They fled the scene as the fire was spreading quickly, fuelled by the inflammable plastic waiting to be recycled. Police were investigating the cause of the fire. The cost of the damage was ...

Then came cheekbone-lifts, nose jobs “and so on”. The plastic pilgrimage has become so common that Mr Makhlouf, who is 29, says he no longer knows “anyone who hasn’t gotten plastic surgery”.

Dubai is rolling out a major new single-use plastic ban from the start of next year which will mean big changes to takeaways in the emirate. A whole range of products have been banned as the clock ...

He’s already started to chip away at what once was with a series of billboards posted in major cities across the world that read: “The End Is Near ... Woe is me in my gilded cage, right?