Japan's Iwate wins World Heritage endorsement

The Romanian Academy on Wednesday urged the ministry of culture to include a former Roman site in its tentative list for UNESCO World Heritage to protect it from a Canadian gold mine project.Two other organisations involved in the conservation of cultural heritage, Pro Patrimonio and the Romanian branch of the International Council of Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS), joined the call.The ministry has to send the list to Unesco this month.

BEIRUT — The minaret of a landmark 12th century mosque in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo was destroyed Wednesday, leaving the once-soaring stone tower a pile of rubble and twisted metal scattered in the tiled courtyard. President Bashar Assad’s regime and anti-government activists traded blame for the destruction to the Umayyad Mosque, which occurred in the heart Aleppo’s walled Old City, a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Hollywood star Richard Gere plans to visit South Korea this month to promote his photo exhibition and tour Buddhist temples, a religious official said Wednesday.Gere plans to tour Bulguksa temple in the ancient capital of Gyeongju, 370 km (230 miles) southeast of Seoul, and take part in an overnight stay programme at the UNESCO World Heritage site, said a spokesman for the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism."We are still in talks with Mr Gere to hammer out details... the final itinerary will be announced next week," he told AFP.

The embarrassing collapse of buildings at the ancient Roman city of Pompeii has reignited debate in Italy over conservation, amid warnings that budget cuts could trigger fresh degradation of key sites."Italian cultural heritage is at risk of falling apart," said Pier Giovanni Guzzo, the former head of the archaeological site of Pompeii.Pompeii, which was entombed by the massive eruption of the nearby Mount Vesuvius volcano in AD 79, is one of the most visited sites in the world, receiving around three million tourists each year.

The embarrassing collapse of buildings at the ancient Roman city of Pompeii has reignited debate in Italy over conservation, amid warnings that budget cuts could trigger fresh degradation of key sites."Italian cultural heritage is at risk of falling apart," said Pier Giovanni Guzzo, the former head of the archaeological site of Pompeii.Pompeii, which was entombed by the massive eruption of the nearby Mount Vesuvius volcano in AD 79, is one of the most visited sites in the world, receiving around three million tourists each year.

A region of mountainous forests in Sri Lanka and an isolated archipelago off Hawaii have been added to UNESCO's World Heritage list, officials of the UN cultural and scientific body said Saturday.The World Heritage Committee of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization decided to add the two sites on Friday as it held a 10-day meeting to revise the list in Brasilia.The additions brought to 892 the number of environmentally or culturally unique sites considered important to our planet and civilizations.

The list of World Heritage sites, which brings an endorsement that can boost tourism and environmental protection for those on it, has swelled with 21 additions decided at a UNESCO meeting in recent days.UNESCO's World Heritage Committee, which wraps up its deliberations in Brasilia on Tuesday after 10 days of work, awarded its seal to a few already well-visited attractions, such as Amsterdam's canal belt and France's historic town of Albi.

After enduring wars, earthquakes, fires and poverty-driven neglect, the walled city of Intramuros that makes up the Philippine capital's historic centre may rise again as a tourist attraction.Government planners see the UNESCO World Heritage listed but famously dilapidated site becoming one of Manila's biggest drawcards, similar to Singapore's Clarke Quay but with the added colour of centuries of history."We're going to make this the 'in' place to be," said Intramuros Administration chief Jose Capistrano.