Barcelona centre Ante Tomic scored 19 points in a weekend win that saw Europe's top basketball side improve to 9-0 in the Euroleague's Top 16 round. Josep Lago / AFP / March 6, 2014
Barcelona centre Ante Tomic scored 19 points in a weekend win that saw Europe's top basketball side improve to 9-0 in the Euroleague's Top 16 round. Josep Lago / AFP / March 6, 2014
Barcelona centre Ante Tomic scored 19 points in a weekend win that saw Europe's top basketball side improve to 9-0 in the Euroleague's Top 16 round. Josep Lago / AFP / March 6, 2014
Barcelona reach Euroleague quarters, Real Madrid and CSKA Moscow closely following
Barcelona became the first Euroleague Top 16 side to clinch a spot in the quarter-finals, beating Fenerbahce 93-73. Real Madrid, led by Nikola Mirotic, meanwhile improved to 8-1 in the top 16 stage, beating Galatasaray 85-74.
Double Euroleague champions Barcelona have booked a quarter-final berth with five games to spare while Real Madrid and CSKA Moscow are closing in on the last eight after picking up contrasting victories.
Emporio Armani Milan boosted their hopes of reaching the knockout stages with a shock 88-86 win at holders Olympiakos Piraeus and Russian debutants Lokomotiv Krasnodar kept alive their challenge after a thrilling 78-76 home defeat of Maccabi Tel Aviv.
Barcelona, who won Europe’s elite club competition in 2003 and 2010, eased to a 93-73 triumph over Fenerbahce after Croatian centre Ante Tomic scored 17 of his 19 points in the first half.
"Our defence and intensity was outstanding," Barca coach Xavi Pasqual told the Euroleague website.
“We were quick in transition and shared the ball well, as shown by the fact we finished the game with 23 assists against a big team.”
Six-times champions CSKA Moscow defeated Lithuanians Zalgiris Kaunas 88-86, stretching their Top-16 record to 8-1 after Serbian playmaker Milos Teodosic scored 16 points and former Toronto Raptors guard Sonny Weems added 15.
The second group stage of the Euroleague features two pools of eight teams. The top four from each section qualify for the best-of-five quarter-final play-off series and the winners then advance to the May 16-18 Final Four in Milan.
Real stayed level with CSKA at the top of their section after forward Nikola Mirotic sank 18 points in a comfortable 85-74 win at Galatasaray that extended their record to 44-1 in all competitions.
The Montenegrin-born forward, sought by six-time NBA champions Chicago Bulls, produced one of his best performances in a Real shirt as the winners of eight Euroleague titles silenced a fervent Istanbul crowd with their long-range artillery.
The Spanish giants nailed a total of 11 three-pointers while former Portland Trail Blazers guard Rudy Fernandez and Greek centre Ioannis Bourousis claimed 14 points each.
In Friday’s curtain-raiser, Lokomotiv overpowered Maccabi on the back of a game-high 23 points from Croatia guard Krunoslav Simon who also dished out five assists and was delighted to engineer his team’s first win in four meetings this season against the Israelis.
“Before the game I said there was no way we can go 0-4 against Maccabi and we proved our quality today,” said Simon.
“I am happy for my teammates because we finally managed to win a close game. Everyone is saying I had a good game but it was truly a team effort and a very important one for our play-off chances.”
Milan, who last won the title in 1988, trailed 10-0 at Olympiakos after five minutes and turned the match on its head after American Keith Langford scored 20 points to leave the holders skating on thin ice with a 4-5 record after a third successive defeat.
Badr Organisation: Seen as the most militarily capable faction in the Hashd. Iraqi Shiite exiles opposed to Saddam Hussein set up the group in Tehran in the early 1980s as the Badr Corps under the supervision of the Iran Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC). The militia exalts Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei but intermittently cooperated with the US military.
Saraya Al Salam (Peace Brigade): Comprised of former members of the officially defunct Mahdi Army, a militia that was commanded by Iraqi cleric Moqtada Al Sadr and fought US and Iraqi government and other forces between 2004 and 2008. As part of a political overhaul aimed as casting Mr Al Sadr as a more nationalist and less sectarian figure, the cleric formed Saraya Al Salam in 2014. The group’s relations with Iran has been volatile.
