World leaders and officials that attended Ebrahim Raisi's funeral

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi's funeral was attended by thousands of Iranians and several high-ranking officials and dignitaries from around the world.

Mr Raisi was killed in a helicopter crash on Sunday, along with Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, and thousands joined processions in Tehran, before the burial in Mr Raisi's home city of Mashhad on Thursday.

Notably, Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan bin Abdullah was in attendance - his second visit to Tehran since a 2023 agreement between Riyadh and Tehran to re-establish ties.

Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim was seen with a delegation shaking hands and exchanging words with Iranian officials at the processions. Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani was also present.

Sheikh Tamim offered condolences to Iran's interim president Mohammad Mokhber over the death of his predecessor Ebrahim Raisi. Photo: @IMO_Qatar / X

From the Gulf, Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed led the UAE delegation that took part in an official mourning ceremony for Mr Raisi.

Kuwait's Foreign Minister Abdullah Ali Al Yahya attended the funeral on behalf of Emir Sheikh Meshal, the Kuwaiti Foreign Ministry said.

Tunisian President Kais Saied and Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al Sudani were among regional leaders in attendance, as well as Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry. Egypt has had no diplomatic relations with Iran since the 1979 revolution.

Tunisian President Kais Saied pays his respects to Ebrahim Raisi in Tehran. Photo: @TnPresidency / X

Russia, an ally of Iran since the 1990s, sent Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov who was seen at the processions, although leaders from the West were absent. The two countries have developed stronger military ties since Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

Major Iran-backed armed groups also attended. Hamas's political head Ismail Haniyeh made it his first trip outside of Doha, where he lives, since the International Criminal Court requested an arrest warrant for alleged war crimes, alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

During his attendance of the funeral processions, Mr Haniyeh, who has lost three of his sons in the war in Gaza, said he was present "on behalf of the Palestinian people" and "in the name of the resistance factions of Gaza", to offer his condolences.

Lebanon-based, Iran-backed group Hezbollah's deputy leader Naim Qassem was also at the funeral on Wednesday.

Mr Qassem was seen alongside Mr Haniyeh.

Houthi spokesman Mohammed Abdulsalam Al Houthi was also present at the funeral. Both Hezbollah and Yemen's Houthis received the bulk of their support from Iran.

Other paramilitary groups, including elements of Iraq's Popular Mobilisation Forces attended, represented by Faleh Al Fayadh, who is under US sanctions, as well as Mr Qassem.

Mobile phone packages comparison

Notable groups (UAE time)

Jordan Spieth, Si Woo Kim, Henrik Stenson (12.47pm)

Justin Thomas, Justin Rose, Louis Oosthuizen (12.58pm)

Hideki Matsuyama, Brooks Koepka, Tommy Fleetwood (1.09pm)

Sergio Garcia, Jason Day, Zach Johnson (4.04pm)

Rickie Fowler, Paul Casey, Adam Scott (4.26pm)

Dustin Johnson, Charl Schwartzel, Rory McIlroy (5.48pm)

Basquiat in Abu Dhabi

One of Basquiat’s paintings, the vibrant Cabra (1981–82), now hangs in Louvre Abu Dhabi temporarily, on loan from the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi.

The latter museum is not open physically, but has assembled a collection and puts together a series of events called Talking Art, such as this discussion, moderated by writer Chaedria LaBouvier.

It's something of a Basquiat season in Abu Dhabi at the moment. Last week, The Radiant Child, a documentary on Basquiat was shown at Manarat Al Saadiyat, and tonight (April 18) the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi is throwing the re-creation of a party tonight, of the legendary Canal Zone party thrown in 1979, which epitomised the collaborative scene of the time. It was at Canal Zone that Basquiat met prominent members of the art world and moved from unknown graffiti artist into someone in the spotlight.

“We’ve invited local resident arists, we’ll have spray cans at the ready,” says curator Maisa Al Qassemi of the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi.

Guggenheim Abu Dhabi's Canal Zone Remix is at Manarat Al Saadiyat, Thursday April 18, from 8pm. Free entry to all. Basquiat's Cabra is on view at Louvre Abu Dhabi until October

UAE v IRELAND

All matches start at 10am, and will be played in Abu Dhabi

1st ODI, Friday, January 8

2nd ODI, Sunday, January 10

3rd ODI, Tuesday, January 12

4th ODI, Thursday, January 14

UAE currency

Mubalada World Tennis Championship 2018 schedule

Thursday December 27

Men's quarter-finals

Kevin Anderson v Hyeon Chung 4pm

Dominic Thiem v Karen Khachanov 6pm

Women's exhibition

Serena Williams v Venus Williams 8pm

Friday December 28

5th place play-off 3pm

Men's semi-finals

Rafael Nadal v Anderson/Chung 5pm

Novak Djokovic v Thiem/Khachanov 7pm

Saturday December 29

3rd place play-off 5pm

Men's final 7pm

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While you're here

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Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme

