Government to fight placement of World Heritage Site on UNESCO's 'in danger' list

(Newser) - The UN's Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization wants the Great Barrier Reef added to a list of World Heritage Sites that are "in danger," while calling on Australia to address climate change with "accelerated action at all possible levels." Australia's government says it's...

Bulldozers, Looting Reported at Mexico's Teotihuacan

Private building crews said to have chased away cops

(Newser) - Mexico's government says private building crews are refusing to stop work that threatens one of the most popular tourist attractions in the country, ancient Teotihuacan. At least 25 structures at the protected pre-Aztec site boasting twin pyramids and "hundreds of smaller, more remote, and often unexplored sites "...

Jubilation, Dismay at Status Change of Turkish Landmark

Muslims thrilled Hagia Sophia to be reconverted to a mosque; Orthodox Christians, not so much

(Newser) - Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday reconverted Istanbul’s sixth-century Hagia Sophia into a mosque and declared it open to Muslim worship, hours after a court annulled a 1934 decision that had turned it into a museum. The decision to reconvert Hagia Sophia—a former cathedral that was turned...

'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,...

Island That Bans Women on Verge of World Heritage Status

Okinoshima in southwestern Japan is considered too sacred for women to visit

(Newser) - For centuries, a remote island in southwestern Japan has been deemed too sacred for women to visit, and even the men who do must strip naked for a ritual cleansing, as well as never discuss the details of their trip. Okinoshima, an ancient religious site that is home to the...

Humans Taking a Toll on 100 World Heritage Sites
Humans Taking a Toll on
100 World Heritage Sites
NEW STUDY
Jan 31, 2017 3:42 PM CST

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...

UN Axes Australia's Plan to Log Ancient Rainforest

World Heritage site not the place for logging: UNESCO

(Newser) - Australia's plan to log "one of the last expanses of temperate rainforest in the world" has fizzled to the acclaim of conservationists the world over. Two years after requesting that logging be allowed in parts of the Tasmanian Wilderness to boost the local economy, the country received a...

Man Carved Name on Alamo Wall With Car Key: Cops

Now there's $250K in damages at the World Heritage site

(Newser) - Julio Perez will likely remember the Alamo for a long time to come, mainly because he's being accused of damaging it to the tune of $250,000, KENS 5 reports. Police say the 22-year-old Texas man tried to carve his name with a car key into a 250-year-old wall...

Where Was Jesus Baptized? UNESCO Weighs In

Debate continues as UN group picks Jordan side over West Bank locale

(Newser) - Addressing a long-simmering debate about whether Jesus Christ was baptized on the eastern or western side of the Jordan River, UNESCO has made its final decision, and the winner is … Jordan, not the West Bank in Israel, the AP reports. Despite a lack of strong archaeological evidence, the UN...

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