Some of the country’s leading female cricketers had their World Cup dream dashed for the second time in the matter of months, after the UAE missed out on qualifying for the Under 19 T20 World Cup.
Back in May, the senior national team fell 15 runs short of making it to the main event when they were beaten by Sri Lanka in Abu Dhabi. Six months later, the age-group side suffered a similar fate – and against familiar rivals, too.
The national team were beaten by eight wickets by Nepal in the final fixture of the T20 World Cup Qualifier in Ajman.
After both sides had beaten Kuwait and Thailand comfortably, twice each, in the four-team tournament, the last group match was a decider.
The host nation had started the day with a healthy net run-rate advantage over the tourists, whom they had beaten earlier in the group.
It meant that a win would guarantee the UAE a place at the World Cup in Malaysia in January, while a narrow loss would also have been sufficient.
The reward on offer appeared to spook the UAE team, though, as they were a shadow of their previous selves, and they underperformed in all facets of the game.
A nervy batting display meant they could post just 83-9 from their 20 overs. Once captain Samaira Dharnidharka had gone for 31, and Rinitha Rajith for 20, the hosts stalled.
Nepal needed to chase the target within 16.2 overs to move past the UAE on net run-rate. They cruised it, aided by an under-par fielding display by the hosts, as they reached 86-2 in just 14.4 overs. Sana Praveen led them to qualification with an assured 35 not out.
The anguish of missing out was doubly painful for Dharnidharka and Rajith, as well as the likes of Lavanya Keny and Indhuja Nandakumar, who are all established members of the senior squad, too.
The identity of their conquerors was painfully familiar, too. The UAE and Nepal have one of the most compelling rivalries among cricket’s emerging nations, across both the men’s and women’s game.
Coincidentally, Nepal’s U19 women’s side had achieved the same goal against the same opposition, two ovals apart on the same site in Ajman, and one year on from when their male colleagues had done similar in the final match of qualifying for their World Cup.
As well as an appearance at the World Cup, the victory in Ajman also earned Nepal at place at the U19 Asia Cup, also in Malaysia, next month, where they will face India and Pakistan.
Zayed Sustainability Prize
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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Results
Stage 7:
1. Caleb Ewan (AUS) Lotto Soudal - 3:18:29
2. Sam Bennett (IRL) Deceuninck-QuickStep - same time
3. Phil Bauhaus (GER) Bahrain Victorious
4. Michael Morkov (DEN) Deceuninck-QuickStep
5. Cees Bol (NED) Team DSM
General Classification:
1. Tadej Pogacar (SLO) UAE Team Emirates - 24:00:28
2. Adam Yates (GBR) Ineos Grenadiers - 0:00:35
3. Joao Almeida (POR) Deceuninck-QuickStep - 0:01:02
4. Chris Harper (AUS) Jumbo-Visma - 0:01:42
5. Neilson Powless (USA) EF Education-Nippo - 0:01:45
Evacuations to France hit by controversy
- Over 500 Gazans have been evacuated to France since November 2023
- Evacuations were paused after a student already in France posted anti-Semitic content and was subsequently expelled to Qatar
- The Foreign Ministry launched a review to determine how authorities failed to detect the posts before her entry
- Artists and researchers fall under a programme called Pause that began in 2017
- It has benefited more than 700 people from 44 countries, including Syria, Turkey, Iran, and Sudan
- Since the start of the Gaza war, it has also included 45 Gazan beneficiaries
- Unlike students, they are allowed to bring their families to France
The five pillars of Islam
Zayed Sustainability Prize
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
Zayed Sustainability Prize
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
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Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
Day 3 stumps
New Zealand 153 & 249
Pakistan 227 & 37-0 (target 176)
Pakistan require another 139 runs with 10 wickets remaining
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Two products to make at home
Toilet cleaner
1 cup baking soda
1 cup castile soap
10-20 drops of lemon essential oil (or another oil of your choice)
Method:
1. Mix the baking soda and castile soap until you get a nice consistency.
2. Add the essential oil to the mix.
Air Freshener
100ml water
5 drops of the essential oil of your choice (note: lavender is a nice one for this)
Method:
1. Add water and oil to spray bottle to store.
2. Shake well before use.
The years Ramadan fell in May
AIR
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RESULT
Bayern Munich 5 Eintrracht Frankfurt 2
Bayern: Goretzka (17'), Müller (41'), Lewandowski (46'), Davies (61'), Hinteregger (74' og)
Frankfurt: Hinteregger (52', 55')
Dark Souls: Remastered
Developer: From Software (remaster by QLOC)
Publisher: Namco Bandai
Price: Dh199
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
MATCH INFO
First Test at Barbados
West Indies won by 381 runs
Second Test at Antigua
West Indies won by 10 wickets
Third Test at St Lucia
February 9-13
Country-size land deals
US interest in purchasing territory is not as outlandish as it sounds. Here's a look at some big land transactions between nations:
Louisiana Purchase
If Donald Trump is one who aims to broker "a deal of the century", then this was the "deal of the 19th Century". In 1803, the US nearly doubled in size when it bought 2,140,000 square kilometres from France for $15 million.
Florida Purchase Treaty
The US courted Spain for Florida for years. Spain eventually realised its burden in holding on to the territory and in 1819 effectively ceded it to America in a wider border treaty.
Alaska purchase
America's spending spree continued in 1867 when it acquired 1,518,800 km2 of Alaskan land from Russia for $7.2m. Critics panned the government for buying "useless land".
The Philippines
At the end of the Spanish-American War, a provision in the 1898 Treaty of Paris saw Spain surrender the Philippines for a payment of $20 million.
US Virgin Islands
It's not like a US president has never reached a deal with Denmark before. In 1917 the US purchased the Danish West Indies for $25m and renamed them the US Virgin Islands.
Gwadar
The most recent sovereign land purchase was in 1958 when Pakistan bought the southwestern port of Gwadar from Oman for 5.5bn Pakistan rupees.
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%3Cp%3EEncourage%20innovation%20in%20the%20metaverse%20field%20and%20boost%20economic%20contribution%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EDevelop%20outstanding%20talents%20through%20education%20and%20training%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EDevelop%20applications%20and%20the%20way%20they%20are%20used%20in%20Dubai's%20government%20institutions%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EAdopt%2C%20expand%20and%20promote%20secure%20platforms%20globally%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EDevelop%20the%20infrastructure%20and%20regulations%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
The Settlers
Director: Louis Theroux
Starring: Daniella Weiss, Ari Abramowitz
Rating: 5/5
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Bharatanatyam
A ancient classical dance from the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Intricate footwork and expressions are used to denote spiritual stories and ideas.
Jetour T1 specs
Engine: 2-litre turbocharged
Power: 254hp
Torque: 390Nm
Price: From Dh126,000
Available: Now
Heavily-sugared soft drinks slip through the tax net
Some popular drinks with high levels of sugar and caffeine have slipped through the fizz drink tax loophole, as they are not carbonated or classed as an energy drink.
Arizona Iced Tea with lemon is one of those beverages, with one 240 millilitre serving offering up 23 grams of sugar - about six teaspoons.
A 680ml can of Arizona Iced Tea costs just Dh6.
Most sports drinks sold in supermarkets were found to contain, on average, five teaspoons of sugar in a 500ml bottle.
