Sibal meets UNESCO chief, discusses Mahatama Gandhi Institute

October 13th, 2009 UNESCO: drought forces 100,000 Iraqis from homesPARIS — Not war but drought has forced more than 100,000 people in northern Iraq to abandon their homes since 2005, with 36,000 more on the verge of leaving, UNESCO said Tuesday. The four-year drought and excessive well pumping have led to the collapse of an ancient system of underground aqueducts, or karez, as they are known in Iraq.

October 8th, 2009 Chief Egypt archaeologist defends Louvre cut moveCAIRO — Egypt's decision to cut ties with the Louvre museum had nothing to do with the loss last month in the country's bid to head the Paris-based UNESCO, the country's chief archaeologist said Thursday. Zahi Hawass of the Supreme Council of Antiquities said the spat with the Louvre started eight months ago, when the Paris museum refused to return painted wall fragments of a 3,200-year-old tomb from near the ancient temple city of Luxor.

September 26th, 2009 Clinton discusses fight against drugs with MexicoNEW YORK — U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Mexican Foreign Minister Patricia Espinosa have vowed to "keep strengthening" cooperation in the fight against drug violence and organized crime that spills across their countries' common border.

September 22nd, 2009 A glance at UNESCO's next leaderA look at Bulgarian Irina Bokova, elected Tuesday to head the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, or UNESCO. —AGE: 57. She was born July 12, 1952 in Sofia.

September 22nd, 2009 PARIS - Bulgarian diplomat Irina Bokova was late Tuesday elected as the first-ever woman Unesco director-general, diplomatic sources said. The 57-year-old Bokova received 31 votes from the 58-member Unesco Executive Board.

September 17th, 2009 PARIS - Controversial Egyptian Culture Minister Farouk Hosny failed to get the necessary majority late Thursday in the first round of voting to find a successor to outgoing Unesco director general Koichiro Matsuura. According to diplomats close to Unesco, the 71-year-old Hosny received 22 votes from the 58 members of the organisation's executive council, well short of a majority.

September 5th, 2009 ABU DHABI - The fourth meeting of Unesco's Intergovernmental Committee of Intangible Heritage will be held Sep 28-Oct 2 in this United Arab Emirates capital. Abu Dhabi will receive around 400 official delegations from 114 countries that have signed Unesco's Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Heritage, WAM news agency reported Saturday.

July 30th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The Central Government is proposing to rationalize the parameters for the Mid-day Meal Scheme, as a step towards further benefiting the children covered under this scheme, according to Union Minister for Human Resource Development (HRD) Kapil Sibal. Inaugurating the conference of State Education Secretaries and Project Directors being held to review matters related to school education and literacy here today, Sibal said that while the mid-day scheme has been seen, through studies, to improve enrolment of children in school substantially, a rationalization of its parameters is now required.

July 12th, 2009 Cruise ship spills oil in Norwegian fjordOSLO — Norwegian police say a large amount of oil has leaked from a cruise ship in the UNESCO World Heritage-listed Geiranger fjord. Police spokesman Magne Toennoey says authorities have managed to contain the oil in one spot to prevent it from spreading and will try to pump it out of the water.

July 9th, 2009 UNESCO: U.S military inflicted considerable damage on Babylon PARIS — Experts for UNESCO say considerable damage was inflicted by the U.S. military in Iraq to one of the world's most important archaeological sites.

June 26th, 2009 UNESCO names 2 new world heritage sitesMADRID — 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. The U.N. agency announced the decision at a meeting of its World Heritage Committee in Seville in southern Spain.

June 26th, 2009 UNESCO names new world heritage sitesMADRID — 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. The U.N. agency's World Heritage Committee announced the additions, most of them nature-related, at a meeting in Seville, Spain.

June 22nd, 2009 UNESCO panel considers new World Heritage sitesMADRID — 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. The World Heritage Committee will also consider taking the rare step of dropping a site, in Germany, because a construction project is encroaching upon it.

June 9th, 2009 UNITED NATIONS - Nine candidates are in the fray for the top job at the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), officials said. Current UNESCO director-general Koichiro Matsuura will end his term in November.

May 21st, 2009 PARIS - Russia's Vera Zvonareva has been named a 'Promoter of Gender Equality' by United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). Zvonareva, 24, is ranked number six on Women's Tennis Association (WTA) charts and has been appointed to call attention to gender equality issues at the national and global levels.