The Crown Prince of Dubai Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed holding his newborns. Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed / Instagram
The Crown Prince of Dubai Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed holding his newborns. Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed / Instagram
The Crown Prince of Dubai Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed holding his newborns. Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed / Instagram
The Crown Prince of Dubai Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed holding his newborns. Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed / Instagram

Sheikh Hamdan welcomes twins Rashid and Sheikha into the world


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The Crown Prince of Dubai and his wife on Thursday had twins, a boy and a girl.

Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed and Sheikha Sheikha bint Saeed were sent messages of congratulations from across the nation on Thursday night.

The baby boy’s name is Rashid, while the baby girl’s name is Sheikha.

Well-wishers flooded on to social media to offer their congratulations.

Senior UAE figures were among those to offer warm words to the parents.

"I congratulate my brother His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, for the arrival of his two children," Sheikh Saif bin Zayed, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior, wrote on Twitter.

"Oh God, save them with your protection and make them the apple of the eye of their parents."

Sheikh Hamdan announced the news to his legions of followers in style.

The Dubai Crown Prince, a popular figure on social media, shared an image of a pair of small feet, one pink and one blue, to represent his happy news.

His sister, Sheikha Maryam bint Mohammed, also shared the image on social media in celebration with her brother.

Sheikh Hamdan and Sheikha Sheikha bint Saeed married in May, 2019.

Two of Sheikh Hamdan's brothers were also married during a ceremony described as a "joy of the nation".

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The Sand Castle

Director: Matty Brown

Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea

Rating: 2.5/5

AUSTRALIA SQUAD

Aaron Finch, Matt Renshaw, Brendan Doggett, Michael Neser, Usman Khawaja, Shaun Marsh, Mitchell Marsh, Tim Paine (captain), Travis Head, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Jon Holland, Ashton Agar, Mitchell Starc, Peter Siddle

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

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The fake news generation

288,000 – the number of posts reported as hate speech that were deleted by Facebook globally each month in May and June this year

11% – the number of Americans who said they trusted the news they read on Snapchat as of June 2017, according to Statista. Over a quarter stated that they ‘rarely trusted’ the news they read on social media in general

31% - the number of young people in the US aged between 10 and 18 who said they had shared a news story online in the last six months that they later found out was wrong or inaccurate

63% - percentage of Arab nationals who said they get their news from social media every single day.

The biog

Favourite books: 'Ruth Bader Ginsburg: A Life' by Jane D. Mathews and ‘The Moment of Lift’ by Melinda Gates

Favourite travel destination: Greece, a blend of ancient history and captivating nature. It always has given me a sense of joy, endless possibilities, positive energy and wonderful people that make you feel at home.

Favourite pastime: travelling and experiencing different cultures across the globe.

Favourite quote: “In the future, there will be no female leaders. There will just be leaders” - Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook.

Favourite Movie: Mona Lisa Smile 

Favourite Author: Kahlil Gibran

Favourite Artist: Meryl Streep

The Vile

Starring: Bdoor Mohammad, Jasem Alkharraz, Iman Tarik, Sarah Taibah

Director: Majid Al Ansari

Rating: 4/5

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