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UAE Finance Minister and Dubai Deputy Ruler Sheikh Hamdan Dies

Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid attends the Water, Energy, Technology and Environment Exhibition (WETEX) and the Dubai Solar Show 2020 virtually on October 26, 2020. (Dubai Media Office)
Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid attends the Water, Energy, Technology and Environment Exhibition (WETEX) and the Dubai Solar Show 2020 virtually on October 26, 2020. (Dubai Media Office)
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UAE Finance Minister and Dubai Deputy Ruler Sheikh Hamdan Dies

Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid attends the Water, Energy, Technology and Environment Exhibition (WETEX) and the Dubai Solar Show 2020 virtually on October 26, 2020. (Dubai Media Office)
Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid attends the Water, Energy, Technology and Environment Exhibition (WETEX) and the Dubai Solar Show 2020 virtually on October 26, 2020. (Dubai Media Office)

Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Dubai’s deputy ruler and the United Arab Emirates’ long-serving finance minister, has died, Dubai’s ruler said on Wednesday.

Sheikh Hamdan, 75, was the brother of the ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum. He had been unwell for some months and had surgery abroad in October.

Dubai’s ruler bid farewell to “my brother, my support, my lifelong friend”.

Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nayhan, tweeted: “Today we lost one of the UAE’s faithful men after a life rich with giving and true patriotic work.”

Funeral prayers will be restricted to family members due to the (COVID-19) pandemic, the Dubai Media Office said.

Dubai announced 10 days of mourning with flags to be flown at half-mast and a closure of government institutions in the emirate for three days as of Thursday.

Sheikh Hamdan had been the UAE’s finance minister since 1971. The UAE also has a minister of state for financial affairs, Obaid Humaid Al Tayer, who has held the post since 2008.

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Gulf

Saudi Defenses Intercept and Destroy Cruise Missile

The Ministry of Defense reiterated the readiness of its forces to deal with various threats. (Saudi Ministry of Defense)
The Ministry of Defense reiterated the readiness of its forces to deal with various threats. (Saudi Ministry of Defense)
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Saudi Defenses Intercept and Destroy Cruise Missile

The Ministry of Defense reiterated the readiness of its forces to deal with various threats. (Saudi Ministry of Defense)
The Ministry of Defense reiterated the readiness of its forces to deal with various threats. (Saudi Ministry of Defense)

Saudi Defense Ministry spokesperson Turki Al-Malki said on Sunday that the Kingdom's defenses shot down a cruise missile in recent hours.

The interception process was successful, he added.

The Ministry of Defense reiterated the readiness of its forces to deal with various threats to ensure the security of the Kingdom and the safety of its territories.

Gulf

UAE Says Air Defenses Responding to Iran Missiles, Drones

A man walks along Dubai's Creek Harbor, with the Burj Khalifa visible in the background, on April 3, 2026. (AFP)
A man walks along Dubai's Creek Harbor, with the Burj Khalifa visible in the background, on April 3, 2026. (AFP)
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UAE Says Air Defenses Responding to Iran Missiles, Drones

A man walks along Dubai's Creek Harbor, with the Burj Khalifa visible in the background, on April 3, 2026. (AFP)
A man walks along Dubai's Creek Harbor, with the Burj Khalifa visible in the background, on April 3, 2026. (AFP)

Emirati air defenses were responding to missile and drone attacks from Iran, the United Arab Emirates defense ministry said Sunday.

"UAE air defenses... are actively engaging with missiles and UAV threats," the ministry posted on X in English, along with an Arabic statement that said the projectiles were coming from Iran.

"MOD (Ministry of Defense) asserts that the sounds heard across the country are the result of ongoing engaging operations of missiles and UAVs," it added.

Gulf nations have borne the brunt of Iran's retaliatory attacks since the US and Israel launched strikes in late February that ignited a regional war.

Gulf

Kuwait Power, Water Desalination Plants Damaged by Iranian Attack

A drone view shows Kuwait City, in the aftermath of strikes by Israel and the US on Iran, in Kuwait, February 28, 2026. (Reuters)
A drone view shows Kuwait City, in the aftermath of strikes by Israel and the US on Iran, in Kuwait, February 28, 2026. (Reuters)
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Kuwait Power, Water Desalination Plants Damaged by Iranian Attack

A drone view shows Kuwait City, in the aftermath of strikes by Israel and the US on Iran, in Kuwait, February 28, 2026. (Reuters)
A drone view shows Kuwait City, in the aftermath of strikes by Israel and the US on Iran, in Kuwait, February 28, 2026. (Reuters)

Two Kuwaiti power and water desalination plants were damaged by a drone attack from Iran, the electricity and water ministry said Sunday.

The attack resulted in "significant material damage and the shutdown of two electricity generating units", the ministry said in a post on X, adding there were no deaths or injuries.

Earlier, the Kuwait Petroleum Corporation said a fire broke out in its Shuwaikh oil sector complex, which houses the oil ministry and KPC headquarters, after a drone attack, the Kuwaiti state news agency ‌reported early ‌on Sunday.

Kuwaiti state ‌media, ⁠citing the finance ⁠ministry, said an Iranian drone hit an office complex for government ministries, causing significant material damage but no casualties.

No injuries were ‌reported.

An Iranian drone attack had also caused "significant" damage to a government building in Kuwait City on Saturday evening, a finance ministry statement said, adding there were no reports of deaths or injuries. 

Staff from the several ministries housed in the complex would work remotely on Sunday and visits would be suspended, the statement said. 

The latest attacks come as the US-Israeli war on Iran, how in its sixth week, broadens, with Tehran striking Israel and Gulf Arab states hosting US military installations.

There was no official comment from Iran.