Live updates: follow the latest news on UAE National Day 2021
Visitors flocked to Expo 2020 on National Day for what was expected to be the world fair's busiest day yet.
Free tickets and a national holiday drew in tens, if not hundreds of thousands of people for the Golden Jubilee celebrations.
Police band bagpipes and Khaleeji drums echoed along the parade route in a rousing spectacle for families who lined the streets, while a stunt jet fly-by drew gasps from the crowds.
A police officer wearing a jetpack even took to the air at the site's centrepiece, Al Wasl Plaza dome.
Mohamed Al Sheki, an Emirati from Dibba on the east coast, was thrilled by the packed schedule.
“Our National Day is very special to us — it's is a celebration of what we have achieved,” he said.
“We know more change is coming but we are excited about that. Some countries stay the same and don’t move forward but the UAE is not like other countries.
“I think in the next 50 years we won’t be on Earth any more!”
Families flooded from the metro to the main gates from shortly after 9am, with queues all the way back to the station doors at one stage.
At Saudi Arabia's pavilion, one of Expo's most popular attractions, 60,000 people had come through the doors by lunchtime — twice the normal daily visitor count.
Rubab Yousuf Ali, from India, is a social science teacher at Gulf Indian High School.
“Expo is like a dream and it will show what can be achieved by holding this event. I’m sure other countries will want to host Expo once they see how successful Dubai has been,” she said.
She has taught her pupils about the country's rapid growth in the past half century, and told them how there are few other countries to have seen comparable progress. Like nearly nine million other expats, she has made the Emirates home.
“Since 1971, there have been so many changes and many new job opportunities, that has been good for all of us,” she said.
“There is so much opportunity in the UAE, but most of all it is a safe place.
“I tell my pupils I can walk safely after 12 at night, that is the UAE.”
Emirati Hossain Al Shehhi, 27, an aircraft engineering student from Dibba, said the Golden Jubilee was the latest landmark in the story of his country.
After sending a probe to Mars and an astronaut to the International Space Station, marking 50 years is just the next chapter.
“We want to compete with America and European countries and show we are just as good, if not better. To see the world come to visit us at Expo makes us all very proud,” he said.
“People learn more and more about us every day they are here, and they feel safe. That in itself is something to be proud of.
“It is my first time to come to Expo, it is very busy but we really want to see the UAE Pavilion as it is very special for us all.”
Yousuf Ali, a 41-year-old from India, has been in the UAE for 15 years and is an accountant. He lives in Deira.
“This celebration is important as we call the UAE our second home. We love this country and want to show that by wearing the colours of the flag.
“There has been so much change in my time here, and my family has grown up here so it means a lot to me to call the UAE home.”
Watch: Dubai Police perform a gravity-defying jetpack show at Expo
The full list of 2020 Brit Award nominees (winners in bold):
British group
Coldplay
Foals
Bring me the Horizon
D-Block Europe
Bastille
British Female
Mabel
Freya Ridings
FKA Twigs
Charli xcx
Mahalia
British male
Harry Styles
Lewis Capaldi
Dave
Michael Kiwanuka
Stormzy
Best new artist
Aitch
Lewis Capaldi
Dave
Mabel
Sam Fender
Best song
Ed Sheeran and Justin Bieber - I Don’t Care
Mabel - Don’t Call Me Up
Calvin Harrison and Rag’n’Bone Man - Giant
Dave - Location
Mark Ronson feat. Miley Cyrus - Nothing Breaks Like A Heart
AJ Tracey - Ladbroke Grove
Lewis Capaldi - Someone you Loved
Tom Walker - Just You and I
Sam Smith and Normani - Dancing with a Stranger
Stormzy - Vossi Bop
International female
Ariana Grande
Billie Eilish
Camila Cabello
Lana Del Rey
Lizzo
International male
Bruce Springsteen
Burna Boy
Tyler, The Creator
Dermot Kennedy
Post Malone
Best album
Stormzy - Heavy is the Head
Michael Kiwanuka - Kiwanuka
Lewis Capaldi - Divinely Uninspired to a Hellish Extent
Dave - Psychodrama
Harry Styles - Fine Line
Rising star
Celeste
Joy Crookes
beabadoobee
The President's Cake
Director: Hasan Hadi
Starring: Baneen Ahmad Nayyef, Waheed Thabet Khreibat, Sajad Mohamad Qasem
Rating: 4/5
The specs
Engine: Turbocharged four-cylinder 2.7-litre
Power: 325hp
Torque: 500Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Price: From Dh189,700
On sale: now
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
Silent Hill f
Publisher: Konami
Platforms: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PC
Rating: 4.5/5
GIANT REVIEW
Starring: Amir El-Masry, Pierce Brosnan
Director: Athale
Rating: 4/5
Dhadak 2
Director: Shazia Iqbal
Starring: Siddhant Chaturvedi, Triptii Dimri
Rating: 1/5
Zayed Sustainability Prize
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.
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Key recommendations
- Fewer criminals put behind bars and more to serve sentences in the community, with short sentences scrapped and many inmates released earlier.
- Greater use of curfews and exclusion zones to deliver tougher supervision than ever on criminals.
- Explore wider powers for judges to punish offenders by blocking them from attending football matches, banning them from driving or travelling abroad through an expansion of ‘ancillary orders’.
- More Intensive Supervision Courts to tackle the root causes of crime such as alcohol and drug abuse – forcing repeat offenders to take part in tough treatment programmes or face prison.
Our legal consultants
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
