Tunisia's Fares Ferjani wins silver for first Arab medal at Paris Olympics 2024


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Tunisia's Fares Ferjani claimed a superb silver medal in the men's individual sabre at the Paris Olympics on Saturday night.

Ferjani, 27, put up a brave fight but ultimately fell short, losing 15-11 in the gold medal bout against South Korea's Oh Sang-uk.

The Korean fencer opened up a 2-0 lead but Ferjani stayed within reach at 6-4 down. Oh then stretched his lead to 11-4 to close in on gold.

A point that would have won Oh the gold was overturned on review. Ferjani then won five more points before Oh could close out the win. It denied Ferjani what would have been the first fencing gold for an African nation.

Still, it was a memorable day for Ferjani as he secured the first medal for Arab nations at the games. He can reflect on an excellent effort having already beaten Egypt's world number one Ziad El Sissy in the semi-finals.

It was a tough day for El Sissy who had set his sights on gold. After losing to Ferjani, El Sissy was hoping to secure bronze for his efforts.

But he lost out in his bronze medal match against Italy's Luigi Samele. El Sissy made a slow start but turned an early deficit into a 5-3 lead. Samele then blazed to a 8-6 lead, pushing the advantage to 11-8.

The momentum was with the Italian and he wrapped up a 15-12 victory despite a late rally from the Egyptian.

Ezequiel Fernandez of Argentina scores the third goal against Iraq during their Olympics match at Stade de Lyon. Getty Images
Ezequiel Fernandez of Argentina scores the third goal against Iraq during their Olympics match at Stade de Lyon. Getty Images

Over in football, Argentina got their Olympics campaign back on track as they defeated Iraq 3-1 in Lyon.

Pre-tournament favorites Argentina suffered a shock 2-1 loss to Morocco in their opening Group B game – a match marred by a pitch invasion from Moroccan fans and a two-hour delay.

Thiago Almada, who Argentina coach Javier Mascherano said had a watch stolen when the team's training base was robbed earlier this week, opened the scoring with a volley in the 14th minute at Stade de Lyon.

Iraq then threatened to pull off another surprise when Aymen Hussein levelled the game in first-half stoppage time. But goals from Luciano Gondou and Ignacio Fernandez secured victory for Argentina.

Gondou's far-post header in the 62nd minute restored Argentina's lead and Fernandez curled in a long-range shot from the edge of the box.

In the other Group B match, 10-man Ukraine claimed a dramatic 2-1 win over Morocco in Saint-Etienne.

Dmytro Kryskiv put Ukraine ahead after 22 minutes before Morocco's Soufiane Rahimi, who scored twice against Argentina, equalised from the penalty spot in the 64th minute with Volodymyr Saliuk sent off.

Igor Krasnopir, however, grabbed a late winner in the final seconds of the game to hand Ukraine their first Olympic triumph.

However, unlike Morocco’s opener against Argentina that was marred by crowd trouble, there were no such issues on Saturday.

In tennis, weather played spoilsport as Tunisian Moez Echargui's opening match against Dan Evans of England and Lebanon player Benjamin Hassan's clash with Chris Eubanks of the US were postponed due to rain.

However, fellow Lebanese Hady Habib put his best foot forward and produced a commendable effort against Carlos Alcaraz at Roland Garros in men's singles.

Despite being a late replacement in the draw for the injured Hubert Hurkacz, Habib gave a good account of himself in a 6-3, 6-1 first round defeat to the Spaniard.

Table tennis veteran Dina Meshref of Egypt had a forgettable day.

Meshref, competing in her fourth Olympics, played in mixed doubles with Omar Assar. But the duo comfortably lost 4-0 to the Chinese pair of Sun Yingsha and Wang Chuquin.

Meshref will now have to focus on the singles event on Sunday where she faces Maria Xiao of Spain.

Also, Jordanian lightweight Obada Al Kasbeh made a victorious start to the Games in the 63kg category as he defeated Ireland's Dean Clancy 3-2 in the round of 32.

Al Kasbeh progresses to the last 16 where he will face home medal hope Sofiane Oumiha of France, who received a bye in the opening round.

Oumiha is a former European and world champion and is among the favourites for gold.

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UPI facts

More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions

ATP RANKINGS (NOVEMBER 4)

1. Rafael Nadal (ESP) 9,585 pts ( 1)
2. Novak Djokovic (SRB) 8,945 (-1)
3. Roger Federer (SUI) 6,190
4. Daniil Medvedev (RUS) 5,705
5. Dominic Thiem (AUT) 5,025
6. Stefanos Tsitsipas (GRE) 4,000 ( 1)
7. Alexander Zverev (GER) 2,945 (-1)
8. Matteo Berrettini (ITA) 2,670 ( 1)
9. Roberto Bautista (ESP) 2,540 ( 1)
10. Gaël Monfils (FRA) 2,530 ( 3)
11. David Goffin (BEL) 2,335 ( 3)
12. Fabio Fognini (ITA) 2,290
13. Kei Nishikori (JPN) 2,180 (-2)
14. Diego Schwartzman (ARG) 2,125 ( 1)
15. Denis Shapovalov (CAN) 2,050 ( 13)
16. Stan Wawrinka (SUI) 2,000
17. Karen Khachanov (RUS) 1,840 (-9)
18. Alex De Minaur (AUS) 1,775
19. John Isner (USA) 1,770 (-2)
20. Grigor Dimitrov (BUL) 1,747 ( 7)

COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
 
Started: 2020
 
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
 
Based: Dubai, UAE
 
Sector: Entertainment 
 
Number of staff: 210 
 
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
Where to donate in the UAE

The Emirates Charity Portal

You can donate to several registered charities through a “donation catalogue”. The use of the donation is quite specific, such as buying a fan for a poor family in Niger for Dh130.

