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Natalie Robomed
Campside Media from Sony Music Entertainment and Campsite Media this is infamous. I'm Natalie Robomed. I hope you enjoyed listening to our series on the Princesses of Dubai. As I said a few episodes ago, there's been new reporting by another journalist on this case and I want to get into that in this episode. However, the new information does not include figuring out for sure that Sheikha Latifa is free. I know that may be hard for some people to hear, and it certainly is for me. So here's what happened. A few weeks after we first aired our series in March 2023, the New Yorker published an excellent in depth story by Heidi Blake called the Fugitive Princesses of Dubai and a podcast on the series in the Dark. Now the New Yorker story highlights Shamsa, Latifa's older sister and what happened to her in England. We discussed a lot of this in episode one of our series. If you'll remember, Shamsa was the older sister of Sheikha Latifa. Shamsa actually ran away in 2000, way before Latifa did. She had escaped from her dad Sheikh Mohammed's house in in the UK by driving a Range Rover to the edge of her father's estate. But we didn't quite know where she went after that, and the New Yorker figured it out. Here's Heidi.
Heidi Blake
She initially moved into a hostel in a pretty gritty part of southeast London, and then eventually she moved in with a friend who she just met randomly on the run. It seems like to some extent she kind of just lived as you might imagine a teenager would, having her first taste of freedom in a major city. Like we know, she dabbled with alcohol, kind of made new friends, but she also did something pretty smart. She contacted a lawyer. She found this guy through the Yellow Pages, a lawyer called Paul Simon, and she just walked into his office off the street and told him she was a runaway princess, a member of the Dubai royal family, and that she wanted to claim asylum in the uk.
Natalie Robomed
When she said this, her lawyer said something very revealing.
Heidi Blake
He noted in records at the time that he told Shamsa her case was very unlikely to succeed, given the friendly relations between the UK and the uae.
Natalie Robomed
As we talked about, the UK and UAE have very deep ties. The UAE is a major trading partner to the uk. Tons of British tourists visit Dubai on holiday. Many wealthy Emiratis have real estate in the UK and so on. And that deep conviviality may be part of why Shamsa was not safe on British soil. This is what happened when British police were first alerted to her case.
Heidi Blake
The case was referred to Special Branch, which is this secretive division of the British police, who at that time handled all matters of national security. Special Branch got in touch with the Dubai Royal family. And the police log which I have here says that representatives of the family told them that they, quote, had no knowledge of the name given or any such incident. And so, just like that, the case was dropped. And this is like one of the first of many incredibly frustrating moments where Shamsa and other women have the guts and the resourcefulness to get the word out that they're trying to escape, that they need help, and authorities just look away every time.
Natalie Robomed
And perhaps while the authorities were not paying attention, something awful happened to Shamsa. Here is what the New Yorker reported happened. They got their hands on a note Shamsa had written that said, I was caught by my father. He sent four Arab men to catch me. They were carrying guns and threatening me. They drove me to my father's place in Newmarket where they gave me two injections and a handful of tablets. The very next morning, a helicopter came and flew me to the plane which took me back to Dubai. I'm locked up until today.
Heidi Blake
Foreign.
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Campside Media Host
This is Infamous from Campside Media.
Advertiser
So.
Natalie Robomed
A few years after Shamsa was captured, Shamsa's sister, Princess Latifa, tried to escape for the first time. This was back in 2002, when she was still just a teenager. Latifa was caught and allegedly imprisoned and tortured for years, though Sheikh Mohammed's office has denied that Latifa has ever been arrested or detained. When she got out years later, according to the New Yorker, one of her guards was actually one of the guys who had allegedly beaten her when she was in prison.
Heidi Blake
So she'd be out, like at the races or scuba diving at the beach, and there he'd be, this guy who'd held her down as her feet were caned until all the bones were broken.
