England will be taking no risks with fast bowler Jofra Archer's return to action following his 22-month injury nightmare.
Archer has began his comeback from well-documented elbow and back issues in encouraging fashion, taking 12 wickets in four One-Day Internationals against South Africa and Bangladesh.
The 27-year-old even took career-best ODI figures of 6-40 during the 59-run victory over the Proteas in February.
But white-ball head coach Matthew Mott revealed on Tuesday that England erred on the side of caution when ruling out fielding Archer twice in three days against Bangladesh last week.
When asked whether it was even under consideration to play him in two games in quick succession – in a year when England face Australia in the Ashes and defend their 50-over World Cup crown – Mott gave a blunt response: “Not really, no. The medical advice was definitely not back-to-back games.”
His workload from now until the start of England's summer programme will be a diet of T20s – next up being a three-match series against Bangladesh that starts on Thursday before jetting to the Indian Premier League – but Mott is confident Archer will peak at the right time.
“He's a box office player,” Mott said. “He's fitted back into the group beautifully and it's an incredible effort for a fast bowler to be out for that long and come back and play as he has done.
“He would admit that he's not fully firing on all cylinders. You can just see he's ticking all the boxes to get back to his best.
“He just seems to be really slowly, strategically making sure he's doing it right and ticking over and come the Ashes, come the World Cup, I'm sure you'll see him back to his best.”
Archer has been part of an impressive bowling unit in Bangladesh which claimed 10 wickets in all three ODIs as England sealed a hard-fought 2-1 win in their last 50-over assignment until September.
Whether Ben Stokes will reverse his ODI retirement for the World Cup later this year is still bubbling under the surface and clouding the issue is the Test captain's knee injury which caused him problems in New Zealand.
“I'm still in touch with him but the issue about when he wants to play, we don't need to know for a while,” Mott said. “The worst thing we could do is try to put pressure on him early to make a decision.
“We'll just see how his body's holding up and how he's feeling physically and mentally.”
Meanwhile, captain Jos Buttler warned his England side they have “areas to improve” ahead of their World Cup defence.
With an eye on the tournament in India – where conditions will be similar to Bangladesh – Buttler changed his England side for the final match, which they lost by 50 runs in Chittagong on Monday.
Sam Curran was promoted to No 5 in the batting order, scoring 23 off 49 balls, and the 18-year-old leg-spinner Rehan Ahmed made his ODI debut. It was England's last scheduled 50-over match until September 8.
“I think we played some really good cricket throughout the series and I've spoken a lot about these being great conditions for us to challenge ourselves in,” Buttler said.
“These are probably the conditions that we would find the hardest as a team. Now there's plenty to learn – things that we've done well and areas that we can also improve.”
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Heather, the Totality
Matthew Weiner,
Canongate
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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EPL's youngest
- Ethan Nwaneri (Arsenal)
15 years, 181 days old
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15 years, 235 days old
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Dhadak 2
Director: Shazia Iqbal
Starring: Siddhant Chaturvedi, Triptii Dimri
Rating: 1/5
Company Fact Box
Company name/date started: Abwaab Technologies / September 2019
Founders: Hamdi Tabbaa, co-founder and CEO. Hussein Alsarabi, co-founder and CTO
Based: Amman, Jordan
Sector: Education Technology
Size (employees/revenue): Total team size: 65. Full-time employees: 25. Revenue undisclosed
Stage: early-stage startup
Investors: Adam Tech Ventures, Endure Capital, Equitrust, the World Bank-backed Innovative Startups SMEs Fund, a London investment fund, a number of former and current executives from Uber and Netflix, among others.
The five pillars of Islam
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Why are asylum seekers being housed in hotels?
The number of asylum applications in the UK has reached a new record high, driven by those illegally entering the country in small boats crossing the English Channel.
A total of 111,084 people applied for asylum in the UK in the year to June 2025, the highest number for any 12-month period since current records began in 2001.
Asylum seekers and their families can be housed in temporary accommodation while their claim is assessed.
The Home Office provides the accommodation, meaning asylum seekers cannot choose where they live.
When there is not enough housing, the Home Office can move people to hotels or large sites like former military bases.
Past winners of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
2016 Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes-GP)
2015 Nico Rosberg (Mercedes-GP)
2014 Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes-GP)
2013 Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull Racing)
2012 Kimi Raikkonen (Lotus)
2011 Lewis Hamilton (McLaren)
2010 Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull Racing)
2009 Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull Racing)
Test squad: Azhar Ali (captain), Abid Ali, Asad Shafiq, Babar Azam, Haris Sohail, Imam-ul-Haq, Imran Khan, Iftikhar Ahmed, Kashif Bhatti, Mohammad Abbas, Mohammad Rizwan(wicketkeeper), Musa Khan, Naseem Shah, Shaheen Afridi, Shan Masood, Yasir Shah
Twenty20 squad: Babar Azam (captain), Asif Ali, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Sohail, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imad Wasim, Imam-ul-Haq, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Hasnain, Mohammad Irfan, Mohammad Rizwan (wicketkeeper), Musa Khan, Shadab Khan, Usman Qadir, Wahab Riaz
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If you go...
Fly from Dubai or Abu Dhabi to Chiang Mai in Thailand, via Bangkok, before taking a five-hour bus ride across the Laos border to Huay Xai. The land border crossing at Huay Xai is a well-trodden route, meaning entry is swift, though travellers should be aware of visa requirements for both countries.
Flights from Dubai start at Dh4,000 return with Emirates, while Etihad flights from Abu Dhabi start at Dh2,000. Local buses can be booked in Chiang Mai from around Dh50
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 261hp at 5,500rpm
Torque: 405Nm at 1,750-3,500rpm
Transmission: 9-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 6.9L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh117,059
Red flags
- Promises of high, fixed or 'guaranteed' returns.
- Unregulated structured products or complex investments often used to bypass traditional safeguards.
- Lack of clear information, vague language, no access to audited financials.
- Overseas companies targeting investors in other jurisdictions - this can make legal recovery difficult.
- Hard-selling tactics - creating urgency, offering 'exclusive' deals.
Courtesy: Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching
Electoral College Victory
Trump has so far secured 295 Electoral College votes, according to the Associated Press, exceeding the 270 needed to win. Only Nevada and Arizona remain to be called, and both swing states are leaning Republican. Trump swept all five remaining swing states, North Carolina, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, sealing his path to victory and giving him a strong mandate.
Popular Vote Tally
The count is ongoing, but Trump currently leads with nearly 51 per cent of the popular vote to Harris’s 47.6 per cent. Trump has over 72.2 million votes, while Harris trails with approximately 67.4 million.
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The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
Anghami
Started: December 2011
Co-founders: Elie Habib, Eddy Maroun
Based: Beirut and Dubai
Sector: Entertainment
Size: 85 employees
Stage: Series C
Investors: MEVP, du, Mobily, MBC, Samena Capital
Company profile
Name: Tratok Portal
Founded: 2017
Based: UAE
Sector: Travel & tourism
Size: 36 employees
Funding: Privately funded
Getting there
Flydubai flies direct from Dubai to Tbilisi from Dh1,025 return including taxes
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
Zayed Sustainability Prize
The five pillars of Islam
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
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