THIS WEEK ON 60 MINUTES
BATTLE ROYALE
In London an intriguing royal saga is unfolding. But it’s not the House of Windsor at the centre of this astonishing drama. Rather, it’s Dubai’s royal family, and it concerns the high-profile Princess Haya Bint Al Hussein, one of the wives of the all-powerful ruler and multi-billionaire, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum. The Princess has fled to England with the couple’s two young children and is now reportedly holed up in the family’s $150 million London mansion. The Sheikh is said to be furious with his wife, accusing her of treachery and betrayal. As to the cause of this marital contretemps there’s much whispering, but as Tom Steinfort reports, it’s probably linked to another mysterious family scandal. Last year one of Sheikh Mohammed’s daughters, 33-year-old Princess Latifa, also tried to escape from Dubai, but failed. In an exclusive interview with 60 MINUTES, a former palace insider explains the complicated and captivating machinations of this privileged – and troubled – royal family.
Reporter: Tom Steinfort
Producers: Steve Jackson, Madeleine Apps
ON OUR DOORSTEP
Anyone who thinks ISIS and its reign of barbarity is over is sadly mistaken. Sure, allied forces have been effective in wiping out the extremists in Syria and Iraq, but many of its fighters have escaped and are relocating. The worrying news is that they’re moving into our region, specifically into areas of Indonesia and the Philippines. The re-emergence of ISIS fighters, and their sympathisers, on Australia’s doorstep is such a threat that our armed services have been given a vital and until now largely unrecognised mission: deployed to the remote jungles of the Philippines to make sure this evil menace is stopped in its tracks. But as defiant ISIS soldiers tell Liam Bartlett in chilling, secretly recorded interviews, the extremists don’t fear their Aussie foes.
Reporter: Liam Bartlett
Producer: Joel Tozer