Natalie Robomed
That just sounds so scary. It's unimaginable, and it really makes me reflect how brave she was to try to escape again, which she did 16 years later. This was in 2018 with the help of Tina Yuhayainen, her capoeira instructor. But once again, as with Shamsa, Latifa was caught. And once again, another nation either turned a blind eye or actively helped because, according to the New Yorker, the Indian government wholly aided in Latifa's capture.
Heidi Blake
When the yacht was eventually located off the coast of India, Sheikh Mohammed called in a favor from a powerful ally. He spoke personally with the Indian prime minister, Narendra Modi, and they hashed out a deal. Modi wanted an arms dealer who was based in Dubai, and Sheikh Mohammed agreed to extradite this guy in exchange for his daughter's capture. The Indian government deployed boats, helicopters and a team of armed commandos to storm Nostromo and carry Latifa away.
Natalie Robomed
So with the help of the Indian government, Latifa was ferried back to Dubai and her escape was scuppered. So after Latifa was obtained, a secret meeting allegedly took place between Latifa, her father, Sheikh Mohammed, and her sister Shamsa. According to the New Yorker, here's a voice recording of Latifa from the podcast talking about that meeting.
Princess Latifa
So I go inside this living room area and I'm waiting. And then my father comes and he says, we'll wait for Shamsa to come.
Natalie Robomed
This was a huge moment for Latifa. The last time Latifa had seen Shamsa, she'd been heavily medicated and basically imprisoned by guards. And now Latifa, who herself had tried to escape and been caught, was being brought to see Shamsa, the older sister who had tried to escape and been caught.
Princess Latifa
And then Shamsa comes and she hugs me, and she kept apologizing to me and she. It was so weird. She's. She's now, like, super friendly with our father. She loves him. She absolutely loves him. Shamsa was whispering to me, like, be respectful of your father. You know, just be careful. Be respectful of him. And she said to me, I'm so sorry, because I think I confused you, because I wanted to escape, but then I'm happy here, but I don't really know what I want. So I think you were just defending me. I said, semsa, I went to prison for you. I went to prison for you. I almost died when I was a kid. And I said, semsa, like, for the next 10 seconds, I don't care if you're scared. I don't care what's going on in your head. For the next 10 seconds, be completely honest with me. What do you want in your life? Tell me what you want so I can help you. And she said, to be honest with you, I'm happy where I am. I just want to be left alone. You know, the house is beautiful, beautiful. And I just want to be left in peace to worship and to. To pray.
Natalie Robomed
The whole thing must have been so confusing for Latifa. This was her sister, who had tried so desperately to get away, who had said she was being held against her will. Latifa came to a conclusion about Shamsa.
Princess Latifa
Shamsa is completely brainwashed.
Natalie Robomed
So as you may recall, a lot of this information came out because of legal proceedings in the between Sheikh Mohammed and his ex wife Princess Haya, the royal from Jordan, who also ran away under slightly different circumstances. As Haya's case was going on, it appears that Sheikh Mohammed was using freedom as a bargaining chip for Latifa.
Heidi Blake
Guards offered to take her out shopping for books so that she could be photographed. It was an agonizing offer to refuse. She wrote, I crave fresh air and sunlight. But she knew that if she cooperated, she she'd risk scuttling Haya's case.
Natalie Robomed
So you might be wondering, where is Latifa now? There have been all sorts of strange photos that seem really forced, but the question of whether she is really free remains. I even found an Instagram account that I think might be Latifah's, though we don't know for sure and we don't know who's running it. It's under the handle Soylati. We DM'd the account asking for an interview, but did not get any response. The most Recent upload from October 26, 2024 includes a photo of Latifah walking a rescue dog in what looks like the UAE desert. In the picture, she's standing with this very cute brown and white pup on a leash. There are sand dunes and scrubby bushes in the background. Latifah is wearing a pair of Victoria's Secrets pink brand camo leggings, a burgundy T shirt and big black aviator sunglasses. The caption tags the account of an animal rescue called the Stray Dog center, located about an hour from Dubai. According to this photo, she seems to be hanging out with animals again, something we know she loved. But I also can't help but see it as a metaphor. Maybe she's a stray dog who's been rescued, or maybe she's been captured and is now being kept close on a tight leash.
