Doctors at Aster Hospital Mankhool in Dubai have successfully removed a nearly 2cm fish bone that remained lodged in a patient’s airway for more than two months, causing persistent coughing, chest congestion and breathing difficulties.

The patient, 60-year-old Indian expatriate Unnikrishnan Sivaraman, who lives in Sharjah, accidentally inhaled a milkfish bone while eating on July 1, 2026.

Following the incident, he experienced discomfort, severe nausea and blood-stained vomiting, prompting a visit to the emergency department at Aster Hospital Al Qusais.

However, his symptoms persisted over the following weeks, including a worsening cough, chest congestion and increasing difficulty breathing.

A subsequent CT scan conducted at another hospital revealed that the fish bone had become lodged in the right main bronchus, the airway leading into the right lung.

The patient was subsequently referred to Aster Hospital Mankhool on August 26 for specialised treatment.

Fish bone causes inflammation in patient’s airway

According to the hospital, the fish bone’s prolonged presence had caused significant local inflammation and the formation of granulation tissue around the foreign object.

Its size, sharp edges and position made removal particularly challenging, with doctors identifying potential risks including bleeding, airway injury and sudden obstruction during extraction.

A multidisciplinary team comprising specialists in pulmonology, ear, nose and throat (ENT), and anaesthesia developed a treatment plan to safely remove the bone.

Dr Jolsana Augustine, Specialist Pulmonologist at Aster Hospital Mankhool, performed a bronchoscopy to carefully move the fish bone from the right main bronchus towards the upper airway.

Dr Bharath Neranki Satish Rao, Specialist ENT, subsequently used direct laryngoscopy and specialised forceps to extract the bone while protecting the patient’s vocal cords.

The procedure was supported by anaesthesia specialists Dr Abhishek Jayaprakash Narayan and Dr Siraj Madayi Meethel.

A follow-up bronchoscopy was performed to examine the airway and clear remaining secretions.

Dubai doctors complete complex procedure

Dr Augustine said the prolonged presence of the foreign object had complicated its removal.

“When a foreign body remains in the airway for a prolonged period, inflammation and granulation tissue can make removal more challenging. In this case, the size, sharp edges and location of the fish bone required careful planning and controlled manipulation. Close coordination between the Pulmonology, ENT and Anesthesia teams was essential for its safe removal while minimising the risk of airway injury or bleeding.”

Dr Rao highlighted the challenges associated with extracting the sharp object near the vocal cords.

“The sharp edges of the fish bone and its proximity to the vocal cords made the final stage of extraction particularly delicate. Our focus was to remove the foreign body safely while protecting the vocal cord structures. The successful outcome was made possible by careful coordination between the Pulmonology, ENT and Anesthesia teams throughout the procedure.”

Patient discharged hours after procedure

The procedure was successfully completed on September 11, 2026, and the patient was discharged in stable condition within a few hours.

During a subsequent follow-up consultation, Sivaraman reported significant improvement in his breathing and overall health, with no further medical treatment required.

“I am very thankful to Dr. Jolsana, Dr. Bharath and the entire team at Aster Hospital Mankhool for the care and support I received. Dr. Jolsana explained everything clearly and made me feel comfortable throughout the treatment. I am very happy with my recovery and the significant improvement in my breathing and overall condition,” he said.

The hospital said the case highlighted the importance of accurate diagnosis and coordinated specialist care when treating foreign objects lodged in the lower respiratory tract.

While fish bones are commonly associated with accidental ingestion, this case involved aspiration into the airway, requiring a more complex extraction procedure.

Parkin, Dubai’s provider of paid public parking facilities and services, has partnered with ABER Vehicles Registration Services LLC to introduce on-site vehicle testing at designated Parkin-managed parking locations across Dubai.

The partnership will bring vehicle testing services closer to motorists’ homes, workplaces and daily destinations, while supporting Parkin’s strategy to expand its mobility services beyond traditional parking management.

