PM Surprises Employees at Work, but They're Not There

Senior government officials in the United Arab Emirates chose a bad day to be late for work on Sunday. Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid paid a surprise visit to Dubai's municipality, land, and economic development departments starting at 7:30am Sunday—a regular working day in the UAE—and found several bosses not at their desks, per the National. A short video posted to Twitter shows the PM walking through one office without encountering a soul. And he wasn't in a forgiving mood.

Sheikh Mohammed—who is actually well-known for his surprise inspections, reports the Gulf News—announced Monday that nine senior officials would be forced to retire, including the executive director of legal affairs. "He certainly wanted to send a message," says a rep for Dubai's Media Office. "Timeliness starts at the top and we won't go after the employees when their bosses aren't there." The office adds that the move reflects Sheikh Mohammed's "keenness to allow a new generation of young leaders to shoulder the responsibility of development in the next period," per Al Arabiya. (The UAE also wants to build a mountain—to control the weather.)