Sara bin Karam laces up her skates, hoping to find a bit of space. In the brief window of time between recreational ice hockey and an open session for amateur skaters, she looks for a corner to squeeze in some practice.
The Emirati figure skater from Abu Dhabi, aged 13, is preparing to compete in the Union Figure Skating Trophy – running from Thursday to Sunday – at Zayed Sports City. The international competition will feature men and women in novice, junior and senior categories over four days.
One of five ice skaters in the UAE national squad, Sara will compete in the intermediate novice category on Friday, aiming to be crowned the UAE national champion. To achieve that she needs to be the highest-placed UAE skater in her category. She hopes to win a medal, but her ambitions for the sport go beyond personal success.
“I hope I can inspire people to start the sport in the UAE because I want it to be very popular,” she tells The National. “Football – everybody's talking about it. It's in school and everything. But skating – nobody knows what it is. So, I really hope it can become more popular.”
Although the UAE hasn't traditionally been a hotbed for athletes pursuing winter sports, that hasn't dampened Sara's dream.
She recalls watching the 2018 Winter Olympics with her father and seeing Russia’s Alina Zagitova win women’s figure skating gold. Although Sara was only six, the performance left an impression on her and she asked her father if she could sign up for ice skating lessons. While he initially agreed, the idea was soon forgotten.
Two years later, a Canadian cartoon show called Max & Ruby depicting figure skating characters reignited her interest. It looked easy, she recalls. Soon, she had signed up for lessons and what began as a hobby eventually turned into a more serious endeavour.
“When I was skating for fun, I needed the penguin. I needed somebody to hold my hand,” she says. “When I took lessons, it was easy to skate at first, but when I got older and started jumping, obviously, it got harder.”
As she got stronger, rather than participate in the sport recreationally, Sara wanted to compete. Despite setbacks that included a knee injury and the Covid-19 pandemic, she eventually took part in her first international competition in Malaysia in 2022. She hasn't looked back since.
As a Year 9 student at Abu Dhabi’s Al Yasmina Academy, Sara has a busy schedule. In addition to her studies, she dedicates hours to training – sometimes up to five or six during the weekends – going to different emirates to look for a quiet ice rink that allows her enough space for her spins and jumps. She's so devoted that her only day off during a typical week is a Wednesday.
“Her commitment is amazing,” says Sara’s mother, Ameerah. “Sara will get on the ice and do three, four hours of training.”
Sara isn’t the first Emirati to compete in the sport – that honour belongs to Zahra Lari – but she hopes to extend the pathway that Lari paved. Now retired, Lari's accolades include being the world’s first figure skater to compete in a hijab as well as being the UAE’s first figure skater to compete in qualification events for the Winter Olympics in 2018.
These days, she is the co-founder and chief executive of Emirates Skating Club, an association that has been greatly beneficial to Sara and other aspiring skaters in the UAE.
Sara recalls how Lari influenced her, especially when she was younger and still developing her skills. She even had the opportunity to be coached by the former UAE champion for a time. While she now works with a different coach, Ukrainian Luda Kalenuk, she remains in touch with Lari, who continues to support and follow her progress.
Her mother, Ameerah, credits Kalenuk with having a strong and positive impact on her daughter's development, on and off the ice. “Sara's confidence and communication skills have improved significantly under coach Luda's guidance over a year and a half,” says Ameerah.
She adds: “She speaks more of her mind as well. She had a very difficult time actually telling the coaches how she felt and how she understood information. I think she's more confident with coach Luda. They have a very friendly banter situation, which is nice. It's like a good friendship.”
In addition to the Union Figure Skating Trophy, Sara also plans to later compete in the ISU Junior Grand Prix, which will be held for the first time in Abu Dhabi in October. She was supposed to make her debut in that event last year, but an injury kept her away.
Sara is fully expecting to feel some pressure when she competes in front of a home crowd in Abu Dhabi, but she knows there will also be a lot of pride. The friends she’s made from international competitions will get to see what the UAE is like – some for the first time. She’ll also have a big group of supporters in the stands to cheer her on.
