UNESCO adds three new sites to its World Heritage List.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) has added seven new sites to its World Heritage List, which is made up of sites deemed to be of natural or cultural significance which gives them outstanding universal significance for mankind, according to a press release issued on 26 July 2026. All three of these sites have additionally been placed on the World Heritage in Danger list of sites which are facing imminent threats due to Human or natural causes. In addition, three sites already on the World Heritage List have also been placed on the World Heritage in Danger list.

The first new site added to the World Heritage List is the Boma-Badingilo Migratory Landscape in South Sudan; this is the first site in South Sudan to be added to the World Heritage List. This area comprises two National Parks, Boma and Badingilo, which are contiguous with one another, currently managed by African Parks on behalf of the South Sudanese government. The parks lie in the White Nile catchment area, and are home to the world's largest Mammal migration, with over six million Antelope trasversing the area each year, as well as being an important part of the migrant Bird route between Southern Africa and Europe. The area is a biodiversity hotspot of global significance, as well as being home to a number of ethnic groups with their own unique cultural and linguistic heritage, who have acted as custodians of this landscape.

An Antelope migration in the Boma-Badingilo Migratory Landscape. African Parks.

The UNESCO World Heritage Committee has identified the Boma-Badingilo Migratory Landscape as facing a number of serious threats, including infrastructure development, commercial poaching, and wildlife trafficking and trade, while at the same time lacks meaningful protection from the South Sudanese government, which is under-financed and has a weak infrastructure, with the country suffering from a poor security situation. For these reasons the Boma-Badingilo Migratory Landscape has been placed on the World Heritage in Danger list.

Traditional herders within the Boma-Badingilo Migratory Landscape. African Parks.

The second new addition to the World Heritage List is the Mount Amel Castles sites in Lebanon. This site compromises a series of five castles across southern Lebanon, built during the Crusader Period on strategic high ground sites, and subsequently used by the Ayyubids, Mamluks, and later powers. These are Qalaat al-Chakif, or Beaufort Castle, dominating the Litani River valley from a strategic ridge, Qalaat Tibnin, or Toron Castle, on a mountain overlooking the road from Tyre to Damascus, Qalaat Chakra, or Dubieh Castle, in the Chakra agricultural region, Qalaat Deir Kifa, or Maron Castle, on an isolated hill overlooking the route from Lebanon towards Galilee and Jerusalem, and Qalaat Chama’, on a hill overlooking the coastal plain near Tyre.

Qalaat Tibnin, or Toron Castle, in 2006. T Dakroub/Wikimedia Commons.

In November 2024 the Mount Amel Castles were given 'enhanced protection status by the UNESCO Committee for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict, a status which grants access to the Fund for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict, as well helping to make applications for other forms of international assistance. However, since that time the sites have suffered heavy damage due to the ongoing conflict in the region, and are now considered to be in jeopardy of complete destruction, prompting the World Heritage Committee to move the sites to both the World Heritage List and the World Heritage in Danger list as a way to highlight the risk of losing these sites.

Qalaat al-Chakif, or Beaufort Castle. UNESCO.

The third new site added to the World Heritage List is the Palestinian village of Sebastia in the Nablus Governate of the State of Palestine. This is a site of significant archaeological heritage, having been inhabited since at least the ninth century BC, when it served as the capital of the northern Kingdom of Israel, and has since been occupied by Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, Hellenistic Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, Crusaders, Ayyubids, Mamluks, and Ottomans. The village was the site of a fortified town associated with Herod the Great during the Roman period, and  was a Throne Village (administrative centre governed by local leaders) during the Ottoman period. It is considered to be the burial place of St John the Baptist.

A Roman theatre in the Palestinian village of Sebastia. Wikimedia Commons.

The site has been chosen for inclusion on the World Heritage List and the World Heritage in Danger list both because it is threatened by the ongoing conflict in the region, and also because it is threatened with expropriation, with half the site, including many privately owned propertied, earmarked to become part of the proposed Shomron National Park, a development which would allow access to the site only from Israel, excluding many Palestinians who have worked as traditional guides at the site. This project sits alongside plans for the expansion of Jewish settlements in the region, again almost certainly at the detriment of the local Palestinian population.

Roman ruins on the hilltop site near Sebastia. Jason Burke/The Guardian.

