ABU DHABI // At the Iranian souq near Mina Port, it looks like the fire just happened yesterday.
Yet it has been more than six weeks since the mid-August blaze gutted furniture shops and kitchen wholesalers and caused millions of dirhams in damage.
The fire scene has been left untouched while police and insurance workers conducted their investigations.
Now owners are just waiting for the final papers they need to file their claims, hoping insurance payouts will help them get on with the massive task of rebuilding their livelihoods.
Yesterday, inside the charred skeleton of Mahmood Khoory's Abu Amer Furniture shop, blackened bed frames, sofas and wardrobes sat amid the ashes. Scorched carpet rolls stuck out from the window frames and steel bars, warped by the heat of the fire, hung in a tangled mass from the roof.
Sinewed carpets, still perfectly rolled up, protruded from the window frames and steel bars, warped in the heat of the blaze hung limp, like huge tangled spiders legs, from the roof.
Mr Khoory, who owns four furniture shops in the city, shook his head as he pointed to several metal bed frames, leaning against the store's broken-out front window.
"These are all that remain," he said. "The estimated cost of the damage is about Dh1.8 million (US$490,000). Ninety-five per cent of the stock has been damaged - mattresses, beds, wardrobes, everything."
The affected businesses - four stores so large they cover almost an entire block - have been forced to put their stock in piles outside. At Mr Khoory's, orange tarpaulins cover boxes of furniture he and his staff must move for sale at other stores.
"I have nowhere to put it," he said, smiling sadly as he stepped over some half-melted shelves. "Before it would be kept here."
Like the other owners, Mr Khoory, who lost Dh800,000 last month, has found his trade all but halted.
Asked how the fire has affected his trade he took out his accounts book and smiled again as he pointed at the blank pages.
"The insurance company has been to make an assessment so now we are just waiting for the police papers," he said. "I hope that when I get the insurance money, then I will be able to rebuild."
To the left, at the kitchen wholesalers Al Fateh Trading, the scene was similarly depressing. Rows and rows of pans, rubbish bins and other household goods sat in the sun. Staff at its adjoining store, which was unaffected, said there was about Dh3m in damage.
"It was a huge fire," said one worker. "Now we must use this smaller shop until the insurance is finished."
At the other end of the row of affected shops, Ahmad Sqdaa works for Abdul Hameed Khoory Trading, where more than 60 people escaped unhurt from the fire. The store has not been able to do any trade since. In one of several now indistinguishable small rooms at the back of the store, Mr Sqdaa pointed to a metal frame in a corner.
"That was the television," he said.
Next door, two safes sit, burnt, opposite the door alongside a burnt chair and desk.
The melted key pads of a photocopier and two fax machines lay on the floor and an air conditioning unit sits crumpled and tired on the right wall above two burnt sofas and the skeleton of a wall-mounted flat-screen television.
Though he did not yet know the extent of the damage, he walked through piles of charred kitchenware that gave some indication.
ETFs explained
Exhchange traded funds are bought and sold like shares, but operate as index-tracking funds, passively following their chosen indices, such as the S&P 500, FTSE 100 and the FTSE All World, plus a vast range of smaller exchanges and commodities, such as gold, silver, copper sugar, coffee and oil.
ETFs have zero upfront fees and annual charges as low as 0.07 per cent a year, which means you get to keep more of your returns, as actively managed funds can charge as much as 1.5 per cent a year.
There are thousands to choose from, with the five biggest providers BlackRock’s iShares range, Vanguard, State Street Global Advisors SPDR ETFs, Deutsche Bank AWM X-trackers and Invesco PowerShares.
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
Mia Man’s tips for fermentation
- Start with a simple recipe such as yogurt or sauerkraut
- Keep your hands and kitchen tools clean. Sanitize knives, cutting boards, tongs and storage jars with boiling water before you start.
- Mold is bad: the colour pink is a sign of mold. If yogurt turns pink as it ferments, you need to discard it and start again. For kraut, if you remove the top leaves and see any sign of mold, you should discard the batch.
- Always use clean, closed, airtight lids and containers such as mason jars when fermenting yogurt and kraut. Keep the lid closed to prevent insects and contaminants from getting in.
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Simran
Director Hansal Mehta
Stars: Kangana Ranaut, Soham Shah, Esha Tiwari Pandey
Three stars
Company%20Profile
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How Sputnik V works
Singham Again
Director: Rohit Shetty
Stars: Ajay Devgn, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Ranveer Singh, Akshay Kumar, Tiger Shroff, Deepika Padukone
Rating: 3/5
School counsellors on mental well-being
Schools counsellors in Abu Dhabi have put a number of provisions in place to help support pupils returning to the classroom next week.
