Ajman
are probably the smallest of the top tier's small clubs, as well as the least decorated: no trophies, two seasons in the top flight since the dawn of the millennium. Even Emirates, who have been promoted this season along with them, can boast of winning a President's Cup and a Super Cup in 2010.
Thus, we may safely count it a surprise to find Ajman at the top of Group B after three rounds of the Etisalat Cup, on seven points from victories over Al Ahli and Sharjah and a draw with Baniyas.
Dr Saad Abrahim, the assistant to the coach, Abdul Wahab Abdul Kader, certainly is not offended by suggestions that Ajman do not employ the same economic model as do the big-spending clubs such as Al Wasl, Al Jazira and Al Ain.
"We have limited resources," he said. "We are a simple family club."
Asked to explain the side's quick start, he stressed the idea of community. "We have more of a sense of family in the team between the coaches and the players and the management. It's always like a family. Everything is smooth and simple."
Certainly worthy of some credit is Abdul Kader, Abrahim's friend for more than 30 years and, like him, a veteran of Iraq's national team.
Abdul Kader was choosing the starting XI during the two spasms of competitiveness in Ajman's modern history: a successful start to the 2008/09 Pro League season, which included victories over Al Shabab, Al Nasr and Sharjah; and this run to open the current campaign.
In one of the more significant miscalculations in the long history of coaching changes in the country, Ajman dismissed Abdul Kader after three consecutive defeats to start the second half of the 2008/09 season. He had done enough to ensure that Ajman stayed up, but they won only six points from 24 in the eight matches following his ouster. In the following season, they were awful, winning only two of 22 matches in one of the worst performances in top-flight history.
The club, led by Sheikh Rashid bin Humaid, the chairman, demonstrated that they were willing to acknowledge a mistake, and Abdul Kader showed that he harboured no ill feelings, as they rehired him a year ago. He promptly led Ajman to the Division One title and promotion.
The club's competence goes beyond good relations between players and staff.
They seem to have recruited their foreign contingent well. Ibrahima Toure, a striker from Senegal, has five goals and Olivier Tia, from the Ivory Coast, has another. Karim Kerkar, the Algerian who was so influential in the two cups won by Emirates, is running the side from midfield, and a promising Lebanese forward, Hassan Maatouk, 23, is likely to make his professional debut this week.
None of the club's Emiratis were called in to the national team, but Abrahim said their quality should not be discounted. Waleed Ahmed has scored, Mohammed Zahran has shown leadership and the goalkeeper Ali Mesmari has conceded only four goals in 270 minutes.
Also, not having a national team player in the side confers one small advantage: no upheaval ahead of international matches; Ajman have had their full squad from the first match.
Normally, we might expect that Ajman would focus on any trophy that came into view, such as the Etisalat Cup, given their quick start. Abrahim, however, insisted that Ajman see these four weeks of cup play as a prelude to the league season.
"The main goal is to stay in the league," he said. "Nothing more. We have limited resources and will work within them. We're not like the rich clubs. No comparison."
For fans who fancy a plucky underdog, Ajman may be your club. However small they may be, they could cause sizeable problems for the giants.
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It's Monty Python's Crashing Rocket Circus
To the theme tune of the famous zany British comedy TV show, SpaceX has shown exactly what can go wrong when you try to land a rocket.
The two minute video posted on YouTube is a compilation of crashes and explosion as the company, created by billionaire Elon Musk, refined the technique of reusable space flight.
SpaceX is able to land its rockets on land once they have completed the first stage of their mission, and is able to resuse them multiple times - a first for space flight.
But as the video, How Not to Land an Orbital Rocket Booster, demonstrates, it was a case if you fail, try and try again.
Election pledges on migration
CDU: "Now is the time to control the German borders and enforce strict border rejections"
SPD: "Border closures and blanket rejections at internal borders contradict the spirit of a common area of freedom"
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
BELGIUM%20SQUAD
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The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
Unresolved crisis
Russia and Ukraine have been locked in a bitter conflict since 2014, when Ukraine’s Kremlin-friendly president was ousted, Moscow annexed Crimea and then backed a separatist insurgency in the east.
Fighting between the Russia-backed rebels and Ukrainian forces has killed more than 14,000 people. In 2015, France and Germany helped broker a peace deal, known as the Minsk agreements, that ended large-scale hostilities but failed to bring a political settlement of the conflict.
The Kremlin has repeatedly accused Kiev of sabotaging the deal, and Ukrainian officials in recent weeks said that implementing it in full would hurt Ukraine.
The%20Genius%20of%20Their%20Age
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Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League last-16, second leg:
Real Madrid 1 (Asensio 70'), Ajax 4 (Ziyech 7', Neres 18', Tadic 62', Schone 72')
Ajax win 5-3 on aggregate
How to wear a kandura
Dos
- Wear the right fabric for the right season and occasion
- Always ask for the dress code if you don’t know
- Wear a white kandura, white ghutra / shemagh (headwear) and black shoes for work
- Wear 100 per cent cotton under the kandura as most fabrics are polyester
Don’ts
- Wear hamdania for work, always wear a ghutra and agal
- Buy a kandura only based on how it feels; ask questions about the fabric and understand what you are buying
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
UAE%20PREMIERSHIP
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AS%20WE%20EXIST
%3Cp%3EAuthor%3A%20Kaoutar%20Harchi%C2%A0%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EPublisher%3A%20Other%20Press%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EPages%3A%20176%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EAvailable%3A%20Now%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
THE SPECS
Engine: 1.5-litre turbocharged four-cylinder
Transmission: Constant Variable (CVT)
Power: 141bhp
Torque: 250Nm
Price: Dh64,500
On sale: Now
At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances