Palestinians want Bethlehem on UN heritage list

The Palestinian Authority is to launch a campaign to get the West Bank town of Bethlehem, Jesus's traditional birthplace, added to UNESCO's list of world heritage sites, officials said on Sunday.The Palestinian tourism ministry will launch the drive on Monday to get the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation to recognise the "Birthplace of Jesus: Church of the Nativity and the Pilgrimage route," to their list, a ministry statement said.

Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity, venerated by Christians as the birthplace of Jesus, could become the first World Heritage site in the Palestinian Territories, following a UNESCO meeting later this month.

A festive mood gripped a sunny Bethlehem on Friday as tourists flocked in record numbers to celebrate Christmas in the town where Christians believe Jesus Christ was born."It's amazing. To be in the birthplace of Christ on Christmas, you can't get better than that," said Brady MacCarl, 22.The Canadian, who works in neighouring Beit Suhur, also on the West Bank, admitted that it was "a bit weird" to be celebrating Christmas with no snow on the ground.

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.

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.

AP filesThis April 1998 file photo shows exiled Saudi dissident Osama bin Laden is seen in Afghanistan. Bin Laden's died May 2, 2011 during a raid by U.S. Navy SEALs in Pakistan.

The panel in charge of Romania's historical monuments on Wednesday urged the Culture Ministry to propose the Roman remains of Rosia Montana for inclusion on the UNESCO World Heritage list.The National Commission for historical monuments recommended that the ministry initiate steps "to include Rosia Montana on its tentative list" for UNESCO World Heritage, its president, Virgil Polizu, told AFP.The inclusion of a historical site in a country's tentative list is the first step in the lengthy process that can lead to a UNESCO World Heritage listing.

Florida's Everglades and Madagascar's tropical forest were added Friday to a list of imperiled world heritage sites by UNESCO officials who also registered lesser threats to Peru's Machu Picchu ruins and the Galapagos Islands.The decision by the World Heritage Committee of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, meeting in Brazil's capital, brought to 35 the number of unique cultural or environmental sites considered to be in danger.