And Canada's embassy in Washington apologized for a furor over its party invitations depicting Champlain with a plate of poutine, an oft-disparaged, but delectable Quebec staple of French fries covered with cheese curds and gravy.

It takes around nine kilos of little fish to add one kilo of weight to a 60-kilo bluefin tuna, Maltese fish farmers say.

The other choices were the Bulgarian oil-bearing Damascus Rose; the Rila Monastery, another UNESCO World Heritage site; and the Tsarevets fortress in Bulgaria's old capital, Veliko Tarnovo.