The first site already on the World Heritage List which is being additionally added to the World Heritage in Danger list is the Tauric Chersonese, an ancient city on the Crimean Peninsula founded by Ionian Greeks in the sixth century BC, and subsequently occupied by Megarian Greeks, the Pontic Empire, the Roman Empire, and the Byzantine Empire, before being abandoned in the fourteenth century. Although Crimea is part of Ukraine, it has been occupied by Russia since 2014, with no apparent plan for its protection, conservation, or management. The site is currently monitored remotely by UNITAR/UNOSAT, which has revealed significant degradation of the site, due to construction and large-scale excavation at the site. The World Heritage Committee believes there is a significant danger of the illicit trafficking of cultural property from the Crimea.

The ruins of Chersonesos, Crimea, in 2009. Dmitry Mottl/Wikimedia Commons.

The second site from the World Heritage List added to the World Heritage in Danger list is the Historic Inner City of Paramaribo in Suriname, a former Dutch colonial town from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries planted on the northern coast of tropical South America. At the moment, original and highly characteristic street plan of the historic centre remains intact, with buildings that illustrate the gradual fusion of Dutch architectural influence with traditional local techniques and materials. However, the World Heritage Committee feels that the new National Assembly hall and the Yogh parking garage detract from the property’s historic urban landscape and result in a significant loss of its authenticity and integrity, that constitute a threat to the site's outstanding universal value.

Houses in the Historic Inner City of Paramaribo in Suriname. Ron Van Oers/UNESCO.

The final site to be added to the World Heritage in Danger list is the city of Tyre in Lebanon. This site has been occupied since the Bronze Age, but rose to prominence as a major Phoenician city-state between ninth and sixth centuries BC, and was subsequently occupied by the Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, Hellenic Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, Early Muslims, Crusaders, Mamluks, Ottomans, Egyptians, and French, prior to Lebanon gaining independence in 1943. As such, the city is home to numerous archaeological sites of great significance, with those of the Roman Period being particularly spectacular. 

Roman ruins at Tyre on the coast of Lebanon. Véronique Dauge/UNESCO.

Like the Mount Amel Castles, the city of Tyre is threatened by the ongoing conflict in southern Lebanon, and while the World Heritage Committee commends Lebanon for its efforts to protect Tyre, they also feel that the historic sites are now directly threatened by the conflict.

See also...

Northern Venezeula hit by pair of major Earthquakes, leaving at least 164 dead.

The United States Geological Survey recorded a Magnitude 7.2 Earthquake at a depth of 20.3 km, roughly 23 km to the southeast of the town of Yumare in Yaracuy State on the north coast of Venezuela, slightly before 6.05 pm local (slightly before 10.05 pm GMT) time on Wednesday 24 June 2026. This was followed after 39 seconds by a Magnitude 7.5 Earthquake 4 km to the southeast of the original event, at a depth of 10 km. 

The approximate location of the second 24 June 2026 Yaracuy Earthquake. USGS.

At least 164 people are known to have died as a result of this event, with another 971 injured. However, more than a hundred buildings have collapsed as a result of the Earthquakes, it is thought likely that many thousands more people may be trapped or dead beneath the rubble. The worst of the damage occurred in the State of La Guaira, to the east of the epicentres of the events.

A partially collapsed apartment building in the city of Catia La Mar in the State of La Guaira, Venezuela. Federico Parra/AFP/Getty Images.

The northern coast of Venezuela forms the boundary between the South American Plate, which is being pushed to the west by the expansion of the Atlantic, and the Caribbean Plate, which is also being pushed westward, but at a slower rate due to a collision with the Cocos Plate (which lies to the west of Central America). This means that the two plates are moving past one-another, creating a transform plate margin. This is not a smooth process, rather the plates constantly stick together, causing pressure to build up, then break apart in often spectacular earthquakes.

See also...

Chile officially recognised as the first country in the Americas to have eliminated Leprosy.

Chile has become the first country in the Americas to be recognised to have officially eliminated Leprosy, according to a press release issued by the World Health Organization on 4 March 2024. Chile is only the second country globally to reach this goal, following Jordan in September 2024. The conformation also makes Chile the sixth country in the Americas to have eliminated at least one Neglected Tropical Disease, joining Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guatemala, and Mexico.

Chilean flags. Mark Scott Johnson/Wikimedia Commons.

Leprosy was first recorded in Chile on Rapa Nui (Easter Island) in the late nineteenth century, with some subsequent cases reported on the mainland. The last reported case of a person becoming infected with the disease on Chilean territory occurred on Rapa Nui in 1993. However, the country has continued widespread monitoring for Leprosy, with 47 cases reported between 2012 and 2023, all of which were acquired outside of the country, and all of which were successfully treated.