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Natalie Robomed
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Campside Media Host
This is infamous from Campside Media.
Advertiser
So a lot of what I just.
Natalie Robomed
Talked about is really quite dark, but I wanted to pivot now to something slightly lighter. A while ago, I answered a bunch of questions about the UAE from listeners. You're going to hear our producer, Shoshi Shmulovitz pose those questions to me, and you'll hear me answer them now.
Shoshi Shmulovitz
Okay, so before we really dive into listener questions, Natalie, maybe you can just answer a few, like, very basic questions about Dubai. First of all, where is it?
Advertiser
So Dubai is this small city state in a country called the United Arab Emirates that is sandwiched kind of between Oman and Saudi Arabia, very close to Iraq, and right across a body of water from Iran.
Shoshi Shmulovitz
So it's in the Middle East. Does it have lots and lots of oil? I mean, we know this is like a. A pretty rich country.
Advertiser
Yeah, Abs, absolutely. So the UAE itself does have a huge amount of oil, but it's comprised of states. You can think of that as similar to American states like California or Maine or whatever. And where the oil is is not dispersed equally within the country. So Abu Dhabi, actually, and that's the capital, has the larger reserves of oil, and Dubai in comparison, has very little oil, actually. And that is one of the reasons why they have really tried incredibly hard to diversify through tourism and real estate and a million other assets and potential money makers. This man, Sheikh Zayed, he's passed away now, but he's really known as kind of the. The founder of the nation. And he brought together these different families and different groups into the United Arab Emirates in 1971. So that's actually still relatively recently. Right?
Shoshi Shmulovitz
That's super recent.
Advertiser
Yeah, I know. So especially when you think about it like that, there has been an incredible amount of progress in that time. And, you know, very few countries establish the kind of international influence or kind of reputation that the UAE has already achieved.
Shoshi Shmulovitz
And it's funny because even though Dubai is not the capital and it doesn't have the most oil, it's still kind of the one that we hear about more. More than Abu Dhabi, for sure. Like, for example, Beyonce performed there. Why did Beyonce perform in Dubai?
Advertiser
Because she was paid a lot of money to celebrate the opening of a hotel and kick it off with this, with this headline grabbing performance. And I actually think that really speaks to the great job that Dubai has done in Creating a kind of PR reputation for itself around the world. Dubai is the place that rappers shout out, people say, oh, I want to go there for this exotic holiday, et cetera, et cetera. I mean, they have made themselves known for five star hotels or even seven star hotels and malls. Kind of a symbol of, quote, unquote, Western progress or capitalist progress in the region. You know, Dubai is known as being very high end, but there are also a lot of package vacations that kind of go there. And there are tourists there from.
Heidi Blake
From.
Shoshi Shmulovitz
Do they have a Club Med?
Advertiser
They don't, but, like, spiritually they do. No, there's. If you go any given point, there's tourists. We're not just talking from the UK or America. You've got tourists from Russia, from all over there. And same goes for expats. There's a lot, a lot, a lot of expats living there. I don't have the exact figures in front of me, but it might be something like 90% of people living in the country are expatriates and only 10% are actually nationals.
Shoshi Shmulovitz
What?
Advertiser
Yeah, I know. Isn't that crazy?
Shoshi Shmulovitz
I mean, it kind of makes you wonder, like, how do you have, like, a national character?
Advertiser
It's a really interesting question, and I think that that is something that, from my perspective, I watched the UAE debate while I was there. So when. When I was in school there, you had to take Arabic up until what would be the American equivalent of the eighth grade. So that was one way to be trying to establish a national identity. And of course, all the traffic signs and road signs or whatever have Arabic on them. There have since been various government programs to ensure that there are Emirati nationals working in businesses and working as partners to open new businesses. So they're really trying to ensure that nationals are integrated into the country.
Shoshi Shmulovitz
That actually brings us to one of our listener questions, which is, what do most average Emirati citizens do for work?