Kataeb Hezbollah: The group, which is fighting on behalf of the Bashar Al Assad government in Syria, traces its origins to attacks on US forces in Iraq in 2004 and adopts a tough stance against Washington, calling the United States “the enemy of humanity”.
Asaeb Ahl Al Haq: An offshoot of the Mahdi Army active in Syria. Asaeb Ahl Al Haq’s leader Qais al Khazali was a student of Mr Al Moqtada’s late father Mohammed Sadeq Al Sadr, a prominent Shiite cleric who was killed during Saddam Hussein’s rule.
Harakat Hezbollah Al Nujaba: Formed in 2013 to fight alongside Mr Al Assad’s loyalists in Syria before joining the Hashd. The group is seen as among the most ideological and sectarian-driven Hashd militias in Syria and is the major recruiter of foreign fighters to Syria.
Saraya Al Khorasani: The ICRG formed Saraya Al Khorasani in the mid-1990s and the group is seen as the most ideologically attached to Iran among Tehran’s satellites in Iraq.
(Source: The Wilson Centre, the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation)
Ticket prices
General admission Dh295 (under-three free)
Buy a four-person Family & Friends ticket and pay for only three tickets, so the fourth family member is free
Jebel Akhdar is a two-hour drive from Muscat airport or a six-hour drive from Dubai. It’s impossible to visit by car unless you have a 4x4. Phone ahead to the hotel to arrange a transfer.
If you’re driving, make sure your insurance covers Oman.
By air: Budget airlines Air Arabia, Flydubai and SalamAir offer direct routes to Muscat from the UAE.
Tourists from the Emirates (UAE nationals not included) must apply for an Omani visa online before arrival at evisa.rop.gov.om. The process typically takes several days.
Flash floods are probable due to the terrain and a lack of drainage. Always check the weather before venturing into any canyons or other remote areas and identify a plan of escape that includes high ground, shelter and parking where your car won’t be overtaken by sudden downpours.
Houthis: Iran-backed rebels who occupy Sanaa and run unrecognised government
Yemeni government: Exiled government in Aden led by eight-member Presidential Leadership Council
Southern Transitional Council: Faction in Yemeni government that seeks autonomy for the south
Habrish 'rebels': Tribal-backed forces feuding with STC over control of oil in government territory
Who was Alfred Nobel?
The Nobel Prize was created by wealthy Swedish chemist and entrepreneur Alfred Nobel.
In his will he dictated that the bulk of his estate should be used to fund "prizes to those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind".
Nobel is best known as the inventor of dynamite, but also wrote poetry and drama and could speak Russian, French, English and German by the age of 17. The five original prize categories reflect the interests closest to his heart.
Nobel died in 1896 but it took until 1901, following a legal battle over his will, before the first prizes were awarded.
The UN General Assembly President in quotes:
YEMEN: “The developments we have seen are promising. We really hope that the parties are going to respect the agreed ceasefire. I think that the sense of really having the political will to have a peace process is vital. There is a little bit of hope and the role that the UN has played is very important.”
PALESTINE: “There is no easy fix. We need to find the political will and comply with the resolutions that we have agreed upon.”
OMAN: “It is a very important country in our system. They have a very important role to play in terms of the balance and peace process of that particular part of the world, in that their position is neutral. That is why it is very important to have a dialogue with the Omani authorities.”
REFORM OF THE SECURITY COUNCIL: “This is complicated and it requires time. It is dependent on the effort that members want to put into the process. It is a process that has been going on for 25 years. That process is slow but the issue is huge. I really hope we will see some progress during my tenure.”
Pupils to learn coding and other vocational skills from Grade 6
Exams to test critical thinking and application of knowledge
A new National Assessment Centre, PARAKH (Performance, Assessment, Review and Analysis for Holistic Development) will form the standard for schools
Schools to implement online system to encouraging transparency and accountability
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-final, first leg
Bayern Munich v Real Madrid When: April 25, 10.45pm kick-off (UAE) Where: Allianz Arena, Munich Live: BeIN Sports HD Second leg: May 1, Santiago Bernabeu, Madrid
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