Leprosy is caused by the Bacteria Mycobacterium leprae and Mycobacterium lepromatosis. It is essentially a skin disease, with the Bacteria infecting patches of skin, which can become dry and itchy, lose their pigmentation, suffer skin thickening, nerve damage, and local immune system failure, which can cause the patches vulnerable to secondary infections by other Bacteria, Fungi, and Viruses. It is these secondary infections which cause the ulceration and tissue loss associated with the disease, which can lead to shortening or loss of fingers and toes, or even facial features. The nerve damage associated with the disease can cause patients to fail to notice wounds, making them more vulnerable to infection.

Mycobacterium leprae heavy load (6+) in Ziehl-Neelsen stained slit skin smear microscopy at a magnification of 2000X. Ajay Kumar Chaurasiya/Wikimedia Commons.

Leprosy is thought to be spread by mucus droplets exposed by through the mouth or nose (which can enable it to spread among children rapidly) but not through most other forms of contact; it is not sexually transmitted, and patients with HIV do not appear to be any more vulnerable, although malnutrition may be a factor. Much of the Human population appear to be naturally immune to Leprosy, with vulnerability to the disease being genetic, and tending to run in families, which can be problematic, particularly in poorer communities where people are living in cramped conditions and have trouble accessing medicine. 

Leprosy is a zoonotic disease, with wild reserves of the Bacteria found in a number of Animal species, including Primates such as the Chimpanzee, the Sooty Mangabey, and the Cynomolgus Macaque. In Europe is thought to have been spread by Red Squirrels, which are known to be vulnerable to the disease, and which were extensively hunted for their fur in the Middle Ages. The disease is thought to have been introduced to the Americas by European settlers, but has become established in there in Armadillos, which can act as a wild vector, spreading Leprosy back to Humans.

The first effective treatment for Leprosy was developed by Alice Augusta Ball, a young researcher at the College of Hawai'i (now the University of Hawai'i), in 1915 (Ball is also noted to have been the first African American woman to achieve a masters degree in chemistry, the first African American woman hired as a chemistry instructor at the College of Hawai'i, and possibly the first African American woman to publish an article in a major scientific journal). Today it is typically treated with a combination of antibiotics such as rifampicin, dapsone, and clofazimine, with other antibiotics available if resistance to these is encountered. Such treatments can typically eliminate the disease completely, although the courses of treatment are long (6-12 months) and involves taking multiple pills each day, which can be problematic, particularly in younger children.

Alice Augusta Ball in 1915. University of Hawai'i/Wikimedia Commons.

Leprosy is still considered to be endemic to 132 countries, with around 200 000 new cases reported each year. The worst affected countries are Brazil, India, and Indonesia, each of which typically reports more than 10 000 new cases each year. Twelve other countries, Bangladesh, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Madagascar, Mozambique, Myanmar, Nepal, Nigeria, Philippines, Somalia, Sri Lanka and Tanzania, typically report between 1000  and 10 000 new cases per year, while another 117 countries typically report between 1 and 1000 cases per year. The World Health Organization is currently working towards the global elimination of Leprosy in partnership with the Swiss drug company Novartis, which provides multi-drug therapy for the disease to patients anywhere in the world at no cost, under the Partnership to Eliminate Leprosy scheme.

See also...

Mud volcano reported to have killed several Cattle near the town of San Juan de Urabá in Colombia.

A number of Cattle are reported to have died following a mud volcano eruption near the town of San Juan de Urabá in Antioquia Department on the Caribbean coast of Colombia on 25 February 2026. The volcano erupted at about 6.20 pm local time, producing a large column of fire as ejected gas ignited, setting fire to vegetation and damaging the road between San Juan de Urabá and San Juancito, which drivers are advised to avoid until repairs are carried out and an assessment of potential future hazards is carried out.

A gas explosion caused by a mud volcano near the town of San Juan de Urabá in Colombia on 25 May 2026. Unidad Nacional para la Gestión del Riesgo de Desastrest.

Unlike regular volcanoes, mud volcanoes are not caused by magma erupting from within the Earth's interior, but rather gasses escaping from buried sediments closer to the surface. Typically this is methane generated by the decomposition of buried vegetation in areas where sediments are accumulating rapidly, leading to the decaying material becoming pressurised. Under these circumstances, the compressed gas will force its way through any cracks into softer layers above (the mud), then erupt rapidly, often bringing lighter oil fractions, also produced by the decomposition of plant material, with it. This creates an explosive mixture, which often ignites in the way seen in Colombia this week, although on other occasions more liquid mud than flammable gas is ejected, creating a messier, but less dramatic eruption.

The site of the mud volcano eruption the following day. The road between San Juan de Urabá and San Juancito can be seen to the left. Gobernación de Antioquia.

See also...