DOHA // After Saturday's clean sweep in equestrian, the UAE savoured a one-two finish in the women's 5,000metres yesterday at the Arab Games.
Alia Saeed came home just over a second faster than teammate Belthem Belayneh to win a gold medal for the Emirates.
The pair have finished first and second before, in January's 10km women's race at the Dubai Marathon, when Belayneh was the winner.
Earlier in the Games, Belayneh received a bronze medal in the 1,500m, a race Saeed failed to start.
Also yesterday, the Emirati sprinter Omar Al Salfa, a bronze medallist at both the 2010 Asian Games in Gangzhou, China, and this year's Asian Athletics Championships in Kobe, Japan, ran fifth in the men's 200m.
Aziz Ouhadi from Morroco took the gold ahead of Femi Seun Ogunode, the Nigerian-born Qatari who won gold on both of the occasions when Al Salfa took the bronze.
Ogunode had won gold in the 100m on Thursday, with Ouhadi taking bronze.
The UAE's Marwan Al Maazmi also won gold, in karate, winning the men's individual Kata ahead of Mostafa Khalil of Egypt.
The Emirati swimmer Mubarak Al Besher suffered a narrow miss in the pool.
He lost out on the bronze medal by just 0.17 seconds in the 100m breatstroke.
Disappointment also was waiting for Ahmed Mohammed when he failed to record a legal throw in the men's shot put.
The UAE have won eight gold medals at the Arab Games and lie 10th toverall in the medal table, behind Iraq.
Egypt have been dominating the championships with 180 medals, including 69 golds, which is nearly double the next nearest country, Tunisia.
The hosts, Qatar are third with 29 golds and 92 total medals.
Navdeep Suri, India's Ambassador to the UAE
There has been a longstanding need from the Indian community to have a religious premises where they can practise their beliefs. Currently there is a very, very small temple in Bur Dubai and the community has outgrown this. So this will be a major temple and open to all denominations and a place should reflect India’s diversity.
It fits so well into the UAE’s own commitment to tolerance and pluralism and coming in the year of tolerance gives it that extra dimension.
What we will see on April 20 is the foundation ceremony and we expect a pretty broad cross section of the Indian community to be present, both from the UAE and abroad. The Hindu group that is building the temple will have their holiest leader attending – and we expect very senior representation from the leadership of the UAE.
When the designs were taken to the leadership, there were two clear options. There was a New Jersey model with a rectangular structure with the temple recessed inside so it was not too visible from the outside and another was the Neasden temple in London with the spires in its classical shape. And they said: look we said we wanted a temple so it should look like a temple. So this should be a classical style temple in all its glory.
It is beautifully located - 30 minutes outside of Abu Dhabi and barely 45 minutes to Dubai so it serves the needs of both communities.
This is going to be the big temple where I expect people to come from across the country at major festivals and occasions.
It is hugely important – it will take a couple of years to complete given the scale. It is going to be remarkable and will contribute something not just to the landscape in terms of visual architecture but also to the ethos. Here will be a real representation of UAE’s pluralism.
TEACHERS' PAY - WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
Pay varies significantly depending on the school, its rating and the curriculum. Here's a rough guide as of January 2021:
- top end schools tend to pay Dh16,000-17,000 a month - plus a monthly housing allowance of up to Dh6,000. These tend to be British curriculum schools rated 'outstanding' or 'very good', followed by American schools
- average salary across curriculums and skill levels is about Dh10,000, recruiters say
- it is becoming more common for schools to provide accommodation, sometimes in an apartment block with other teachers, rather than hand teachers a cash housing allowance
- some strong performing schools have cut back on salaries since the pandemic began, sometimes offering Dh16,000 including the housing allowance, which reflects the slump in rental costs, and sheer demand for jobs
- maths and science teachers are most in demand and some schools will pay up to Dh3,000 more than other teachers in recognition of their technical skills
- at the other end of the market, teachers in some Indian schools, where fees are lower and competition among applicants is intense, can be paid as low as Dh3,000 per month
- in Indian schools, it has also become common for teachers to share residential accommodation, living in a block with colleagues
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'Skin'
Dir: Guy Nattiv
Starring: Jamie Bell, Danielle McDonald, Bill Camp, Vera Farmiga
Rating: 3.5/5 stars
COMPANY PROFILE
● Company: Bidzi
● Started: 2024
● Founders: Akshay Dosaj and Asif Rashid
● Based: Dubai, UAE
● Industry: M&A
● Funding size: Bootstrapped
● No of employees: Nine
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Reputation
Taylor Swift
(Big Machine Records)
