عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
Varieties

Saudi Arabia Aims to Transform Industrial Heritage into Cultural Destinations

The Saudi Heritage Commission officially registered the Tapline oil pipeline as the country’s first industrial heritage site (SPA). 
The Saudi Heritage Commission officially registered the Tapline oil pipeline as the country’s first industrial heritage site (SPA). 
TT
TT

Saudi Arabia Aims to Transform Industrial Heritage into Cultural Destinations

The Saudi Heritage Commission officially registered the Tapline oil pipeline as the country’s first industrial heritage site (SPA). 
The Saudi Heritage Commission officially registered the Tapline oil pipeline as the country’s first industrial heritage site (SPA). 

Saudi Arabia is stepping up efforts to preserve and repurpose its industrial heritage sites, with an ambition to join the ranks of countries that have long recognized the cultural and social value of industrial landmarks.

The Kingdom sees these sites not only as reminders of its industrial beginnings but also as potential cultural destinations that can enrich communities, attract visitors, and support national development.

Industrial heritage refers to the achievements of the post-Industrial Revolution era and includes factories, mills, mines, workshops, warehouses, and transport infrastructure, along with the housing, schools, and religious buildings that grew around them. These sites embody not just technological progress, but also the social, architectural, and economic dimensions of industrial growth.

Khalid Al-Humaidi, a Saudi heritage specialist, said that growing recognition of the importance of cataloging and preserving these sites has fueled significant progress in recent years. Dedicated researchers have been mapping and documenting historic industrial landmarks across the Kingdom, laying the groundwork for their potential inclusion in global heritage lists, including UNESCO.

He stressed that such initiatives are vital in connecting younger generations to their national heritage. By recognizing industrial sites as part of Saudi Arabia’s cultural legacy, the country can foster a stronger sense of identity and historical awareness.

Al-Humaidi also urged greater investment in restoring these landmarks to their original condition, while promoting them through media platforms and cultural initiatives. He called for allowing visitors to explore sites directly, under proper safeguards, and suggested developing souvenirs and miniature models to strengthen public engagement.

The Ministry of Culture launched its Industrial Heritage Program in 2019 to build a national framework for preserving Saudi Arabia’s industrial legacy. The program highlights the role of factories and industrial infrastructure in shaping the country’s economic and social development and seeks to reposition them as cultural and tourism destinations.

To raise awareness, the ministry organized a national competition encouraging Saudis to discover and document industrial sites. The initiative spotlighted a range of landmarks linked to the Kingdom’s industrial growth, while broadening public understanding of what industrial heritage represents.

One of the most notable achievements came in 2020, when the Saudi Heritage Commission officially registered the Tapline oil pipeline as the country’s first industrial heritage site. Built in 1948 by order of King Abdulaziz, the pipeline once connected the Eastern Province to northern Saudi Arabia, symbolizing the dawn of the Kingdom’s oil industry. Its registration followed a decision by cultural and energy authorities to halt its removal, allowing it to be preserved and studied.

Another example is JAX District in Diriyah, northwest of Riyadh. Once an industrial warehouse zone, it has been transformed into a creative hub hosting galleries, studios, and cultural spaces. Today, it stands as one of Riyadh’s most dynamic artistic communities, showcasing how industrial heritage can be repurposed for modern cultural life.

 

 

Most Viewed

 
 
Varieties

Japan Crisp Packs to Go Colorless Due to Iran War Crunch

Bags of Calbee potato crisps are seen at a convenience store in Tokyo on May 12, 2026. (AFP)
Bags of Calbee potato crisps are seen at a convenience store in Tokyo on May 12, 2026. (AFP)
TT
TT

Japan Crisp Packs to Go Colorless Due to Iran War Crunch

Bags of Calbee potato crisps are seen at a convenience store in Tokyo on May 12, 2026. (AFP)
Bags of Calbee potato crisps are seen at a convenience store in Tokyo on May 12, 2026. (AFP)

Japan's leading potato chip maker is feeling the crunch from shortages linked to the Iran war, swapping its signature orange-and-yellow packets for black and white.

A household name in Japan, Calbee is known for its savory potato chips with an array of flavors from seaweed salt to soy sauce and butter.

The company said Tuesday it will "revise the packaging specifications" and use just "two colors" in packaging for 14 product lines beginning later this month or in June.

It did not say which two colors, but the statement showed photos of grey packaging.

Calbee blamed "supply instability for certain raw materials resulting from the escalating tensions in the Middle East".