Advertiser
Yeah, I mean, I think there is. There's no easy, quick answer to that because it's like any other country. What are. What are a lot of people doing for work? I mean, plenty of them are working in the police or in the armed forces. A lot are in government roles. Right. Whether that's Ministry of Finance or whatever else. I feel like back in the day, you wouldn't have seen an Emirati woman, like, working in a store, you know, working in Sephora. And yes, there are Sephoras in Dubai, but that is something that you might see these days.
Shoshi Shmulovitz
So you have these regular Emiratis, regular people from Dubai putting on, like, your trial makeup for you.
Advertiser
They wouldn't be putting on your trial makeup. They would probably be the store manager.
Shoshi Shmulovitz
Okay, okay, okay. I think that's, like, an important distinction. So they might be in, like, management roles.
Advertiser
Yes, there's. Yeah, I'm laughing because I'm trying to find a delicate way to phrase this, but there's, like, an incredible amount of racism in the uae, just as there is in. In any other country. And there are certain roles, and especially service roles that are typically kind of like, occupied by expats from, say, the Philippines or South Asia. Exactly, exactly. And. And, yeah, that's a whole other topic which we can get into, but.
Shoshi Shmulovitz
So it'll be like somebody from India putting on your makeup at Sephora, but the manager is from Dubai.
Natalie Robomed
Exactly.
Advertiser
Maybe. Yes.
Shoshi Shmulovitz
And then, like, status wise, they would have, like, the status of guest workers. Is that right?
Advertiser
Yeah, and that's. That's the other thing I wanted to say is there's really not an easy route to naturalization. What I mean by that is that it's not easy to get an Emirati citizenship just based on having lived there for X number of years. You can't naturalize in the way that you can in lots and lots of other countries. And part of that is because being a citizen confers a whole lot of rights and privileges to you. But also I think of that as a way to kind of protect the national identity when you are in a country that has so many expats.
Shoshi Shmulovitz
Right, that makes sense.
Advertiser
So, yeah, you can have lived there for 30 years, but you're not a citizen.
Shoshi Shmulovitz
And presumably if you're there as a guest worker, you get kicked out once you lose your job.
Advertiser
Yeah, exactly. Or you get to a certain age that might be retirement age and you have to retire elsewhere.
Shoshi Shmulovitz
Okay, let's get to the next listener question. How much does Islamic law figure into Dubai's secular legal system, and can you drink booze there?
Advertiser
Two very important questions. I will handle the booze question first. So, yes, you absolutely can drink alcohol there. One of these Emirates, Sharjah, is a dry emirate, so there's no alcohol served there. It's a dry state.
Shoshi Shmulovitz
This is probably why most people haven't heard of Sharjah.
Advertiser
Poor Sharjah. But yes, so you absolutely can drink booze in Dubai. One thing I do think is funny is that if you listen to radio ads there, they actually can't say the words wine and champagne. They'll have to use code words like bubbly or like, I'm making this up like grapes. Dh50 for dinner and grape. What does that mean?
Shoshi Shmulovitz
So you can drink it, but you can't say it?
Advertiser
Exactly. Not on the national radio. Yeah. The other thing I was going to say was that in order to have a liquor license, like, typically you have to be inside a hotel. So that's kind of one of the limitations. But that's the reason why a lot of the nightclubs and a lot of the bars are within hotels.
Shoshi Shmulovitz
Oh, that's so interesting.
Advertiser
Yeah.
Shoshi Shmulovitz
Okay, let's go to the next listener question. Do women really have to get permission from a male relative to travel?
Advertiser
No, that's not a thing that's happening in the uae. I mean, again, like, probably depends on the family and question. Right. I feel like most Emiratis that I know live very, very free lives and very kind of like, equal lives. Women aren't asking for the permission of a male relative to travel, but maybe in the case of an individual family that is maybe stricter or more conservative, that might be happening, but across the board, I would generally say no.
Shoshi Shmulovitz
So is it just if you're royal that you might have to worry about that kind of thing?
