The Paris 2024 Paralympic Games started on Wednesday with an impressive and historic outdoor Opening Ceremony, before a week and a half of sporting competitions.
It is the first time France has hosted the Summer Paralympics, after Tignes and Albertville hosted the 1992 Winter Paralympics, and French President Emmanuel Macron declared the games open during the ceremony.
Performers with disabilities and without danced and sang on an outdoor Place de la Concorde stage in central Paris to formally start the parade of athletes.
Leading the 13-strong UAE contingent were its two flagbearers, cyclist Ahmed Al Badwawi and shot-putter Maryam Al Zeyoudi.
Like the Olympics Opening Ceremony weeks ago, the show is taking place outside a stadium – a first for the Paralympics.
"Dear athletes, welcome to the country of love and revolution. Rest assured, tonight, no Storming of the Bastille, no guillotine, because tonight the most beautiful revolution starts – the Paralympic revolution," Paris 2024 president Tony Estanguet said in his speech.
"It's a sweet revolution that will change all of us deeply."
Athletes paraded down the famous Champs-Elysees to the ceremony at the Place de la Concorde. Local news reports said thousands gathered early to take top spots to view the parade.
France said it made the event accessible by rolling out strips of asphalt along the Champs-Elysees, and placing the same over the entire Concorde square.
The first disabled astronaut, the UK's John McFall, carried the Paralympic flag at the opening ceremony to represent the entire Games.
This year also features the largest-ever Refugee Paralympic Team, with members who were originally from Afghanistan, Cameroon, Columbia, Iran and Syria.
Filippo Grandi, commissioner for the UN refugee agency, said it was "fantastic to witness right now the entrance of the Paralympic Refugee Team at the opening ceremony ... what an extraordinary example of strength, achievement and inclusion by eight formidable athletes.
"Proud to support them." he said his post on X.
The 17th Paralympic Games will feature 4,400 athletes among 168 delegations with physical, visual and intellectual disabilities taking part in competitions for 22 different sports in the next 11 days.
Organisers told news organisations that more than two million of the allotted 2.8 million tickets have been sold, and that 18 of the 35 Olympic venues will be used for the Paralympics.
The Paralympics first officially began in Italy in 1960, taking after the Stoke Mandeville Games that involved injured servicemen and women for athletes who used wheelchairs.
They now take place in conjunction with the same cities as the Summer and Winter Olympic Games, traditionally one week afterwards.
But this year, the Paralympics are running from August 28 to September 8.
Organisers also said that spectators who use wheelchairs can use Paris buses to travel to competition venues, as well as 1,000 accessible taxis.
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Timeline
1947
Ferrari’s road-car company is formed and its first badged car, the 125 S, rolls off the assembly line
1962
250 GTO is unveiled
1969
Fiat becomes a Ferrari shareholder, acquiring 50 per cent of the company
1972
The Fiorano circuit, Ferrari’s racetrack for development and testing, opens
1976
First automatic Ferrari, the 400 Automatic, is made
1987
F40 launched
1988
Enzo Ferrari dies; Fiat expands its stake in the company to 90 per cent
2002
The Enzo model is announced
2010
Ferrari World opens in Abu Dhabi
2011
First four-wheel drive Ferrari, the FF, is unveiled
2013
LaFerrari, the first Ferrari hybrid, arrives
2014
Fiat Chrysler announces the split of Ferrari from the parent company
2015
Ferrari launches on Wall Street
2017
812 Superfast unveiled; Ferrari celebrates its 70th anniversary
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INDIA SQUAD
Rohit Sharma (captain), Shikhar Dhawan (vice-captain), KL Rahul, Suresh Raina, Manish Pandey, Dinesh Karthik (wicketkeeper), Deepak Hooda, Washington Sundar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Vijay Shankar, Shardul Thakur, Jaydev Unadkat, Mohammad Siraj and Rishabh Pant (wicketkeeper)
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In the box: iPad mini, USB-C cable, 20W USB-C power adapter
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Email sent to Uber team from chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi
From: Dara
To: Team@
Date: March 25, 2019 at 11:45pm PT
Subj: Accelerating in the Middle East
Five years ago, Uber launched in the Middle East. It was the start of an incredible journey, with millions of riders and drivers finding new ways to move and work in a dynamic region that’s become so important to Uber. Now Pakistan is one of our fastest-growing markets in the world, women are driving with Uber across Saudi Arabia, and we chose Cairo to launch our first Uber Bus product late last year.
Today we are taking the next step in this journey—well, it’s more like a leap, and a big one: in a few minutes, we’ll announce that we’ve agreed to acquire Careem. Importantly, we intend to operate Careem independently, under the leadership of co-founder and current CEO Mudassir Sheikha. I’ve gotten to know both co-founders, Mudassir and Magnus Olsson, and what they have built is truly extraordinary. They are first-class entrepreneurs who share our platform vision and, like us, have launched a wide range of products—from digital payments to food delivery—to serve consumers.
I expect many of you will ask how we arrived at this structure, meaning allowing Careem to maintain an independent brand and operate separately. After careful consideration, we decided that this framework has the advantage of letting us build new products and try new ideas across not one, but two, strong brands, with strong operators within each. Over time, by integrating parts of our networks, we can operate more efficiently, achieve even lower wait times, expand new products like high-capacity vehicles and payments, and quicken the already remarkable pace of innovation in the region.
This acquisition is subject to regulatory approval in various countries, which we don’t expect before Q1 2020. Until then, nothing changes. And since both companies will continue to largely operate separately after the acquisition, very little will change in either teams’ day-to-day operations post-close. Today’s news is a testament to the incredible business our team has worked so hard to build.
It’s a great day for the Middle East, for the region’s thriving tech sector, for Careem, and for Uber.
Uber on,
Dara