Read more-New parking fees in Dubai: What drivers need to know about charges in two areas

The signing ceremony was attended by Engineer Osama Hashem Al Safi, COO, and Engineer Abdelrahman Al Shuweihi, Director of Operations, representing Parkin. ABER was represented by Board Member Naser Al Ali and director of Business Development, Mustafa Omar.

Services launch in two Dubai locations

The services have launched at initial locations in Business Bay and DAMAC Hills 1, with Parkin planning a phased rollout across additional sites in Dubai.

The expansion will focus on residential communities, commercial districts and high-demand urban areas. By using its existing parking network, Parkin aims to introduce additional automotive services while making greater use of its parking infrastructure.

The initiative also forms part of the company’s broader strategy to transform parking facilities into integrated service destinations.

Digital booking planned through Parkin platforms

Parkin and ABER are working to integrate vehicle testing services into Parkin’s digital ecosystem. Customers will soon be able to find and book appointments through the company’s website and mobile application.

The planned integration is intended to simplify access to vehicle testing and give motorists another way to arrange essential services as part of their daily routines.

Executives outline strategic benefits

Eng. Abdelrahman Al Shuweihi, director of Operations at Parkin, said the agreement would help the company broaden its service offering and improve customer convenience.

“This partnership with ABER supports Parkin’s strategy to expand beyond traditional parking management and deliver an integrated, customer-centric mobility ecosystem. By leveraging our existing parking infrastructure to offer on-demand vehicle testing, we are making essential services more accessible, creating a seamless customer journey, and supporting Dubai’s ambition to become a smarter, more connected city,” he said.

Mustafa Omar, director of Business Development at ABER, said the agreement would extend access to the company’s RTA-approved mobile vehicle inspection services across Dubai’s residential and commercial areas.

“Built in the UAE and powered by patented technology, our mobile inspection solution enables customers to complete the vehicle testing required for vehicle registration renewals at designated parking locations within residential communities and commercial areas,” Omar said.

He added that the service would reduce travel time and allow motorists to complete vehicle testing closer to where they live and work.

Omar said the initiative also supports ABER’s commitment to the RTA’s vision for customer happiness and seamless mobility, alongside Dubai’s wider ambitions for smarter and more sustainable urban services.

The most revealing number in artificial intelligence (AI) right now is not about adoption. In McKinsey’s latest State of AI survey, published in August, four in five respondents said AI makes them personally more productive. Only just over a third said their organisation is seeing any impact on earnings, and that share has barely moved in a year. People are working faster. Most companies are not yet performing better.

The productivity paradox

That gap matters more in the Gulf than almost anywhere else, because expectations here run higher. KPMG’s 2026 technology reports found that 76 per cent of Saudi organisations expect AI to deliver measurable returns at enterprise scale within 12 months, the highest confidence of any market surveyed. In the UAE, 96 per cent of organisations believe managing AI agents will become a critical workforce skill within five years. The region has the ambition and the investment. The open question is whether it has the operating model to match. In boardrooms across the region, I see a familiar pattern. An organisation deploys an AI assistant or agent, runs a successful pilot, and then watches the gains flatten once it meets the real business. The technology rarely fails. What stalls is everything around it: approvals that still route through four people, customer data split across systems that don’t talk to each other, and job roles designed for a world where a person handled every step. This is the gap between deploying AI and redesigning for it. Deployment adds a capable tool to an existing process. Redesign asks what that process should look like when much of the routine work no longer needs a person, and what people should do with the time and judgement that frees up. Recent studies and data point the same way: the small group of companies drawing real profit from AI are nearly three times as likely as others to have fundamentally redesigned their workflows.

Deployment is not redesign

It helps to be precise about why deployment alone falls short.

A general-purpose AI model is highly capable and knows nothing about your organisation. It does not know your customers, your pricing rules or who is allowed to approve what. Without that context it remains an articulate stranger, impressive in conversation and unreliable in operations. Closing that gap means deciding which information is trusted, who owns it, and which decisions an agent may take on its own. Those are leadership choices before they are technical ones.

