France
Speaking publicly for the first time since becoming embroiled in a blackmail scandal, Karim Benzema said Wednesday he wants to play again for France and win the 2016 European Championship with teammate Mathieu Valbuena. The Real Madrid forward is facing charges of conspiracy to blackmail relating to an extortion scam over a sex tape featuring Valbuena. He is suspected of having played an active role in pressuring Valbuena to deal directly with the blackmailers. “Hopefully it will end well, we will all be OK ... and we will all return to the France team to win that Euro,” Benzema said in an interview with TV channel TF1. “I’m not playing for the cameras, I’m not playing a game,” insisted Benzema in excerpts released by TF1. “I’m here to be sincere.”
Everton
Manager Roberto Martinez said that Gerard Deulofeu could be “as good as he wants” to be after the Spaniard sent his side into the English League Cup semi-finals. Deulofeu scored one and set up the other in Everton’s 2-0 win at second-tier Middlesbrough in the quarter-finals on Tuesday. Martinez said of Deulofeu’s potential: “As good as he wants – that’s a big part. Gerard is a young man in terms of the amount of games that he’s played. But as a natural talent, he’s as good as it gets. He’s got that talent that you dream to have.”
Chelsea
England international Gary Cahill has signed a new four-year contract with Chelsea, the Premier League champions announced last night. The deal will keep the 29-year-old defender at Stamford Bridge until 2019. “I’m really pleased to commit my future to Chelsea and it’s great the club has put their faith in me,” Cahill told the club website. “I have achieved a lot here and I hope I can keep on learning, helping the team and lifting trophies over the next four years,” the defender added.
Bayern Munich
French winger Franck Ribery was delighted to take part in team training at Bayern Munich on Wednesday for the first time after nearly nine months out with injury. “It’s a super day for me and very emotional,” said Ribery after 264 days out with the persistent ankle injury he suffered on March 11. The 32-year-old forward hopes to make his comeback on December 12 in a Bundesliga game at Bavarian neighbours Ingolstadt. “It was the first long injury of my career and was a difficult situation for me,” he said after taking part in sprints, passing and shooting exercises. “But that’s football and that’s life, it’s important to always keep your head up and to work hard. It’s a good feeling to be back in the team.”
World Cup 2018
Russia’s sports minister says preparations for the 2018 World Cup are on track but admitted to delays in the construction of hotels in host cities. “Overall work done in the framework of the federal programme for infrastructure preparation is on schedule,” sports minister Vitaly Mutko told the R-Sport news agency. Mutko added that Russia’s “complicated economic situation”, in part linked to Western sanctions and low oil prices, had not affected its investment budget for World Cup preparations. The sports minister however deplored that economic woes had slowed the construction of hotels in some of the 11 tournament host cities.
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The Written World: How Literature Shaped History
Martin Puchner
Granta
hall of shame
SUNDERLAND 2002-03
No one has ended a Premier League season quite like Sunderland. They lost each of their final 15 games, taking no points after January. They ended up with 19 in total, sacking managers Peter Reid and Howard Wilkinson and losing 3-1 to Charlton when they scored three own goals in eight minutes.
SUNDERLAND 2005-06
Until Derby came along, Sunderland’s total of 15 points was the Premier League’s record low. They made it until May and their final home game before winning at the Stadium of Light while they lost a joint record 29 of their 38 league games.
HUDDERSFIELD 2018-19
Joined Derby as the only team to be relegated in March. No striker scored until January, while only two players got more assists than goalkeeper Jonas Lossl. The mid-season appointment Jan Siewert was to end his time as Huddersfield manager with a 5.3 per cent win rate.
ASTON VILLA 2015-16
Perhaps the most inexplicably bad season, considering they signed Idrissa Gueye and Adama Traore and still only got 17 points. Villa won their first league game, but none of the next 19. They ended an abominable campaign by taking one point from the last 39 available.
FULHAM 2018-19
Terrible in different ways. Fulham’s total of 26 points is not among the lowest ever but they contrived to get relegated after spending over £100 million (Dh457m) in the transfer market. Much of it went on defenders but they only kept two clean sheets in their first 33 games.
LA LIGA: Sporting Gijon, 13 points in 1997-98.
BUNDESLIGA: Tasmania Berlin, 10 points in 1965-66
WWE Evolution results
- Trish Stratus and Lita beat Alicia Fox and Mickie James in a tag match
- Nia Jax won a battle royal, eliminating Ember Moon last to win
- Toni Storm beat Io Shirai to win the Mae Young Classic
- Natalya, Sasha Banks and Bayley beat The Riott Squad in a six-woman tag match
- Shayna Baszler won the NXT Women’s title by defeating Kairi Sane
- Becky Lynch retained the SmackDown Women’s Championship against Charlotte Flair in a Last Woman Standing match
- Ronda Rousey retained the Raw Women’s title by beating Nikki Bella
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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Cryopreservation: A timeline
- Keyhole surgery under general anaesthetic
- Ovarian tissue surgically removed
- Tissue processed in a high-tech facility
- Tissue re-implanted at a time of the patient’s choosing
- Full hormone production regained within 4-6 months
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
The biog
Title: General Practitioner with a speciality in cardiology
Previous jobs: Worked in well-known hospitals Jaslok and Breach Candy in Mumbai, India
Education: Medical degree from the Government Medical College in Nagpur
How it all began: opened his first clinic in Ajman in 1993
Family: a 90-year-old mother, wife and two daughters
Remembers a time when medicines from India were purchased per kilo
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
On sale: Available to order now
Our legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
'Munich: The Edge of War'
Director: Christian Schwochow
Starring: George MacKay, Jannis Niewohner, Jeremy Irons
Rating: 3/5
Specs
Engine: Electric motor generating 54.2kWh (Cooper SE and Aceman SE), 64.6kW (Countryman All4 SE)
Power: 218hp (Cooper and Aceman), 313hp (Countryman)
Torque: 330Nm (Cooper and Aceman), 494Nm (Countryman)
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh158,000 (Cooper), Dh168,000 (Aceman), Dh190,000 (Countryman)
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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The specs
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Power: 374hp at 5,500-6,500rpm
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Transmission: 8-speed auto
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On sale: from January 2022
Army of the Dead
Director: Zack Snyder
Stars: Dave Bautista, Ella Purnell, Omari Hardwick, Ana de la Reguera
Three stars
Book%20Details
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