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Ukraine said it had shot down all 24 drones sent overnight by Russia, including 15 around the capital, and 47 of 55 Russian missiles - some fired from Tu-95 strategic bombers in the Russian Arctic. Eleven people were killed and 11 wounded in the drone and missile strikes, which spanned 11 regions and also damaged 35 buildings, a State Emergency Service spokesperson said. Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said electricity substations had been hit as Russia continued to target energy facilities. [1/7] Local residents remove debris from a house of their neighbour damaged by a Russian military strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in the town of Hlevakha, outside Kyiv, Ukraine January 26, 2023. Both Moscow and Kyiv, which have so far relied on Soviet-era T-72 tanks, are expected to mount new ground offensives in spring.

Ukraine's military said it shot down 47 of 59 Russian missiles - some fired from Tu-95 strategic bombers in the Russian Arctic. Russia responded with fury to news on Wednesday that Germany and the United States would send dozens of modern tanks to Ukraine. [1/11] A local resident carry home staff from a house of his neighbour damaged by a Russian military strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in the town of Hlevakha, outside Kyiv, Ukraine January 26, 2023. After being promised modern tanks, Ukraine is now seeking Western fourth-generation fighter jets such as the U.S. F-16, an adviser to Ukraine's defence minister said. The United States on Thursday formally designated Russian private military company the Wagner Group as a transnational criminal organization, freezing its U.S. assets for helping Russia's military in the Ukraine war.

☆ UNESCO grants Odesa's historic centre World Heritage in Danger status
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/3] A man walks next to the Opera Theatre building in the city centre, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Odesa, Ukraine January 25, 2023. REUTERS/Serhii SmolientsevPARIS, Jan 25 (Reuters) - The United Nations' cultural agency, UNESCO, said on Wednesday that it had designated the historic centre of Odesa, a strategic port city on Ukraine's Black Sea coast, a World Heritage in Danger site. The status, awarded by a UNESCO panel meeting in Paris, is designed to help protect Odesa’s cultural heritage, which has been under threat since Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and enable access to financial and technical international aid. Although the city suffered significant damage in World War Two, its famed central grid square of low-rise 19th century buildings survived mostly intact. Odesa was one of Ukraine’s main tourist hubs before Russia’s invasion.

Rooted in the Middle Ages, the Binche carnival, a UNESCO World Heritage event, is one of Europe's oldest surviving street carnivals and the biggest in Belgium. The costumes include ostrich-feather hats, wooden clogs, bells and wax masks, elements which the Kersten family have been designing and making for five generations. "This year, we are celebrating the 120th anniversary of the start of the 'Gilles de Binche' costumes production", said 57-year-old Fanny Kersten, who has been making costumes with her father for 33 years. The Binche carnival's cancellation in 2021 and 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic was a "black hole" for the business, Kersten said, adding "we couldn't even imagine a future for the carnival." It was the first time the carnival was cancelled since World War Two, significantly reducing costume makers' income from renting out their pieces.

☆ Life's no longer rosy at Senegal's Pink Lake after floods
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-24 | by ( Ngouda Dione | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/6] A general view of the submerged tourism businesses at the Pink Lake (Lac Rose), officially known as Lake Retba, after extreme floods washed away salt mounts and contaminated the lake and turned its famous waters from pink to green, in Niaga, near Dakar, Senegal, January 17, 2023. REUTERS/ Zohra BensemraNIAGA, Senegal, Jan 24 (Reuters) - On the shore of Senegal's Pink Lake, salt farmer Pape Sira Ba has raked in what he fears may be his last harvest. Nearby, the new wide channel spewed brownish-green water into the lake whose shore was dotted with dead fish. The flooding destroyed 7,000 tonnes of salt worth around 420 million CFA francs ($696,000), according to the Lake Retba salt extractors association. "The over-salinisation of the water also allowed visitors to float on top of the lake like in the Dead Sea.

☆ Christmas gifts come by boat to isolated Romanian Danube Delta villages
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/4] Romanian coast guard deliver Christmas presents to villagers at an unspecified location, along the Danube delta, Romania December 20, 2022. So, days before Christmas, Romanian coast guard officers braced against icy winds to deliver care packages of food and cleaning staples as well as fruits and sweets to some of the most vulnerable villagers. The Danube Delta, sprung where the river meets the Black Sea, straddles the Romanian-Ukrainian border. So the arrival of the coast guard bearing gifts will be warmly welcomed. "The Sulina coast guard want to bring a little joy in people's homes for the holidays in the isolated villages of the Danube Delta," said Chief Inspector Razvan Duta.

