A clean home has been on many minds lately, as the pandemic brought back into focus concepts such as immunity, air pollution and hygiene. It was against this backdrop that I was confronted by two related events: one in my private life, the other through work.
My baby aged 15 months developed a cold, dry cough and itchy eyes soon after we moved house. The symptoms persisted on and off for months on end, which the doctor put down to “the allergens floating around in most houses”. It was hideous and put a spanner in our delirious dreams of sending her to playschool for a few hours each day.
Almost simultaneously, I got a chance to test out the latest air purifier on the block, which claimed to combat a dangerous but oft-ignored pollutant: formaldehyde.
An air purifier with an activated carbon filter is the only option to remove formaldehyde from indoor air
Dr Slavica Vukovic,
specialist in internal medicine, RAK Hospital
Turns out, the chemical I had naively only ever associated with malodorous hair-straightening treatments is also widely used to preserve furniture. While the stuff might ensure your decor does not decay, it does mean the cabinet or carpet in question can constantly emit tiny doses of the gas.
“Formaldehyde can cause irritation of the skin, eyes and throat, and even neurovegetative disorders,” explains Dr Slavica Vukovic, a specialist in internal medicine at RAK Hospital.
The solution is simple – and singular, according to Vukovic. “An air purifier with an activated carbon filter is the only option to remove formaldehyde from indoor air,” she says.
And that’s how I came to possess the Pure Cool Formaldehyde fan, Dyson’s latest air purifier that launched in the UAE in August. While it joins a long list of companies that offer formaldehyde-fighting purifiers (from Airpura and Honeywell to Molekule and Philips), the British brand claims it’s the only gadget that uses not only a solid-state sensor (instead of the traditional gel casing that eventually dries out) but also a catalytic filter that destroys the formaldehyde altogether, rather than simply capturing it.
“Formaldehyde is number three on the WHO’s list of top 10 pollutants,” says David Hill, Dyson engineer and design manager for the formaldehyde construction technology. “It’s a powerful preservative that, while useful for checking bacterial growth in your furniture, is not ideal to be living around constantly. Preserved wooden flooring, for example, can emit formaldehyde for years.
“The design brief was to be constantly destroying formaldehyde, not just capturing it and it still staying in your home. The catalytic filter, which is made up of microscopic panels, oxidises and breaks down the molecules into tiny amounts of water and carbon dioxide, which are harmless.”
The technology is ground-breaking, as is reflected in the top-range Dh2,700 ($735) price tag. Air purifiers with this functionality range between $120 and $999.
The machine also identifies and eliminates other particulate matter – from dust and pollen to mould spores, plus a cocktail of gases such as benzene and nitrogen dioxide, which enter your home from outside, as well as through the use of scented candles, deodorant and even the stove. All of this is relayed via a display panel, which shows you just how much noxious matter is present in a room at any given time, and then proceeds to erase the same.
The display is an interesting addition. Just as with a fitness tracker – where half the fun is in knowing exactly how many steps you took or how many hours of deep sleep you got – there is some satisfaction in seeing the size and level of the particulate matter and gas pollution in the air around you slowly dissipate.
The Dyson team recommends you let the machine remain on auto – as it will “ramp up when it needs to clean and ramp down when a room is clean”, according to Hill – and I also found it useful to cart it from room to room across the day.
At five hours' usage over a 24-hour period, the activated carbon filter is estimated to last about one year, after which it can be changed for Dh300. The formaldehyde-destroying filter, however, will never need replacing.
“Where you place it depends your lifestyle,” Hill explains. “If you love cooking, you’ll find loads of pollutants in the kitchen. If you are an allergy sufferer and have trouble sleeping, keep it in the bedroom so you won’t be hit as hard by the pollen.”
Already anecdotal reviews are suggesting that users feel the air in their homes is cleaner, with one reporting she "no longer wakes up coughing".
Playschool, here we come.
Other air purifiers to invest in
Budget
Winix 5300-2
USP: Captures dust mites, pet dander and pollen
Price: Dh450 from Amazon
Mid-range
Philips 2000i series
USP: Reduce pollutants, allergens, odours, harmful gases and certain bacteria
Price: Dh1,989 from Noon.com
Splurge
Airpura F600DLX
USP: Removes formaldehyde and VOCs released from common household products, construction materials and pesticides
Price: Dh3,670 from Airpura.com
If you go
The flights
Emirates and Etihad fly direct to Nairobi, with fares starting from Dh1,695. The resort can be reached from Nairobi via a 35-minute flight from Wilson Airport or Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, or by road, which takes at least three hours.
