What a wonderful world? Picking UNESCO World Heritage sites

The Palestinians on Monday made a formal bid to have the no-longer-so-little town of Bethlehem, birthplace of Jesus Christ, added to UNESCO's list of World Heritage sites."We are very proud to announce that we have submitted the nomination file of Bethlehem: birthplace of Jesus -- Church of the Nativity and the Pilgrimage Route ... to the World Heritage Centre," tourism minister Khulud Daibes told reporters.

The Palestinians on Monday made a formal bid to have the no-longer-so-little town of Bethlehem, birthplace of Jesus Christ, added to UNESCO's list of World Heritage sites."We are very proud to announce that we have submitted the nomination file of Bethlehem: birthplace of Jesus -- Church of the Nativity and the Pilgrimage Route ... to the World Heritage Centre," tourism minister Khulud Daibes told reporters.

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.

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.

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.

Filed under: Weird & Wonderful

Filed under: Weird & Wonderful

The United Nations has placed Lithuania's unique polyphonic folk songs called sutartines on a UNESCO heritage list, highlighting the Baltic nation?s drive to preserve the traditional art."We rejoice at this event as it is important both to Lithuanian and world culture," Gintare Tamasauskaite of Lithuania's National Commission for UNESCO told AFP Wednesday.