Our own research reaches the same conclusion. In Salesforce’s 2026 Agentic Enterprise study, 94 per cent of business leaders said AI creates more value when it is built into core workflows than when it runs as a separate tool, and organisations that prepared their data before deploying agents saw stronger returns. The same thinking sits behind our expanded partnership with Anthropic, which featured prominently at Dreamforce this September. The premise is simple: pair a leading model’s reasoning with the business context it would otherwise lack, from customer history to the rules and approvals that turn a good answer into a correct action. Capability is no longer scarce. Knowing where to apply it is. For leaders in the region, two things follow.

The first is to treat redesign as a leadership question. Deciding which decisions stay with people, which move to agents, and how the two hand work to each other is a matter of accountability, and it belongs with the executive team rather than on the IT roadmap.

The second is to measure outcomes rather than adoption. The number of employees using an AI tool says very little. The time taken to resolve a customer issue, the cost to serve, or how long a client waits for an answer says a great deal. None of this takes people out of the picture. It changes what their work is. The Gulf’s young, digitally fluent workforce is a real advantage here, provided organisations invest in the judgement and oversight skills that redesigned roles demand, and give employees a clear stake in the change rather than leaving them to guess at it.

The region’s early commitment to AI gave it a head start. Keeping that lead will depend less on how quickly organisations adopt the next tool and more on how willing they are to rebuild the work around it.

Dubai Municipality has awarded contracts worth Dhs3bn for four new stormwater drainage projects, involving the construction and extension of approximately 100 kilometres of drainage lines across key areas of the emirate.

The contracts form part of Phase 3 of Dubai’s Dhs30bn Tasreef programme, which aims to expand the city’s stormwater drainage capacity and strengthen infrastructure resilience against extreme rainfall and future climate-related challenges.

The projects will cover nearly 100 square kilometres, including Jumeirah, Umm Suqeim, Al Safa, Al Manara, Al Quoz, Al Barsha, Al Wasl, Za’abeel, Al Bada’a, Al Satwa and Al Marmoom.

The new drainage lines, with diameters of up to three metres, will connect these areas to Dubai Municipality’s main stormwater drainage network, improving water-flow capacity and reducing the risk of flooding.

The projects are being implemented under the directives of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai.

Dubai’s AED30bn Tasreef programme

The Tasreef programme is designed to increase Dubai’s stormwater drainage capacity by 700 per cent, while reducing costs associated with pumping station construction, operations and maintenance by 20 per cent.

The municipality said the programme would also extend the lifespan of the drainage network and support the Dubai 2040 Urban Master Plan and the UAE’s Net Zero 2050 Strategy.

Marwan Ahmed bin Ghalita, Director General of Dubai Municipality, said the programme would strengthen the emirate’s ability to respond to climate change while supporting population and urban growth.

“Dubai Municipality continues to implement the phases of the ‘Tasreef’ Programme, one of Dubai’s largest strategic infrastructure projects, enhancing its efficiency and resilience, making it more sustainable and strengthening its ability to address both future climate change and accommodate population and urban growth. Our objective is to build a comprehensive and integrated model for a leading future city, characterised by a sustainable urban system and advanced infrastructure that serve people, enhance their quality of life and well-being, and strengthen their safety and security. At the same time, it provides a stable and enabling environment for the growth of businesses and economic, commercial and tourism activities, reinforcing Dubai’s position as the world’s best city to live, work, invest and visit.”

Four major drainage projects across Dubai

The largest project will involve approximately 42 kilometres of drainage lines serving Umm Suqeim 1, 2 and 3, Umm Al Sheif, Jumeirah 3, Al Safa 1 and 2, and Al Manara.

A second project will develop 14 kilometres of drainage infrastructure between Sheikh Zayed Road and Al Khail Road, covering Al Quoz Industrial Areas 1, 3 and 4, and Al Barsha 1.

The works will also serve important transport corridors, including Umm Suqeim Road, First Al Khail Street, Al Marabea Street, Al Waha Street and Al Zumurrud Street.