Many children will resume in-person lessons for the first time in 10 months and parents previously raised concerns about the long-term effects of distance learning.
Schools leaders and counsellors said extra support will be offered to anyone that needs it. Additionally, heads of years will be on hand to offer advice or coping mechanisms to ease any concerns.
“Anxiety this time round has really spiralled, more so than from the first lockdown at the beginning of the pandemic,” said Priya Mitchell, counsellor at The British School Al Khubairat in Abu Dhabi.
“Some have got used to being at home don’t want to go back, while others are desperate to get back.
“We have seen an increase in depressive symptoms, especially with older pupils, and self-harm is starting younger.
“It is worrying and has taught us how important it is that we prioritise mental well-being.”
Ms Mitchell said she was liaising more with heads of year so they can support and offer advice to pupils if the demand is there.
The school will also carry out mental well-being checks so they can pick up on any behavioural patterns and put interventions in place to help pupils.
At Raha International School, the well-being team has provided parents with assessment surveys to see how they can support students at home to transition back to school.
“They have created a Well-being Resource Bank that parents have access to on information on various domains of mental health for students and families,” a team member said.
“Our pastoral team have been working with students to help ease the transition and reduce anxiety that [pupils] may experience after some have been nearly a year off campus.
"Special secondary tutorial classes have also focused on preparing students for their return; going over new guidelines, expectations and daily schedules.”
Company%20Profile
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In The Heights
Directed by: Jon M. Chu
Stars: Anthony Ramos, Lin-Manual Miranda
Rating: ****
MORE ON INTERNATIONAL JUSTICE
SPECS
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COMPANY PROFILE
● Company: Bidzi
● Started: 2024
● Founders: Akshay Dosaj and Asif Rashid
● Based: Dubai, UAE
● Industry: M&A
● Funding size: Bootstrapped
● No of employees: Nine
COMPANY%20PROFILE%20
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Springtime in a Broken Mirror,
Mario Benedetti, Penguin Modern Classics
Seven%20Winters%20in%20Tehran
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Generation Start-up: Awok company profile
Started: 2013
Founder: Ulugbek Yuldashev
Sector: e-commerce
Size: 600 plus
Stage: still in talks with VCs
Principal Investors: self-financed by founder
How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
SPECS
Engine: Two-litre four-cylinder turbo
Power: 235hp
Torque: 350Nm
Transmission: Nine-speed automatic
Price: From Dh167,500 ($45,000)
On sale: Now
The specs
Engine: 2-litre or 3-litre 4Motion all-wheel-drive Power: 250Nm (2-litre); 340 (3-litre) Torque: 450Nm Transmission: 8-speed automatic Starting price: From Dh212,000 On sale: Now
Sukuk explained
Sukuk are Sharia-compliant financial certificates issued by governments, corporates and other entities. While as an asset class they resemble conventional bonds, there are some significant differences. As interest is prohibited under Sharia, sukuk must contain an underlying transaction, for example a leaseback agreement, and the income that is paid to investors is generated by the underlying asset. Investors must also be prepared to share in both the profits and losses of an enterprise. Nevertheless, sukuk are similar to conventional bonds in that they provide regular payments, and are considered less risky than equities. Most investors would not buy sukuk directly due to high minimum subscriptions, but invest via funds.
Best Foreign Language Film nominees
Capernaum (Lebanon)
Cold War (Poland)
Never Look Away (Germany)
Roma (Mexico)
Shoplifters (Japan)
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Tree of Hell
Starring: Raed Zeno, Hadi Awada, Dr Mohammad Abdalla
Director: Raed Zeno
Rating: 4/5
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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APPLE IPAD MINI (A17 PRO)
Display: 21cm Liquid Retina Display, 2266 x 1488, 326ppi, 500 nits
Chip: Apple A17 Pro, 6-core CPU, 5-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine
Storage: 128/256/512GB
Main camera: 12MP wide, f/1.8, digital zoom up to 5x, Smart HDR 4
Front camera: 12MP ultra-wide, f/2.4, Smart HDR 4, full-HD @ 25/30/60fps
Biometrics: Touch ID, Face ID
Colours: Blue, purple, space grey, starlight
In the box: iPad mini, USB-C cable, 20W USB-C power adapter
Price: From Dh2,099
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Moon Music
Artist: Coldplay
Label: Parlophone/Atlantic
Number of tracks: 10
Rating: 3/5
The specs
The specs: 2019 Audi Q8
Price, base: Dh315,000
Engine: 3.0-litre turbocharged V6
Gearbox: Eight-speed automatic
Power: 340hp @ 3,500rpm
Torque: 500Nm @ 2,250rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 6.7L / 100km