The United Nations looks set to list a Biblical site, Lebanese castles, an antelope migration path and the world’s deepest lake as world treasures under threat, including from war or climate change, AFP reports.

The 196 member states of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) are to cast votes from Friday next week on new additions to its World Heritage and World Heritage in Danger lists when they meet in Busan, South Korea.

Three sites, so far unlisted, are expected to be fast-tracked and voted straight onto the list of endangered places.

Also to be given priority are five castles in south Lebanon, an area under fire from Israel, one of which — the Crusader fortress of Qalaat al-Chakif or Beaufort Castle — Israeli troops captured in May.

A site being qualified as heritage in danger was not a reprimand but a measure meant to help states “find funding, partners and attention” to better preserve it, the director of Unesco’s World Heritage Centre, Lazare Eloundou Assomo, said.

Read more here.

 This photograph taken from the southern Lebanese area of Marjayoun shows smoke flying above the medieval Beaufort Castle, locally known as Qalaat al-Shaqif or Shaqif Arnoun, near the site of an Israeli strike that targeted the village of Arnoun on June 3, 2026. — AFP/File
This photograph taken from the southern Lebanese area of Marjayoun shows smoke flying above the medieval Beaufort Castle, locally known as Qalaat al-Shaqif or Shaqif Arnoun, near the site of an Israeli strike that targeted the village of Arnoun on June 3, 2026. — AFP/File

Opinion

Editorial

GSP-Plus renewal
Updated 18 Jul, 2026

GSP-Plus renewal

THERE is no glossing over the fact that the country’s leadership faces tough choices in the months ahead. Brussels...
AJK engagement
18 Jul, 2026

AJK engagement

A WELCOME lowering of political temperatures appears to be underway in Azad Kashmir, as the region’s...
Delayed relief
18 Jul, 2026

Delayed relief

THE decision to defer the Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage’s first funding approvals is a setback for...
Barren reforms
17 Jul, 2026

Barren reforms

PRIME Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s assertion that agriculture and livestock hold the key to Pakistan’s quick...
Dumbing down?
17 Jul, 2026

Dumbing down?

THE awesome power of generative AI has raised concerns in academic and scientific circles about the impact the...
Eyeing the Margallas
17 Jul, 2026

Eyeing the Margallas

AS Pakistan battles a variety of climate crises, state institutions must do all possible to defend critical...