Rio de Janeiro named word heritage site – UNESCOJuly 2, 2012 - 14:56 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Rio de Janeiro's landscape, marked by soaring granite facades that drop into the ocean and white-sand beaches that go on for miles, is now an official world heritage site, UNESCO announced, according to Belfast Telegraph. The UN's Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation gave Rio the title in recognition of the unique way its exuberant natural setting blends with the urban landscape. Rio has great waterfront open spaces, and one of the world's largest forested areas encompassed entirely within an urban setting: the Tijuca National Park. The designation mentioned several key features that have shaped and inspired the city's development: the Christ the Redeemer statue atop Corcovado mountain, the Botanical Gardens, established in 1808 by the Portuguese emperor, and Copacabana, a vast bay bracketed by granite hills and hemmed by a white-sanded beach. These elements "have contributed to the outdoor living culture of this spectacular city", Unesco said, adding that "Rio de Janeiro is also recognised for the artistic inspiration it has provided to musicians, landscapers and urbanists". Some of the elements mentioned in the decree have been well kept, but others, such as Botafogo Bay, at the foot of Sugar Loaf mountain, have been degraded by pollution over decades. Top stories The creative crew of the Public TV had chosen 13-year-old Malena as a participant of this year's contest. She called on others to also suspend their accounts over the companies’ failure to tackle hate speech. Penderecki was known for his film scores, including for William Friedkin’s “The Exorcist”, Stanley Kubrick’s “The Shining”. The festival made the news public on March 19, saying that “several options are considered in order to preserve its running” Partner news | The Power of One Dram to benefit Road of Life charity The companies inform that the May beneficiary of The Power of One Dram is the “Road of Life” charitable organization. Ucom General Director gives lecture at French University in Armenia The General Director of Ucom Ralph Yirikian delivered a lecture at the French University of Armenia. Kazakhstan welcomes Yerevan, Baku’s agreement to meet in Almaty Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has welcomed the agreement of Baku and Yerevan to hold negotiations in Almaty. Armenia offers to temporarily host, preserve Gaza manuscripts The Armenian Foreign Minister has said Yerevan is ready to help preserve manuscripts from the conflict zone in Gaza. |