Latest news with #UnitedNation
The Age
11-07-2025
- General
- The Age
Ancient WA rock art given UNESCO World Heritage status after 20-year campaign
Ancient rock art from Western Australia has been given World Heritage status in a landmark decision in Paris after two decades of campaigning by Indigenous leaders to protect the landscape. The decision adds the Murujuga Cultural Landscape to a register of the world's most important sites, after a formal vote by a council of 21 nations at the United Nation's peak cultural agency. The Murujuga petroglyphs, which are at least 45,000 years old and located on the Burrup Peninsula in Australia's far north-west, became the country's 21st World Heritage site alongside the Great Barrier Reef, Kakadu and Uluru. But the decision was hotly contested after environmental groups and some Indigenous leaders accused gas company Woodside of damaging the landscape. While some members of the community have campaigned against the government as part of a group called Save Our Songlines, traditional owners from the Murujuga Aboriginal Corporation hailed the outcome at UNESCO. Heritage officer Belinda Churnside addressed the World Heritage Committee in her Indigenous language before thanking them for granting the highest status to the site. 'We have all come here together, from far away, from the Murujuga lands,' she told them after the decision. 'This has been a long-awaited journey and a fight for our elders. And we are thankful to receive this recognition [on] a global scale.'
Sky News AU
10-07-2025
- Politics
- Sky News AU
'If we must return, we will do so': Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz issues new Iran warning
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz has declared the nation would break its ceasefire with Iran should Tehran seek to "threaten or harm" its citizens. Israel and Iran are currently upholding a ceasefire agreed in the wake of United States strikes against Tehran's nuclear facilities last month. Prior to the Trump administration's intervention, both nations had exchanged missile and rocket fire for 12 days following what Israel called "preemptive" attacks to prevent Iran acquiring nuclear weapons. While the ceasefire appears to be holding, Mr Katz on Thursday, local time, warned Israel remained prepared to resume hostilities in order to defend itself from harm. "Israel's long arm will reach you in Tehran, Tabriz, Isfahan, and anywhere you try to threaten or harm Israel. There is no place to hide", he told an air force graduation ceremony, according to a statement from his office. "If we must return, we will do so with greater force." It was not immediately clear what Mr Katz defined as a threat to Israel, although it is likely any resumption of Tehran's nuclear program would likely be deemed worth of a response. While US officials have been insistent Iran's nuclear facilities were "obliterated" by its attacks, little evidence has been made public to back up the claim. Many analysts have acknowledged that while the strikes were successful, assessments of the damage could take months and would require intelligence from agents or assets inside the facilities. As a result estimates over how far back Tehran's uranium enrichment program and other nuclear goals have been set back continues to be a subject of debate. US officials claim Iran's nuclear ambitions have been set back years, possibly decades, while others, including the International Atomic Energy Agency, have suggested a timeline of months. The United Nation's nuclear watchdog has also expressed ongoing concern about the location of almost half a tonne of highly enriched uranium, which remains unaccounted for following the conflict. US officials, including President Donald Trump and Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, have insisted the material was destroyed in the attacks on Iran's Fordow site. Secretary Hegseth has also claimed there is no evidence Iran moved the material out of the facility before the strikes occurred. However, the IAEA maintains there is still a chance some of the material was either moved or has been recovered from the site, with the watchdog urging Iran to allow inspectors into the facility. Tehran, though, has refused to heed those calls, with the nation's regime also moving to suspend all cooperation with the nuclear watchdog going forward. That move has sparked fears Iran could be seeking to restart its nuclear program immediately, potentially with the intent of quickly producing an atomic bomb as a form of deterrence. With Reuters.
NDTV
09-07-2025
- NDTV
Pre-Historic Caves, Forests Among Sites Vying For UNESCO Heritage Spot
France: The United Nation's cultural organisation announces its choice of sites for inclusion in its world heritage list this week, with pre-historic caves, former centres of repression, forests, marine bio-systems and others vying for the coveted spots. Making the UNESCO's heritage list often sparks a lucrative tourism drive, and can unlock funding for the preservation of sites that can face threats including pollution, war and negligence. Climate change is another growing problem for world heritage sites, UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay told Monday's opening session of the body's World Heritage Committee. "Close to three quarters of world heritage sites are already faced with serious water-related risks, lack of water or floods," she said. Governments failing to ensure adequate protection of their sites risk them being added to UNESCO's endangered sites list -- which currently contains over 50 names -- or dropped from the list altogether. Armed conflict is the reason for about half of the downgrades to the endangered sites list, Azoulay said. Many of such problem areas are located in the Middle East. The current world heritage list contains 1,223 cultural, natural or mixed sites. Of the organisation's 196 member states, 27 are absent from the list, including several African nations. Two of them -- Guinea-Bissau and Sierra Leone -- hope this will change this year, as they pitch the Bijagos islands and Gola-Tiwai wildlife reserves, respectively, to UNESCO. UNESCO has been seeking to boost Africa's presence on the heritage list, officials say. "Since her arrival in 2018, Audrey Azoulay has made Africa not just her own priority, but one of UNESCO's overall priorities," said Lazare Eloundou Assomo, who heads up the organisation's world heritage centre. "We're starting to see very positive results." Sub-Saharan Africa's listings have risen from 93 to 108 in recent years, but the continent continues to be under-represented on a global scale. This year, Cameroon is hoping for a spot for its Mandara mountains, while Malawi is pitching Mount Mulanje. Among the candidates from elsewhere, a number of competing sites go back to pre-historic times, such as the Carnac stones in western France, and rock carvings along the Bangucheon Stream in South Korea. Among intangible sites, Cambodia hopes for an inclusion of former "centres of repression" established during the Khmer Rouge's 1970s rule, which have since become places of "peace and reflection", according to UNESCO.
Miami Herald
08-07-2025
- Climate
- Miami Herald
Greece closes Acropolis amid heat wave
July 8 (UPI) -- A heat wave in Greece closed the Acropolis in Athens temporarily on Tuesday. Greece's culture ministry closed the monument due to the heatwave conditions as temperatures are expected to reach 107 degrees Fahrenheit in Greece. The closure took place during 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. for the "the safety of workers and visitors," according to the ministry. The heatwave is not considered unusual, as in June and July last year, the attraction was also closed due to extreme heat. This follows the country's labor ministry's mandatory five-hour work stoppage from noon to 5 p.m. for outdoor workers and food delivery services in central Greece and some islands, as temperatures are expected to rise above 104 degrees Fahrenheit. According to the United Nation's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, heat waves are becoming more common due to human-caused climate change. Greek Authorities said they are taking long-term steps to address climate change. Copyright 2025 UPI News Corporation. All Rights Reserved.
UPI
08-07-2025
- Climate
- UPI
Greece closes Acropolis amid heat wave
July 8 (UPI) -- A heat wave in Greece closed the Acropolis in Athens temporarily on Tuesday. Greece's culture ministry closed the monument due to the heatwave conditions as temperatures are expected to reach 107 degrees Fahrenheit in Greece. The closure took place during 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. for the "the safety of workers and visitors," according to the ministry. The heatwave is not considered unusual, as in June and July last year, the attraction was also closed due to extreme heat. This follows the country's labor ministry's mandatory five-hour work stoppage from noon to 5 p.m. for outdoor workers and food delivery services in central Greece and some islands, as temperatures are expected to rise above 104 degrees Fahrenheit. According to the United Nation's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, heat waves are becoming more common due to human-caused climate change. Greek Authorities said they are taking long-term steps to address climate change.