☆ Researchers discover over 100 new ancient designs in Peru’s Nazca lines
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

More than a hundred new designs discovered in and around Peru’s ancient Nazca plain and surrounding areas could bring new information to light about the mysterious pre-Columbian artworks that have intrigued scientists and visitors for decades. Jorge Olano, head archaeologist for the Nazca Lines research program, said the new figures averaged between two and six meters (6.56 to 19.7 feet) in length. The purpose of the Nazca lines, which could only be seen from the air, remain a mystery. The figures, iconic vestiges of Peru’s rich history, are about a three-hour drive from the capital Lima. Yamagata University said the research will be used in artificial intelligence-based surveys to help inform the lines’ preservation.

☆ Researchers find new biomorphs hidden within Peru's mysterious Nazca lines
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( Katherine Tangalakis-Lippert | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Japanese researchers and Peruvian archeologists have discovered new geoglyphs in the Nazca lines. A general view shows one of the Nazca lines images found in the Nazca plain as part of research led by Peruvian and Japanese researchers from Yamagata University. A general view shows one of the Nazca lines images found in the Nazca plain as part of research led by Peruvian and Japanese researchers from Yamagata University. A general view shows one of the Nazca lines images found in the Nazca plain as part of research led by Peruvian and Japanese researchers from Yamagata University. A general view shows one of the Nazca lines images found in the Nazca plain as part of research led by Peruvian and Japanese researchers from Yamagata University.

☆ Researchers discover over 100 new ancient designs in Peru's Nazca lines
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-19 | by ( Carlos Valdez | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Jorge Olano, head archaeologist for the Nazca Lines research program, said the new figures averaged between two and six meters (6.56 to 19.7 feet) in length. The purpose of the Nazca lines, which could only be seen from the air, remain a mystery. This month's findings, however, are smaller and can be seen from the ground, Masato Sakai, a professor from Yamagata University who led the study, told Reuters. The figures, iconic vestiges of Peru's rich history, are about a three-hour drive from the capital Lima. Yamagata University said the research will be used in artificial intelligence-based surveys to help inform the lines' preservation.

☆ 11 ancient sites that are mysteriously aligned with the sun on the winter solstice, in photos.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-17 | by ( Marianne Guenot | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +12 min

Archaeologists have found many ancient sites that line up with the winter solstice sun. Here are 11 sites that line up with the winter solstice, and what experts think about them. Newgrange, County Meath, IrelandPeople celebrating the sunrise at Newgrange on the morning of the winter solstice in 2018. ShutterstockOne of the most famous examples of ancient architecture lining up with the winter solstice is in Machu Picchu, Peru. "From the winter solstice the days are longer, which was a metaphor of the rebirth of the deceased," he said.

☆ Soccer Moroccan fans scramble for World Cup flights
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-09 | by ( Ahmed Eljechtimi | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

RABAT, Dec 9 (Reuters) - Moroccans scrambled on Friday to get seats on the seven additional flights that state carrier Royal Air Maroc (RAM) has announced to help soccer fans get to Qatar for the World Cup quarter final against Portugal. A source at Morocco's soccer federation said it had agreed with RAM that fans seeking tickets on the additional flights should have tickets for the Saturday match and a Hayya card - Qatar's temporary entry visa for World Cup visitors. However, several fans at a RAM office in Rabat said they were able to get air tickets with only the Hayya card and hoped to buy match tickets on arrival in Doha. Fans attending the Casablanca stadium zone need to get there three hours early for a place, one of the organisers said. "Looking at how many T-shirts I have sold, I wish the World Cup lasted forever,” said Zouhir Sabir, a shop keeper in the old centre of Rabat.

☆ UK government greenlights first new coal mine in three decades
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( Ivana Kottasová | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

CNN —The UK has greenlit a controversial plan to open the country’s first new coal mine in three decades, a little more than a year after the nation tried to convince the world to ditch coal at the COP26 climate talks in Glasgow. Committee chairman Lord Deben said in a statement: “Phasing out coal use is the clearest requirement of the global effort towards Net Zero. We condemn, therefore, the Secretary of State’s decision to consent to a new deep coal mine in Cumbria, contrary to our previous advice. This decision grows global emissions and undermines UK efforts to achieve Net Zero.”The mine’s approval was also met with fierce criticism from scientists and environmentalists. Its opponents argue these jobs may not be secure, given the huge momentum in Europe to phase out coal.

