The World Athletics Championships have wrapped up in Tokyo, where a host of athletes from the Middle East and North Africa left their mark on the global stage.
Here are some of the biggest takeaways from their performances.
Bronze for Naser in historic 400m
The women’s 400m final was one of the biggest highlights of Tokyo 2025 and is a race Bahrain’s Salwa Eid Naser will no doubt never forget.
The Nigerian-born Bahraini took the bronze medal, clocking a season best 48.19s, behind American hurdles star Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone and Dominican Olympic champion Marileidy Paulino.
The race was historic for more reasons than one.
McLaughlin-Levrone – who opted for the 400m flat this year instead of her signature 400m hurdles event – ran the second-fastest time in women’s 400m history, posting a stunning 47.78s to smash the championship record.
It was the first 400m race that featured two women go under 48 seconds and just the second race in history in which all eight women went under 50 seconds.
“I’m a bit disappointed but I’m grateful to God. I wish I did 47 too, but it’s okay, at least I got a season best, close to my personal best. But I wish I did a personal best,” admitted Naser, who was a silver medallist at the Paris Olympics last year and now owns four world championships medals.
Sedjati clinches 800m silver
Olympic bronze medallist Djamel Sedjati added a second world championships silver medal to his 800m resume, to go with the one he captured in Eugene 3 years ago.
The Algerian ran a season best 1:41.90 to cross the finish line in second place in Saturday’s final in Tokyo behind Olympic champion Emmanuel Wanyonyi, who clinched gold with a new championship record of 1:41.86.
Canada’s Marco Arop, who was the defending world champion, completed the podium, clocking 1:41.95 to settle for bronze behind his familiar rivals.
Bakkali stunned by Beamish in steeplechase
Undefeated in the 3,000m steeplechase at Worlds and the Olympics for the past four years, Soufiane El Bakkali saw his reign end in Tokyo by New Zealand’s Geordie Beamish, who took gold by outsprinting the Moroccan in the final 30 metres.
El Bakkali’s run of four consecutive major titles was snapped and he was visibly disappointed by his silver medal-winning performance.
“Sometimes, we have to accept the situation as it is,” El Bakkali, who now owns five world championship medals, wrote on Instagram.
“I was very disappointed that I struggled last night, but I know that struggling doesn't mean the end, every struggle has a story, and mine still continues.
“I always find myself facing big challenges, and I face them with courage that makes me proud of myself.”
El Bakkali was originally entered in the 5,000m but opted out following his steeplechase event.
Tearful Samba back on hurdles podium
It’s been a long road back to the world championships podium for Qatar’s Abderrahman Samba and his emotional reaction to his bronze medal finish in the 400m hurdles on Friday said it all.
Enjoying a resurgent 2025 after struggling with numerous injuries, Samba returned to the podium at Worlds for the first time since 2019, clocking a season best 47.06s behind Olympic champion Rai Benjamin (46.52s) and 2022 world champion Alison dos Santos (46.84s).
Samba edged out Nigeria’s Ezekiel Nathaniel in a photo finish and tearfully sunk to his knees in disbelief when he realised he snatched the bronze.
His fellow Qatari Ismail Doudai Abakar was also in the final and finished eighth with a 49.82.
Samba and Abakar returned to the track the following day alongside their teammates Ammar Ibrahim and Bassem Hemeida, who together made history for Qatar by qualifying for the final of the 4x400m relay race for the first time at a World Championship.
The Qataris clocked a new national record of 3:00.15 to place second in their heat behind South Africa. In Sunday’s relay final, which took place under pouring rain, Samba anchored Team Qatar to a commendable fifth place finish.
Top-four finishes for Yavi and Bouzayani in steeplechase
Kenyan-born Bahraini Winfred Yavi arrived in Tokyo as the reigning world and Olympic champion in the 3,000m steeplechase.
The 25-year-old fought hard to defend her world title but had to settle for silver as 21-year-old Faith Cherotich made a decisive move on Yavi in the final 400m to secure the gold.
Tunisian Marwa Bouzayani just missed out on making the podium but impressed with a fourth-place finish and new time of 9:01.46 to smash her own national record.
Hemida siblings shine
They may spell their last names differently, and represent different countries but there’s no doubt the Hemida trio of Bassant, Bassem and Seifeldin share the same DNA of athletic excellence.
The Egyptian-born siblings all competed in Tokyo, with Bassant representing her home country, and Bassem and Seifeldin flying the flag for Qatar.
