ABU DHABI // Shoppers in Abu Dhabi and Dubai have spent more during Eid al Fitr this year than in 2007, shop owners have said, with some reports showing record sales in both cities.
Longer shopping hours have helped, according to workers, as people look for the gifts traditionally handed out during Eid.
Shopping has long been an Eid tradition, something families tend to enjoy together in the evenings.
At Abu Dhabi's Al Wahda Mall, managers, cashiers and store owners said that this year was much more profitable than last, though they said it was too early to put exact figures on profits and the number of shoppers.
Jewellery stores traditionally do very well during Eid, as jewellery - gold in particular, the price of which can increase by about 25 per cent during Eid - is a popular gift.
Mohammed Ali Saad, manager of the Damas store in Al Wahda Mall, said sales were significantly higher than last year, though he added that because the mall had shorter hours last year - open only during evenings in 2007, but during day and night this year - the longer shopping day meant more shoppers and more profits for the store.
During the days, shopping centres have not been as packed as the evenings, when shop owners say their stores become so crowded it can be difficult to move from one side to the other.
Josh Cesinillo, a sales representative at Magrudy's bookshop in Al Wahda Mall, said this year had seen bigger crowds and more chaos. "We have achieved our sales target for Eid," he said. "Definitely."
The most popular items for shoppers included toys, coffee table books and other items that were clearly bought as gifts.
Mubarak Sultan, an employee at LuLu Hypermarket in Al Wahda Mall, said the store had also exceeded its sales targets for Eid.
But the windfall also resulted in heavy traffic around shopping centres and stores overwhelmed by the throng of customers. Many shopping centres offered special Eid performances including music and dance to entertain shoppers.
Dubai's Mall of the Emirates was forced to start turning people away one night during Eid when the car park filled up.
Roads were clogged, with shoppers double parking, mounting curbs and blocking in other vehicles. Many drivers emerged from the shops to find they had been issued parking tickets while they shopped.
One shopper said it took him more than an hour to find a parking space - an illegal one.
"After an hour I mounted a raised pavement to park. I assumed it would be okay as it was Eid and everyone else was doing the same," he said. "I was not blocking anyone in or creating a hazard. I was annoyed to find a police parking fine on my windscreen."
But heavy traffic and a lack of parking would not deter shoppers. An Abu Dhabi Mall spokesman said last week that it expected 25 to 30 per cent more customers than usual during Eid.
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Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
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Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
The Facility’s Versatility
Between the start of the 2020 IPL on September 20, and the end of the Pakistan Super League this coming Thursday, the Zayed Cricket Stadium has had an unprecedented amount of traffic.
Never before has a ground in this country – or perhaps anywhere in the world – had such a volume of major-match cricket.
And yet scoring has remained high, and Abu Dhabi has seen some classic encounters in every format of the game.
October 18, IPL, Kolkata Knight Riders tied with Sunrisers Hyderabad
The two playoff-chasing sides put on 163 apiece, before Kolkata went on to win the Super Over
January 8, ODI, UAE beat Ireland by six wickets
A century by CP Rizwan underpinned one of UAE’s greatest ever wins, as they chased 270 to win with an over to spare
February 6, T10, Northern Warriors beat Delhi Bulls by eight wickets
The final of the T10 was chiefly memorable for a ferocious over of fast bowling from Fidel Edwards to Nicholas Pooran
March 14, Test, Afghanistan beat Zimbabwe by six wickets
Eleven wickets for Rashid Khan, 1,305 runs scored in five days, and a last session finish
June 17, PSL, Islamabad United beat Peshawar Zalmi by 15 runs
Usman Khawaja scored a hundred as Islamabad posted the highest score ever by a Pakistan team in T20 cricket
Results
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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