☆ Christmas vacations: 15 of the best places to go
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-03 | by ( Cnn Staff | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +13 min

The Bath Christmas Market has a multitude of wooden chalets selling distinctively British handmade crafts in a quaint Georgian setting. Bogotá, ColombiaA woman dressed as Santa Claus sits next to a Christmas tree and a Christmas star at Bolivar Square in Bogota. Salzburg and Oberndorf, AustriaThe Christmas Market and associated festivities in Salzburg are really something to sing about. Dating back to 1570, Strasbourg claims to be the oldest Christmas market in France and one of the oldest in Europe. damianalmua/Adobe StockThe traditional Christmas colors of red, green and white take on an entirely new meaning in New Zealand.

Persons: CNN —, Santa Claus, Claus, ”, Allan Baxter, Jesus, Jane Austen, Jane Austen Centre –, Austen, Melchior, Gaspar, Balthazar, Roy Rochlin, Bergdorf Goodman, Wangari Maathai, Fernando Vergara, “ Ruta, John’s, Miguel de Allende, Mary, Joseph, “ posada ”, Mozart, White Organizations: CNN, Bath Abbey, Jane Austen Centre, The, Royal, Catholic, Rockefeller, Getty Images Rockefeller, New York, Radio City, Columbus Circle, Fashion’s, Saks Fifth, Macy’s Herald Square, Kenyan, Park, Nuremberg, Toy Museum, Bolivar, Downtown, Malta Toy Museum, Quebec City, Adobe, Nord Expe, Mexico Piñatas, UNESCO, ”, Santa Locations: England, Philippines, Rovaniemi, Lapland, Finland, Santa, Bethlehem , Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, New York City, Bethlehem, Moravian, Bath, “, Fernando , Philippines, Asia, San Fernando, Catholic Philippines, Manila, of Bethlehem, Barcelona, Spain, Santa Eulalia, New York City New York, Central Park, Macy’s, Nairobi, Kenya, Nuremberg, Germany, German, Bogotá, Colombia, Bogota, Christmastime, Malta, Downtown Valletta, Quebec City, Canada, Petit Champlain, Quebec, Old Quebec, Sentier, Nord, Miguel, Mexico, posadas, ponche, Piñatas, Salzburg, Oberndorf, Austria, ” Salzburg, Bavaria, Strasbourg, France, Europe, Queenstown , New Zealand, New Zealand, Queenstown, Wakatipu

☆ This Spanish city is the No. 1 place to live and work abroad―and it's about to get easier to become a digital nomad there
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-01 | by ( Jennifer Liu | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Valencia, Spain, is the No. 1 city for expats to live and work abroad in 2022, according to a survey of more than 12,000 respondents from InterNations, an online expat community with more than 4.5 million global members. Among expats, Valencia earns the top spot for being "a safe place with an excellent climate, a vibrant nightlife and culture, a pleasant urban environment and great travel opportunities" while still being "fairly affordable," says InterNations founder Malte Zeeck. It could become the next big hotspot for non-European digital nomads to relocate, too. The Spanish parliament recently passed the so-called Startups Act, intended to boost entrepreneurship and diversify the economy, which includes creating a new type of visa for digital nomads expected to launch in January 2023.

☆ Australia argues against ‘endangered’ status for Great Barrier Reef
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-29 | by ( The Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +4 min

CANBERRA, Australia — Australia’s environment minister said Tuesday her government will lobby against UNESCO adding the Great Barrier Reef to a list of endangered World Heritage sites. The report, which recommended shifting the Great Barrier Reef to endangered status, followed a 10-day mission in March to the famed reef system off Australia’s northeast coast that was added to the World Heritage list in 1981. “We’ll very clearly make the point to UNESCO that there is no need to single the Great Barrier Reef out in this way” with an endangered listing, Plibersek told reporters. “If the Great Barrier Reef is in danger, then every coral reef in the world is in danger,” Plibersek said. The Great Barrier Reef accounts for around 10% of the world’s coral reef ecosystems.

