Katie Ledecky of the US celebrates after winning the women's 800m freestyle final at the World Swimming Championships in Fukuoka. AP
Katie Ledecky of the US celebrates after winning the women's 800m freestyle final at the World Swimming Championships in Fukuoka. AP
Katie Ledecky of the US celebrates after winning the women's 800m freestyle final at the World Swimming Championships in Fukuoka. AP
Katie Ledecky of the US celebrates after winning the women's 800m freestyle final at the World Swimming Championships in Fukuoka. AP

Katie Ledecky and Sarah Sjostrom make a splash at swimming world championships


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Australia tied their record gold haul at swimming's world championships with one day remaining, while greats Katie Ledecky and Sarah Sjostrom created more history on Saturday.

Australia claimed three more gold medals to take their count to 13 in Fukuoka, tying their best-ever tally from 2001 and 2005.

They secured their place on top of the medal table, meaning Australia will finish ahead of the United States for the first time since 2001.

Their night's work included a fifth world record this week for Australian swimmers and Kaylee McKeown completing an unprecedented backstroke world title sweep.

Cameron McEvoy, who claimed gold in the men's 50m freestyle, said his teammates' performances had spurred him on.

"It's hard not to tap into that and just go along with the flow," he said.

American Ledecky won the women's 800m freestyle to become the first swimmer ever to win the same event six times at a world championships.

Sarah Sjoestroem won the women's 50m butterfly final. Getty
Sarah Sjoestroem won the women's 50m butterfly final. Getty

Sweden's Sjostrom won her fifth in the 50m butterfly, then promptly dived back into the pool 20 minutes later and broke her own world record in the 50m freestyle.

There was also gold for France's Maxime Grousset in the men's 100m butterfly.

Australia's mixed 4x100m freestyle relay team claimed the final title of the day in a world record time of 3min, 18.83sec, giving Mollie O'Callaghan her fifth gold medal of the week.

"I've had a lot going on this week and I think I've just got to maintain and be as professional as possible," said O'Callaghan, who has been part of four team or individual world records this week.

"Just sticking around with the team and keeping it quite closed has really helped me."

Ledecky claimed her 16th individual world championships gold medal, surpassing fellow American great Michael Phelps.

She cruised home in a time of 8min, 08.87sec to win ahead of China's Li Bingjie on 8:13.31 and Australia's Ariarne Titmus on 8:13.59.

It was Ledecky's second gold of the week, after she retained her 1,500m freestyle title.

Her latest triumph gives her a career haul of 21 world championship golds, extending her record as the most decorated woman in the history of the competition.

"I'm really happy with how I've been able to be consistent over all these years," said the 26-year-old, who has said she would like to compete at the 2026 Los Angeles Olympics.

"Just always trying to get a little bit better."

Sjostrom picked up her 20th individual world championships medal by winning the 50m butterfly, tying Phelps for the most ever.

She touched the wall in 24.77sec to win ahead of China's Zhang Yufei on 25.05 and American Gretchen Walsh on 25.46.

The 30-year-old Sjostrom then broke her own world record in the 50m freestyle semi-finals, setting a new mark of 23.61sec.

"I actually enjoy doing back-to-back races," she said.

"I feel better in the water, I feel like I'm not rushing through the water too much."

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Starring: Colin Farrell, Cristin Milioti, Rhenzy Feliz

Creator: Lauren LeFranc

Rating: 4/5

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Three tips from La Perle's performers

1 The kind of water athletes drink is important. Gwilym Hooson, a 28-year-old British performer who is currently recovering from knee surgery, found that out when the company was still in Studio City, training for 12 hours a day. “The physio team was like: ‘Why is everyone getting cramps?’ And then they realised we had to add salt and sugar to the water,” he says.

2 A little chocolate is a good thing. “It’s emergency energy,” says Craig Paul Smith, La Perle’s head coach and former Cirque du Soleil performer, gesturing to an almost-empty open box of mini chocolate bars on his desk backstage.

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Another way to earn air miles

In addition to the Emirates and Etihad programmes, there is the Air Miles Middle East card, which offers members the ability to choose any airline, has no black-out dates and no restrictions on seat availability. Air Miles is linked up to HSBC credit cards and can also be earned through retail partners such as Spinneys, Sharaf DG and The Toy Store.

An Emirates Dubai-London round-trip ticket costs 180,000 miles on the Air Miles website. But customers earn these ‘miles’ at a much faster rate than airline miles. Adidas offers two air miles per Dh1 spent. Air Miles has partnerships with websites as well, so booking.com and agoda.com offer three miles per Dh1 spent.

“If you use your HSBC credit card when shopping at our partners, you are able to earn Air Miles twice which will mean you can get that flight reward faster and for less spend,” says Paul Lacey, the managing director for Europe, Middle East and India for Aimia, which owns and operates Air Miles Middle East.

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Name: Grubtech

Founders: Mohamed Al Fayed and Mohammed Hammedi

Launched: October 2019

Employees: 50

Financing stage: Seed round (raised $2 million)

 

Director: Paul Weitz
Stars: Kevin Hart
3/5 stars

RESULTS

5pm: Maiden | Dh80,000 |  1,600m
Winner: AF Al Moreeb, Tadhg O’Shea (jockey), Ernst Oertel (trainer)

5.30pm: Handicap |  Dh80,000 |  1,600m
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6pm: Handicap |  Dh80,000 |  2,200m
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List of alleged parties

 

May 12, 2020: PM and his wife Carrie attend 'work meeting' with at least 17 staff 

May 20, 2020: They attend 'bring your own booze party'

Nov 27, 2020: PM gives speech at leaving party for his staff 

Dec 10, 2020: Staff party held by then-education secretary Gavin Williamson 

Dec 13, 2020: PM and his wife throw a party

Dec 14, 2020: London mayoral candidate Shaun Bailey holds staff event at Conservative Party headquarters 

Dec 15, 2020: PM takes part in a staff quiz 

Dec 18, 2020: Downing Street Christmas party 

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets

States of Passion by Nihad Sirees,
Pushkin Press

Past winners of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

2016 Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes-GP)

2015 Nico Rosberg (Mercedes-GP)

2014 Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes-GP)

2013 Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull Racing)

2012 Kimi Raikkonen (Lotus)

2011 Lewis Hamilton (McLaren)

2010 Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull Racing)

2009 Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull Racing)

 

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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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New Zealand 7 (Try: Savea; Con: Mo'unga)

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WHAT IS A BLACK HOLE?

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2. They can be created when massive stars collapse under their own weight

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if you go

The flights
Emirates flies to Delhi with fares starting from around Dh760 return, while Etihad fares cost about Dh783 return. From Delhi, there are connecting flights to Lucknow. 
Where to stay
It is advisable to stay in Lucknow and make a day trip to Kannauj. A stay at the Lebua Lucknow hotel, a traditional Lucknowi mansion, is recommended. Prices start from Dh300 per night (excluding taxes). 

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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.”

Updated: July 29, 2023, 3:32 PM