Sustainability and social responsibility are major themes at this year's Index exhibition, which gathers the world's interior designers, retailers and contractors under one roof at Dubai World Trade Centre.
The annual three-day trade show, which opened to the public on Tuesday, is 40 per cent bigger than last year, with a huge range of textiles, materials, products and more on display in several halls.
Here are some of the most exciting innovations on show, from skateboards made out of plastic bottle caps to wooden toys from Romania, plus stylish items fashioned from post-consumer plastic waste gathered on the Brazilian coastline.
Amik
The Romanian company, founded in 1996, has been working with UAE distributors for the past few years, supplying its beautiful beechwood toys and furniture to preschools across the country.
It stems from Amik Gavril's passion to create wooden toys for children, allowing them to spend time in a healthy and eco-friendly environment. With the help of two nuns from Germany, he started a programme to train young people from disadvantaged social backgrounds in production techniques, which resulted in the brand's first solid wooden rocking chair and cube set.
Today the brand has everything from tables and chairs to toys such as rocking horses, kitchen sets and household items for plenty of imaginative play.
Colab
One of the most exciting stands is Colab's digital materials library, which showcases a range of eco-friendly materials from across the world, including the UAE.
“The future of sustainable design lies in embracing local, innovative materials,” says Colab founder and creative director Richard Wilson, while showcasing a skateboard made out of plastic bottle caps.
“While classic materials like travertine have their place, prioritising locally sourced options like desert sand, concrete or date seed composites reduces our environmental footprint and unlocks exciting design possibilities.”
Alchemy is a case in point. It is the first 100 per cent recycled panel locally sourced and produced from marine and construction waste in the UAE. This waste includes buoys, dredging floats, road barriers and water tanks, and the idea was developed last year during the Tanween programme in collaboration with local art hub Tashkeel.
There's also Caracara Collective, which turns biowaste into art and design, promoting a new wave of Nordic design. Fishy Filaments, engineering-grade Nylon 6, is made from recycled fishing nets.
Blocks and samples of each material that can be handled by the public are on display, resting on a booth also made from DesertBoard's Palm Strand Board.
DesertBoard
“The owner wanted to save the planet,” sales executive Mohamed Shawki explains when asked what DesertBoard is all about.
The booth stands out because it is built entirely from what the brand is promoting – boards made of upcycled date palm fronds that can be used in home construction for everything from kitchen cabinets to wardrobes and flooring. These fronds would otherwise have been burnt or thrown in a landfill.
The company was founded by Hatem Farah in the UAE in 2022 and operates from a factory in Khalifa Economical Zone, Abu Dhabi. There, the team have harnessed technology to prune residue of date palm trees to create what they call Palm Strand Board, which is incredibly strong and packed tight full of thousands of fronds.
It's also free of formaldehyde, a cancer-causing, flammable chemical found in many other construction materials.
Ou
Brazilian brand Ou sells all manner of organisational products for the home, from laundry and bathroom requirements to items for the kitchen, home office and garden.
Its latest Grid line is among the products on show at Index. They combine a sense of minimalism and modern design with pieces made of recycled plastic.
The raw material comes from waste collected on the Brazilian coastline. That prevents this plastic from reaching the sea or rivers of the region, says export manager Vanessa Ferreira, who has flown from South America to Dubai for the show.
Material from plants such as bamboo and paulownia, both highly renewable, is also used.
The Boardroom of the Future
“We're not selling a product, we're selling a dream,” Apoorv Sharma, lead designer at Motif Interiors, says of his team's stand.
It spans 775 square feet and is part of the Workspace area, sandwiched between the halls of Index. It showcases a working meeting room and other office set-ups made of materials such as reclaimed wood, recycled metal, bamboo, terracotta tiles and more, all complemented by modern technologies including interactive touchscreens.
The team also used a tree they picked up on the road after the recent storms that hit the UAE and turned into an eye-catching table and stools.
The company doesn't sell these products yet, but it is showcasing the concept at Index this year and plans to make it a permanent line within the next five years.
Jetour T1 specs
Engine: 2-litre turbocharged
Power: 254hp
Torque: 390Nm
Price: From Dh126,000
Available: Now
Volvo ES90 Specs
Engine: Electric single motor (96kW), twin motor (106kW) and twin motor performance (106kW)
Power: 333hp, 449hp, 680hp
Torque: 480Nm, 670Nm, 870Nm
On sale: Later in 2025 or early 2026, depending on region
Price: Exact regional pricing TBA
So what is Spicy Chickenjoy?
Just as McDonald’s has the Big Mac, Jollibee has Spicy Chickenjoy – a piece of fried chicken that’s crispy and spicy on the outside and comes with a side of spaghetti, all covered in tomato sauce and topped with sausage slices and ground beef. It sounds like a recipe that a child would come up with, but perhaps that’s the point – a flavourbomb combination of cheap comfort foods. Chickenjoy is Jollibee’s best-selling product in every country in which it has a presence.
Why are asylum seekers being housed in hotels?
The number of asylum applications in the UK has reached a new record high, driven by those illegally entering the country in small boats crossing the English Channel.
