Dubai, UAE, March 15 -- On that Saturday evening the sky over Dubai began to flash with streaks of orange light and distant booms, like fireworks set off somewhere close. My 16-year-old daughter and her school friend were in the community pool, celebrating the end of their GCSE mocks. Floating on a Fatboy raft, they watched the sky the way teenagers watch fireworks anywhere-curious, mildly amused, not particularly alarmed.

Then something older than thought kicked in. My body reacted before my mind could fully catch up. I ran out of the house barefoot and down the path towards the pool, shouting for them to come inside. Halfway there I stopped. The sky had turned strangely mesmerizing. Streaks of light shot upwards and bloomed into bursts...