WARSAW: The people of Eritrea have long said their capital Asmara is like no other city in Africa, and on Saturday the UN agreed, designating it a World Heritage site.
The proclamation ends a long-running quest by Eritrean authorities to have the city’s unique architecture, which includes an art-deco bowling alley with colored glass windows and a petrol station built to resemble a soaring aeroplane, recognized by the UN cultural body, UNESCO.
It is also a rare example of positive world recognition for the Horn of Africa nation that is a major source of migrants fleeing across the Mediterranean to Europe due to the country’s repressive policies.
“The city’s recognition as a heritage site of outstanding universal value fills us with tremendous pride and joy, but also with a profound sense of responsibility and duty,” said Hanna Simon, Eritrea’s permanent delegate to UNESCO.
The decision was taken at a meeting of the World Heritage Committee in the Polish city of Krakow.
A former Italian colony, most of the futuristic designs of the Eritrean capital date back to the rule of fascist dictator Benito Mussolini from 1936 to 1941.
Architects whose designs were unwelcome in conservative European cities found a place in Asmara at a time when about half of the city’s population was Italian and the city was known as ‘Piccola Roma,’ or “Little Rome.”
While the modernist architecture of other Eritrean cities was destroyed during a decades-long war of liberation from Ethiopia, Asmara survived and was declared a national monument by the government in 2001, which refers to it as Africa’s “City of Dream” (sic).
But efforts to restore the marble facades and Roman-style pillars of the city’s theaters and cinemas have been hampered by a shortage of money and local expertise, city authorities say.
Eritrea’s ‘city of dreams’ given UNESCO heritage listing
Eritrea’s ‘city of dreams’ given UNESCO heritage listing
Man tackled to ground after spraying unknown substance on Rep. Ilhan Omar at Minneapolis town hall
- The audience cheered as he was pinned down and his arms were tied behind his back
MINNEAPOLIS: A man wearing a black jacket was tackled to the ground after spraying an unknown substance on US Rep. Ilhan Omar at a town hall she was hosting in Minneapolis on Tuesday.
The audience cheered as he was pinned down and his arms were tied behind his back. In video of the incident, someone in the crowd can be heard saying, “Oh my god, he sprayed something on her.” Omar continued the town hall after the man was ushered out of the room.
Just before that Omar called for the abolishment of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement and for Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to resign. “ICE cannot be reformed,” she said.
Minneapolis police did not immediately respond to a phone call and email message seeking information on the incident and whether anyone was arrested.
The White House did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment Tuesday night.
President Donald Trump has frequently criticized the congresswoman and has stepped up verbal attacks on her in recent months as he turned his focus on Minneapolis.
During a Cabinet meeting in December, he called her “garbage” and added that “her friends are garbage.”
Hours earlier on Tuesday, the president criticized Omar as he spoke to a crowd in Iowa, saying his administration would only let in immigrants who “can show that they love our country.”
“They have to be proud, not like Ilhan Omar,” he said, drawing loud boos at the mention of her name.
He added: “She comes from a country that’s a disaster. So probably, it’s considered, I think — it’s not even a country.”
Fellow US Rep. Nancy Mace, a Republican from South Carolina, R-S.C., denounced the assault on Omar.
“I am deeply disturbed to learn that Rep. Ilhan Omar was attacked at a town hall today” Mace said via the social platform X. “Regardless of how vehemently I disagree with her rhetoric — and I do — no elected official should face physical attacks. This is not who we are.”
The attack came days after a man was arrested in Utah for allegedly punching US Rep. Maxwell Frost, a Democrat from Florida, in the face during the Sundance Film Festival and saying Trump was going to deport him.
