The release of a new Netflix documentary, The Greatest Night in Pop, shines the spotlight on one of the most famous collaborations in music history: the recording of the 1985 charity single We Are The World.
Written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie and produced by Quincy Jones, the song, which was released on March 7, 1985, sold more than 20 million copies and brought together some of the biggest names in music as the supergroup USA For Africa to raise money for famine relief on the continent.
The idea came from music legend Harry Belafonte, who Richie says “made it all come together” during a 3am phone call to the All Night Long singer.
The result was 46 of the most famous singers and songwriters in the world, including Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Stevie Wonder, Cyndi Lauper, Paul Simon, Ray Charles, Tina Turner, Billy Joel and Diana Ross, heading to the studio to be greeted by a sign that read: “Check your egos at the door.”
“[My manager Ken] Kragen decided, well, everyone’s going to be in town for the American Music Awards. That’s the perfect place to have everybody do it,” Richie told The Hollywood Reporter of arranging the recording. “All we kept hearing was, ‘Well, we’re adding more people.'”
The documentary by Vietnamese-American filmmaker Bao Nguyen has received critical acclaim and plenty of nostalgia, particularly from one of the song’s main architects.
“What made We Are the World so fantastic was we snuck up on the world,” Richie told The Hollywood Reporter. “It came out fast. You could surprise somebody. It was a movement. I use We Are the World as my example of the end of my innocence, because from that point on, the world became too hip.”
How a Beatle’s song put Bangladesh disaster on the world's stage
While there had been smaller, country-specific charity songs before, The Beatles’ guitarist George Harrison is credited with recording the first international charity single.
In 1971, after being told of the plight of millions of refugees fleeing Bangladesh (known as East Pakistan at the time) by his friend, the famed Indian-Bengali musician Ravi Shankar, Harrison released the single Bangla Desh to raise money and awareness of the situation.
The twin blows of the 1970 Bhola cyclone, which killed more than 300,000 people and is still the deadliest tropical cyclone recorded, and the outbreak of the Bangladesh Liberation War, combined to create a major humanitarian disaster.
“I got tired of people saying: ‘But what can I do?’” Harrison wrote in his autobiography I Me Mine. “Also, the reluctance of the press to report the full details created the need to bring attention to it. So, the song Bangla Desh was written specifically to get attention to the war.”
The song was a top 10 hit in the UK and reached number 23 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the USA.
Harrison followed up with the Unicef-backed Concert for Bangladesh at New York’s Madison Square Garden on August 1, 1971, which also featured Eric Clapton, Ravi Shankar, Bob Dylan and Ringo Starr.
The concert was held with the aim of raising money for the Bangladeshi people and awareness of the work being carried out by Unicef.
In 2005, the UN secretary general at the time, Kofi Annan, said the song's success contributed to bringing the Bangladesh crisis to an international audience.
Do They Know it’s Christmas? revolutionises the charity single
Performances by Abba and the Bee Gees at the Music for Unicef Concert in New York in January 1979, led to their songs Chiquitita and Too Much Heaven become charity singles, after Abba donated 50 per cent of royalties to Unicef, an arrangement still in effect today. The Bee Gees also donated a percentage.
But it was the charity single Do They Know It's Christmas?, released in November 1984 and performed by the supergroup Band Aid, that revolutionised what a charity single could do on a global scale.
Written by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure to raise money and awareness for the famine in Ethiopia, the pair brought in George Michael, Bono, Phil Collins, Bananarama, Boy George, Spandau Ballet, Duran Duran, Paul Weller and others to record the song in one day at Sarm West Studios in Notting Hill, West London.
The song raised £8 million ($10.13 million) in its first year (more than £30 million today), and to date has raised more than £200 million for The Band Aid Charitable Trust, which administers it.
The track also inspired the Live Aid concerts on July 13, 1985 at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, while more concerts were held in countries including the Soviet Union, Australia and Japan.
The song was re-released in 1989, 2004 and 2014, respectively, by Band Aid II, featuring Bros, Kylie Minogue and Chris Rea; Band Aid 20, which featured Chris Martin, Snow Patrol and Joss Stone, and Band Aid 30, which included Ellie Goulding, One Direction and Ed Sheeran.
