Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed, Crown Prince of Dubai, has been appointed Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence, it was announced on Sunday.
Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed, Minister of Foreign Affairs, was also appointed to the role of Deputy Prime Minister.
Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, said he consulted President Sheikh Mohamed on the decision.
“We announce today the formation of a new ministerial position as follows: The joining of Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum in the UAE government as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence in the UAE Cabinet,” Sheikh Mohammed said.
He said Sheikh Hamdan was “a leader who loves people, and whom people love”, and was confident in the addition to the government.
“We also announce today, as part of the government amendments, the appointment of Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan as Deputy Prime Minister, in addition to his duties as Minister of Foreign Affairs.”
Sheikh Hamdan on Sunday afternoon expressed his appreciation of the decision and renewed his commitment to preserving the spirit of the union.
“We thank His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum for this precious trust and assignment,” he wrote on X.
“And we renew the pledge and promise to our wise leadership and our dear people to continue following the path of Zayed and Rashid, so that the flag of the Union remains flying and that we work in the spirit of one team.”
Education
Included in the changes was the restructuring of the Council for Education, Human Resources and Community Development in the UAE.
Sheikh Abdullah will head the council, along with his vice president Sheikha Mariam bint Mohamed bin Zayed, who was appointed as president of the National Centre for Quality Education.
“The Council of Education, headed by Sheikh Abdullah and with Sheikha Mariam as Vice-President, represents a guarantee of the stability and continuity of education plans and strategies,” said Sheikh Mohammed.
“The Council will supervise our national human capital, under the guidance and vision of the President of the State, may God protect him, from early childhood through general education and higher education, all the way to employment and nationalisation, and ending with a stable family capable of graduating generations that adhere to their identity … preserving the values of their society … and keeping pace with all future scientific and technical changes.”
The latest government changes also included merging the Emirates Foundation for School Education and the Federal Agency for Early Education with the Ministry of Education, and the appointment of Sarah Al Amiri as Minister of Education in the UAE. Ms Al Amiri was previously Minister of State for Public Education and Advanced Technology.
Abdulrahman Al Awar was announced as acting Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research, in addition to his duties as Minister of Emiratisation and Human Resources in the federal government.
Further appointments
Ahmed Belhoul was announced as Minister of Sports and President of the Higher Colleges of Technology, in addition to his duties as President of the Emirates Space Agency.
Alia Al Mazrouei was announced as Minister of State for Entrepreneurship.
“Alia has distinguished experience in the private sector and the government sector in the country, and her role is to create greater economic opportunities for the sons and daughters of the nation to benefit from the great growth witnessed by our national economy,” said Sheikh Mohammed.
Sara Al Musallam was thanked “for her efforts during the past period”, with Sheikh Mohammed wishing her continued success in serving her country.
Ms Al Musallam was appointed Minister of State for Early Education with responsibility for the newly established Federal Authority for Early Education in 2022.
‘FSO Safer’ - a ticking bomb
The Safer has been moored off the Yemeni coast of Ras Issa since 1988.
The Houthis have been blockading UN efforts to inspect and maintain the vessel since 2015, when the war between the group and the Yemen government, backed by the Saudi-led coalition began.
Since then, a handful of people acting as a skeleton crew, have performed rudimentary maintenance work to keep the Safer intact.
The Safer is connected to a pipeline from the oil-rich city of Marib, and was once a hub for the storage and export of crude oil.
The Safer’s environmental and humanitarian impact may extend well beyond Yemen, experts believe, into the surrounding waters of Saudi Arabia, Djibouti and Eritrea, impacting marine-life and vital infrastructure like desalination plans and fishing ports.
