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Palestinians evacuated from Gaza and given a safe haven in the UAE have delivered impassioned prayers for peace in their besieged homeland as they reflected on a Ramadan marred by conflict.
More than 1,200 Gazans being housed at Abu Dhabi's Emirates Humanitarian City sat side by side for a poignant iftar on Tuesday evening as thoughts turned to loved ones in the Gaza Strip.
The traditional breaking of the fast, usually shared with friends and family, resonates deeply with a proud community left yearning for a return to better times after months of violence.
More than 31,900 Palestinians have been killed since the Israeli offensive began, Gaza's Health Ministry says, with women and children making up two thirds of the dead.
There is no Ramadan for us in Gaza
Hanadi Abed
The majority of the territory's 2.3 million people remain displaced, as a humanitarian crisis worsens and the threat of famine looms.
A sombre holy month
Riyad Alderbi, 65, is receiving medical treatment in the UAE for osteoporosis and an enlarged prostate.
He is joined at the vast Emirates Humanitarian City (EHC) compound by his wife, who is being treated for cancer.
The couple are parents to four boys and two girls who live across the world, including a 17-year-old son with autism who remains in Gaza.
“Last year around this time, I was in Gaza and it was Ramadan," Mr Alderbi said.
"You could feel the poverty but we were all together.”
Their lives were changed forever when war broke out on October 7.
He is grateful for the crucial support offered by the UAE but is desperate to be reunited once more with his entire family.
“In the UAE and the EHC, we have not been left wanting for anything. We are getting our treatment and everything we need but everybody wants all their family."
'No Ramadan in Gaza'
Hanadi Abed, 37, is a mother of seven, aged four to 14.
She was flown to Abu Dhabi with her 12-year-old son Mahmoud, who suffered two fractures in his left leg after the building they lived in was bombed.
Mahmoud was pulled out from under the rubble eight hours later and was initially presumed dead.
“This isn't the Ramadan that we know. It used to be beautiful," said Ms Abed.
"This time we would be preparing food to eat together as a family. Today, I’m away from my children, my husband and my homeland.
“My children can’t find food to eat.”
Her other children live with friends in the Gazan city of Deir Al Balah after their home was destroyed in the Israeli attack.
Many of the children of evacuated families have been left without homes and are now living in tents in southern Gaza that have been flooded after heavy rain.
“There is no Ramadan for us in Gaza," said Ms Abed. "Many don’t even realise it is Ramadan, we fast because we have to, but nobody sits down to break their fast any more because there is no food.
"In Gaza, my children eat whenever they can and it is all canned food – when available."
She is thankful for the vital lifeline offered by the Emirates as part of its extensive aid programme for Gaza.
“There is nothing better than the UAE and they have given us everything in every sense but I really want my children.
"I want my son to be better and to go back home to a Gaza that is free of war,” she said, with tears in her eyes.
“I can’t sleep at night, most of us can't. We think of our kids and pray for their safety. We can't call them or check on them because the internet and communications are down.”
Her son Mahmoud likes the UAE but dearly wishes all of his family could be with them.
“We are grateful to the UAE, and this is really the best place to be, but Ramadan without family is hard, even though it is beautiful here," he said.
"Look at the set-up they made for us. But I want my father and siblings to be with me.
“You know in Gaza before the war, it was beautiful. We would play with firecrackers and sparklers, and the sambousa and kibbeh are the best,” he said.
Reliving 'nightmare' of war
Khaled Abu Zayed, 30, cannot imagine returning to his home in Gaza, which once brought him such joy.
“There is nothing in the world like Ramadan in Gaza,” he said.
The father of four daughters aged three to 10 arrived at EHC four months ago to receive cancer treatment.
He felt his illness was proving a burden to his family as they sought to survive each day in a war zone.
His children live in a tent, which was recently flooded. He fears for their lives with a chronic shortage of food.
“They are dying of hunger,” he said. “I miss them terribly but I was a burden on them.
"I was very sick and my eldest daughter, who was only 10, would help me when I was in so much pain. I don’t want to go back to the nightmare that is Gaza now.
"The things that I saw are a nightmare that still keeps me up at night.”
He recalls sheltering 35 orphaned children in a building, which was soon reduced to rubble in a subsequent air raid.
“I screamed to the ambulance to help me pull them out again and they said they had nothing to bring them out with.”
Offering sanctuary and solidarity
About half of the 1,200 Gazans at EHC are patients requiring treatment, with the remainder being relatives accompanying them.
Many of them children, some only a few months old, and have known only the horrors of war.
Mubarak Al Qahtani, a spokesman for EHC, said the UAE has sought to offer solace and some sense of normality in the most trying of times.
The sprawling housing complex is supported by the UAE's Family Development Authority, the Zayed Higher Organisation for People of Determination, the Emirates Red Crescent and a number of other groups.
Those observing Ramadan are given daily iftars and suhoors. After breaking fast, a variety of activities are laid on to offer a much-needed distraction and mental respite.