Typically a specialist in the 100m and 200m sprints, Bassant moved up to the 400m this year at the behest of her doctors and coaches. The 28-year-old struggled with injuries the last two seasons and was advised to steer away from the pure sprints in order to extend her career.
In her first year competing in the one-lap discipline, Bassant has carved a place for herself among the world’s best, and has a semi-final appearance in Tokyo to show for it.
She clocked a new national record of 50.36 seconds in the 400m heats at these world championships to advance to the next round and went under 51 seconds again in the semi-finals to position herself as one of the top 16 one-lap runners in the world.
Given how historic this year’s 400m race was, and the mind-boggling strength of the field, Bassant has plenty to be proud of as she walks away from Tokyo.
Bassant wasn’t the only Hemida to rub shoulders with track and field royalty in Tokyo. Her brother Seifeldin qualified for the pole vault final with a new Qatari national record of 5.75m and cleared that height again in a final that saw Mondo Duplantis re-break the world record for a 14th time.
Seifeldin is the first Qatari in world championships history to reach a pole vault final.
“I dreamed of being at a world championship with [Manolo] Karalis and Duplantis. My dream has come true. And this is an Arab senior record," said Seifeldin.
In 400m hurdles action, Bassem won his heat with a time of 48.43s to qualify for the semis.
He clocked a new personal best 48.29s in the next round to place third in his semi-final, missing out on a spot in the final by a mere 0.13s.
Owis makes history for Egypt
In long jump action, Esraa Owis became the first ever Egyptian woman to make a World Athletics Championship final, thanks to her jump of 6.60m in qualification.
The 27-year-old jumped 6.37m in the final to place 11th overall.
“This isn’t just a personal achievement,” Owis wrote in a post on Instagram. “This is a historic achievement for Egypt and Arabs in the world of athletics. This is just the beginning and God willing we’ll achieve more and more.”
COMPANY PROFILE
Company name: SimpliFi
Started: August 2021
Founder: Ali Sattar
Based: UAE
Industry: Finance, technology
Investors: 4DX, Rally Cap, Raed, Global Founders, Sukna and individuals
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%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDeveloper%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Respawn%20Entertainment%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPublisher%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Electronic%20Arts%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EConsoles%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20PC%2C%20Playstation%205%2C%20Xbox%20Series%20X%20and%20S%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%204%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
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Sri Lanka-India Test series schedule
1st Test July 26-30 in Galle
2nd Test August 3-7 in Colombo
3rd Test August 12-16 in Pallekele
PROFILE OF INVYGO
Started: 2018
Founders: Eslam Hussein and Pulkit Ganjoo
Based: Dubai
Sector: Transport
Size: 9 employees
Investment: $1,275,000
Investors: Class 5 Global, Equitrust, Gulf Islamic Investments, Kairos K50 and William Zeqiri
Timeline
2012-2015
The company offers payments/bribes to win key contracts in the Middle East
May 2017
The UK SFO officially opens investigation into Petrofac’s use of agents, corruption, and potential bribery to secure contracts
September 2021
Petrofac pleads guilty to seven counts of failing to prevent bribery under the UK Bribery Act
October 2021
Court fines Petrofac £77 million for bribery. Former executive receives a two-year suspended sentence
December 2024
Petrofac enters into comprehensive restructuring to strengthen the financial position of the group
May 2025
The High Court of England and Wales approves the company’s restructuring plan
July 2025
The Court of Appeal issues a judgment challenging parts of the restructuring plan
August 2025
Petrofac issues a business update to execute the restructuring and confirms it will appeal the Court of Appeal decision
October 2025
Petrofac loses a major TenneT offshore wind contract worth €13 billion. Holding company files for administration in the UK. Petrofac delisted from the London Stock Exchange
November 2025
180 Petrofac employees laid off in the UAE
F1 The Movie
Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rating: 4/5
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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
ACC%20T20%20Women%E2%80%99s%20Championship
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Origin
Dan Brown
Doubleday
COMPANY PROFILE
Initial investment: Undisclosed
Investment stage: Series A
Investors: Core42
Current number of staff: 47
Farage on Muslim Brotherhood
Nigel Farage told Reform's annual conference that the party will proscribe the Muslim Brotherhood if he becomes Prime Minister.
"We will stop dangerous organisations with links to terrorism operating in our country," he said. "Quite why we've been so gutless about this – both Labour and Conservative – I don't know.
