Kane on target as conservative England edge lowly Lithuania in final World Cup qualifier

Perhaps it was the fitting end to a largely forgettable qualifying campaign.

An undistinguished win with a Harry Kane goal extended England’s unbeaten run in qualifiers to 39 games. A 1-0 victory in Lithuania offered both dullness and statistical significance. It may yet assume a greater meaning if it is a sign of things to come.

Gareth Southgate changed system and personnel. The England manager’s selections had been conservative of late. Here he was much more adventurous. For the first time in a decade, England began a competitive game with a back three. It was a vision of something different.

There is a theory that a Tottenham-esque 3-4-2-1 suits the players at Southgate’s disposal. It certainly did for the goal. It featured a centre-back, the debutant Harry Maguire, coming out of defence with the ball and a holding midfielder, Jordan Henderson, getting into the box to head into Dele Alli’s path. The Spurs man was caught by Ovidijus Verbickas and Kane drove the penalty in via the post for his seventh goal in his last five internationals.

Another indication of the formation’s benefits came when a liberated Henderson got forward to cross and Aaron Cresswell, the left wing-back brought in among seven alterations, got forward to draw a fine save with a header. Henderson’s sidekick was the other newcomer. Harry Winks was neat and tidy in possession, knitting the play together, as a veteran of four Premier League starts made his international bow.

Kane was relentlessly persistent, though he is regardless of the tactics. Alli, operating in a position that has become familiar for Spurs, was brighter after some ineffectual displays for his country. Marcus Rashford produced one sparkling solo run, but in a more mixed display. Yet on the debit side, England only mustered one goal against a Lithuania team ranked 120th in the world and they created too few chances. Their passing remains safe and more invention and incision will be required against better opponents.

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Should Southgate persist with this formation, Rashford may have to be sacrificed to accommodate Adam Lallana when the Liverpool man is fit again. Eric Dier, previously seen as a certain starter, was benched as Winks was brought in for a role that, with three centre-backs behind him, could suit Jack Wilshere or, when fit, Ross Barkley.

Yet if adding an extra central defender was supposed to guarantee extra security, it did not quite work out that way. Jack Butland was tested most by teammate Michael Keane, and he spared the Everton defender the ignominy of an own goal. Deivydas Matulevicius could also have levelled but shot at Butland, who had too few chances to show if he is an upgrade on the rested Joe Hart.

The real drama in Group F came elsewhere. Scotland kicked off in second place and their hopes of reaching a first tournament since the 1998 World Cup were enhanced when Leigh Griffiths put them ahead against Slovenia. Yet they drew 2-2 as Slovakia, 3-0 victors against Malta, finished as runners-up instead.

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$1,000 award for 1,000 days on madrasa portal

Daily cash awards of $1,000 dollars will sweeten the Madrasa e-learning project by tempting more pupils to an education portal to deepen their understanding of math and sciences.

School children are required to watch an educational video each day and answer a question related to it. They then enter into a raffle draw for the $1,000 prize.

“We are targeting everyone who wants to learn. This will be $1,000 for 1,000 days so there will be a winner every day for 1,000 days,” said Sara Al Nuaimi, project manager of the Madrasa e-learning platform that was launched on Tuesday by the Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, to reach Arab pupils from kindergarten to grade 12 with educational videos.

“The objective of the Madrasa is to become the number one reference for all Arab students in the world. The 5,000 videos we have online is just the beginning, we have big ambitions. Today in the Arab world there are 50 million students. We want to reach everyone who is willing to learn.”

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Conflict, drought, famine

Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.

Band Aid

Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.

Maestro

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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