Another 21 kilometres of drainage lines will be developed along Al Wasl Road and areas east of Dubai Water Canal, covering Za’abeel 2, Al Wasl, Jumeirah 1 and 2, Al Bada’a, Al Satwa and Dubai World Trade Centre 1 and 2.

This project will cover an area of up to 25 square kilometres.

The fourth package will involve 23 kilometres of drainage infrastructure in Al Marmoom, strengthening the area’s stormwater management capabilities.

Dubai targets improved flood resilience

Adel Mohammed Al Marzouqi, CEO of the Waste and Sewerage Agency at Dubai Municipality, said the projects would improve drainage efficiency across important economic and residential districts.

“The third phase of the Tasreef Programme’s projects will serve areas that represent vital arteries across the emirate, marking another pivotal step in developing Dubai’s stormwater drainage system as well as making it more resilient and efficient in managing rainfall under different conditions and future climate changes. We are committed to ensuring that these projects advance the broader objectives of the Tasreef Programme by reducing water accumulation, protecting residents and assets, improving the quality of services, enhancing the city’s readiness and traffic flow, and safeguarding the sustainability of its resources.”

Dubai Municipality said the projects would be implemented in accordance with approved schedules and operational plans.

The expansion is expected to improve stormwater management across key residential, commercial, industrial and tourism districts, while strengthening the emirate’s infrastructure readiness as urban development continues.

Apple’s newly launched iPhone Duo is facing complaints over screen durability, with several early buyers reporting cracked displays and pixel failures just days after the company’s first foldable smartphone went on sale in Dubai and other global markets on October 23.

Images and accounts shared on Reddit, X and technology forums show damage concentrated around the device’s internal folding hinge, with some screens developing vertical cracks, bright white lines and dead pixels within hours of purchase.

The reports have raised questions about the durability of Apple’s premium foldable device, which is priced between Dhs8,499 and Dhs13,599 in the UAE, although the extent of the problem remains unclear.

iPhone Duo screen reportedly cracks within six hours

One of the earliest complaints emerged from Australia, where a Reddit user identified as Midnight_Slump reported that their iPhone Duo’s internal display cracked after approximately six hours of ownership and fewer than 20 openings.

According to the user’s account on the iPhone Duo subreddit, they noticed an unusual sensation beneath the display near the hinge while opening the device to show a friend. The screen subsequently cracked along the folding mechanism.

The user said there were no visible signs of external damage or anything trapped inside the device that could explain the failure.

Apple initially offered an express replacement, but the customer said the process would have required a hold for the phone’s full purchase price without a guaranteed delivery date.

The customer subsequently visited an Apple Store, where the device was replaced. Reddit moderators reportedly verified the incident after reviewing additional photographs and Apple service documentation, although they could not establish what caused the damage.

Similar complaints emerge on Reddit and X

The Australian incident does not appear to be the only reported case.

According to 9to5Mac, approximately 10 distinct cases of similar screen damage had been identified by October 25, with several users reporting cracks running down the centre of the folding display.

Some affected devices reportedly developed a horizontal band of white pixels, while others experienced display failures during initial setup.

Images of damaged iPhone Duo demonstration units have also circulated on Chinese social media platforms, although the circumstances surrounding those incidents have not been independently established.

On X, technology commentator Mike Rundle, who posts under the handle @flyosity, said he had seen seven photographs showing similar damage, alongside videos circulating on TikTok.

The recurring pattern has prompted speculation that a component within the hinge assembly may be exerting pressure on the flexible display. However, there is currently insufficient evidence to establish whether the incidents are linked to a common manufacturing or design defect.

Could the iPhone Duo hinge be causing screen damage?

A teardown of the iPhone Duo has provided a possible explanation for the reported failures.

According to The Verge, YouTuber CuriousHagi reproduced a screen crack during durability testing before dismantling the device to investigate.

The examination identified a broken connecting component within the hinge assembly that was thinner than surrounding parts. Marks where the hinge contacted a supporting plate also suggested that the mechanism may have caught during operation.

However, these findings do not conclusively establish the cause of the failures reported by customers or indicate that every iPhone Duo is affected.