For some parents, the way 2017 started was one to remember as they welcomed not only a new year, but a baby too.
As the fireworks went off on the stroke of midnight, Athaba Saeed Al Mansoori was born at Burjeel Hospital in Abu Dhabi.
The first baby to be born this year, she arrived weighing 3.3 kilograms to proud Emirati parents from Abu Dhabi who have four other children.
“We are delighted that Athaba was the first baby to be born in 2017,” said father Saeed Al Mansoori.
“It is a great beginning of the year with this exceptional gift.”
Lotfiya Hussain Hassan’s little girl entered the world seven minutes after midnight. Lorien, who was quickly wrapped up in a pink blanket, weighed 3.2kg.
“I now have three princesses and one king,” said the 35-year-old Palestinian mother of four. “Before my son, who’s 8, wanted a baby brother, but we told him, ‘you’re the king’. Now, he can’t wait to see her.”
“I’m very proud and happy that she’s born on New Year’s Day,” said Mohammed Sirhan, 39, a petroleum engineer in Abu Dhabi, as he gazed at his fourth child. The couple’s other daughters are aged 6 and 9.
By 10am on Sunday, nine babies – five boys and four girls – had been delivered at the Corniche Hospital in the capital.
Emirati Suhaila Abdullah Al Awanat, 32, gave birth to a baby girl at 2.16am. The parents have not yet named the girl, who weighed 3.07kg.
“I feel happy,” Mrs Al Awanat said of her sixth child, five of whom are girls. “I was really hoping for this day.”
Meanwhile, Zamzam opened her eyes for the first time at 4.43am, weighing in at 4kg.
Asma Al Tunaiji, 38, and her husband Abdullah, 39, were thrilled at their addition.
“It’s a nice surprise,” said Mrs Al Tunaiji, on the birth of her sixth child. “We now have five girls and one boy in the family.”
Proud but weary mother Thuraiya Al Busaidi, 29, cradled her daughter, Hind, who was born at 6.15am and weighed 2.49kg.
Mrs Al Busaidi arrived at hospital at 4am with her mother, Mozza, 60. Although the birth was difficult, she said it was worth it for her baby girl.
“It’s a lovely start to our new year, ” Mrs Al Busaidi said. “Her sister, Maha, is so excited to see her.”
Pakistani couple Adeela Zahid and Zahid Parvez also spent New Year’s Eve in the delivery rooms at Corniche Hospital. Their baby, Hashim, was born at 3.40am and weighed 3.41kg.
“We are so happy to have him on New Year’s Day,” said Mr Parvez. “Everybody will be celebrating his birthday every year.”
In Dubai, similar scenes of joy were taking place.
Rakhy and Ranjith Adat, who have called the city home for six years, welcomed their first baby on New Year’s Day at Aster Hospital in Bur Dubai. Anaya, named after a flower, was born at 6.11am, weighing 3.43kg.
“Her nickname is Ami, and we are extremely happy and excited to have her,” said father Ranjith, 31. “I cannot describe the emotions that I feel, especially that we had a girl. I wanted a girl.”
Five babies were born at Aster Hospital on New Year’s Day, while at Medcare Women and Children Hospital, there were seven arrivals.
Sanoob Nurden and Jismi Yousuf welcomed their second child, Afreen, at 5.35am, weighing 3.4kg.
Ms Yousuf, 29, works as a nurse at the hospital and was on duty when she started to feel contractions.
“I came to my shift and started feeling pain at around 11am, and so I called my husband and brother,” she said.
“My due date was on the 7th of January, so I wasn’t expecting to give birth on New Year’s Day.”
rruiz@thenational.ae
dmoukhallati@thenational.ae
PROFILE OF INVYGO
Started: 2018
Founders: Eslam Hussein and Pulkit Ganjoo
Based: Dubai
Sector: Transport
Size: 9 employees
Investment: $1,275,000
Investors: Class 5 Global, Equitrust, Gulf Islamic Investments, Kairos K50 and William Zeqiri
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
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7pm: Flood Zone
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PAKISTAN SQUAD
Abid Ali, Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Shan Masood, Azhar Ali (test captain), Babar Azam (T20 captain), Asad Shafiq, Fawad Alam, Haider Ali, Iftikhar Ahmad, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Hafeez, Shoaib Malik, Mohammad Rizwan (wicketkeeper), Sarfaraz Ahmed (wicketkeeper), Faheem Ashraf, Haris Rauf, Imran Khan, Mohammad Abbas, Mohammad Hasnain, Naseem Shah, Shaheen Afridi, Sohail Khan, Usman Shinwari, Wahab Riaz, Imad Wasim, Kashif Bhatti, Shadab Khan and Yasir Shah.
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
Election pledges on migration
CDU: "Now is the time to control the German borders and enforce strict border rejections"
SPD: "Border closures and blanket rejections at internal borders contradict the spirit of a common area of freedom"
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
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
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Name: Tratok Portal
Founded: 2017
Based: UAE
Sector: Travel & tourism
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Funding: Privately funded
At a glance
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Distance covered: 160km
Temperature: -40°C
Weight of equipment: 45kg
Altitude (metres above sea level): 0
Terrain: Ice rock
South Pole stats
Distance covered: 130km
Temperature: -50°C
Weight of equipment: 50kg
Altitude (metres above sea level): 3,300
Terrain: Flat ice
What is the Supreme Petroleum Council?
The Abu Dhabi Supreme Petroleum Council was established in 1988 and is the highest governing body in Abu Dhabi’s oil and gas industry. The council formulates, oversees and executes the emirate’s petroleum-related policies. It also approves the allocation of capital spending across state-owned Adnoc’s upstream, downstream and midstream operations and functions as the company’s board of directors. The SPC’s mandate is also required for auctioning oil and gas concessions in Abu Dhabi and for awarding blocks to international oil companies. The council is chaired by Sheikh Khalifa, the President and Ruler of Abu Dhabi while Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, Abu Dhabi’s Crown Prince and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, is the vice chairman.
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- Join parent networks
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Electric scooters: some rules to remember
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