Advertiser
Yeah, and I think that's something that we heard about a little in the series, is that there are these stricter lives for royal women. I do think that's kind of similar to being a British royal. You have somebody figuring out your travel and wanting to know where you are.
Shoshi Shmulovitz
You have, like, minders.
Advertiser
Exactly, exactly.
Shoshi Shmulovitz
That brings us to our next listener question, which is, how integrated are the royals to daily culture? Is it, like, British level?
Advertiser
I would say it's perhaps even more so. Because the other thing to know that is strange if you've never been there, is that the faces of the royal family are everywhere. And what I mean by that is, on the front page of the newspaper every day, there would be a picture of the president or the head of Dubai, the head of Abu Dhabi shaking hands with ex dignitary or doing something with a diplomat on the front page of the newspaper every single day. I mean, there's even, like, on the highway, there's this big highway between Abu Dhabi and Dubai called Sheikh Zayed Road. And there's kind of a giant billboard, essentially, with Sheikh Zayed's face on it.
Natalie Robomed
That has just been up for years and years.
Shoshi Shmulovitz
So they're pretty ubiquitous. But is there like a yellow press, like a paparazzi that's publishing gossip about them? Or, like.
Advertiser
Do you want to end up in a prison in the desert? No, I'm joking, I'm joking. That's a joke. But absolutely not. There is no free press or kind of tabloid TMZ esque press in the way that we think of it in the us. Actually, I worked at a newspaper there.
Natalie Robomed
In the summer when I was still.
Advertiser
In college and there was a lot of self censorship that happened. If I remember correctly, I tried to publish a review of something and I'd use the phrase like seventh Heaven. And my editor, she was like, oh, we can't make any references to heaven because that would be like Christian, I guess. And I just thought that was so funny because it wasn't like the top editor reviewed that or some sense or somewhere. Cut it out. It was more that she was just like, oh, I want to stay in the good graces of, of X, Y and Z people. So I'm going to make sure that we don't print this thing.
Shoshi Shmulovitz
So I want to take us back to what you were saying about the royals earlier, because that gets us to the next question. What are the roles of these Arab monarchs in the us? And in terms of business investments, what are Emirati business interests in the US?
Advertiser
So the UAE is one of the US's biggest allies in the region. Saudi is another huge ally. And they're, they're heavily invested in Hollywood in various ways, in various film slates and production companies, sports teams, real estate, tech, pretty much any industry you can think of. The UAE is invested in it primarily through its sovereign wealth fund. A lot of that information, I would say is somewhat hard to find. But they're incredibly diversified because they're preparing for life after oil. Right? They know that oil is going to run out at a certain point, so they need to diversify.
Shoshi Shmulovitz
That actually brings us to our last listener question, which is about climate change. What is Dubai doing about climate change? It's really hot over there and it's a desert. Where do they get water?
Advertiser
These are such great questions. So pretty much every time I go there, I have sort of a minor freak out internally about the climate crisis because you kind of drive around and you're like, this is so unsustainable. There's so much air conditioning. There's these kind of like gardens that are being watered every single day. And it feels incredibly unsustainable. There are a couple buildings that I absolutely love. There's this one skyscraper in Abu Dhabi. It has these awnings that move around the side of the building with the time of day. So if the sun is hitting that side of the building, there are These awnings that kind of stretch out and it kind of almost looks like these waffle. Waffle kind of hexagons or whatever of awning that cover over the glass. The other thing I was going to say that a lot of people don't know is that they actually seed rain there. I am not a scientist, you will be surprised to learn, but they seed clouds. So they kind of like engineer these clouds that then pop and produce rain.
Shoshi Shmulovitz
So where does Dubai get its water? Is it just from these, like, rain clouds that they're impregnating?
Advertiser
So desalination plants are huge, and there's lots and lots of desalination plants. So essentially, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, they're right on the coast, so right next to the sea. And a lot of the water that gets used is desalinated. So it's kind of taken from the.
Shoshi Shmulovitz
Sea and then made use of very expensive desalination.