“Her father always supports her, and I always support her. Our family is very proud of her,” says Ameerah. “All her cousins will come. She has 24, so all of them will be here.”
Sara would one day like to proudly raise the country’s flag at a major international competition.
“I really hope to go to the World Championships. The Olympics are every four years, but Worlds are every year, so I feel like it's more of a possibility,” she says. “It would be really nice to have the UAE represented at the Worlds.”
While her goals may be ambitious, they align with her dreams of raising the sport's profile in the UAE. For those who want to follow a similar path, she has a simple message.
“Don't give up because, when you fall, when you don't manage to do things, it can really demotivate you, but you will soon realise the next day it will be like the easiest thing ever,” says Sara. “That’s skating. One day it's really hard, the next day it's really easy. So, it will come eventually. Just don't give up.”
THREE
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Company Profile
Company name: OneOrder
Started: October 2021
Founders: Tamer Amer and Karim Maurice
Based: Cairo, Egypt
Industry: technology, logistics
Investors: A15 and self-funded
$1,000 award for 1,000 days on madrasa portal
Daily cash awards of $1,000 dollars will sweeten the Madrasa e-learning project by tempting more pupils to an education portal to deepen their understanding of math and sciences.
School children are required to watch an educational video each day and answer a question related to it. They then enter into a raffle draw for the $1,000 prize.
“We are targeting everyone who wants to learn. This will be $1,000 for 1,000 days so there will be a winner every day for 1,000 days,” said Sara Al Nuaimi, project manager of the Madrasa e-learning platform that was launched on Tuesday by the Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, to reach Arab pupils from kindergarten to grade 12 with educational videos.
“The objective of the Madrasa is to become the number one reference for all Arab students in the world. The 5,000 videos we have online is just the beginning, we have big ambitions. Today in the Arab world there are 50 million students. We want to reach everyone who is willing to learn.”
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Where can I submit a sample?
Volunteers can now submit DNA samples at a number of centres across Abu Dhabi. The programme is open to all ages.
Collection centres in Abu Dhabi include:
- Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (ADNEC)
- Biogenix Labs in Masdar City
- Al Towayya in Al Ain
- NMC Royal Hospital in Khalifa City
- Bareen International Hospital
- NMC Specialty Hospital, Al Ain
- NMC Royal Medical Centre - Abu Dhabi
- NMC Royal Women’s Hospital.
Terror attacks in Paris, November 13, 2015
- At 9.16pm, three suicide attackers killed one person outside the Atade de France during a foootball match between France and Germany
- At 9.25pm, three attackers opened fire on restaurants and cafes over 20 minutes, killing 39 people
- Shortly after 9.40pm, three other attackers launched a three-hour raid on the Bataclan, in which 1,500 people had gathered to watch a rock concert. In total, 90 people were killed
- Salah Abdeslam, the only survivor of the terrorists, did not directly participate in the attacks, thought to be due to a technical glitch in his suicide vest
- He fled to Belgium and was involved in attacks on Brussels in March 2016. He is serving a life sentence in France
Zidane's managerial achievements
La Liga: 2016/17
Spanish Super Cup: 2017
Uefa Champions League: 2015/16, 2016/17, 2017/18
Uefa Super Cup: 2016, 2017
Fifa Club World Cup: 2016, 2017
Ticket prices
- Golden circle - Dh995
- Floor Standing - Dh495
- Lower Bowl Platinum - Dh95
- Lower Bowl premium - Dh795
- Lower Bowl Plus - Dh695
- Lower Bowl Standard- Dh595
- Upper Bowl Premium - Dh395
- Upper Bowl standard - Dh295
STAGE 4 RESULTS
1 Sam Bennett (IRL) Deceuninck-QuickStep - 4:51:51
2 David Dekker (NED) Team Jumbo-Visma
3 Caleb Ewan (AUS) Lotto Soudal
4 Elia Viviani (ITA) Cofidis
5 Matteo Moschetti (ITA) Trek-Segafredo
General Classification
1 Tadej Pogacar (SLO) UAE Team Emirates - 12:50:21
2 Adam Yates (GBR) Teamn Ineos Grenadiers - 0:00:43
3 Joao Almeida (POR) Deceuninck-QuickStep - 0:01:03
4 Chris Harper (AUS) Jumbo-Visma - 0:01:43
5 Neilson Powless (USA) EF Education-Nippo - 0:01:45
'The worst thing you can eat'
Trans fat is typically found in fried and baked goods, but you may be consuming more than you think.
