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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

Prince William Says Visit With Diana to Homeless Shelter Was Eye-Opener

This handout photograph released by Kensington Palace on October 25, 2024, shows Britain's Princess Diana (2R) with her 11-year-old son William (L), now Britain's Prince William, Prince of Wales in the kitchens during one of his first visits to homelessness charity, The Passage in London, taken on December 14, 1993.. (Photo by THE PASSAGE / AFP)
This handout photograph released by Kensington Palace on October 25, 2024, shows Britain's Princess Diana (2R) with her 11-year-old son William (L), now Britain's Prince William, Prince of Wales in the kitchens during one of his first visits to homelessness charity, The Passage in London, taken on December 14, 1993.. (Photo by THE PASSAGE / AFP)
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Prince William Says Visit With Diana to Homeless Shelter Was Eye-Opener

This handout photograph released by Kensington Palace on October 25, 2024, shows Britain's Princess Diana (2R) with her 11-year-old son William (L), now Britain's Prince William, Prince of Wales in the kitchens during one of his first visits to homelessness charity, The Passage in London, taken on December 14, 1993.. (Photo by THE PASSAGE / AFP)
This handout photograph released by Kensington Palace on October 25, 2024, shows Britain's Princess Diana (2R) with her 11-year-old son William (L), now Britain's Prince William, Prince of Wales in the kitchens during one of his first visits to homelessness charity, The Passage in London, taken on December 14, 1993.. (Photo by THE PASSAGE / AFP)

Prince William has recalled how his late mother Princess Diana took him to a shelter for homeless people when he was just 11 years old, saying how the visit opened his eyes to how others lived a different life to him.
In an extract from a documentary about his efforts to end homelessness to be broadcast this week, the heir to the British throne said how Diana introduced him and his younger brother Prince Harry to the cause as part of her determination to raise wider awareness of social issues from AIDS to mental health, Reuters said.
"I'd never been to anything like that before, and I was a bit anxious as to what to expect. My mother went about her usual part of making everyone feel relaxed and having a laugh and joking with everyone," William said of the 1993 visit to The Passage charity in London.
Last June, the elder son of King Charles launched a five-year project "Homewards" which he said was inspired by Diana.
Homeless charities say it is hard to know exactly how many people are living on the streets but statistics released this month said 178,560 households were assessed as homeless in England in 2023-24, up 12.3% on the year before.
In focusing on homelessness, William said he was "desperately trying to help people who are in need, and I see that as part of my role".
He recalled during his visit to The Passage playing chess and chatting with those there.
"That's when it informed me that there are other people out there who don't have the same life as you do," he says in the documentary. "When you're quite small ... you just think life is what you see in front of you. You don't really have concept to look elsewhere.
"And it's when you meet people that I did then who put a different perspective in your head and say ... I was living on the street last night."
The full ITV documentary, "Prince William: We Can End Homelessness", will be shown on Oct. 30 and 31.