Local media said the snack-maker has seen its procurement of printing ink compromised by shortages of naphtha, an oil byproduct used in a wide range of industries.

The goods affected included several potato chip products, as well as a breakfast cereal and Kappa Ebisen, a moreish shrimp snack known for the slogan "can't stop, can't stop".

"We will continue to respond swiftly and flexibly to changes in the business environment, including geopolitical risks, while striving to deliver safe, reliable, and satisfying products," the company said.

Another Japanese food company, Itoham Yonekyu Holdings, also told AFP that going black-and-white or using different kinds of inks for some of its products were among possible options in the future, similarly blaming supply problems due to the Middle East conflict.

Roughly a fifth of the world's oil normally passes through the Strait of Hormuz, and its de facto closure since the war began in late February has sent prices soaring.

Japan's Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi previously said Tokyo was expected to have enough naphtha-derived chemical products to last beyond the end of the year after boosting imports from outside the Middle East.

Last week Takaichi said that the global oil supply squeeze was inflicting an "enormous impact" on the Asia-Pacific region.

Varieties

What if We Killed all Mosquitoes?

Our greatest nemesis. By transmitting diseases, mosquitoes kill three quarters of a million people a year. Olympia DE MAISMONT / AFP/File
Our greatest nemesis. By transmitting diseases, mosquitoes kill three quarters of a million people a year. Olympia DE MAISMONT / AFP/File
TT
TT

What if We Killed all Mosquitoes?

Our greatest nemesis. By transmitting diseases, mosquitoes kill three quarters of a million people a year. Olympia DE MAISMONT / AFP/File
Our greatest nemesis. By transmitting diseases, mosquitoes kill three quarters of a million people a year. Olympia DE MAISMONT / AFP/File

The deadliest animals are not lions, spiders or snakes, but the tiny mosquitoes that suck our blood, make us itchy and infect us with disease.

Mosquitoes kill around 760,000 people every year, according to research site Our World in Data, with humans ourselves coming a distant second.

This is because mosquitoes account for 17 percent of all infectious diseases, including malaria, dengue, yellow fever, chikungunya and Zika.

And as the world warms due to human-driven climate change, mosquitoes are roaming to new areas during longer summers, raising fears they could propel future health crises.

So how can humanity fight back against our greatest foe? Is there a safe way we could eradicate these killer mosquitoes -- and how bad would that be for the environment?

#Notallmosquitoes

First, we would not need to vanquish all mosquitoes. Out of roughly 3,500 mosquito species, only around 100 bite humans.

And just five species are responsible for roughly 95 percent of human infections, Hilary Ranson, a vector biologist at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, told AFP.

On balance, Ranson felt that losing five mosquito species "could be tolerated given the huge devastation" they inflict on the world, from mass death to crippling economic fallout.

Dan Peach, a mosquito entomologist at the University of Georgia, broadly agreed, but emphasized that more information was needed to compare eradication with the alternatives.

What about the environment?

The five disease-spreading mosquitoes "have evolved to be very closely associated to humans," including feeding on and breeding near us, Ranson explained.

This means eradicating them would not have a major impact on the broader ecosystem -- and other, genetically similar but less deadly mosquitoes would likely quickly "fill that ecological niche", she added.

Peach was not convinced we know enough "about the ecology of most mosquito species to be confident one way or the other, but I also think that it is OK to acknowledge this and still proceed."

Mosquitoes do "transfer nutrients from their aquatic larval habitats" to other areas, and serve as food for insects, fish and other animals, he said.

They also pollinate plants, but this "isn't well understood and may vary by species", Peach added.

Ranson acknowledged there is a valid debate over the ethics of humans committing "specicide", while pointing out that we are currently unintentionally wiping out a huge number of species.

How can it be done?

One of the most prominent new technological options is called gene-drive, which involves genetically modifying animals so that they pass down a particular trait to their offspring.

When scientists tweaked females of malaria-carrying Anopheles gambiae mosquitoes to make them infertile, it wiped out a population in the lab over just a few generations.

Target Malaria, funded by the Gates Foundation, has tested this technology in several African countries.

However the effort was dealt a major blow last year when Burkina Faso's military-led government ended testing in the country, where it had been criticized by civil society groups and targeted by disinformation campaigns.

Another strategy involves infecting Aedes aegypti mosquitoes with the bacteria Wolbachia. This can crash their population -- or simply reduce their ability to transmit dengue.