Says Geldof: "The song has a life of its own. It raises money every time it’s played.”
Rajieen unites Arab artists for Palestine
Since Do They Know it’s Christmas? and We Are The World, charity singles have tended to stay within the borders of their country of origin, with a few notable exceptions.
The 1985 cover version of That’s What Friends Are For featuring Dionne Warwick, Elton John and Stevie Wonder raised money for the American Foundation for Aids Research and reached number one in the US and UK.
George Michael and Elton John’s 1991 duet Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me, which benefited 10 charities, also reached the top spot in the UK and US.
Headline-making disasters including the 9/11 attacks in 2001, the Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami in 2004, Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and the Haiti earthquake in 2010 have all inspired charity singles to raise money to assist survivors and rebuild infrastructure.
In the UK, charity singles are a popular part of the music landscape. Charities such as Children in Need and Comic Relief continue to release singles to raise money and awareness of their televised events.
Comic Relief pairs British comedians and actors with well-known bands for charity singles. These include a cover of The Beatles’ Help in 1989 by British comedians Jennifer Saunders, Dawn French and Kathy Burke with Bananarama, which reached number three in the UK charts.
Absolutely Fabulous by the Pet Shop Boys was released in 1994 and featured Joanna Lumley and Jennifer Saunders in character as Patsy and Eddie from the hit television show.
Disasters have also inspired creative communities to come together to raise money for those affected. These include the Herald of Free Enterprise ferry disaster at Zeebrugge in March 1987 and the Hillsborough football stadium disaster in England in April 1989, which inspired covers of The Beatles’ Let It Be by Ferry Aid, and Ferry Cross The Mersey by Gerry and the Pacemakers.
More recently, the war in Palestine has galvanised artists in the Arab world to come together and make music to raise money for relief efforts.
The track Rajieen, which features 25 Arab artists, is donating all revenue generated by the song to the Palestine Children's Relief Fund.
Two of the Arab world’s biggest hip-hop stars, Afroto and Marwan Pablo from Egypt, as well as Jordanian singer Issam Alnajjar, Syrian singer-songwriter Ghaliaa Chaker and Tunisian singer Balti, provided vocals for the track's powerful lyrics.
“Rajieen is a powerful and uncompromising composition that serves as a testament to music's transformative potential to ignite change and capture the world's gaze amid urgent global concerns,” a statement said.
INDIA SQUAD
Virat Kohli (capt), Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Vijay Shankar, MS Dhoni (wk), Kedar Jadhav, Dinesh Karthik, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre turbo 4-cyl
Transmission: eight-speed auto
Power: 190bhp
Torque: 300Nm
Price: Dh169,900
On sale: now
Company%20profile
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Mia Man’s tips for fermentation
- Start with a simple recipe such as yogurt or sauerkraut
- Keep your hands and kitchen tools clean. Sanitize knives, cutting boards, tongs and storage jars with boiling water before you start.
- Mold is bad: the colour pink is a sign of mold. If yogurt turns pink as it ferments, you need to discard it and start again. For kraut, if you remove the top leaves and see any sign of mold, you should discard the batch.
- Always use clean, closed, airtight lids and containers such as mason jars when fermenting yogurt and kraut. Keep the lid closed to prevent insects and contaminants from getting in.
Wallabies
Updated team: 15-Israel Folau, 14-Dane Haylett-Petty, 13-Reece Hodge, 12-Matt Toomua, 11-Marika Koroibete, 10-Kurtley Beale, 9-Will Genia, 8-Pete Samu, 7-Michael Hooper (captain), 6-Lukhan Tui, 5-Adam Coleman, 4-Rory Arnold, 3-Allan Alaalatoa, 2-Tatafu Polota-Nau, 1-Scott Sio.
Replacements: 16-Folau Faingaa, 17-Tom Robertson, 18-Taniela Tupou, 19-Izack Rodda, 20-Ned Hanigan, 21-Joe Powell, 22-Bernard Foley, 23-Jack Maddocks.
Company Fact Box
Company name/date started: Abwaab Technologies / September 2019
Founders: Hamdi Tabbaa, co-founder and CEO. Hussein Alsarabi, co-founder and CTO
Based: Amman, Jordan
Sector: Education Technology
Size (employees/revenue): Total team size: 65. Full-time employees: 25. Revenue undisclosed
Stage: early-stage startup
Investors: Adam Tech Ventures, Endure Capital, Equitrust, the World Bank-backed Innovative Startups SMEs Fund, a London investment fund, a number of former and current executives from Uber and Netflix, among others.
