more images

Dalai Lama asks followers to preserve Buddhist culture at teaching session in northeast India

Dalai Lama ends public teaching in northeast India

LatAm Indians struggle to keep identity, native tongues alive

Fighting the odds to keep Indian tongues alive

US Park Service details vision for future of St. Louis’ Gateway Arch grounds

Park Service sets vision for Gateway Arch grounds

Bolivia the standard-bearer as Latin American natives fight to protect lands, culture

Indian political awakening stirs Latin America

Power boats, Nixon and Jimmy Buffett: Miami Marine Stadium an unlikely cultural touchstone

MIAMI — What does the Miami Marine Stadium have in common with such famous landmarks as Machu Picchu and the Old City of Jerusalem?

Afghan museum exhibits looted artifacts seized at British ports

KABUL — The National Museum of Afghanistan on Tuesday unveiled hundreds of looted artifacts, some dating back as far as the 11th century, seized from smugglers trying to sell them on Europe’s black market.

Machu Picchu ruins, Barcelona church, Conn. parkway’s bridges on list of endangered sites

NEW YORK — Peru’s Machu Picchu ancient ruins, Antoni Gaudi’s Sagrada Familia church in Barcelona and a New Orleans elementary school are among the cultural heritage sites threatened by neglect or overdevelopment, a preservationist group said Tuesday.

Israeli police arrest 2 in connection with the vandalism of a UN World Heritage site

JERUSALEM — Israeli police say they have arrested two men for vandalizing an ancient desert ruin recognized by the United Nations as a World Heritage site.

Who owns the past? A town collects and sells Indian artifacts, and pays the price

BLANDING, Utah — High above the spiky sandstone spine known as Comb Ridge that snakes for 120 miles through the desert, archaeologist Winston Hurst treads carefully through a cave of ruins.

Tango dance and music granted protected cultural status, put on UNESCO world heritage list

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Tango was declared part of the world’s cultural heritage by the United Nations on Wednesday and granted the international seal of approval Argentina and Uruguay have long sought for the dramatic dance and its sensual moves.

St Petersburg OKs plan by Russian gas giant to build skyscraper despite objections

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia — Preservationists and opposition politicians on Wednesday decried St. Petersburg’s decision to allow Gazprom, the state natural gas giant, to build a hulking skyscraper, saying it will ruin the city’s czarist-era aura.

Officials at odds over historic designation for Badlands site where Roosevelt once ranched

BISMARCK, N.D. — Federal and state officials are at odds over listing about 12,000 acres of scenic North Dakota Badlands on the National Register of Historic Places to recognize an area that inspired Theodore Roosevelt.

Conservation group says expansion plans at Venice port further endanger sinking city

ROME — Italian authorities plan to expand Venice’s port into a bustling shipping hub, further endangering the fragile lagoon and contributing to the sinking of the treasured city built on water, a conservation group said Monday.

China completes renovation of Tibet’s Potala Palace, once home to the Dalai Lamas

BEIJING — China has completed a seven-year renovation of Tibet’s Potala Palace — home to the Dalai Lamas until the region’s current spiritual leader fled during an aborted uprising against Communist rule 50 years ago.

Italy art officials find 5 ancient Roman shipwrecks off Mediterranean island

ROME — Archaeologists have found five well-preserved Roman shipwrecks deep under the sea off a small Mediterranean island, with their cargo of vases, pots and other objects largely intact, officials said Friday.

Grand Canyon, Great Barrier Reef among 28 finalists for ‘7 Wonders of Nature’ competition

GENEVA — The Grand Canyon, the Matterhorn and the Great Barrier Reef are competing with 25 other spectacular natural landmarks in the final phase of the global poll to choose the “New 7 Wonders of Nature.”

UNESCO: U.S.-led invasion did serious damage to historic Babylon

BAGHDAD — Iraq’s U.S.-led invaders inflicted serious damage on Babylon, driving heavy machinery over sacred paths, bulldozing hilltops and digging trenches through one of the world’s greatest archaeological sites, experts for UNESCO said Thursday.

UNESCO: US troops, contractors in Iraq did serious damage to historic Babylon

BAGHDAD — U.S. troops and contractors in Iraq inflicted serious damage on Babylon, driving heavy machinery over sacred paths, bulldozing hilltops and digging trenches through one of the world’s greatest archaeological sites, experts for UNESCO said Thursday.

UNESCO: US troops, contractors did considerable damage to historic Iraqi site of Babylon

PARIS — U.S. troops and contractors inflicted considerable damage on the historic Iraqi site of Babylon, driving heavy machinery over sacred paths, bulldozing hilltops and digging trenches through one of the world’ most important archaeological sites, experts for UNESCO said Thursday.

UNESCO adds Dolomites to world heritage list, drops Dresden

MADRID — Italy’s Dolomite mountains were among 13 new sites added to UNESCO’s world heritage list.

Saving the past and the future: Afghans remove artifacts along with mines

BAMIYAN, Afghanistan — On a rocky hillside in central Afghanistan, men in visored helmets and protective blue smocks gently scratch the earth for land mines — or shards of pottery from the sixth century.

Israel’s largest late Roman mosaic, once hidden, is back on display

LOD, Israel — Israeli archaeologists unveiled one of the largest and best preserved mosaics ever found in the country Wednesday, for only the second time since it was discovered more than a decade ago.

Italy’s Dolomites, German-Dutch wetlands added to UNESCO world heritage list

MADRID — Italy’s Dolomite mountains and the Wadden Sea along the coasts of Germany and the Netherlands were among several sites added Friday to UNESCO’s world heritage list.

Italy’s Dolomite mountains, Wadden Sea along German, Dutch coasts named world heritage sites

MADRID — UNESCO has added Italy’s Dolomite mountains and the Wadden Sea along the coasts of Germany and the Netherlands to its list of World Heritage Sites.

UNESCO panel meets in Spain to consider new World Heritage sites

MADRID — The Dolomite mountains in northern Italy and architectural works by Le Corbusier are among sites nominated to join UNESCO’s World Heritage List at a meeting that began Monday in Spain.

Smoky Mountains Park marks 75th anniversary with hikes, homecomings

GATLINBURG, Tenn. — The ancient blue-green mountains with breathtaking vistas and distinctive mists are home to salamanders and black bears, 19th century log cabins, rippling streams, waterfalls and more than 800 miles of trails, including a large section of the Georgia-to-Maine Appalachian Trail.

1960s hotel known as ‘West Coast White House’ among sites at risk from neglect, development

LOS ANGELES — The Century Plaza Hotel hosted President-elect Ronald Reagan’s victory celebration, a welcome home gala for the Apollo 11 astronauts and Bob Hope’s celebrity-studded Century Ball.