☆ Great Barrier Reef should be put on 'in danger' list, UN panel says
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-28 | by ( Renju Jose | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

SYDNEY, Nov 29 (Reuters) - Australia's Great Barrier Reef should be listed as a world heritage site that is "in danger", a UN panel recommended on Tuesday, saying the world's biggest coral reef ecosystem was significantly impacted by climate change and warming of oceans. Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek said the government would push UNESCO to not list the reef as endangered because climate change was threatening all coral reefs across the world. "We'll clearly make the point to UNESCO that there is no need to single the Great Barrier Reef out in this way," Plibersek said during a media briefing. The independent Great Barrier Reef Foundation said it was already aware of the series of threats identified in the UN report but the recommendation to add the reef to the endangered list was premature. "The Great Barrier Reef is a wonder, she's got her challenges, but she's definitely not on her last legs in any case," Managing Director Anna Marsden told Reuters.

Insider's experts choose the best products and services to help make smart decisions with your money (here’s how). My mother was a smart economizer — she knew her financial priorities and focused on them. Following her example, I have never deprived myself but also don't waste money on big-ticket items. My dad taught me how to invest for the long termMy dad, meanwhile, was not only a saver, but an investor. We figured out that no one has a "market on the market," so to speak.

☆ This school in the Indian desert stays cool even in extreme heat
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-07 | by ( Chelsea Lee | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Here, buildings have long been designed to adapt to the heat, a tradition that New York architect Diana Kellogg has followed with her work on the Rajkumari Ratnavati Girls’ School. Named the 2020 “Building of the Year” by Architectural Digest India, the eco-friendly sandstone school opened in November 2021 and 120 girls are currently enrolled in its curriculum, according to Kellogg. High ceilings and windows release rising heat in classrooms, while a solar panel canopy provides shade and energy. Kellogg calls it “a big, tight hug.”A view from above of the Rajkumari Ratnavati Girl's School. Particular wind directions and different sandstones would regulate temperatures differently to the materials found and used in Jaisalmer, for example.

Persons: Diana Kellogg, Kellogg, ” Kellogg, “, ” Organizations: CNN, ’ School, CITTA, Architectural Digest, Diana Kellogg Architects, UNESCO, Girl's, Diana Kellogg Architects Comfort Locations: Jaisalmer, Golden, York, India, Kellogg

☆ Major glaciers in Kilimanjaro and Yosemite will disappear by 2050, UN says
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-03 | by ( Emma Newburger | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Major glaciers across the world, including those in the Dolomites in Italy, Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania and Yosemite and Yellowstone parks in the U.S., will be gone by 2050 even if global greenhouse gas emissions are reduced, the U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization said in a report on Thursday. Even if global temperature rise is limited to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit), an increasingly unlikely scenario, at least one-third of the roughly 18,000 glaciers across the 50 World Heritage sites will disappear by mid-century. Only a rapid reduction in our CO2 emissions levels can save glaciers and the exceptional biodiversity that depends on them," UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay said in a statement. The other glaciers can be saved only if emissions are reduced dramatically and global temperatures do not exceed 1.5 degrees Celsius of warming, UNESCO warned in its report. Half of humanity depends directly or indirectly on glaciers as a water source for domestic use, agriculture and power, according to the report.

☆ Major glaciers, including Dolomites and Yosemite, to disappear by 2050 - UN report
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-02 | by ( Avi Asher-Schapiro | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Denis Balibouse/PARIS, Nov 3 (Reuters) - Some of the world's most famous glaciers, including in the Dolomites in Italy, the Yosemite and Yellowstone parks in the United States and Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania will disappear by 2050 due to global warming, whatever the temperature rise scenario, according to a UNESCO report. The United Nations cultural agency UNESCO monitors some 18,600 glaciers across 50 of its World Heritage sites and said that a third of those are set to disappear by 2050. While the rest can be saved by keeping global temperature rise below 1.5 degree Celsius (2.7 Fahrenheit) relative to pre-industrial levels, in a business-as-usual emissions scenario, about 50% of these World Heritage glaciers could almost entirely disappear by 2100. World Heritage glaciers as defined by UNESCO represent about 10 percent of the world's glacier areas and include some of the world's best-known glaciers, whose loss is highly visible as they are focal points for global tourism. Carvalho said that the single most important protective measure to prevent major glacier retreat worldwide would be to drastically reduce carbon emissions.