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Retirement funds heavily invested in equities at a risky time
Pension funds in growing economies in Asia, Latin America and the Middle East have a sharply higher percentage of assets parked in stocks, just at a time when trade tensions threaten to derail markets.
Retirement money managers in 14 geographies now allocate 40 per cent of their assets to equities, an 8 percentage-point climb over the past five years, according to a Mercer survey released last week that canvassed government, corporate and mandatory pension funds with almost $5 trillion in assets under management. That compares with about 25 per cent for pension funds in Europe.
The escalating trade spat between the US and China has heightened fears that stocks are ripe for a downturn. With tensions mounting and outcomes driven more by politics than economics, the S&P 500 Index will be on course for a “full-scale bear market” without Federal Reserve interest-rate cuts, Citigroup’s global macro strategy team said earlier this week.
The increased allocation to equities by growth-market pension funds has come at the expense of fixed-income investments, which declined 11 percentage points over the five years, according to the survey.
Hong Kong funds have the highest exposure to equities at 66 per cent, although that’s been relatively stable over the period. Japan’s equity allocation jumped 13 percentage points while South Korea’s increased 8 percentage points.
The money managers are also directing a higher portion of their funds to assets outside of their home countries. On average, foreign stocks now account for 49 per cent of respondents’ equity investments, 4 percentage points higher than five years ago, while foreign fixed-income exposure climbed 7 percentage points to 23 per cent. Funds in Japan, South Korea, Malaysia and Taiwan are among those seeking greater diversification in stocks and fixed income.
• Bloomberg
A little about CVRL
Founded in 1985 by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, the Central Veterinary Research Laboratory (CVRL) is a government diagnostic centre that provides testing and research facilities to the UAE and neighbouring countries.
One of its main goals is to provide permanent treatment solutions for veterinary related diseases.
The taxidermy centre was established 12 years ago and is headed by Dr Ulrich Wernery.
Liverpool’s fixtures until end of 2019
Saturday, November 30, Brighton (h)
Wednesday, December 4, Everton (h)
Saturday, December 7, Bournemouth (a)
Tuesday, December 10, Salzburg (a) CL
Saturday, December 14, Watford (h)
Tuesday, December 17, Aston Villa (a) League Cup
Wednesday, December 18, Club World Cup in Qatar
Saturday, December 21, Club World Cup in Qatar
Thursday, December 26, Leicester (a)
Sunday, December 29, Wolves (h)
'Project Power'
Stars: Jamie Foxx, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Dominique Fishback
Director: Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman
Rating: 3.5/5
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
Know before you go
- Jebel Akhdar is a two-hour drive from Muscat airport or a six-hour drive from Dubai. It’s impossible to visit by car unless you have a 4x4. Phone ahead to the hotel to arrange a transfer.
- If you’re driving, make sure your insurance covers Oman.
- By air: Budget airlines Air Arabia, Flydubai and SalamAir offer direct routes to Muscat from the UAE.
- Tourists from the Emirates (UAE nationals not included) must apply for an Omani visa online before arrival at evisa.rop.gov.om. The process typically takes several days.
- Flash floods are probable due to the terrain and a lack of drainage. Always check the weather before venturing into any canyons or other remote areas and identify a plan of escape that includes high ground, shelter and parking where your car won’t be overtaken by sudden downpours.
Company name: Play:Date
Launched: March 2017 on UAE Mother’s Day
Founder: Shamim Kassibawi
Based: Dubai with operations in the UAE and US
Sector: Tech
Size: 20 employees
Stage of funding: Seed
Investors: Three founders (two silent co-founders) and one venture capital fund
The President's Cake
Director: Hasan Hadi
Starring: Baneen Ahmad Nayyef, Waheed Thabet Khreibat, Sajad Mohamad Qasem
Rating: 4/5
UAE%20v%20West%20Indies
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Gertrude Bell's life in focus
A feature film
At one point, two feature films were in the works, but only German director Werner Herzog’s project starring Nicole Kidman would be made. While there were high hopes he would do a worthy job of directing the biopic, when Queen of the Desert arrived in 2015 it was a disappointment. Critics panned the film, in which Herzog largely glossed over Bell’s political work in favour of her ill-fated romances.
