Germany and Switzerland reached the World Cup finals on Friday as Russia and Bosnia-Herzegovina all edged closer in late games.
Germany booked their place with a convincing 3-0 win over the Republic of Ireland to move to 25 points in Group C.
Switzerland reached the finals for the third time after a 2-1 win over Albania assured them of top spot in Group E.
The pair join Belgium, Italy and Netherlands who had already made sure of qualification.
Goals by Sami Khedira, Andre Schuerrle and Mesut Ozil confirmed Germany’s place in Brazil next year.
Sweden made sure of a play-off spot from the same group with a 2-1 win at home to Austria.
“All in all, we’ve done well in qualifying. The team have done their duty with eight wins out of nine games,” said Germany coach Joachim Loew.
Second-half goals from Xherdan Shaqiri and Michael Lang gave Ottmar Hitzfeld’s Switzerland victory in Tirana and an unassailable 21 points at the top of Group E.
It was a win which left one famous Swiss fan over-joyed.
“Switzerland made it to the World Cup, how happy am I on a scale 1-10? About a 25. Great effort and congratulations,” tweeted tennis ace Roger Federer.
Alexander Samedov, Viktor Faizukin, Denis Glushakov and Alexander Kerzhakov all scored to put Russia on 21 points.
Portugal were then held to a 1-1 draw by Israel who grabbed an 85th-minute leveller from Eden Ben Basat.
Ricardo Costa had opened the scoring for Portugal who face Luxembourg in their final match while Russia go to Azerbaijan.
Bosnia-Herzegovina saw off whipping boys Liechtenstein 4-1 with Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko scoring twice.
They lead Group G on goal difference from Greece who edged Slovakia 1-0.
The Netherlands swamped Hungary 8-1 in Amsterdam with Robin van Persie grabbing a hat-trick.
The Dutch have 25 points from nine games in Group D.
Denmark’s play-off hopes suffered a blow after a late equaliser by Alberto Aquilani helped Italy secure a 2-2 draw in Copenhagen that maintained their unbeaten record in Group B.
Italy, who qualified for Brazil with two games to spare, are on 21 points while Bulgaria, in second, and Denmark are both eight points adrift.
The Czech Republic sit in fourth, only one further point behind.
The nine group winners qualify for the finals while the eight best runners-up will play off for the remaining four spots.
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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
ETFs explained
Exhchange traded funds are bought and sold like shares, but operate as index-tracking funds, passively following their chosen indices, such as the S&P 500, FTSE 100 and the FTSE All World, plus a vast range of smaller exchanges and commodities, such as gold, silver, copper sugar, coffee and oil.
ETFs have zero upfront fees and annual charges as low as 0.07 per cent a year, which means you get to keep more of your returns, as actively managed funds can charge as much as 1.5 per cent a year.
There are thousands to choose from, with the five biggest providers BlackRock’s iShares range, Vanguard, State Street Global Advisors SPDR ETFs, Deutsche Bank AWM X-trackers and Invesco PowerShares.
Things Heard & Seen
Directed by: Shari Springer Berman, Robert Pulcini
Starring: Amanda Seyfried, James Norton
2/5
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
What can you do?
Document everything immediately; including dates, times, locations and witnesses
Seek professional advice from a legal expert
You can report an incident to HR or an immediate supervisor
You can use the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation’s dedicated hotline
In criminal cases, you can contact the police for additional support
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
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Company profile
Company: Verity
Date started: May 2021
Founders: Kamal Al-Samarrai, Dina Shoman and Omar Al Sharif
Based: Dubai
Sector: FinTech
Size: four team members
Stage: Intially bootstrapped but recently closed its first pre-seed round of $800,000
Investors: Wamda, VentureSouq, Beyond Capital and regional angel investors
A little about CVRL
Founded in 1985 by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, the Central Veterinary Research Laboratory (CVRL) is a government diagnostic centre that provides testing and research facilities to the UAE and neighbouring countries.
One of its main goals is to provide permanent treatment solutions for veterinary related diseases.
The taxidermy centre was established 12 years ago and is headed by Dr Ulrich Wernery.
The specs
Engine: Four electric motors, one at each wheel
Power: 579hp
Torque: 859Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh825,900
On sale: Now
Emergency
Director: Kangana Ranaut
Stars: Kangana Ranaut, Anupam Kher, Shreyas Talpade, Milind Soman, Mahima Chaudhry
Rating: 2/5
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
Ferrari
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The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
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