President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al-Nahyan of the United Arab Emirates, one of the world's wealthiest monarchs, has died at the age of 73. Sheikh Khalifa has been the president of the United Arab Emirates since 2004, however his position has primarily been ceremonial since he had a stroke in 2014. Mohamed bin Zayed al-Nahyan, his half-brother, is now in control of state affairs.

        The al-Nahyan family is said to be worth $150 billion (£123 billion). Sheikh Khalifa was not only the president of the UAE, but also the ruler of Abu Dhabi, the oil-rich capital of the UAE's seven emirates. The official WAM news agency broke the news of his demise.

        From Friday, the ministry of presidential affairs ordered 40 days of mourning, with flags flying at half-mast and public and private sector activities stopped for the first three days. In November 2004, Sheikh Khalifa became the UAE's second president, succeeding his father as Abu Dhabi's 16th ruler.              He presided over a massive restructure of both the federal and Abu Dhabi governments during his first decade in power. He was rarely seen in public following his stroke, though he continued to give judgements.