Do you have a prediction for tonight's English Premier League match between Liverpool and Aston Villa?
David Cameron, the Aston Villa-supporting British Prime Minister, made the bold assertion last week that his team would triumph by six goals to nil.
Then again, he also made the bold assertion last week that England stood a great chance of hosting the 2018 World Cup, so let's not place too much faith in his judgement. (If Russia's Vladimir Putin, on the other hand, starts making predictions, it will be time to sit up and take note. Now there is a world leader who can foretell the future.)
Personally, however, I would advise anyone against making predictions in public, as they can easily backfire.
Like the columnist who, in this very newspaper, predicted that last Monday's El Clasico between Barcelona and Real Madrid would finish goalless, when in fact the score was 5-0.
What an idiot, eh? Not so much a case of egg on my - sorry, I mean "his" - face, but an entire Spanish omelette.
So, if we are going to make any predictions, let's stick to safer ground.
Like the predictably "unique" behaviour of Liverpool fans, for example. Always a banker that one. Tonight we can expect the unusual spectacle of a home crowd giving a warmer welcome to their opposition's manager than to their own.
Liverpool fans, you see, are very picky about whose name they will sing.
It is an honour they do not bestow lightly. That is why Roy Hodgson, the Liverpool manager since July, has yet to hear his name bellowed by the Kop. And, given the club's league standing, it may be some time yet.
Gerard Houllier, however, who returns to the club he once managed as Villa boss, will almost certainly hear his name sang to the rafters, at least before kick-off.
The ever-nostalgic Anfield faithful will probably resurrect their old anthem of "Gerard, Gerard Houllier", sang to the tune of Go West, by Village People. (And, in a way, he did go west. Aston Villa is in the West Midlands of England, although I doubt that Birmingham was the peaceful, blue-skied utopia Village People had in mind.)
The slightly perverse nature of this situation will no doubt appeal to many Liverpool fans, who consider themselves a cut above the average supporter.
They will enjoy a rosy, self-satisfied glow at the idea that their affection may not be easily acquired, but nor is it transient.
It will also appeal to Houllier himself, who always appeared to crave the love of fans in a way that, say, Sir Alex Ferguson, does not.
Naturally, it will suit both parties to conveniently forget that Houllier's latter years at the club were marked by growing carping among those same loyal fans, who were furious at Houllier's "under-achievement" and allegedly poor buys in the transfer market.
What would they give now, one wonders, for a manager who delivered four top-four finishes out of six seasons, a bulging trophy cabinet, and a squad of "rubbish" players who went on to win the Champions League just one year after Houllier was finally driven out?
Probably best not to dwell on that for too long, chaps.
Just keep singing Village People songs until the bad thoughts go away.
England’s response to not getting World Cup is petty and pathetic
England is the "Motherland of Football", according to Sepp Blatter, the Fifa president.
Well, maybe so, but the reaction to missing out on the 2018 World Cup has been anything but maternal. It has been more like witnessing a moody teenager.
First we had the sarcasm. Andy Anson, the England bid chief executive, suggested bitterly that the 2026 tournament will be held "in Antarctica with heated stadiums, fan-free". Oooooooh, bitchy!
Then we had the ritualised breaking of friendships.
Less than 24 hours after the announcement was made, the English Football Association cancelled a planned match against Thailand in Bangkok next June.
This was retribution against Worawi Makudi, the Thai member of the Fifa executive committee, for his lack of support.
Presumably we have also cut his head out of any group photographs and deleted him from our list of Facebook friends.
Next came the playground insults.
Under the headline "BID FAT LIARS!", the country's most popular daily newspaper published photographs of the seven Fifa suits who allegedly reneged on promises to support the Motherland's bid.
Finally, there was the lip-trembling stomping-off-to-the-bedroom moment.
Roger Burden, the acting chairman of the English FA, resigned his position because "I am not prepared to deal with people whom I cannot trust".
Sadly he did not add the traditional teenager's sign-off: "This is so unfair, I hate you all!"
Inevitably, there is now talk of England withdrawing from Fifa, along with other "wronged" nations like Spain, to form our own gang.
You may recall this from your own childhood as the "It's MY ball and I'm taking it home!" moment.
My advice? Just ignore us. We'll have calmed down by teatime.
sports@thenational.ae
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
Company%20profile
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The specs
Common to all models unless otherwise stated
Engine: 4-cylinder 2-litre T-GDi
0-100kph: 5.3 seconds (Elantra); 5.5 seconds (Kona); 6.1 seconds (Veloster)
Power: 276hp
Torque: 392Nm
Transmission: 6-Speed Manual/ 8-Speed Dual Clutch FWD
Price: TBC
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League, Group B
Barcelona v Inter Milan
Camp Nou, Barcelona
Wednesday, 11pm (UAE)
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
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Who is Allegra Stratton?
- Previously worked at The Guardian, BBC’s Newsnight programme and ITV News
- Took up a public relations role for Chancellor Rishi Sunak in April 2020
- In October 2020 she was hired to lead No 10’s planned daily televised press briefings
- The idea was later scrapped and she was appointed spokeswoman for Cop26
- Ms Stratton, 41, is married to James Forsyth, the political editor of The Spectator
- She has strong connections to the Conservative establishment
- Mr Sunak served as best man at her 2011 wedding to Mr Forsyth
We Weren’t Supposed to Survive But We Did
We weren’t supposed to survive but we did.
We weren’t supposed to remember but we did.
We weren’t supposed to write but we did.
We weren’t supposed to fight but we did.
We weren’t supposed to organise but we did.
We weren’t supposed to rap but we did.
We weren’t supposed to find allies but we did.
We weren’t supposed to grow communities but we did.
We weren’t supposed to return but WE ARE.
Amira Sakalla
Company: Instabug
Founded: 2013
Based: Egypt, Cairo
Sector: IT
Employees: 100
Stage: Series A
Investors: Flat6Labs, Accel, Y Combinator and angel investors
UAE jiu-jitsu squad
Men: Hamad Nawad and Khalid Al Balushi (56kg), Omar Al Fadhli and Saeed Al Mazroui (62kg), Taleb Al Kirbi and Humaid Al Kaabi (69kg), Mohammed Al Qubaisi and Saud Al Hammadi (70kg), Khalfan Belhol and Mohammad Haitham Radhi (85kg), Faisal Al Ketbi and Zayed Al Kaabi (94kg)
Women: Wadima Al Yafei and Mahra Al Hanaei (49kg), Bashayer Al Matrooshi and Hessa Al Shamsi (62kg)
DIVINE%20INTERVENTOIN
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Specs
Engine: Dual-motor all-wheel-drive electric
Range: Up to 610km
Power: 905hp
Torque: 985Nm
Price: From Dh439,000
Available: Now
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
How Alia's experiment will help humans get to Mars
Alia’s winning experiment examined how genes might change under the stresses caused by being in space, such as cosmic radiation and microgravity.
Her samples were placed in a machine on board the International Space Station. called a miniPCR thermal cycler, which can copy DNA multiple times.
After the samples were examined on return to Earth, scientists were able to successfully detect changes caused by being in space in the way DNA transmits instructions through proteins and other molecules in living organisms.
Although Alia’s samples were taken from nematode worms, the results have much bigger long term applications, especially for human space flight and long term missions, such as to Mars.
It also means that the first DNA experiments using human genomes can now be carried out on the ISS.