Advertiser
Yes. I've never thought of that. I mean, this is also a very rich country. Right? So if.
Shoshi Shmulovitz
Right.
Advertiser
So, yeah, it might. It might be expensive. But look, when you're one of the most important kind of exporters of oil, your desalination plant might be the lowest of your concerns.
Shoshi Shmulovitz
You know, I could keep asking questions about Dubai all day. I think I need to just go there.
Advertiser
Well, let me know when you do and I'll show you around.
Natalie Robomed
That's it for this week's episode of Infamous. We'll be back next week with a new series. We're very excited for you to hear. It's more true crime than our usual episodes, but it's a fascinating story that raises some really interesting questions about womanhood, athleisure, and what drives us to do the worst things ever. We hope you'll join us.
Campside Media Host
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Infamous Podcast Episode Summary: "Dubai's Missing Princesses I Part 5, New Update"
Release Date: February 13, 2025
Hosts: Vanessa Grigoriadis, Gabriel Sherman, Natalie Robehmed
Production: Campside Media & Sony Music Entertainment
In the fifth installment of the "Dubai's Missing Princesses" series, hosts Natalie Robehmed, Gabriel Sherman, and Vanessa Grigoriadis delve deeper into the harrowing stories of Shamsa and Sheikha Latifa, two princesses from the Dubai royal family who attempted to escape their restrictive environments. This episode provides new updates and insights, drawing from recent journalistic investigations and legal proceedings that shed light on their ongoing plight.
The episode revisits Shamsa, Sheikha Latifa’s older sister, whose escape in 2000 remained shrouded in mystery until recent reporting.
Heidi Blake’s Investigation: Heidi Blake of The New Yorker uncovered critical details about Shamsa's life post-escape. Initially, Shamsa lived in a hostel in southeast London before moving in with a new friend. Her attempts to integrate into society were juxtaposed with her connection to her royal lineage.
Heidi Blake (02:02): "She dabbled with alcohol, kind of made new friends, but she also did something pretty smart. She contacted a lawyer... and she just walked into his office off the street and told him she was a runaway princess, a member of the Dubai royal family, and that she wanted to claim asylum in the UK."
Legal Challenges: Shamsa sought asylum but faced significant obstacles due to the strong UK-UAE relations. Her lawyer, Paul Simon, expressed doubts about the case's success.
Heidi Blake (02:45): "He noted in records at the time that he told Shamsa her case was very unlikely to succeed, given the friendly relations between the UK and the UAE."
The strong diplomatic ties between the UK and UAE led to minimal support for Shamsa, culminating in British authorities referring the case to the Secretive Special Branch, which ultimately dismissed it after the Dubai Royal Family denied any knowledge of her claims.
Heidi Blake (03:20): "The case was referred to Special Branch... And so, just like that, the case was dropped."
Latifa's relentless pursuit of freedom has been a central focus of the series, with this episode highlighting her multiple escape attempts and the subsequent repercussions.
2002 Escape Attempt: As a teenager in 2002, Latifa attempted to flee Dubai but was apprehended and allegedly subjected to imprisonment and torture. Sheikh Mohammed’s office has consistently denied any such detentions.
Natalie Robehmed (06:58): "With the help of Tina Yuhayainen, her capoeira instructor. But once again, as with Shamsa, Latifa was caught."
2018 Rescue Operation: Latifa's 2018 escape, orchestrated with the help of Tina Yuhayainen, ended disastrously when the Indian government, acting on behalf of the UAE, intercepted her aboard the yacht Nostromo. The operation involved extensive resources, including boats, helicopters, and armed commandos, leading to her forcible return to Dubai.
Heidi Blake (08:17): "When the yacht was eventually located off the coast of India... Modi wanted an arms dealer who was based in Dubai, and Sheikh Mohammed agreed to extradite this guy in exchange for his daughter's capture."
Following Latifa's capture, a private meeting between Latifa, her father Sheikh Mohammed, and Shamsa took place, revealing a startling shift in Shamsa's stance.