Priority access to new homes from participating developers
Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
Flexible payment plans from developers
Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates

Western Region Asia Cup T20 Qualifier

Sun Feb 23 – Thu Feb 27, Al Amerat, Oman

The two finalists advance to the Asia qualifier in Malaysia in August

Group A

Bahrain, Maldives, Oman, Qatar

Group B

UAE, Iran, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia

UAE group fixtures

Sunday Feb 23, 9.30am, v Iran

Monday Feb 25, 1pm, v Kuwait

Tuesday Feb 26, 9.30am, v Saudi

UAE squad

Ahmed Raza, Rohan Mustafa, Alishan Sharafu, Ansh Tandon, Vriitya Aravind, Junaid Siddique, Waheed Ahmed, Karthik Meiyappan, Basil Hameed, Mohammed Usman, Mohammed Ayaz, Zahoor Khan, Chirag Suri, Sultan Ahmed

While you're here

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CHELSEA SQUAD

Arrizabalaga, Bettinelli, Rudiger, Christensen, Silva, Chalobah, Sarr, Azpilicueta, James, Kenedy, Alonso, Jorginho, Kante, Kovacic, Saul, Barkley, Ziyech, Pulisic, Mount, Hudson-Odoi, Werner, Havertz, Lukaku.

Silent Hill f

Publisher: Konami

Platforms: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PC

Rating: 4.5/5

EA Sports FC 26

Publisher: EA Sports

Consoles: PC, PlayStation 4/5, Xbox Series X/S

Rating: 3/5

The Uefa Awards winners

Uefa Men's Player of the Year: Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool)

Uefa Women's Player of the Year: Lucy Bronze (Lyon)

Best players of the 2018/19 Uefa Champions League

Goalkeeper: Alisson (Liverpool)

Defender: Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool)

Midfielder: Frenkie de Jong (Ajax)

Forward: Lionel Messi (Barcelona)

Uefa President's Award: Eric Cantona

Results:

CSIL 2-star 145cm One Round with Jump-Off

1. Alice Debany Clero (USA) on Amareusa S 38.83 seconds

2. Anikka Sande (NOR) For Cash 2 39.09

3. Georgia Tame (GBR) Cash Up 39.42

4. Nadia Taryam (UAE) Askaria 3 39.63

5. Miriam Schneider (GER) Fidelius G 47.74

Yahya Al Ghassani's bio

Date of birth: April 18, 1998

Playing position: Winger

Clubs: 2015-2017 – Al Ahli Dubai; March-June 2018 – Paris FC; August – Al Wahda

Skoda Superb Specs

Engine: 2-litre TSI petrol

Power: 190hp

Torque: 320Nm

Price: From Dh147,000

Available: Now

Company Profile

Name: JustClean

Based: Kuwait with offices in other GCC countries

Launch year: 2016

Number of employees: 130

Sector: online laundry service

Funding: $12.9m from Kuwait-based Faith Capital Holding

Recipes to try

Zatar chicken from the kitchen star Dalia Dogmoch Soubra

Oatcakes with lemon and zatar

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CHELSEA'S NEXT FIVE GAMES

Mar 10: Norwich(A)

Mar 13: Newcastle(H)

Mar 16: Lille(A)

Mar 19: Middlesbrough(A)

Apr 2: Brentford(H)

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Key findings of Jenkins report

Founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, Hassan al Banna, "accepted the political utility of violence"
Views of key Muslim Brotherhood ideologue, Sayyid Qutb, have “consistently been understood” as permitting “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” and “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
Muslim Brotherhood at all levels has repeatedly defended Hamas attacks against Israel, including the use of suicide bombers and the killing of civilians.
Laying out the report in the House of Commons, David Cameron told MPs: "The main findings of the review support the conclusion that membership of, association with, or influence by the Muslim Brotherhood should be considered as a possible indicator of extremism."

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If you go

The flights

There are direct flights from Dubai to Sofia with FlyDubai (www.flydubai.com) and Wizz Air (www.wizzair.com), from Dh1,164 and Dh822 return including taxes, respectively.

The trip

Plovdiv is 150km from Sofia, with an hourly bus service taking around 2 hours and costing $16 (Dh58). The Rhodopes can be reached from Sofia in between 2-4hours.

The trip was organised by Bulguides (www.bulguides.com), which organises guided trips throughout Bulgaria. Guiding, accommodation, food and transfers from Plovdiv to the mountains and back costs around 170 USD for a four-day, three-night trip.

GOLF’S RAHMBO

- 5 wins in 22 months as pro
- Three wins in past 10 starts
- 45 pro starts worldwide: 5 wins, 17 top 5s
- Ranked 551th in world on debut, now No 4 (was No 2 earlier this year)
- 5th player in last 30 years to win 3 European Tour and 2 PGA Tour titles before age 24 (Woods, Garcia, McIlroy, Spieth)