On this day, 21 years ago, the man responsible for the unification of the UAE and much of its early development died.
It was the 19th day of Ramadan and a time when news was heard on radios, television or by word of mouth.
It was no secret that Sheikh Zayed had been in fragile health. He was 84 and his public appearances had become rare.
A TV presenter on a local station delivered the news in the evening. Overcome with emotion, he said Sheikh Zayed, President of the UAE and Ruler of Abu Dhabi, the Founding Father, was dead.
All pretence of normal life ceased; offices were deserted and shops closed.
Radio stations played the Quran and flags were lowered as a sombre mood enveloped the country.
Forty days of mourning were declared and schools and government offices closed for eight days, to reopen after Eid Al Fitr.
The funeral was held the day after his death, with prayers held at Sheikh Sultan bin Zayed the First Mosque, in Al Bateen, and attended by the rulers of every emirate and leaders of Arab nations.
The prayers and burial were streamed live on local television.
Helicopter footage showed a sea of white as kandura-clad men poured out of the mosque and into almost a dozen large parked buses.
Sheikh Zayed's body, cloaked in the UAE flag, was taken to Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque — under construction at the time — where he was laid to rest.
Thousands of people of all backgrounds and creeds lined the streets, waiting beneath the shade of the trees, to mourn the much-loved leader, known affectionately as Baba Zayed.
Men and women cried, some threw themselves to the ground while others stood in solemn silence.
Crowds of people clamoured around the vehicle, waving pictures of the country's Ruler and trying to touch the car.
Those who did not head to the streets prayed at home or in mosques.
Sheikh Zayed was born in Abu Dhabi on May 6, 1918. He became Ruler of Abu Dhabi in 1966 and President of the UAE at its birth in 1971.
After the death of Sheikh Zayed, Sheikh Khalifa was named President. Sheikh Khalifa died on May 13, 2022.
In 2013, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, announced that November 3 would be marked with Flag Day, a celebration of Sheikh Khalifa's accession with the raising the country's flag.
The day aims to remind everyone not just of the UAE's glowing memories of the past but also to consider the promise of an even brighter future.
The anniversary of Sheikh Zayed's death is marked each year on Ramadan 19 with Zayed Humanitarian Day in commemoration for his legacy of charity and giving that is upheld and continued in the UAE to this day.
It is also an annual event to announce the launch of several humanitarian and charity initiatives through official community events held in the Emirates.
*This story first appeared in The National in 2021
Last five meetings
2013: South Korea 0-2 Brazil
2002: South Korea 2-3 Brazil
1999: South Korea 1-0 Brazil
1997: South Korea 1-2 Brazil
1995: South Korea 0-1 Brazil
Note: All friendlies
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UAE v Australia, Friday, 8pm, Hazza bin Zayed Stadium, Al Ain
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
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Director: Jon M Chu
Starring: Ariana Grande, Cynthia Erivo, Jonathan Bailey, Jeff Goldblum, Michelle Yeoh, Ethan Slater
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MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-finals, first leg
Liverpool v Roma
When: April 24, 10.45pm kick-off (UAE)
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Who are the Sacklers?
The Sackler family is a transatlantic dynasty that owns Purdue Pharma, which manufactures and markets OxyContin, one of the drugs at the centre of America's opioids crisis. The family is well known for their generous philanthropy towards the world's top cultural institutions, including Guggenheim Museum, the National Portrait Gallery, Tate in Britain, Yale University and the Serpentine Gallery, to name a few. Two branches of the family control Purdue Pharma.
Isaac Sackler and Sophie Greenberg were Jewish immigrants who arrived in New York before the First World War. They had three sons. The first, Arthur, died before OxyContin was invented. The second, Mortimer, who died aged 93 in 2010, was a former chief executive of Purdue Pharma. The third, Raymond, died aged 97 in 2017 and was also a former chief executive of Purdue Pharma.
It was Arthur, a psychiatrist and pharmaceutical marketeer, who started the family business dynasty. He and his brothers bought a small company called Purdue Frederick; among their first products were laxatives and prescription earwax remover.
Arthur's branch of the family has not been involved in Purdue for many years and his daughter, Elizabeth, has spoken out against it, saying the company's role in America's drugs crisis is "morally abhorrent".
The lawsuits that were brought by the attorneys general of New York and Massachussetts named eight Sacklers. This includes Kathe, Mortimer, Richard, Jonathan and Ilene Sackler Lefcourt, who are all the children of either Mortimer or Raymond. Then there's Theresa Sackler, who is Mortimer senior's widow; Beverly, Raymond's widow; and David Sackler, Raymond's grandson.
Members of the Sackler family are rarely seen in public.
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Director: Laxman Utekar
Cast: Vicky Kaushal, Akshaye Khanna, Diana Penty, Vineet Kumar Singh, Rashmika Mandanna
Rating: 1/5
'How To Build A Boat'
Jonathan Gornall, Simon & Schuster
Company Profile
Name: JustClean
Based: Kuwait with offices in other GCC countries
Launch year: 2016
Number of employees: 130
Sector: online laundry service
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Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Our legal consultants
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A list of the animal rescue organisations in the UAE
THE SPECS
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Expo details
Expo 2020 Dubai will be the first World Expo to be held in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia
The world fair will run for six months from October 20, 2020 to April 10, 2021.
It is expected to attract 25 million visits
Some 70 per cent visitors are projected to come from outside the UAE, the largest proportion of international visitors in the 167-year history of World Expos.
More than 30,000 volunteers are required for Expo 2020
The site covers a total of 4.38 sqkm, including a 2 sqkm gated area
It is located adjacent to Al Maktoum International Airport in Dubai South
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.
