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.”
AndhaDhun
Director: Sriram Raghavan
Producer: Matchbox Pictures, Viacom18
Cast: Ayushmann Khurrana, Tabu, Radhika Apte, Anil Dhawan
Rating: 3.5/5
How to apply for a drone permit
- Individuals must register on UAE Drone app or website using their UAE Pass
- Add all their personal details, including name, nationality, passport number, Emiratis ID, email and phone number
- Upload the training certificate from a centre accredited by the GCAA
- Submit their request
What are the regulations?
- Fly it within visual line of sight
- Never over populated areas
- Ensure maximum flying height of 400 feet (122 metres) above ground level is not crossed
- Users must avoid flying over restricted areas listed on the UAE Drone app
- Only fly the drone during the day, and never at night
- Should have a live feed of the drone flight
- Drones must weigh 5 kg or less
Hotel Data Cloud profile
Date started: June 2016
Founders: Gregor Amon and Kevin Czok
Based: Dubai
Sector: Travel Tech
Size: 10 employees
Funding: $350,000 (Dh1.3 million)
Investors: five angel investors (undisclosed except for Amar Shubar)
Why seagrass matters
- Carbon sink: Seagrass sequesters carbon up to 35X faster than tropical rainforests
- Marine nursery: Crucial habitat for juvenile fish, crustations, and invertebrates
- Biodiversity: Support species like sea turtles, dugongs, and seabirds
- Coastal protection: Reduce erosion and improve water quality
The Uefa Awards winners
Uefa Men's Player of the Year: Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool)
Uefa Women's Player of the Year: Lucy Bronze (Lyon)
Best players of the 2018/19 Uefa Champions League
Goalkeeper: Alisson (Liverpool)
Defender: Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool)
Midfielder: Frenkie de Jong (Ajax)
Forward: Lionel Messi (Barcelona)
Uefa President's Award: Eric Cantona
MADAME%20WEB
%3Cp%3EDirector%3A%20S.J.%20Clarkson%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EStarring%3A%20Dakota%20Johnson%2C%20Tahar%20Rahim%2C%20Sydney%20Sweeney%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3ERating%3A%203.5%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The specs
Engine: 1.6-litre 4-cyl turbo and dual electric motors
Power: 300hp at 6,000rpm
Torque: 520Nm at 1,500-3,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 8.0L/100km
Price: from Dh199,900
On sale: now
Ruwais timeline
1971 Abu Dhabi National Oil Company established
1980 Ruwais Housing Complex built, located 10 kilometres away from industrial plants
1982 120,000 bpd capacity Ruwais refinery complex officially inaugurated by the founder of the UAE Sheikh Zayed
1984 Second phase of Ruwais Housing Complex built. Today the 7,000-unit complex houses some 24,000 people.
1985 The refinery is expanded with the commissioning of a 27,000 b/d hydro cracker complex
2009 Plans announced to build $1.2 billion fertilizer plant in Ruwais, producing urea
2010 Adnoc awards $10bn contracts for expansion of Ruwais refinery, to double capacity from 415,000 bpd
2014 Ruwais 261-outlet shopping mall opens
2014 Production starts at newly expanded Ruwais refinery, providing jet fuel and diesel and allowing the UAE to be self-sufficient for petrol supplies
2014 Etihad Rail begins transportation of sulphur from Shah and Habshan to Ruwais for export
2017 Aldar Academies to operate Adnoc’s schools including in Ruwais from September. Eight schools operate in total within the housing complex.
2018 Adnoc announces plans to invest $3.1 billion on upgrading its Ruwais refinery
2018 NMC Healthcare selected to manage operations of Ruwais Hospital
2018 Adnoc announces new downstream strategy at event in Abu Dhabi on May 13
Source: The National
SPECS
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The flights: South African Airways flies from Dubai International Airport with a stop in Johannesburg, with prices starting from around Dh4,000 return. Emirates can get you there with a stop in Lusaka from around Dh4,600 return.
The details: Visas are available for 247 Zambian kwacha or US$20 (Dh73) per person on arrival at Livingstone Airport. Single entry into Victoria Falls for international visitors costs 371 kwacha or $30 (Dh110). Microlight flights are available through Batoka Sky, with 15-minute flights costing 2,265 kwacha (Dh680).
Accommodation: The Royal Livingstone Victoria Falls Hotel by Anantara is an ideal place to stay, within walking distance of the falls and right on the Zambezi River. Rooms here start from 6,635 kwacha (Dh2,398) per night, including breakfast, taxes and Wi-Fi. Water arrivals cost from 587 kwacha (Dh212) per person.