Company+Profile
Name:+Thndr
Started:+2019
Co-founders:+Ahmad+Hammouda+and+Seif+Amr
Sector:+FinTech
Headquarters:+Egypt
UAE+base:+Hub71,+Abu+Dhabi
Current+number+of+staff:+More+than+150
Funds+raised:+$22+million+
Company profile
Company name: Fasset
Started: 2019
Founders: Mohammad Raafi Hossain, Daniel Ahmed
Based: Dubai
Sector: FinTech
Initial investment: $2.45 million
Current number of staff: 86
Investment stage: Pre-series B
Investors: Investcorp, Liberty City Ventures, Fatima Gobi Ventures, Primal Capital, Wealthwell Ventures, FHS Capital, VN2 Capital, local family offices
GOLF’S RAHMBO
- 5 wins in 22 months as pro
- Three wins in past 10 starts
- 45 pro starts worldwide: 5 wins, 17 top 5s
- Ranked 551th in world on debut, now No 4 (was No 2 earlier this year)
- 5th player in last 30 years to win 3 European Tour and 2 PGA Tour titles before age 24 (Woods, Garcia, McIlroy, Spieth)
BORDERLANDS
Starring: Cate Blanchett, Kevin Hart, Jamie Lee Curtis
Director: Eli Roth
Rating: 0/5
Auron Mein Kahan Dum Tha
Starring: Ajay Devgn, Tabu, Shantanu Maheshwari, Jimmy Shergill, Saiee Manjrekar
Director: Neeraj Pandey
Rating: 2.5/5
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: SmartCrowd
Started: 2018
Founder: Siddiq Farid and Musfique Ahmed
Based: Dubai
Sector: FinTech / PropTech
Initial investment: $650,000
Current number of staff: 35
Investment stage: Series A
Investors: Various institutional investors and notable angel investors (500 MENA, Shurooq, Mada, Seedstar, Tricap)
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
US PGA Championship in numbers
1 Joost Luiten produced a memorable hole in one at the par-three fourth in the first round.
2 To date, the only two players to win the PGA Championship after winning the week before are Rory McIlroy (2014 WGC-Bridgestone Invitational) and Tiger Woods (2007, WGC-Bridgestone Invitational). Hideki Matsuyama or Chris Stroud could have made it three.
3 Number of seasons without a major for McIlroy, who finished in a tie for 22nd.
4 Louis Oosthuizen has now finished second in all four of the game's major championships.
5 In the fifth hole of the final round, McIlroy holed his longest putt of the week - from 16ft 8in - for birdie.
6 For the sixth successive year, play was disrupted by bad weather with a delay of one hour and 43 minutes on Friday.
7 Seven under par (64) was the best round of the week, shot by Matsuyama and Francesco Molinari on Day 2.
8 Number of shots taken by Jason Day on the 18th hole in round three after a risky recovery shot backfired.
9 Jon Rahm's age in months the last time Phil Mickelson missed the cut in the US PGA, in 1995.
10 Jimmy Walker's opening round as defending champion was a 10-over-par 81.
11 The par-four 11th coincidentally ranked as the 11th hardest hole overall with a scoring average of 4.192.
12 Paul Casey was a combined 12 under par for his first round in this year's majors.
13 The average world ranking of the last 13 PGA winners before this week was 25. Kevin Kisner began the week ranked 25th.
14 The world ranking of Justin Thomas before his victory.
15 Of the top 15 players after 54 holes, only Oosthuizen had previously won a major.
16 The par-four 16th marks the start of Quail Hollow's so-called "Green Mile" of finishing holes, some of the toughest in golf.
17 The first round scoring average of the last 17 major champions was 67.2. Kisner and Thorbjorn Olesen shot 67 on day one at Quail Hollow.
18 For the first time in 18 majors, the eventual winner was over par after round one (Thomas shot 73).
Company Profile
Company name: Cargoz
Date started: January 2022
Founders: Premlal Pullisserry and Lijo Antony
Based: Dubai
Number of staff: 30
Investment stage: Seed
Blackpink World Tour [Born Pink] In Cinemas
Starring: Rose, Jisoo, Jennie, Lisa
Directors: Min Geun, Oh Yoon-Dong
Rating: 3/5
THE SIXTH SENSE
Starring: Bruce Willis, Toni Collette, Hayley Joel Osment
Director: M. Night Shyamalan
Rating: 5/5
Sweet Tooth
Creator: Jim Mickle
Starring: Christian Convery, Nonso Anozie, Adeel Akhtar, Stefania LaVie Owen
Rating: 2.5/5