Israel: Ancient Papyrus Proves Jerusalem Belongs To Israel

Israel is using a fragment of an old tax bill is meant to undercut Muslims’, and UNESCO claims to the important site.

Jason Ditz
By Jason Ditz
A view of the Dome of the Rock Mosque in the Al Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem's Old City, Monday, May 2, 2016.

While the UNESCO resolution which recognized the al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem as a “Muslim holy site of worship” was barely reported around the world, and considered fairly non-controversial, Israeli officials have been expressing fury over the matter for two solid weeks. And the Muslims may have a huge, ancient mosque that has been a key part of

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Scientists Say Australia’s Tony Abbott Is Engineering An ‘Environmental Train Wreck’

Destructive policies include culling sharks, dumping near the Great Barrier Reef and eroding protection of a UNESCO World Heritage forest.

Lynette Eyb
By Lynette Eyb

LONDON — An “environmental train wreck.” That’s what leading environmental scientists say that Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott has engineered, in less than one year in office. They say the changes he’s implementing could result in irreversible damage to some of the world’s most fragile ecosystems. And they say they are “screaming in the

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Syria’s Aleppo: Civil War Has Destroyed What Was Once The Cultural Jewel Of The Middle East

As all sides continue to kill civilians and ravage cities, the future of Aleppo’s ancient civilization has become a glaring question.

Jo Erickson
By Jo Erickson

The city of Aleppo, Syria, was once the cultural jewel of the Ottoman Empire and the last outpost of Silk Road trade route to the west. Today, however, the historic city is at the heart of the Syrian civil war -- bombarded with missiles and bombs, and suffering the loss of its historic treasures, such as the home of the ancient 700 Dead Cities,

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US Loses UNESCO Voting Rights

America no longer has a vote in the major U.N. agency after U.S. laws required funding to cease once Palestine became a member.

Katie Rucke
By Katie Rucke

Since 1946, the U.S. has worked with the Paris-based United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) -- a global group that works to provide people with clean water, teach girls how to read, eradicate poverty, and promote freedom of expression and creative thinking skills to resist violent extremism. Though the U.S. helped

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Syria, Paradise Lost: Part I

Remembering visits to Syria’s lesser-known sites from antiquity, now threatened by conflict.

Norbert Schiller
By Norbert Schiller

This is part of a series of "diaries" by veteran photojournalist Norbert Schiller, reflecting on his world travels in decades past: Up until the beginning of the civil war, in the spring of 2011, I traveled to Syria regularly for nearly two decades. Unlike most journalists, who had a difficulty procuring a Syrian visa, I had it relatively easy.

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