☆ Here’s the Dirt on ‘House of the Dragon’
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-22 | by ( John Jurgensen | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

In a recent “House of the Dragon” episode, search parties hunt for a prince hiding in Flea Bottom, a slum lined with brothels and itchy-looking commoners. Scenes were shot in the Spanish city of Cáceres, where medieval authenticity came with a catch: Crews were restricted on the amount of simulated filth they could slather on the ancient walls and cobblestone streets of the tourist destination, a UNESCO World Heritage site. “The disadvantage is it can look a little Disney -fied and clean,” said Jim Clay, the show’s production designer.

☆ Here’s the Dirt On ‘House of the Dragon’
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-21 | by ( John Jurgensen | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

In a recent “House of the Dragon” episode, search parties hunt for a prince hiding in Flea Bottom, a slum lined with brothels and itchy-looking commoners. Scenes were shot in the Spanish city of Cáceres, where medieval authenticity came with a catch: crews were restricted on the amount of simulated filth they could slather on the ancient walls and cobblestone streets of the tourist destination, a UNESCO World Heritage site. “The disadvantage is it can look a little Disney -fied and clean,” said Jim Clay, the show’s production designer.

☆ Congolese NGOs decry mining in main refuge of 'Africa's unicorn'
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-18 | by ( Erikas Mwisi Kambale | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Industrial activities are supposed to be banned in the 13,000 square kilometers of the reserve in northeast Democratic Republic of Congo. Aerial photo evidence shows mining has persisted, the civil society groups said at a joint news conference to mark the international day of the okapi. The NGOs blamed a Chinese company called Kimia Mining, which has previously been accused of flouting a ban on river-dredging in Ituri province and other mining regulations, according to a 2016 report by a UN Group of Experts. There was no available contact information to reach Kimia Mining for comment. Congo is currently at loggerheads with conservationists and scientists over its plan to open other parts of its rainforest and peatlands to oil and gas drilling.

☆ Tourists in Italy are behaving badly this year: Here’s why
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-15 | by ( Julia Buckley | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +19 min

With Europe seeing an explosion of visitors a year after Covid travel restrictions dropped, incidents of visitors behaving badly in Italy show no sign of abating. Think that’s bad? Meanwhile in Venice, tourists routinely swim in the UNESCO-protected canals, which double as the city’s sewer system. “Tourists don’t know how to relate to the artistic heritage because they have no relation with our history – so they refer to their cultural imagination, and therefore to our cinema. “So many tourists have said to me over the years, ‘In Italy there are no rules.’ But they are mistaken.

Persons: Gennaro Sangiuliano, ”, Ivan, Haley, destructively, –, surfed, Augustus, ENIT, Eike Schmidt, Florence – Italy’s, we’ve, it’s, Schmidt, serena, panini, Luigi Brugnaro, Gianfranco Zarantonello, “, Zarantonello, zipping, you’d, Tom Jenkins, “ It’s, Nicola Bassano, Dolce, Federico Fellini, Marcello Mastroianni, Anita Ekberg, Trevi, Vita ”, Vita, ” Maria Pasquale, ” Jenkins, Giorgia, Dr Audrey Tang, We’re, they’d, “ Jung, it's, ” Tang, “ That’s, Tang, ” Zarantonello, Lord Byron, Byron, “ Byron, Michelangelo’s Organizations: CNN, UNESCO, carabinieri, Maserati, Vatican Museum, Uffizi, Roma, Tourists, European Tourism Association, United, Vita, Twitter, Parco, British Psychological Society Locations: Italy, Rome, Saudi, Venice, Australian, American, ENIT, Florence, ”, Italian, Czech, Belgian, eFoils, Southeast Asia, France, Spain, ‘, ” Venice, Europe, It’s, Grand, Vatican

Residents who evacuated from their flooded homes sit on a roadside after Super Typhoon Noru, in San Ildefonso, Bulacan province, Philippines, September 26, 2022. REUTERS/Eloisa LopezHANOI, Sept 27 (Reuters) - Vietnam urged more people on Tuesday to evacuate as an intensifying Typhoon Noru barrelled towards the southeast Asian nation, after causing at least eight deaths and widespread flooding in the Philippines. The typhoon forced airports in Vietnam to close, causing travel disruption, while thousands were forced to evacuate their homes, according to official statements. Typhoon Noru, the strongest storm to hit the Philippines this year, also damaged 1.53 billion pesos ($26 million) worth of crops, government data showed. read more"There are still areas with floods," Daniel Fernando, governor of Bulacan province north of the capital, told DZRH.

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