The General Authority of Islamic Affairs & Endowments

The site has an e-donation service accepting debit card, credit card or e-Dirham, an electronic payment tool developed by the Ministry of Finance and First Abu Dhabi Bank.

Al Noor Special Needs Centre

You can donate online or order Smiles n’ Stuff products handcrafted by Al Noor students. The centre publishes a wish list of extras needed, starting at Dh500.

Beit Al Khair Society

Beit Al Khair Society has the motto “From – and to – the UAE,” with donations going towards the neediest in the country. Its website has a list of physical donation sites, but people can also contribute money by SMS, bank transfer and through the hotline 800-22554.

Dar Al Ber Society

Dar Al Ber Society, which has charity projects in 39 countries, accept cash payments, money transfers or SMS donations. Its donation hotline is 800-79.

Dubai Cares

Dubai Cares provides several options for individuals and companies to donate, including online, through banks, at retail outlets, via phone and by purchasing Dubai Cares branded merchandise. It is currently running a campaign called Bookings 2030, which allows people to help change the future of six underprivileged children and young people.

Emirates Airline Foundation

Those who travel on Emirates have undoubtedly seen the little donation envelopes in the seat pockets. But the foundation also accepts donations online and in the form of Skywards Miles. Donated miles are used to sponsor travel for doctors, surgeons, engineers and other professionals volunteering on humanitarian missions around the world.

Emirates Red Crescent

On the Emirates Red Crescent website you can choose between 35 different purposes for your donation, such as providing food for fasters, supporting debtors and contributing to a refugee women fund. It also has a list of bank accounts for each donation type.

Gulf for Good

Gulf for Good raises funds for partner charity projects through challenges, like climbing Kilimanjaro and cycling through Thailand. This year’s projects are in partnership with Street Child Nepal, Larchfield Kids, the Foundation for African Empowerment and SOS Children's Villages. Since 2001, the organisation has raised more than $3.5 million (Dh12.8m) in support of over 50 children’s charities.

Noor Dubai Foundation

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum launched the Noor Dubai Foundation a decade ago with the aim of eliminating all forms of preventable blindness globally. You can donate Dh50 to support mobile eye camps by texting the word “Noor” to 4565 (Etisalat) or 4849 (du).

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Israel Palestine on Swedish TV 1958-1989

Director: Goran Hugo Olsson

Rating: 5/5

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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

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
What's in the deal?

Agreement aims to boost trade by £25.5bn a year in the long run, compared with a total of £42.6bn in 2024

India will slash levies on medical devices, machinery, cosmetics, soft drinks and lamb.

India will also cut automotive tariffs to 10% under a quota from over 100% currently.

Indian employees in the UK will receive three years exemption from social security payments

India expects 99% of exports to benefit from zero duty, raising opportunities for textiles, marine products, footwear and jewellery

UK-EU trade at a glance

EU fishing vessels guaranteed access to UK waters for 12 years

Co-operation on security initiatives and procurement of defence products

Youth experience scheme to work, study or volunteer in UK and EU countries

Smoother border management with use of e-gates

Cutting red tape on import and export of food

Europe’s rearming plan
  • Suspend strict budget rules to allow member countries to step up defence spending
  • Create new "instrument" providing €150 billion of loans to member countries for defence investment
  • Use the existing EU budget to direct more funds towards defence-related investment
  • Engage the bloc's European Investment Bank to drop limits on lending to defence firms
  • Create a savings and investments union to help companies access capital
A State of Passion

Directors: Carol Mansour and Muna Khalidi

Stars: Dr Ghassan Abu-Sittah

Rating: 4/5

ONCE UPON A TIME IN GAZA

Starring: Nader Abd Alhay, Majd Eid, Ramzi Maqdisi

Directors: Tarzan and Arab Nasser

Rating: 4.5/5

Series result

1st ODI Zimbabwe won by 6 wickets

2nd ODI Sri Lanka won by 7 wickets

3rd ODI Sri Lanka won by 8 wickets

4th ODI Zimbabwe won by 4 wickets

5th ODI Zimbabwe won by 3 wickets

Defence review at a glance

• Increase defence spending to 2.5% of GDP by 2027 but given “turbulent times it may be necessary to go faster”

• Prioritise a shift towards working with AI and autonomous systems

• Invest in the resilience of military space systems.

• Number of active reserves should be increased by 20%

• More F-35 fighter jets required in the next decade

• New “hybrid Navy” with AUKUS submarines and autonomous vessels

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Cryopreservation: A timeline
  1. Keyhole surgery under general anaesthetic
  2. Ovarian tissue surgically removed
  3. Tissue processed in a high-tech facility
  4. Tissue re-implanted at a time of the patient’s choosing
  5. Full hormone production regained within 4-6 months

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Company name: Yeepeey

Started: Soft launch in November, 2020

Founders: Sagar Chandiramani, Jatin Sharma and Monish Chandiramani

Based: Dubai

Industry: E-grocery

Initial investment: $150,000

Future plan: Raise $1.5m and enter Saudi Arabia next year

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The specs: 2019 BMW i8 Roadster

Price, base: Dh708,750

Engine: 1.5L three-cylinder petrol, plus 11.6 kWh lithium-ion battery

Transmission: Six-speed automatic

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Updated: July 29, 2024, 8:48 AM`