Powdered coffee creamer, microwave popcorn and virtually anything processed with a crust is likely to contain it, as this guide from Mayo Clinic outlines:
Baked goods - Most cakes, cookies, pie crusts and crackers contain shortening, which is usually made from partially hydrogenated vegetable oil. Ready-made frosting is another source of trans fat.
Snacks - Potato, corn and tortilla chips often contain trans fat. And while popcorn can be a healthy snack, many types of packaged or microwave popcorn use trans fat to help cook or flavour the popcorn.
Fried food - Foods that require deep frying — french fries, doughnuts and fried chicken — can contain trans fat from the oil used in the cooking process.
Refrigerator dough - Products such as canned biscuits and cinnamon rolls often contain trans fat, as do frozen pizza crusts.
Creamer and margarine - Nondairy coffee creamer and stick margarines also may contain partially hydrogenated vegetable oils.
Kamindu Mendis bio
Full name: Pasqual Handi Kamindu Dilanka Mendis
Born: September 30, 1998
Age: 20 years and 26 days
Nationality: Sri Lankan
Major teams Sri Lanka's Under 19 team
Batting style: Left-hander
Bowling style: Right-arm off-spin and slow left-arm orthodox (that's right!)
One-off T20 International: UAE v Australia
When: Monday, October 22, 2pm start
Where: Abu Dhabi Cricket, Oval 1
Tickets: Admission is free
Australia squad: Aaron Finch (captain), Mitch Marsh, Alex Carey, Ashton Agar, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Chris Lynn, Nathan Lyon, Glenn Maxwell, Ben McDermott, Darcy Short, Billy Stanlake, Mitchell Starc, Andrew Tye, Adam Zampa, Peter Siddle
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Who has been sanctioned?
Daniella Weiss and Nachala
Described as 'the grandmother of the settler movement', she has encouraged the expansion of settlements for decades. The 79 year old leads radical settler movement Nachala, whose aim is for Israel to annex Gaza and the occupied West Bank, where it helps settlers built outposts.
Harel Libi & Libi Construction and Infrastructure
Libi has been involved in threatening and perpetuating acts of aggression and violence against Palestinians. His firm has provided logistical and financial support for the establishment of illegal outposts.
Zohar Sabah
Runs a settler outpost named Zohar’s Farm and has previously faced charges of violence against Palestinians. He was indicted by Israel’s State Attorney’s Office in September for allegedly participating in a violent attack against Palestinians and activists in the West Bank village of Muarrajat.
Coco’s Farm and Neria’s Farm
These are illegal outposts in the West Bank, which are at the vanguard of the settler movement. According to the UK, they are associated with people who have been involved in enabling, inciting, promoting or providing support for activities that amount to “serious abuse”.
Full Party in the Park line-up
2pm – Andreah
3pm – Supernovas
4.30pm – The Boxtones
5.30pm – Lighthouse Family
7pm – Step On DJs
8pm – Richard Ashcroft
9.30pm – Chris Wright
10pm – Fatboy Slim
11pm – Hollaphonic
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The specs
Engine: 3-litre twin-turbo V6
Power: 400hp
Torque: 475Nm
Transmission: 9-speed automatic
Price: From Dh215,900
On sale: Now
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