A total of 111,084 people applied for asylum in the UK in the year to June 2025, the highest number for any 12-month period since current records began in 2001.
Asylum seekers and their families can be housed in temporary accommodation while their claim is assessed.
The Home Office provides the accommodation, meaning asylum seekers cannot choose where they live.
When there is not enough housing, the Home Office can move people to hotels or large sites like former military bases.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
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- Flexible payment plans from developers
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BMW M5 specs
Engine: 4.4-litre twin-turbo V-8 petrol enging with additional electric motor
Power: 727hp
Torque: 1,000Nm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 10.6L/100km
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%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%20name%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Alaan%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%202021%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Dubai%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounders%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Parthi%20Duraisamy%20and%20Karun%20Kurien%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESector%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20FinTech%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestment%20stage%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20%247%20million%20raised%20in%20total%20%E2%80%94%20%242.5%20million%20in%20a%20seed%20round%20and%20%244.5%20million%20in%20a%20pre-series%20A%20round%3Cbr%3E%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre V8 twin-turbocharged and three electric motors
Power: Combined output 920hp
Torque: 730Nm at 4,000-7,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch automatic
Fuel consumption: 11.2L/100km
On sale: Now, deliveries expected later in 2025
Price: expected to start at Dh1,432,000
The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Power: 420hp
Torque: 623Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)
On sale: Now
Some of Darwish's last words
"They see their tomorrows slipping out of their reach. And though it seems to them that everything outside this reality is heaven, yet they do not want to go to that heaven. They stay, because they are afflicted with hope." - Mahmoud Darwish, to attendees of the Palestine Festival of Literature, 2008
His life in brief: Born in a village near Galilee, he lived in exile for most of his life and started writing poetry after high school. He was arrested several times by Israel for what were deemed to be inciteful poems. Most of his work focused on the love and yearning for his homeland, and he was regarded the Palestinian poet of resistance. Over the course of his life, he published more than 30 poetry collections and books of prose, with his work translated into more than 20 languages. Many of his poems were set to music by Arab composers, most significantly Marcel Khalife. Darwish died on August 9, 2008 after undergoing heart surgery in the United States. He was later buried in Ramallah where a shrine was erected in his honour.
Abu Dhabi traffic facts
Drivers in Abu Dhabi spend 10 per cent longer in congested conditions than they would on a free-flowing road
The highest volume of traffic on the roads is found between 7am and 8am on a Sunday.
Travelling before 7am on a Sunday could save up to four hours per year on a 30-minute commute.
The day was the least congestion in Abu Dhabi in 2019 was Tuesday, August 13.
The highest levels of traffic were found on Sunday, November 10.
Drivers in Abu Dhabi lost 41 hours spent in traffic jams in rush hour during 2019
What the law says
Micro-retirement is not a recognised concept or employment status under Federal Decree Law No. 33 of 2021 on the Regulation of Labour Relations (as amended) (UAE Labour Law). As such, it reflects a voluntary work-life balance practice, rather than a recognised legal employment category, according to Dilini Loku, senior associate for law firm Gateley Middle East.
“Some companies may offer formal sabbatical policies or career break programmes; however, beyond such arrangements, there is no automatic right or statutory entitlement to extended breaks,” she explains.
“Any leave taken beyond statutory entitlements, such as annual leave, is typically regarded as unpaid leave in accordance with Article 33 of the UAE Labour Law. While employees may legally take unpaid leave, such requests are subject to the employer’s discretion and require approval.”
If an employee resigns to pursue micro-retirement, the employment contract is terminated, and the employer is under no legal obligation to rehire the employee in the future unless specific contractual agreements are in place (such as return-to-work arrangements), which are generally uncommon, Ms Loku adds.
Specs
Engine: Electric motor generating 54.2kWh (Cooper SE and Aceman SE), 64.6kW (Countryman All4 SE)
Power: 218hp (Cooper and Aceman), 313hp (Countryman)
Torque: 330Nm (Cooper and Aceman), 494Nm (Countryman)
On sale: Now
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Company name: baraka
Started: July 2020
Founders: Feras Jalbout and Kunal Taneja
Based: Dubai and Bahrain
Sector: FinTech
Initial investment: $150,000
Current staff: 12
Stage: Pre-seed capital raising of $1 million
Investors: Class 5 Global, FJ Labs, IMO Ventures, The Community Fund, VentureSouq, Fox Ventures, Dr Abdulla Elyas (private investment)
Pharaoh's curse
British aristocrat Lord Carnarvon, who funded the expedition to find the Tutankhamun tomb, died in a Cairo hotel four months after the crypt was opened.
He had been in poor health for many years after a car crash, and a mosquito bite made worse by a shaving cut led to blood poisoning and pneumonia.
Reports at the time said Lord Carnarvon suffered from “pain as the inflammation affected the nasal passages and eyes”.
Decades later, scientists contended he had died of aspergillosis after inhaling spores of the fungus aspergillus in the tomb, which can lie dormant for months. The fact several others who entered were also found dead withiin a short time led to the myth of the curse.
