There are the numbers: 2,650 athletes, 204 National Olympic Committees, 153 medal events. And there is what people will remember from the first Youth Olympic Games ever held in Africa: a burst of colour, from Diamniadio to Saly.

On Saturday 31 October, Senegal’s President Bassirou Diomaye Faye declared the Games open before 50,000 spectators at the Abdoulaye Wade Stadium in Diamniadio. On the field, 1,115 artists and performers, including 628 dancers, celebrated Senegalese culture and African heritage. For the first time, a Refugee Olympic Team is taking part in the Youth Olympic Games.

A host nation that dresses its Games

Senegal chose its palette with care. The mascot Ayo, unveiled a year earlier by President Faye alongside IOC President Kirsty Coventry, comes in vivid colours. The medal ceremony outfits, by Senegalese designer Abdou Lahad Gueye, feature touches of traditional woven cloth. In Senegal, textile is a language of its own.

In a country that dresses its Games so carefully, it is fitting that the host has a colour of his own. As the Presidency of the Republic of Senegal has noted, President Bassirou Diomaye Faye’s favourite colour is orange.

From Barcelona to Diamniadio

It is a rare personal note from a head of state who seldom talks about himself, and whose own story with the Olympics began as a spectator. In August 1992, aged twelve, he watched the Barcelona Games in his home village of Ndiaganiao. Thirty-four years later, he opened the first Olympic Games ever held on the continent. “Authentic Senegal! What a people! What a culture!” he wrote the day after the ceremony.

After the celebration, the legacy

Competition continues until 13 November in Dakar, Diamniadio and Saly. Dakar 2026 is the first edition of the Youth Olympic Games to achieve full gender parity, with 73 women’s events, 73 men’s events and seven mixed events. The President wants the momentum to outlast the Games: “In our country, sport has remained a passion. I want it to become an economy,” he told Le Soleil on 21 October.

A hospitality development on Ras Al Khaimah’s Al Marjan Island was sold to DAMAC in 2024 in a transaction that generated a fourfold return on invested equity, according to a press release issued by Zenith Group.

The development was undertaken by Three Musketeers Hospitality, a wholly owned subsidiary of Plus Holding Ltd, co-founded by Dubai businessman Hari Shankar Tibrewal, chairman of Zenith Group.

According to the release, the company secured a beachfront site on Al Marjan Island and signed an agreement with Marriott International in May 2023 to develop the Le Méridien Al Marjan Island Resort & Spa.
The proposed resort was to feature approximately 350 rooms and suites, seven restaurants and lounges, a spa, swimming pool and other leisure facilities, with an opening originally scheduled for 2026.
The investment came during a period of rapid growth in Ras Al Khaimah’s property market, driven partly by the announcement of Wynn’s multibillion-dollar integrated resort on Al Marjan Island. Land values on the island rose by approximately 65 per cent in 2023.
The venture subsequently sold the project to DAMAC in 2024 rather than proceeding with construction. Zenith Group said the transaction generated a return equivalent to four times the equity invested, although the release did not disclose the original investment or sale consideration.
“We entered Al Marjan Island early, added value by bringing in Marriott, and sold when the right offer came,” Tibrewal said in the statement.
The sale came as major developers increased their exposure to Ras Al Khaimah, where tourism-related investment and demand for waterfront property have attracted growing interest.
According to Zenith Group, the decision to sell reflected a strategy of realising returns after securing the land and hospitality partnership, rather than committing additional capital to construction.
The release did not provide details of the project’s subsequent development plans following the reported sale.

The UAE’s young robotics champions secured silver in the Winning Alliance finals at the FIRST Global Challenge (FGC) 2026 in Incheon, South Korea, emerging among the top performers against student teams representing 187 countries and further strengthening the nation’s reputation for excellence in robotics and technological innovation.

Popularly known as the ‘Robotics Olympics’, the competition brings together young innovators worldwide to tackle global challenges through science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). The event is supported by industry giants including Lam Research, LG Electronics, FedEx and Stellantis Philanthropy, with MIT, Yale University and the UN’s International Telecommunication Union among its collaborators.

Bansan Thomas George, National Organiser of FIRST Global Challenge UAE and Founder and CEO of Unique World Robotics, said, “These medals reflect years of dedication and learning. Seeing our students develop into confident innovators and problem-solvers is our greatest achievement.”

The latest achievement builds on Team UAE’s impressive international record. In 2024, the team secured silver in the FIRST Global Grand Challenge Award and bronze in the International Enthusiasm Award in Athens, Greece. In 2025, it won gold in the New Technology Experience category in Panama City for its innovative STASH project, using sodium alginate hydrogels to preserve biological material without conventional refrigeration.

The 14-member UAE team comprised Shreya Binoy Nair, Hriday Pritam Garud, Arjun Sandesh Potkar, Aryav Karmakar, Maahi Gera and Liam Fernandes  (GEMS Modern Academy); Ryan Rony Richard (GEMS Founders School Dubai); Fazil Tafseer (Dubai British School Jumeirah Park); Rayaan Kadernani and Asiru Asiru (Dubai College); Sandra Nair and Zaki Hashim Thottathikulam (DPS Dubai); Mohamed Aamir Nazaif (GEMS Cambridge International School, Abu Dhabi); and Yuvaan Amit Deshpande (Raffles World Academy).

Shreya Binoy Nair, Captain of Team UAE, said, “We overcame challenges together, learned from talented students worldwide and built friendships across borders. Winning silver for the UAE is a moment we will always cherish.”

The team was guided by coaches Ali Mohamed Sheikh Ali Abdurahman, Manoj Thannikal Joseph and Head Coach Mohammed Mukhtar Latif.

Mukhtar said, “The students pushed their boundaries in robot design, problem-solving and teamwork. Their resilience and commitment made this achievement possible.”

Unique World Robotics has nurtured young UAE robotics talent for years through training and mentorship. The achievement was celebrated in Dubai with students, coaches, mentors and parents.