“All across the Middle East, countries have banned and proscribed the Muslim Brotherhood as a dangerous organisation. We will do the very same.”
It is 10 years since a ground-breaking report into the Muslim Brotherhood by Sir John Jenkins.
Among the former diplomat's findings was an assessment that “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” has “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
The prime minister at the time, David Cameron, who commissioned the report, said membership or association with the Muslim Brotherhood was a "possible indicator of extremism" but it would not be banned.
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UAE%20SQUAD
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Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
Company%20Profile
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
White hydrogen: Naturally occurring hydrogen
Chromite: Hard, metallic mineral containing iron oxide and chromium oxide
Ultramafic rocks: Dark-coloured rocks rich in magnesium or iron with very low silica content
Ophiolite: A section of the earth’s crust, which is oceanic in nature that has since been uplifted and exposed on land
Olivine: A commonly occurring magnesium iron silicate mineral that derives its name for its olive-green yellow-green colour
UK’s AI plan
- AI ambassadors such as MIT economist Simon Johnson, Monzo cofounder Tom Blomfield and Google DeepMind’s Raia Hadsell
- £10bn AI growth zone in South Wales to create 5,000 jobs
- £100m of government support for startups building AI hardware products
- £250m to train new AI models
Company Profile
Company name: Big Farm Brothers
Started: September 2020
Founders: Vishal Mahajan and Navneet Kaur
Based: Dubai Investment Park 1
Industry: food and agriculture
Initial investment: $205,000
Current staff: eight to 10
Future plan: to expand to other GCC markets
Wicked: For Good
Director: Jon M Chu
Starring: Ariana Grande, Cynthia Erivo, Jonathan Bailey, Jeff Goldblum, Michelle Yeoh, Ethan Slater
Rating: 4/5
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
JUDAS AND THE BLACK MESSIAH
Directed by: Shaka King
Starring: Daniel Kaluuya, Lakeith Stanfield, Jesse Plemons
Four stars
Tamkeen's offering
- Option 1: 70% in year 1, 50% in year 2, 30% in year 3
- Option 2: 50% across three years
- Option 3: 30% across five years
TRAP
Starring: Josh Hartnett, Saleka Shyamalan, Ariel Donaghue
Director: M Night Shyamalan
Rating: 3/5
FIGHT CARD
Welterweight Mostafa Radi (PAL) v Tohir Zhuraev (TJK)
Catchweight 75kg Leandro Martins (BRA) v Anas Siraj Mounir (MAR)
Flyweight Corinne Laframboise (CAN) v Manon Fiorot (FRA)
Featherweight Ahmed Al Darmaki (UAE) v Bogdan Kirilenko (UZB)
Lightweight Izzedine Al Derabani (JOR) v Atabek Abdimitalipov (KYG)
Featherweight Yousef Al Housani (UAE) v Mohamed Arsharq Ali (SLA)
Catchweight 69kg Jung Han-gook (KOR) v Elias Boudegzdame (ALG)
Catchweight 71kg Usman Nurmagomedov (RUS) v Jerry Kvarnstrom (FIN)
Featherweight title Lee Do-gyeom (KOR) v Alexandru Chitoran (ROU)
Lightweight title Bruno Machado (BRA) v Mike Santiago (USA)
The specs
Engine: 3.8-litre, twin-turbo V8
Transmission: eight-speed automatic
Power: 582bhp
Torque: 730Nm
Price: Dh649,000
On sale: now
French business
France has organised a delegation of leading businesses to travel to Syria. The group was led by French shipping giant CMA CGM, which struck a 30-year contract in May with the Syrian government to develop and run Latakia port. Also present were water and waste management company Suez, defence multinational Thales, and Ellipse Group, which is currently looking into rehabilitating Syrian hospitals.
Keep it fun and engaging
Stuart Ritchie, director of wealth advice at AES International, says children cannot learn something overnight, so it helps to have a fun routine that keeps them engaged and interested.
“I explain to my daughter that the money I draw from an ATM or the money on my bank card doesn’t just magically appear – it’s money I have earned from my job. I show her how this works by giving her little chores around the house so she can earn pocket money,” says Mr Ritchie.
His daughter is allowed to spend half of her pocket money, while the other half goes into a bank account. When this money hits a certain milestone, Mr Ritchie rewards his daughter with a small lump sum.
He also recommends books that teach the importance of money management for children, such as The Squirrel Manifesto by Ric Edelman and Jean Edelman.