Trips out to malls and various festivals and events in Abu Dhabi are also organised.
“We are all trying our best," said Mr Al Qahtani. "We understand that it is hard and are trying all avenues to alleviate their suffering.
"Many have lost their families and they are all away from home.
"We have several cancer patients and amputees. Thankfully, many are getting better and others have refused prosthetics.
“The EHC is a collaborative effort and many of us feel privileged to be given this opportunity to support our brothers and sisters in Gaza.”
Mr Al Qahtani and many of the Emirati volunteers will be away from loved ones and are spending Ramadan with their “second family.”
“We do believe that we are lucky and my family understands,” he said.
“They understand that this is a humanitarian cause and a necessity. What the Palestinians have gone through is unimaginable.
"This experience has humbled all of us and has also made us more appreciative of everything I have. What you see on television is nothing like the reality."
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Timeline
2012-2015
The company offers payments/bribes to win key contracts in the Middle East
May 2017
The UK SFO officially opens investigation into Petrofac’s use of agents, corruption, and potential bribery to secure contracts
September 2021
Petrofac pleads guilty to seven counts of failing to prevent bribery under the UK Bribery Act
October 2021
Court fines Petrofac £77 million for bribery. Former executive receives a two-year suspended sentence
December 2024
Petrofac enters into comprehensive restructuring to strengthen the financial position of the group
May 2025
The High Court of England and Wales approves the company’s restructuring plan
July 2025
The Court of Appeal issues a judgment challenging parts of the restructuring plan
August 2025
Petrofac issues a business update to execute the restructuring and confirms it will appeal the Court of Appeal decision
October 2025
Petrofac loses a major TenneT offshore wind contract worth €13 billion. Holding company files for administration in the UK. Petrofac delisted from the London Stock Exchange
November 2025
180 Petrofac employees laid off in the UAE
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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F1 The Movie
Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rating: 4/5
Juliot Vinolia’s checklist for adopting alternate-day fasting
- Don’t do it more than once in three days
- Don’t go under 700 calories on fasting days
- Ensure there is sufficient water intake, as the body can go in dehydration mode
- Ensure there is enough roughage (fibre) in the food on fasting days as well
- Do not binge on processed or fatty foods on non-fasting days
- Complement fasting with plant-based foods, fruits, vegetables, seafood. Cut out processed meats and processed carbohydrates
- Manage your sleep
- People with existing gastric or mental health issues should avoid fasting
- Do not fast for prolonged periods without supervision by a qualified expert
Indoor cricket World Cup:
Insportz, Dubai, September 16-23
UAE fixtures:
Men
Saturday, September 16 – 1.45pm, v New Zealand
Sunday, September 17 – 10.30am, v Australia; 3.45pm, v South Africa
Monday, September 18 – 2pm, v England; 7.15pm, v India
Tuesday, September 19 – 12.15pm, v Singapore; 5.30pm, v Sri Lanka
Thursday, September 21 – 2pm v Malaysia
Friday, September 22 – 3.30pm, semi-final
Saturday, September 23 – 3pm, grand final
Women
Saturday, September 16 – 5.15pm, v Australia
Sunday, September 17 – 2pm, v South Africa; 7.15pm, v New Zealand
Monday, September 18 – 5.30pm, v England
Tuesday, September 19 – 10.30am, v New Zealand; 3.45pm, v South Africa
Thursday, September 21 – 12.15pm, v Australia
Friday, September 22 – 1.30pm, semi-final
Saturday, September 23 – 1pm, grand final
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
How to come clean about financial infidelity
- Be honest and transparent: It is always better to own up than be found out. Tell your partner everything they want to know. Show remorse. Inform them of the extent of the situation so they know what they are dealing with.
- Work on yourself: Be honest with yourself and your partner and figure out why you did it. Don’t be ashamed to ask for professional help.
- Give it time: Like any breach of trust, it requires time to rebuild. So be consistent, communicate often and be patient with your partner and yourself.
- Discuss your financial situation regularly: Ensure your spouse is involved in financial matters and decisions. Your ability to consistently follow through with what you say you are going to do when it comes to money can make all the difference in your partner’s willingness to trust you again.
- Work on a plan to resolve the problem together: If there is a lot of debt, for example, create a budget and financial plan together and ensure your partner is fully informed, involved and supported.
Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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TO%20CATCH%20A%20KILLER
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GAC GS8 Specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 248hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 400Nm at 1,750-4,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 9.1L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh149,900
HWJN
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The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cyl turbo
Power: 201hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 320Nm at 1,750-4,000rpm
Transmission: 6-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 8.7L/100km
Price: Dh133,900
On sale: now
Most match wins on clay
Guillermo Vilas - 659
Manuel Orantes - 501
Thomas Muster - 422
Rafael Nadal - 399 *
Jose Higueras - 378
Eddie Dibbs - 370
Ilie Nastase - 338
Carlos Moya - 337
Ivan Lendl - 329
Andres Gomez - 322
