Home improvements: Top summer trends for the home


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Fresh, pure, clean and simple: the colour white makes a statement in any interior. Depending on how it’s used, white can provide a sense of renewal, energy or elegance.

Likewise, you can never go wrong with wood. To make this essential accent feel fresh, combine it with metal or glass.

Create interest with surreal accent pieces. A great way to add colour and depth, surreal decor items hint at an element of dreaminess or fantasy, and offer contrast in a modern interior.

Geometric patterns create bold and versatile accents that add interest, colour and depth to a space, and this look can easily be achieved with the use of throw pillows and rugs. However, the latest incarnation of this timeless trend presents itself in the structure of items rather than through material patterns. The Pylon coat stand from Tom Dixon takes its inspiration from the structural forms of bridges and towers.

Other examples can be found in smaller design items, such as the Rhizomes accessories from Khaled El Mays.

Hazem Aljesr, owner, Cities Design & Lifestyle Store

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Avatar: Fire and Ash

Director: James Cameron

Starring: Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver, Zoe Saldana

Rating: 4.5/5

Dust and sand storms compared

Sand storm

  • Particle size: Larger, heavier sand grains
  • Visibility: Often dramatic with thick "walls" of sand
  • Duration: Short-lived, typically localised
  • Travel distance: Limited 
  • Source: Open desert areas with strong winds

Dust storm

  • Particle size: Much finer, lightweight particles
  • Visibility: Hazy skies but less intense
  • Duration: Can linger for days
  • Travel distance: Long-range, up to thousands of kilometres
  • Source: Can be carried from distant regions
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe

Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010

Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille

Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm

Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year

Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”

Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners

TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013