Historic furnishings damaged and around a dozen objects missing or destroyed

Louvre director’s plan calls for co-ordinated response to destruction in Syria and Iraq

Bonnie Burnham made the organisation, which turns 50 this year, into a global powerhouse

New framework stresses return principle but some fear that traffickers in illicit objects could abuse it

While government moves to limit right to strike by reclassifying museums as “essential public services” on a par with schools and hospitals

Ahmad Al Faqi Al Mahdi appeared at the International Criminal Court this week in connection to 2012 attacks on Timbuktu

Saudi Artist Ahmed Mater has captured the rampant redevelopment around the Islamic holy place

Second building reduced to rubble by extremists controlling ancient site in Syria

Priest resigns after outrage over appointment to run World Heritage Site

Bombing, reported yesterday, may have happened a month ago

Syria's antiquities ministry condemns killing as "cowardly and criminal act of appalling brutality"

British archaeologist discovers evidence of hidden passages in pharaoh’s chamber

Sufi-inspired exhibition aims to rescue Islam from the extremists

Ancient sites were targeted by extremist groups

Terrorist group functions as a modern racketeering operation through sale of plundered cultural objects

Report praises most of the first 100 projects to be completed, but the days of enormous largesse are gone

Opposition from heritage groups changes the embattled foundation’s plans

Book trade calls for self-policing as library thefts are growing problem

First confirmed damage by extremist group to historic site in Syria

Continued fighting in the region further threatens the country’s heritage sites

Museums and the trade want to put an end to the Catch-22 situation with Medici and Becchina

But heritage groups say the funds fall far short of the real cost of restoration

The country’s monasteries and mosques have no place in the Caliphate

Damascene reception room is being restored before making its museum debut in Saudi Arabia in 2016

Funds for Great Pompeii Project could be withdrawn as lack of staff and red tape stifle efforts to save site