Veere di Wedding
Dir: Shashanka Ghosh
Starring: Kareena Kapoo-Khan, Sonam Kapoor, Swara Bhaskar and Shikha Talsania
Verdict: 4 Stars
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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'Young girls thinking of big ideas'
Words come easy for aspiring writer Afra Al Muhairb. The business side of books, on the other hand, is entirely foreign to the 16-year-old Emirati. So, she followed her father’s advice and enroled in the Abu Dhabi Education Council’s summer entrepreneurship course at Abu Dhabi University hoping to pick up a few new skills.
“Most of us have this dream of opening a business,” said Afra, referring to her peers are “young girls thinking of big ideas.”
In the three-week class, pupils are challenged to come up with a business and develop an operational and marketing plan to support their idea. But, the learning goes far beyond sales and branding, said teacher Sonia Elhaj.
“It’s not only about starting up a business, it’s all the meta skills that goes with it -- building self confidence, communication,” said Ms Elhaj. “It’s a way to coach them and to harness ideas and to allow them to be creative. They are really hungry to do this and be heard. They are so happy to be actually doing something, to be engaged in creating something new, not only sitting and listening and getting new information and new knowledge. Now they are applying that knowledge.”
Afra’s team decided to focus their business idea on a restaurant modelled after the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Each level would have a different international cuisine and all the meat would be halal. The pupils thought of this after discussing a common problem they face when travelling abroad.
“Sometimes we find the struggle of finding halal food, so we just eat fish and cheese, so it’s hard for us to spend 20 days with fish and cheese,” said Afra. “So we made this tower so every person who comes – from Africa, from America – they will find the right food to eat.”
rpennington@thenational.ae
Who is Mohammed Al Halbousi?
The new speaker of Iraq’s parliament Mohammed Al Halbousi is the youngest person ever to serve in the role.
The 37-year-old was born in Al Garmah in Anbar and studied civil engineering in Baghdad before going into business. His development company Al Hadeed undertook reconstruction contracts rebuilding parts of Fallujah’s infrastructure.
He entered parliament in 2014 and served as a member of the human rights and finance committees until 2017. In August last year he was appointed governor of Anbar, a role in which he has struggled to secure funding to provide services in the war-damaged province and to secure the withdrawal of Shia militias. He relinquished the post when he was sworn in as a member of parliament on September 3.
He is a member of the Al Hal Sunni-based political party and the Sunni-led Coalition of Iraqi Forces, which is Iraq’s largest Sunni alliance with 37 seats from the May 12 election.
He maintains good relations with former Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki’s State of Law Coaliton, Hadi Al Amiri’s Badr Organisation and Iranian officials.
SM Town Live is on Friday, April 6 at Autism Rocks Arena, Dubai. Tickets are Dh375 at www.platinumlist.net
The view from The National
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
LEADERBOARD
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MATCH INFO
Manchester City 1 Chelsea 0
De Bruyne (70')
Man of the Match: Kevin de Bruyne (Manchester City)
ASSASSIN'S%20CREED%20MIRAGE
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The specs: 2018 Infiniti QX80
Price: base / as tested: Dh335,000
Engine: 5.6-litre V8
Gearbox: Seven-speed automatic
Power: 400hp @ 5,800rpm
Torque: 560Nm @ 4,000rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 12.1L / 100km
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
Trump v Khan
2016: Feud begins after Khan criticised Trump’s proposed Muslim travel ban to US
2017: Trump criticises Khan’s ‘no reason to be alarmed’ response to London Bridge terror attacks
2019: Trump calls Khan a “stone cold loser” before first state visit
2019: Trump tweets about “Khan’s Londonistan”, calling him “a national disgrace”
2022: Khan’s office attributes rise in Islamophobic abuse against the major to hostility stoked during Trump’s presidency
July 2025 During a golfing trip to Scotland, Trump calls Khan “a nasty person”
Sept 2025 Trump blames Khan for London’s “stabbings and the dirt and the filth”.
Dec 2025 Trump suggests migrants got Khan elected, calls him a “horrible, vicious, disgusting mayor”
Results for Stage 2
Stage 2 Yas Island to Abu Dhabi, 184 km, Road race
Overall leader: Primoz Roglic SLO (Team Jumbo - Visma)
Stage winners: 1. Fernando Gaviria COL (UAE Team Emirates) 2. Elia Viviani ITA (Deceuninck - Quick-Step) 3. Caleb Ewan AUS (Lotto - Soudal)
Dengue%20fever%20symptoms
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England's all-time record goalscorers:
Wayne Rooney 53
Bobby Charlton 49
Gary Lineker 48
Jimmy Greaves 44
Michael Owen 40
Tom Finney 30
Nat Lofthouse 30
Alan Shearer 30
Viv Woodward 29
Frank Lampard 29
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