The rooms
Rooms at Fairmont Mount Kenya range from Dh1,870 per night for a deluxe room to Dh11,000 per night for the William Holden Cottage.
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WHAT IS A BLACK HOLE?
1. Black holes are objects whose gravity is so strong not even light can escape their pull
2. They can be created when massive stars collapse under their own weight
3. Large black holes can also be formed when smaller ones collide and merge
4. The biggest black holes lurk at the centre of many galaxies, including our own
5. Astronomers believe that when the universe was very young, black holes affected how galaxies formed
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Gothia Cup 2025
4,872 matches
1,942 teams
116 pitches
76 nations
26 UAE teams
15 Lebanese teams
2 Kuwaiti teams
COMPANY%20PROFILE%20
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EName%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Haltia.ai%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%202023%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ECo-founders%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Arto%20Bendiken%20and%20Talal%20Thabet%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Dubai%2C%20UAE%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EIndustry%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20AI%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ENumber%20of%20employees%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%2041%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFunding%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20About%20%241.7%20million%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Self%2C%20family%20and%20friends%26nbsp%3B%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
COMPANY%20PROFILE
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EName%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EQureos%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EUAE%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ELaunch%20year%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E2021%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ENumber%20of%20employees%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E33%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESoftware%20and%20technology%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFunding%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E%243%20million%0D%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
THE SPECS
Engine: 1.5-litre
Transmission: 6-speed automatic
Power: 110 horsepower
Torque: 147Nm
Price: From Dh59,700
On sale: now
Sleep Well Beast
The National
4AD
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Qyubic
Started: October 2023
Founder: Namrata Raina
Based: Dubai
Sector: E-commerce
Current number of staff: 10
Investment stage: Pre-seed
Initial investment: Undisclosed
The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
57%20Seconds
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Fight card
Preliminaries:
Nouredine Samir (UAE) v Sheroz Kholmirzav (UZB); Lucas Porst (SWE) v Ellis Barboza (GBR); Mouhmad Amine Alharar (MAR) v Mohammed Mardi (UAE); Ibrahim Bilal (UAE) v Spyro Besiri (GRE); Aslamjan Ortikov (UZB) v Joshua Ridgwell (GBR)
Main card:
Carlos Prates (BRA) v Dmitry Valent (BLR); Bobirjon Tagiev (UZB) v Valentin Thibaut (FRA); Arthur Meyer (FRA) v Hicham Moujtahid (BEL); Ines Es Salehy (BEL) v Myriame Djedidi (FRA); Craig Coakley (IRE) v Deniz Demirkapu (TUR); Artem Avanesov (ARM) v Badreddine Attif (MAR); Abdulvosid Buranov (RUS) v Akram Hamidi (FRA)
Title card:
Intercontinental Lightweight: Ilyass Habibali (UAE) v Angel Marquez (ESP)
Intercontinental Middleweight: Amine El Moatassime (UAE) v Francesco Iadanza (ITA)
Asian Featherweight: Zakaria El Jamari (UAE) v Phillip Delarmino (PHI)
Mina Cup winners
Under 12 – Minerva Academy
Under 14 – Unam Pumas
Under 16 – Fursan Hispania
Under 18 – Madenat
Fines for littering
In Dubai:
Dh200 for littering or spitting in the Dubai Metro
Dh500 for throwing cigarette butts or chewing gum on the floor, or littering from a vehicle.
Dh1,000 for littering on a beach, spitting in public places, throwing a cigarette butt from a vehicle
In Sharjah and other emirates
Dh500 for littering - including cigarette butts and chewing gum - in public places and beaches in Sharjah
Dh2,000 for littering in Sharjah deserts
Dh500 for littering from a vehicle in Ras Al Khaimah
Dh1,000 for littering from a car in Abu Dhabi
Dh1,000 to Dh100,000 for dumping waste in residential or public areas in Al Ain
Dh10,000 for littering at Ajman's beaches
UK%20record%20temperature
%3Cp%3E38.7C%20(101.7F)%20set%20in%20Cambridge%20in%202019%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
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Reputation
Taylor Swift
(Big Machine Records)
Ferrari 12Cilindri specs
Engine: naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12
Power: 819hp
Torque: 678Nm at 7,250rpm
Price: From Dh1,700,000
Available: Now
Match info
Manchester United 4
(Pogba 5', 33', Rashford 45', Lukaku 72')
Bournemouth 1
(Ake 45 2')
Red card: Eric Bailly (Manchester United)
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
GAC GS8 Specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 248hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 400Nm at 1,750-4,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 9.1L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh149,900
