The holy Shrine of Imam Reza (AS)

Iran is one of the most ancient countries on the planet, which has undoubtedly played the most significant role in the evolution of human civilization.
“What we call Iran today is the reminder of an ancient civilization.
Archeological finding indicate that people lived in various parts of Iran as long as 15,000 years
ago,“ reported Koreatimes.co.kr.
Throughout the years, Iran’s culture has influenced different parts of the globe, from the Nile to the heart of Europe.
The unique geopolitical location of Iran has enabled various forms of culture to interact. This source of grandeur is a legacy of the rich Persian and Islamic culture.
Thousands of monuments and picturesque attractions make Iran a hot tourism spot.
More than 100,000 historic and cultural places are registered by the Iranian historical organization alongside three places Isfahan Imam Square, Shiraz Persepolis and Ahvaz Chogazanbil. They are registered by UNESCO as world heritage sites.
The Iranian style of architecture is unique and creative. A “piece de resistance“ such as the Persepolis and the rare extraordinaire edifices of Isfahan as well as the air traps of the central desert region are the hallmarks of the Iranian architecture. Iran is the cradle of most religions.
It has many religious attractions. The holy Shrine of Imam Reza (AS) in Mashhad, the holy Shrine of Hazrat Masoumeh (SA) in Qom and many other mausoleums of the household of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) are places of pilgrimage for the Shiite Muslims of the globe.
The Mausoleum of Sheikh of Jam in Khorasan and the Jame Mosque of Sanandaj (Kurdestan province) are particularly important for Sunni Muslims.
The Aargoshahsb Fire temple in Takht-e Soleiman, Tower of Kashmar in Khorasan, the Lake of Urumieh and Pir Sabz (Old Green) Chack Chack are significant places of worship for the Zorozstrian contingent of the planet.
The churches of Tatavous in Maku, St. Stepanus in Jolfa and Vank in Isfahan are universally regarded as sacred places for the Christians of the world.
The tombs of Esther and Mardkhoy in Hamedan, Haiquq the Prophet in Toysirkan, Sare Bet Asher in Isfahan and Daniyal Nabi (the Prophet of Susa) are among the important Jewish religious centers.
Among the Iranian cities and provinces, the most important sites are located in the provinces of Shiraz and Isfahan.

Aborigines organized breakfast barbecues in the Outback, schools held assemblies and giant TV screens went up in state capitals as Australians watched a live broadcast of their government Wednesday apologizing for policies that degraded its indigenous people.
In a historic parliamentary vote that supporters said would open a new chapter in race relations, lawmakers unanimously adopted Prime Minister Kevin Rudd’s motion on behalf of all Australians, AP reported.
“We apologize for the laws and policies of successive parliaments and governments that have inflicted profound grief, suffering and loss on these our fellow Australians,“ Rudd said in Parliament, reading from the motion.
The apology is directed at tens of thousands of Aborigines who were forcibly taken from their families as children under now abandoned assimilation policies.
“For the pain, suffering and hurt of these Stolen Generations, their descendants and for their families left behind, we say sorry,“ the motion said. “And for the indignity and degradation thus inflicted on a proud people and a proud culture, we say sorry.“
Aborigines remain the country’s poorest and most disadvantaged group, and Rudd has made improving their lives one of his government’s top priorities.
The apology ended years of divisive debate and a decade of refusals by the previous conservative government that lost November’s elections.
In a solemn address, Rudd said Australians had reached a time in their history when they must face up to their past to be able to cope with the future.
“To remove a great stain from the nation’s soul and in the true spirit of reconciliation to open a new chapter in the history of this great land Australia.“
He received a standing ovation from lawmakers and from scores of Aborigines and other dignitaries who were invited to Parliament to witness the event.
Aborigines lived mostly as hunter-gatherers for tens of thousands of years before British colonial settlers landed at what is now Sydney in 1788.
Today, there are about 450,000 Aborigines in Australia’s population of 21 million. They are the country’s poorest group, with the highest rates of jailing, unemployment and illiteracy. Their life expectancy is 17 years shorter than other Australians.

Abdel Kader Haidara carefully picks up one of a dozen small leather-bound books lying on his desk and leafs through the age-weathered pages covered in Arabic calligraphy.
This tiny book is centuries old and one of more than 100,000 manuscripts that can be found on shelves and in boxes in Timbuktu, the ancient Malian city of mud-brick walls nestled between the Niger River and the Sahara Desert.
“The manuscripts are our heritage,“ says the curator of the Mamma Haidara Manuscript Library, the largest of more than 20 private libraries in the city. “They have been passed from generation to generation. They are the history of Africa, the history of mankind.“
But if not for an $8 million donation from South Africa, this history might have been lost forever, reported The Christian Science Monitor.
The manuscripts in Arabic and African languages cover almost every conceivable subject from history and medicine to law and human rights, from astronomy and philosophy to conflict resolution and literature. It’s a Who’s Who of ancient kingdoms. Some are close to a thousand years old, written on paper, tanned gazelle skin, or tree bark, and they provide a rare glimpse into a pre-colonial African history of intellectual endeavor, historians say.
“It is often thought that there was no writing in Africa but the manuscripts prove otherwise,“ says Mohamed Gallah Dicko, director-general of the Ahmed Baba Institute, named after Timbuktu’s leading 15th-century scholar. “Before and during our colonization there was writing.“
The manuscripts are threatened by the desert’s harsh environment, by family neglect, and a scarcity of funds for preservation in the world’s fifth poorest country. South Africa has stepped in and later this year will complete construction of a new library and research center a few yards from the high, mud walls and minarets of the SankorŽ Mosque which was, 400 years ago, itself a center of learning with 25,000 students and teachers.
Riason Naidoo, the South African project manager for the new library, says it is important that this is an African initiative. “Normally funding comes in from aid organizations from the West. The difference with this project is that Africans are collaborating to preserve their own heritage for future posterity.“
The library is backed by South African President Thabo Mbeki, who has called the manuscripts “among the most important cultural treasures in Africa“ and key to his notion of an African Renaissance to rival that of Europe in the late Middle Ages. The project is also supported by the Pan-African New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD), which named the preservation of the manuscripts as its first cultural project.