A documentary
A project that did do justice to Bell arrived the next year: Sabine Krayenbuhl and Zeva Oelbaum’s Letters from Baghdad: The Extraordinary Life and Times of Gertrude Bell. Drawing on more than 1,000 pieces of archival footage, 1,700 documents and 1,600 letters, the filmmakers painstakingly pieced together a compelling narrative that managed to convey both the depth of Bell’s experience and her tortured love life.
Books, letters and archives
Two biographies have been written about Bell, and both are worth reading: Georgina Howell’s 2006 book Queen of the Desert and Janet Wallach’s 1996 effort Desert Queen. Bell published several books documenting her travels and there are also several volumes of her letters, although they are hard to find in print. Original documents are housed at the Gertrude Bell Archive at the University of Newcastle, which has an online catalogue.
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
The biog
Hobby: "It is not really a hobby but I am very curious person. I love reading and spend hours on research."
Favourite author: Malcom Gladwell
Favourite travel destination: "Antigua in the Caribbean because I have emotional attachment to it. It is where I got married."
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
Ten tax points to be aware of in 2026
1. Domestic VAT refund amendments: request your refund within five years
If a business does not apply for the refund on time, they lose their credit.
2. E-invoicing in the UAE
Businesses should continue preparing for the implementation of e-invoicing in the UAE, with 2026 a preparation and transition period ahead of phased mandatory adoption.
3. More tax audits
Tax authorities are increasingly using data already available across multiple filings to identify audit risks.
4. More beneficial VAT and excise tax penalty regime
Tax disputes are expected to become more frequent and more structured, with clearer administrative objection and appeal processes. The UAE has adopted a new penalty regime for VAT and excise disputes, which now mirrors the penalty regime for corporate tax.
5. Greater emphasis on statutory audit
There is a greater need for the accuracy of financial statements. The International Financial Reporting Standards standards need to be strictly adhered to and, as a result, the quality of the audits will need to increase.
6. Further transfer pricing enforcement
Transfer pricing enforcement, which refers to the practice of establishing prices for internal transactions between related entities, is expected to broaden in scope. The UAE will shortly open the possibility to negotiate advance pricing agreements, or essentially rulings for transfer pricing purposes.
7. Limited time periods for audits
Recent amendments also introduce a default five-year limitation period for tax audits and assessments, subject to specific statutory exceptions. While the standard audit and assessment period is five years, this may be extended to up to 15 years in cases involving fraud or tax evasion.
8. Pillar 2 implementation
Many multinational groups will begin to feel the practical effect of the Domestic Minimum Top-Up Tax (DMTT), the UAE's implementation of the OECD’s global minimum tax under Pillar 2. While the rules apply for financial years starting on or after January 1, 2025, it is 2026 that marks the transition to an operational phase.
9. Reduced compliance obligations for imported goods and services
Businesses that apply the reverse-charge mechanism for VAT purposes in the UAE may benefit from reduced compliance obligations.
10. Substance and CbC reporting focus
Tax authorities are expected to continue strengthening the enforcement of economic substance and Country-by-Country (CbC) reporting frameworks. In the UAE, these regimes are increasingly being used as risk-assessment tools, providing tax authorities with a comprehensive view of multinational groups’ global footprints and enabling them to assess whether profits are aligned with real economic activity.
Contributed by Thomas Vanhee and Hend Rashwan, Aurifer
Company Profile
Founder: Omar Onsi
Launched: 2018
Employees: 35
Financing stage: Seed round ($12 million)
Investors: B&Y, Phoenician Funds, M1 Group, Shorooq Partners
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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What is graphene?
Graphene is extracted from graphite and is made up of pure carbon.
It is 200 times more resistant than steel and five times lighter than aluminum.
It conducts electricity better than any other material at room temperature.
It is thought that graphene could boost the useful life of batteries by 10 per cent.
Graphene can also detect cancer cells in the early stages of the disease.
The material was first discovered when Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov were 'playing' with graphite at the University of Manchester in 2004.
