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‘Most Beautiful Building on Earth’ Opens in Dubai

View of Dubai's Museum of the Future - Karim SAHIB AFP
View of Dubai's Museum of the Future - Karim SAHIB AFP
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‘Most Beautiful Building on Earth’ Opens in Dubai

View of Dubai's Museum of the Future - Karim SAHIB AFP
View of Dubai's Museum of the Future - Karim SAHIB AFP

Dubai opened its Museum of the Future on Tuesday, a spectacular structure it is touting as the world's most beautiful building.

The museum, a seven-storey hollow silver ellipse decorated with Arabic calligraphy of quotes from Dubai's ruler, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum, and thousands of metres (yards) of LED lights, takes pride of place on Sheikh Zayed Road, the city's main highway.

While its contents are yet to be revealed, it will exhibit design and technology innovations, taking the visitor on a "journey to the year 2071", organizers said, AFP reported.

Roadside signboards described the museum -- just minutes away from the world's tallest construction, the Burj Khalifa -- as the "most beautiful building on Earth" ahead of its gala opening.

It is the latest addition to the United Arab Emirates' (UAE) collection of flashy architecture and comes after the $7-billion Expo world fair, featuring a swathe of futuristic designs, opened on Dubai's outskirts on 30 September.

The UAE's capital Abu Dhabi is home to a branch of the Louvre, whose license was extended by a decade last year to 2047 at a cost of 165 million euros ($186 million).

Since French President Emmanuel Macron opened the Louvre Abu Dhabi in late 2017, it attracted some two million visitors in its first two years, before Covid hit.

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Varieties

US Moves to Protect All Species of Pangolin, World’s Most Trafficked Mammal

A Malaysian pangolin walks past cages containing 45 others as a wildlife officer watches in Kuala Lumpur August 8, 2002. (Reuters)
A Malaysian pangolin walks past cages containing 45 others as a wildlife officer watches in Kuala Lumpur August 8, 2002. (Reuters)
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US Moves to Protect All Species of Pangolin, World’s Most Trafficked Mammal

A Malaysian pangolin walks past cages containing 45 others as a wildlife officer watches in Kuala Lumpur August 8, 2002. (Reuters)
A Malaysian pangolin walks past cages containing 45 others as a wildlife officer watches in Kuala Lumpur August 8, 2002. (Reuters)

The United States on Monday moved to extend federal protections to all species of pangolins -- a step that would tighten trade restrictions and highlight the urgent conservation plight of the world's only scaly mammals.

Found in the forests, woodlands, and savannas of Africa and Asia, pangolins are small, nocturnal creatures known for their distinctive appearance, slow and peaceful demeanor, and habit of curling into a ball when threatened.

Often likened to a walking pinecone, they use long, sticky tongues to feast on ants and termites, give birth to a single pup each year -- and are the most heavily trafficked mammals on Earth. Their keratin scales are coveted in traditional medicine, and their meat is also considered a delicacy in some regions.

Despite steep population declines driven by poaching, habitat loss, and inbreeding, only one species -- Temminck's pangolin of Africa -- is currently protected under the US Endangered Species Act. Monday's proposal by the US Fish and Wildlife Service would extend that status to all eight known species.

In a statement, the agency said it intends to list the four Asian species -- Chinese, Indian, Sunda, and Philippine -- as well as the three other African species: white-bellied, black-bellied, and giant pangolins.

"I'm delighted the United States is doing its part to save these adorably odd creatures," said Sarah Uhlemann, international program director at the Center for Biological Diversity.

"Pangolins are on the razor's edge of extinction, and we need to completely shut down any US market for their scales. There's no good reason for anybody to ingest any part of a pangolin."

Pangolins are currently protected under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), which prohibits international trade for commercial purposes and allows it only under exceptional circumstances.

Still, the illegal trade persists.

In April, Nigerian authorities seized nearly four tons of trafficked pangolin scales, representing the slaughter of some 2,000 animals. In November 2024, Indonesian officials intercepted another 1.2 tons.

US demand remains a factor. Between 2016 and 2020, border officials intercepted 76 shipments of pangolin parts, including scales and products marketed for traditional medicine, according to public data.