Related: UAE then and now: Centuries go by but Qasr Al Hosn remains the heart of Abu Dhabi
Life in the UAE moves in the fast lane. In a new regular series to mark the 50th anniversary of the UAE, we take a look at some familiar places as they once were and see just how much has changed in 2021.
Always busy with traffic, King Abul Aziz Street runs straight as an arrow into the heart of downtown Sharjah. It’s also the main road to Al Mahatta Museum, a fascinating window into the country’s aviation history.
There’s a reason for this. Al Mahatta was once the UAE’s first airport, while King Abul Aziz Street was the runway.
It opened in October 1932, an overnight staging post for Imperial Airways, which operated passenger and mail flights from London to British India and Australia.
The huge propellor driven Handley Page biplanes had a limited range and needed multiple stops to reach India, with Sharjah and the Arabian Gulf a key link.
Passengers would stay overnight in a comfortable guest house, fortified against imagined “bedouin raids”.
Travellers were also forbidden from visiting the town without the Ruler’s permission after the unfortunate “beach pyjama incident” of 1933, when a group of British women scandalised local sensibilities by going to the souq in the flimsy and revealing trouser suits made popular by Coco Chanel and Hollywood stars.
All this ended in 1939 with the outbreak of the Second World War. From then until 1971, the airport became RAF Sharjah, first patrolling against German U-Boat submarines and later flying combat missions against insurgents in Oman and Aden.
The Royal Air Force withdrew with the formation of the UAE in December 1971, and the rapid growth of the city saw the new airport opened in 1976. The old runway was paved as a road and named in honour of the first Ruler of Saudi Arabia.
The aircraft seen here are Hawker Hunters, jet fighters flown by the RAF from the mid 1950s until the early 1970s, although they were still operated by the Lebanese Air Force as late as 2014.
They are taking off in 1970 as part of a military exercise off the coast of Iran as part of the Central Treaty Organisation (Centro) formed by the UK, Pakistan, Iraq, and Iran, until the overthrow of the Shah in 1979.
The fighters are performing a manoeuvre known as “hi-lo” in which a formation of four aircraft could take off simultaneously, the leading pair hugging the ground while the second climb steeply.
With a maximum speed of 1,150 kph, today’s motorists crawling along on the old runway can only imagine matching even matching a fraction of that performance.
Sharjah's role in the Second World War
HAJJAN
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hall of shame
SUNDERLAND 2002-03
No one has ended a Premier League season quite like Sunderland. They lost each of their final 15 games, taking no points after January. They ended up with 19 in total, sacking managers Peter Reid and Howard Wilkinson and losing 3-1 to Charlton when they scored three own goals in eight minutes.
SUNDERLAND 2005-06
Until Derby came along, Sunderland’s total of 15 points was the Premier League’s record low. They made it until May and their final home game before winning at the Stadium of Light while they lost a joint record 29 of their 38 league games.
HUDDERSFIELD 2018-19
Joined Derby as the only team to be relegated in March. No striker scored until January, while only two players got more assists than goalkeeper Jonas Lossl. The mid-season appointment Jan Siewert was to end his time as Huddersfield manager with a 5.3 per cent win rate.
ASTON VILLA 2015-16
Perhaps the most inexplicably bad season, considering they signed Idrissa Gueye and Adama Traore and still only got 17 points. Villa won their first league game, but none of the next 19. They ended an abominable campaign by taking one point from the last 39 available.
FULHAM 2018-19
Terrible in different ways. Fulham’s total of 26 points is not among the lowest ever but they contrived to get relegated after spending over £100 million (Dh457m) in the transfer market. Much of it went on defenders but they only kept two clean sheets in their first 33 games.
LA LIGA: Sporting Gijon, 13 points in 1997-98.
BUNDESLIGA: Tasmania Berlin, 10 points in 1965-66
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Auron Mein Kahan Dum Tha
Starring: Ajay Devgn, Tabu, Shantanu Maheshwari, Jimmy Shergill, Saiee Manjrekar
Director: Neeraj Pandey
Rating: 2.5/5
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
The biog
Name: Mariam Ketait
Emirate: Dubai
Hobbies: I enjoy travelling, experiencing new things, painting, reading, flying, and the French language
Favourite quote: "Be the change you wish to see" - unknown
Favourite activity: Connecting with different cultures
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
Dr Amal Khalid Alias revealed a recent case of a woman with daughters, who specifically wanted a boy.
A semen analysis of the father showed abnormal sperm so the couple required IVF.
Out of 21 eggs collected, six were unused leaving 15 suitable for IVF.
A specific procedure was used, called intracytoplasmic sperm injection where a single sperm cell is inserted into the egg.
On day three of the process, 14 embryos were biopsied for gender selection.
The next day, a pre-implantation genetic report revealed four normal male embryos, three female and seven abnormal samples.
Day five of the treatment saw two male embryos transferred to the patient.
The woman recorded a positive pregnancy test two weeks later.
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
Global Fungi Facts
• Scientists estimate there could be as many as 3 million fungal species globally
• Only about 160,000 have been officially described leaving around 90% undiscovered
• Fungi account for roughly 90% of Earth's unknown biodiversity
• Forest fungi help tackle climate change, absorbing up to 36% of global fossil fuel emissions annually and storing around 5 billion tonnes of carbon in the planet's topsoil
Zayed Sustainability Prize
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
Tree of Hell
Starring: Raed Zeno, Hadi Awada, Dr Mohammad Abdalla
Director: Raed Zeno
Rating: 4/5
AWARDS
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UFC Fight Night 2
1am – Early prelims
2am – Prelims
4am-7am – Main card
7:30am-9am – press cons