Recorded Conversation: In a voice recording from the podcast, Latifa recounts the meeting where Shamsa appeared to reconcile with their father, expressing a desire to remain with the royal family.
Princess Latifa (09:12): "And she was whispering to me, like, be respectful of your father... I said, Shamsa, I went to prison for you... For the next 10 seconds, be completely honest with me. What do you want in your life?"
Shamsa's response indicated a complete change, leading Latifa to label her sister as "completely brainwashed."
Princess Latifa (11:00): "Shamsa is completely brainwashed."
The episode concludes with speculative updates on Latifa's whereabouts, citing a potentially authentic Instagram account under the handle @Soylati. The latest post, dated October 26, 2024, depicts Latifa with a rescue dog in the UAE desert, raising questions about her freedom and current condition.
Natalie Robehmed (12:00): "I also can't help but see it as a metaphor. Maybe she's a stray dog who's been rescued, or maybe she's been captured and is now being kept close on a tight leash."
Transitioning to a lighter segment, producer Shoshi Shmulovitz engages Natalie Robehmed with listener-submitted questions about Dubai, providing valuable insights into the city's dynamics.
Shmulovitz: "Where is Dubai?"
Robehmed: "Dubai is... sandwiched between Oman and Saudi Arabia, very close to Iraq, and right across a body of water from Iran."
[00:00]
Dubai, part of the UAE, has limited oil reserves compared to Abu Dhabi. Consequently, the city has diversified its economy through tourism, real estate, and various other sectors to sustain its growth.
Robehmed (16:10): "Abu Dhabi has the larger reserves of oil, and Dubai in comparison, has very little oil."
A staggering 90% of Dubai's population comprises expatriates, posing challenges to establishing a cohesive national identity. Naturalization is rare, with stringent requirements limiting citizenship primarily to diplomatic and political considerations.
Robehmed (20:40): "There's really not an easy route to naturalization... It's a way to kind of protect the national identity when you are in a country that has so many expats."
Contrary to some perceptions, Emirati women generally do not require male permission to travel. However, royal women may face stricter controls, reflecting broader societal norms and the influence of the royal family.
Robehmed (23:03): "No, that's not a thing that's happening in the UAE... There are these stricter lives for royal women."
Dubai permits alcohol consumption, albeit with restrictions. Alcohol is typically served in hotels and licensed venues, and public references to alcoholic beverages on national radio are censored using euphemisms.
Robehmed (21:48): "Yes, you absolutely can drink alcohol there... They have to use code words like 'bubbly' or 'grapes'."
The UAE royal family is deeply integrated into daily culture, with frequent appearances in media and public spaces. Unlike Western celebrities, Dubai's royals maintain a prominent and respected presence without the intrusive paparazzi culture.
Robehmed (24:06): "I would say it's perhaps even more so... there's a giant billboard, essentially, with Sheikh Zayed's face on it."
The UAE is a significant ally of the US, with extensive investments across Hollywood, sports, real estate, and technology. These investments are primarily managed through sovereign wealth funds, ensuring diversification beyond oil revenues.
Robehmed (26:25): "The UAE is one of the US's biggest allies in the region... they are incredibly diversified because they're preparing for life after oil."
Dubai faces severe climate challenges due to its desert environment. The city relies heavily on desalination plants for freshwater, employing advanced technologies to sustain its population. Additionally, initiatives like cloud seeding are used to engineer rainfall, albeit with concerns about long-term sustainability.
Robehmed (27:15): "Desalination plants are huge, and there's lots and lots of desalination plants... they actually seed rain there."
Natalie Robehmed wraps up the episode by acknowledging the gravity of the discussed topics and introduces the upcoming episode, which will explore a true crime story intertwined with themes of womanhood and athleisure.
Natalie Robehmed (29:20): "We hope you'll join us next week with a new series... it's more true crime than our usual episodes."
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This summary captures the essential discussions, insights, and conclusions from the "Dubai's Missing Princesses I Part 5, New Update" episode of the Infamous podcast, providing a comprehensive overview for both avid listeners and newcomers alike.