A young literature lover has earned the praise of the Ruler of Dubai after winning the UAE round of this year's Arab Reading Challenge.
Sultan Al Mazroui, 11, saw off competition from 452,000 other pupils across the country by reading an impressive 300 books in one year.
The fifth-grade pupil at Ajyal International School in Abu Dhabi will now go onto represent his country in the semi-finals of the annual event, to be held in the coming months.
Writing on Twitter, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, congratulated Sultan on his achievement.
“Sultan Salem Al Mazrouei read 300 books in one year and today he topped 450 thousand students from the UAE who participated in the Arab Reading Challenge which reached 21 million students from 51 countries around the world,” he said.
“Greetings to Sultan and greetings to a competitive generation of Arabs readers.”
Sultan said he was spurred on to keep on reading by Sheikh Mohammed.
"He is a major supporter in this challenge, and he gave us the positivity and motivation to read and become better people,' Sultan said.
"His advice and guidance reach to all segments of the UAE society, and the Arab world generally."
Sultan revealed his favourite author is Naguib Mahfouz, winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1988.
"I love how he tackles important social issues in a simple manner and his novels are realistic and act as a mirror to the social life in the Egyptian society, and the Arab world at large.”
Atika Bint Zaid School in Khor Fakkan was crowned the UAE's best school.
The Arab Reading Challenge was launched in 2015 by Sheikh Mohammed with the aim to encourage one million students from across the region to read 50 books in one academic year.
It is open to anyone in the region, as well as Arabs living abroad, who are aged between eight and 18.
This year's challenge has attracted 21 million children from 51 countries.
Last year, Hadeel Anwar, a seventh-grader from Sudan was named the Arab Reading Challenge champion after more than 13 million learners from 49 nations took part.
She claimed a Dh500,000 top prize.
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It is named after actress and singer Jane Birkin
Noone from Hermès will go on record to say how much a new Birkin costs, how long one would have to wait to get one, and how many bags are actually made each year.
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The years Ramadan fell in May
Results
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2. Max Verstappen (Red Bull-Honda) at 0.745s
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5.Sergio Perez (Red Bull-Honda) 52.047s
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Blockchain is a form of distributed ledger technology, a digital system in which data is recorded across multiple places at the same time. Unlike traditional databases, DLTs have no central administrator or centralised data storage. They are transparent because the data is visible and, because they are automatically replicated and impossible to be tampered with, they are secure.
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The National Archives, Abu Dhabi
Founded over 50 years ago, the National Archives collects valuable historical material relating to the UAE, and is the oldest and richest archive relating to the Arabian Gulf.
Much of the material can be viewed on line at the Arabian Gulf Digital Archive - https://www.agda.ae/en
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Chef Nobu's advice for eating sushi
“One mistake people always make is adding extra wasabi. There is no need for this, because it should already be there between the rice and the fish.
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Disclaimer
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Rating: 2/5
The five pillars of Islam
Who's who in Yemen conflict
Houthis: Iran-backed rebels who occupy Sanaa and run unrecognised government
Yemeni government: Exiled government in Aden led by eight-member Presidential Leadership Council
Southern Transitional Council: Faction in Yemeni government that seeks autonomy for the south
Habrish 'rebels': Tribal-backed forces feuding with STC over control of oil in government territory
Heather, the Totality
Matthew Weiner,
Canongate