This raises another question: do we actually need to kill them?

What if we made them harmless instead?

When Wolbachia-infected sterile mosquitoes were released in the Brazilian city of Niteroi, there was an 89 percent drop in dengue cases, research showed last year.

More than 16 million people across 15 countries have now been protected by these mosquitoes, with "no negative consequences", Scott O'Neill, founder of the World Mosquito Program, told AFP.

Meanwhile, a project called Transmission Zero is trying to use gene-drive technology to make it so that Anopheles gambiae mosquitoes no longer spread malaria.

Lab research published in Nature late last year suggested the scientists are getting closer to this goal, with the team planning to launch an in-country trial in 2030.

The Burkina Faso setback showed that these projects must have some "political support or buy-in" from the countries where they are tested, study author Dickson Wilson Lwetoijera of Tanzania's Ifakara Health Institute told AFP.

No 'magic bullet'

Rather than just relying on a technological "magic bullet", usually funded by the Gates Foundation, Ranson called for a more "holistic solution" for these diseases.

This would require giving people in disease-hit countries more access to treatment, diagnosis, better housing and better vaccines, she said.

However sweeping foreign aid cuts by Western countries have threatened progress against most mosquito-borne diseases over the last year, humanitarian organisations have warned.

Varieties

Global Fire Outbreaks Hit Record High as ‘Unprecedented’ Heat Extremes Loom, Scientists Say

A helicopter conducts firefighting operations as wildfires continue in Otsuchi, Iwate Prefecture, Japan, April 26, 2026. (Reuters)
A helicopter conducts firefighting operations as wildfires continue in Otsuchi, Iwate Prefecture, Japan, April 26, 2026. (Reuters)
TT
TT

Global Fire Outbreaks Hit Record High as ‘Unprecedented’ Heat Extremes Loom, Scientists Say

A helicopter conducts firefighting operations as wildfires continue in Otsuchi, Iwate Prefecture, Japan, April 26, 2026. (Reuters)
A helicopter conducts firefighting operations as wildfires continue in Otsuchi, Iwate Prefecture, Japan, April 26, 2026. (Reuters)

Climate change has driven record-breaking outbreaks of fire in Africa, Asia and elsewhere this year, with conditions expected to get worse as the northern hemisphere's summer approaches and El Nino weather patterns kick in, scientists warned on Tuesday.

Fires from January to April have already caused unprecedented levels of damage, burning more than 150 million hectares (370.66 million acres) of land, 20% more than the previous record, according to data compiled by World Weather Attribution, a research group that studies the role played by global warming in extreme weather events.

The researchers said temperature records ‌could be broken this ‌year, causing widespread drought as well as fires, with ‌the impact ⁠of human-induced climate ⁠change compounded by an especially strong "El Nino" effect.

"Whilst in many parts of the world the global fire season has yet to heat up, this rapid start, in combination with the forecast El Nino, means that we're looking at a particularly severe year materializing," said Theodore Keeping, a wildfire expert at Imperial College London and part of the WWA group.

As much as 85 million hectares of land have burned in Africa so far ⁠this year, 23% more than the previous record of ‌69 million hectares, he said.

The unusually high fire ‌activity in Africa is being driven by rapid shifts from extremely wet to extremely dry conditions, he ‌said.

High rainfall produced more grass during the previous growing season, creating an abundance ‌of fuel to feed the drought- and heat-induced savannah fires of the last few months.

EL NINO CONDITIONS DUE THIS MONTH

Asian fires have burned as much as 44 million hectares of land so far this year, nearly 40% more than the previous record year of 2014, ‌with India, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos and China among the worst hit, Keeping said.

He warned that wildfire risks could worsen later ⁠this year, with El ⁠Nino increasing the likelihood of severe heat and drought in Australia, Canada, the United States and the Amazon rainforest.

"The likelihood of harmful extreme fires potentially could be the highest we've seen in recent history if a strong El Nino does develop," he said. El Nino weather conditions, caused by the warming of sea surface temperatures in the Pacific Ocean, are expected to start in May, the World Meteorological Organization said last month.

It could cause droughts in Australia, Indonesia and parts of southern Asia as well as flooding in other regions, and may drive up temperatures, the UN agency warned.

"If there is a strong El Nino later this year, there is a serious risk that the effect of climate change and El Nino ... will result in unprecedented weather extremes," said Friederike Otto, climate scientist at Imperial College London and co-founder of World Weather Attribution.