LONDON // In one unforgettable night for a nation, the Olympic Games and their host, Britain, were the best they can be.
Three British athletes winning three gold medals in the Olympic Stadium in a delirious 44-minute spell produced the signature moment of the London Games.
Barring catastrophe in the final week, Saturday's night of fever and fervour made sure the London Olympics will be remembered as a roaring success.
It was a night when the prefix "Great" before "Britain" suddenly seemed to make a lot more sense. It ended, so appropriately, with the massive crowd in the 80,000-seat stadium awash in the colours of the Union flag's red, white and blue and belting out God Save the Queen to celebrate sporting success beyond their wildest expectations.
And at the midpoint of the 2012 games, London on Saturday had British athletes Jessica Ennis, Greg Rutherford and Mo Farah winning one after another, whipping to a froth the stadium crowd that proved to be a star, too, by lifting their champions to undreamt-of heights.
Before these games, Britons lamented that they had become a nation of gold-medal gripers. Olympic critics moaned about the £9.3 billion (53.43bn) bill for the Games, the feared disruption for two weeks of London's way of life and its traffic network, the privileges accorded to Olympic organisers, visitors and sponsors.
But all that was buried by the spellbinding drama from 8.02pm, London time when Ennis clinched heptathlon gold, to 8.46, when Farah won the 10,000 and clasped his head in a disbelief. In between, Rutherford won gold with his leap of 8.31 metres into the long-jump pit.
When added to two more golds from the rowers and another from women's track cycling on Saturday, Britain's haul for the day was six. In total, only China, with 53 medals, and the United States, the leader with 54, had more.
"Team GB's gluttonous desire for gold shows no sign of being sated," said Boris Johnson. "Their extraordinary efforts have brought rapture to streets, parks and living rooms in London and all over the country, if not the planet."
For once, London's famously verbose mayor did not seem to be exaggerating.
This was the day when Britain delivered - in all senses of the word: in sporting success and in generously shared joy. The sometimes prickly defensiveness that comes from being an island on the edge of Europe with only history books to record how it once ruled much of the world gave way to unbridled national pride.
In the stadium, the focus for it all, the pride came without arrogance. The warm, fuzzy feeling was perhaps best expressed in the way the crowd, swaying from side to side and waving small flags on sticks, sang along to the Beatles' All You Need Is Love that played over the loudspeakers. To make the picture perfect, Paul McCartney happened to be in the stadium, and he celebrated, too, by waving a Union flag above his head. David Bowie's song Heroes was played, and replayed, and replayed. The London Olympics have swung continually to British pop and rock classics.
Prince William and his wife, Kate, and the prime minister, David Cameron, were also there. Mr Cameron called the atmosphere "electric" and tweeted: "Awe inspiring win for Jessica Ennis. Proud to be cheering her on with the home crowd."
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The Perfect Couple
Starring: Nicole Kidman, Liev Schreiber, Jack Reynor
Creator: Jenna Lamia
Rating: 3/5
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Greatest of All Time
Starring: Vijay, Sneha, Prashanth, Prabhu Deva, Mohan
Landfill in numbers
• Landfill gas is composed of 50 per cent methane
• Methane is 28 times more harmful than Co2 in terms of global warming
• 11 million total tonnes of waste are being generated annually in Abu Dhabi
• 18,000 tonnes per year of hazardous and medical waste is produced in Abu Dhabi emirate per year
• 20,000 litres of cooking oil produced in Abu Dhabi’s cafeterias and restaurants every day is thrown away
• 50 per cent of Abu Dhabi’s waste is from construction and demolition
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
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The Internet
Hive Mind
four stars
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The line up
Friday: Giggs, Sho Madjozi and Masego
Saturday: Nas, Lion Bbae, Roxanne Shante and DaniLeigh
Sole DXB runs from December 6 to 8 at Dubai Design District. Weekend pass is Dh295 while a one day pass is Dh195. Tickets are available from www.soledxb.com
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The specs
Engine: 2.7-litre 4-cylinder Turbomax
Power: 310hp
Torque: 583Nm
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
Price: From Dh192,500
On sale: Now
The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre turbo
Power: 181hp
Torque: 230Nm
Transmission: 6-speed automatic
Starting price: Dh79,000
On sale: Now
Employment lawyer Meriel Schindler of Withers Worldwide shares her tips on achieving equal pay
Do your homework
Make sure that you are being offered a fair salary. There is lots of industry data available, and you can always talk to people who have come out of the organisation. Where I see people coming a cropper is where they haven’t done their homework.
Don’t be afraid to negotiate
It’s quite standard to negotiate if you think an offer is on the low side. The job is unlikely to be withdrawn if you ask for money, and if that did happen I’d question whether you want to work for an employer who is so hypersensitive.
Know your worth
Women tend to be a bit more reticent to talk about their achievements. In my experience they need to have more confidence in their own abilities – men will big up what they’ve done to get a pay rise, and to compete women need to turn up the volume.
Work together
If you suspect men in your organisation are being paid more, look your boss in the eye and say, “I want you to assure me that I’m paid equivalent to my peers”. If you’re not getting a straight answer, talk to your peer group and consider taking direct action to fix inequality.
Left Bank: Art, Passion and Rebirth of Paris 1940-1950
Agnes Poirer, Bloomsbury
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