PARIS, Sept 20, 2007 (AFP) - The UN cultural agency UNESCO added 23 new sites to their global 'bio-reserves' list on Thursday, naming areas from Australia to Mongolia in an effort to prevent further flora and fauna loss.

They were selected from a list of 33 submitted by member states and include the mountainous area of Jabal al Rihane in Lebanon and the And Atoll, a seascape consisting of 607 islands in Micronesia.

They and 21 others chosen will join 529 sites in 105 countries already in the programme, which was launched by the UN agency in 1970.

HANOI, Sept 9, 2007 (AFP) - Vietnam plans to restore the ruins of an ancient imperial city in central Hanoi dating back to the seventh century with help from Japan and the UN cultural organisation, heritage officials say.

Work is expected to start next year to preserve the old citadel ahead of the capital's 1,000th birthday in 2010 and would strengthen Hanoi's chances of having its historic cultural heart declared a World Heritage site in future.

PARIS, Aug 1, 2007 (AFP) - UNESCO called Wednesday on the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo to urgently stop the slaughter of mountain gorillas in a national park where four were found killed last month.

'The four gorillas, one 'silverback gorilla' and three females, slaughtered in Bukima, probably on the night of 22 July, belonged to a group inhabiting an area regularly visited by tourists,' said a statement from UNESCO Director-General Koichiro Matsuura.

KAIPING, China, July 27, 2007 (AFP) - The latest addition to China's growing collection of World Heritage sites is a curious collection of fortified architectural anomalies built more than century ago by returning Chinese immigrants who chanced their fortunes abroad.

Topped with Baroque curves, Greek columns and medieval domes, about 2,000 towers, or 'diaolou,' stand in villages surrounding the city of Kaiping, about 160 kilometres (100 miles) west of Guangzhou, the provincial capital of bustling southern Guangdong.