The tomb of Iranian mystic Qotb-Al Din Heidar, living during the Safavid era (1501- 1722) in Torbat-e Heidarieh, Korasan Razavi province.

Seoul’s 600-year-old gate listed as South Korea’s number one national treasure and the country’s landmark symbol has been destroyed, possibly by an arsonist, police said.
The loss of the gate, whose history is drummed into South Korean school children from an early age, caused widespread shock and dismay to ordinary citizens, many of whom gathered to look in horror at a national icon reduced to ashes, Reuters reported.
“It feels like the pride of the nation and hope is lost and crumbled,“ said onlooker Lee Mimi, a Seoul housewife.
Kim Chul-min of the Culture Ministry said the gate was one of the few links to Korea’s ancient history in a fiercely modernized city. Experts said a combination of structural design and misjudgment by nearly everyone involved led to the devastation.
Architecture professor and disaster prevention expert, Roh Sam-kew of Kwangwoon University said key parts of the gate, including the oversized roof, were wooden, which made the blaze nearly impossible to contain once it began spreading.
The gate was constructed in 1398 and served as the main southern entrance for Seoul when it became Korea’s capital more than 600 years ago and was a walled city, the Cultural Heritage Administration said.
The structure, also called Sungnyemun or “Gate of Exalted Ceremonies“, has been rebuilt several times.

Cyclists ride past the landmark Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur.

The tallest pencil. The fastest pizza eater. The longest non-stop escalator walk.
When it comes to breaking records, it’s hard to beat Malaysia. Almost no feat is too minor or outlandish for the Malaysian Book of Records, a biannual compendium of more than 2,000 national achievements that is a riposte of sorts to the gate-keepers of Guinness World Records. Barely a week goes by without another record-breaking attempt on local TV.
For a nation of 27 million people keen to punch above its weight, this frenzy of firsts and bests is a source of pride, even if urban sophisticates groan at its mention.
Government ministers oversee record-breaking bids, lending an official seal of approval, though none made it through the longest underwater checkers marathon (70 games played over 24 hours), reported Csmonitor.com.
Malaysians trace their zeal for records to the go-getting 1990s when former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad coined the slogan “Malaysia Boleh!“ (Malaysia Can!) to hustle the country forward. He ramped up economic growth, erected the world’s tallest building--the 1,482-foot Petronas twin towers--and predicted that Malaysia would be a first-world country by 2020 if it kept reaching for the sky.
The Asian financial crisis in 1998 clipped Malaysia’s wings, though, and Taiwan’s Taipei 101 has since sneaked past Kuala Lumpur on the skyscraper charts. Mahathir retired in 2003, and the breakneck growth of the 1990s has proved hard to emulate as China thunders past Malaysia and its Southeast Asian neighbors.
But that hasn’t dampened the can-do spirit of Danny Ooi, the local entrepreneur who published the first Malaysian Book of Records (MBR) in 1998. He says the idea isn’t to outshine Guinness World Records and its more famous book. Rather, he wants to inspire his countrymen to dizzying feats, and then to bask in the admiration of the world.
“We’re not competing with world record books. We’re doing our own. People come to Malaysia and they will know what we have and our highest achievements,“ he says.
The next edition of the book, due in April, will have 30 percent more entries, but fewer that are as hazardous as the most days spent inside a box of scorpions, for example. “Safety is important,“ says Ooi.
The book retails for 98 ringgit ($30) in Malaysia, and is supported by dozens of pages of advertisements.

White and purple flowers run riot among toppled temples at the site where the ancient Olympic Games were born 2,800 years ago.
But in the fire-blackened hills and river banks just beyond, a desperate race is on to replant large swathes of forest wiped out by massive summer wildfires that killed 66 people and ravaged southern Greece, AP reported.
At stake is the image that will be broadcast worldwide during the March 24 flame-lighting ceremony of the Beijing 2008 Olympics.
Greek officials say the vast effort will pay off, and some 30,000 young plants will be in place for the elaborate ceremony, held in Ancient Olympia since the 1936 Berlin Games.

French archeologists said they had discovered a cache of shattered Soviet-era statues in a chateau north of Paris, as well as a letter sent to an American World War I soldier in 1918.
Broken heads and limbs from the giant statues--which measured 2.5 to 3 meters--were discovered piled inside several 17th-century ice chests in the chateau in Baillet-en-France in 2004, France INRAP archeology institute said.
They also found a series of sculpted stone disks, originally from far-flung parts of the Soviet empire including Armenia and Azerbaijan, reported AFP.
Researchers identified the works as part of the Soviet pavilion at the 1937 arts and techniques exhibition in Paris, a vast display depicting allegories of the 11 Soviet republics--pitched opposite the pavilion from Nazi Germany.
They were later given as gifts to France’s biggest union, the General Labor Confederation (CGT), which put them on display in the grounds of the chateau.
But at the start of World War II, the property was confiscated by the pro-Nazi French government and the statues were set aside and forgotten.