Uruguay striker Luis Suarez was on target again as Ajax held on for a nail-biting 3-3 draw at PAOK Salonika to reach the Champions League qualifying round yesterday.
Fenerbahce were eliminated after a stunning 1-0 home defeat by Young Boys, while Celtic went out despite a 2-1 win over Braga and Dinamo Zagreb were stunned by the Moldovan champions Sheriff Tiraspol, losing their tie on penalties.
Braga stayed on course for their first group stage appearance after Paulo Cesar gave them a 20th-minute lead at Celtic. Although Gary Hooper and Efrain Juarez replied for the Scots in the second half, the Portuguese side ran out 4-2 aggregate winners.
Ajax, held 1-1 at home by Greek side PAOK last week, went through on away goals despite squandering a 3-1 lead in the third qualifying round, second leg tie.
Portuguese forward Vieirinha gave PAOK a half-time lead before Suarez, last season's Dutch League top scorer with 35 goals, and Siem de Jong scored twice within three minutes for the Dutch team just after the break.
Rasmus Lindgren seemed to make the tie safe for the former European champions with a third in the 55th minute.
But Ajax, who last reached the group stage in 2005/06, had to cling on after Dimitris Salpingidis pulled one back within a minute and Vladimir Ivic scored a stoppage-time equaliser.
Suarez scored three goals at the World Cup to help Uruguay reach the semi-finals. He was also involved in controversy in the quarter-final against Ghana, when his handball stopped a goal-bound shot on the line and he was sent off in the last minute.
Fenerbahce, quarter-finalists in 2008, were the clear favourites against Swiss league runners-up Young Boys, who have never played in the group stage, after a 2-2 away draw last week.
Instead, the visitors took the initiative and Cameroon striker Henri Bienvenu took one of many chances when he scored from a narrow angle in the 40th minute.
The Turks, missing Uruguay captain Diego Lugano with a knee injury, had Miroslav Stoch sent off in the 53rd minute when he was shown a second yellow card for diving.
Russia's Zenit St Petersburg qualified against Romania's Unirea Urziceni - group stage participants last season - when Portuguese striker Danny scored the only goal of the tie.
Former AC Milan and Chelsea striker Andriy Shevchenko set up two goals to help Dynamo Kiev win 3-1 at Ghent and complete a 6-1 aggregate win.
Ajax, Young Boys, Braga, Dynamo and Zenit are all in the non-champions half of the draw and will be joined in the next round by Tottenham Hotspur, Sampdoria, Werder Bremen, Auxerre and Sevilla.
The winners qualify for the group stage.
In the champions half, Austria's Salzburg demolished Omonia Nicosia of Cyprus 4-1 to win 5-2 on aggregate.
Brazilian striker Cleo scored at the start and the end of the match go help Serbian champions Partizan Belgrade win 2-1 at HJK for a 5-1 aggregate win over the Finns.
FC Basel (Switzerland), Rosenborg Trondheim (Norway), Sparta Prague (Czech Republic), Zilina (Slovakia) and FC Copenhagen (Denmark) were among the other teams to move within one round of the group stage.
* Reuters
Three ways to boost your credit score
Marwan Lutfi says the core fundamentals that drive better payment behaviour and can improve your credit score are:
1. Make sure you make your payments on time;
2. Limit the number of products you borrow on: the more loans and credit cards you have, the more it will affect your credit score;
3. Don't max out all your debts: how much you maximise those credit facilities will have an impact. If you have five credit cards and utilise 90 per cent of that credit, it will negatively affect your score.
The specs
Engine: 6.2-litre supercharged V8
Power: 712hp at 6,100rpm
Torque: 881Nm at 4,800rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 19.6 l/100km
Price: Dh380,000
On sale: now
Some of Darwish's last words
"They see their tomorrows slipping out of their reach. And though it seems to them that everything outside this reality is heaven, yet they do not want to go to that heaven. They stay, because they are afflicted with hope." - Mahmoud Darwish, to attendees of the Palestine Festival of Literature, 2008
His life in brief: Born in a village near Galilee, he lived in exile for most of his life and started writing poetry after high school. He was arrested several times by Israel for what were deemed to be inciteful poems. Most of his work focused on the love and yearning for his homeland, and he was regarded the Palestinian poet of resistance. Over the course of his life, he published more than 30 poetry collections and books of prose, with his work translated into more than 20 languages. Many of his poems were set to music by Arab composers, most significantly Marcel Khalife. Darwish died on August 9, 2008 after undergoing heart surgery in the United States. He was later buried in Ramallah where a shrine was erected in his honour.
Temple numbers
Expected completion: 2022
Height: 24 meters
Ground floor banquet hall: 370 square metres to accommodate about 750 people
Ground floor multipurpose hall: 92 square metres for up to 200 people
First floor main Prayer Hall: 465 square metres to hold 1,500 people at a time
First floor terrace areas: 2,30 square metres
Temple will be spread over 6,900 square metres
Structure includes two basements, ground and first floor
Labour dispute
The insured employee may still file an ILOE claim even if a labour dispute is ongoing post termination, but the insurer may suspend or reject payment, until the courts resolve the dispute, especially if the reason for termination is contested. The outcome of the labour court proceedings can directly affect eligibility.
- Abdullah Ishnaneh, Partner, BSA Law
Our legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
MATHC INFO
England 19 (Try: Tuilagi; Cons: Farrell; Pens: Ford (4)
New Zealand 7 (Try: Savea; Con: Mo'unga)
The permutations for UAE going to the 2018 World Cup finals
To qualify automatically
UAE must beat Iraq.
Australia must lose in Japan and at home to Thailand, with their losing margins and the UAE's winning margin over Iraq being enough to overturn a goal difference gap of eight.
Saudi Arabia must lose to Japan, with their losing margin and the UAE's winning margin over Iraq being enough to overturn a goal difference gap of eight.
To finish third and go into a play-off with the other third-placed AFC side for a chance to reach the inter-confederation play-off match
UAE must beat Iraq.
Saudi Arabia must lose to Japan, with their losing margin and the UAE's winning margin over Iraq being enough to overturn a goal difference gap of eight.
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Jeff Buckley: From Hallelujah To The Last Goodbye
By Dave Lory with Jim Irvin
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
Match info
Arsenal 0
Manchester City 2
Sterling (14'), Bernardo Silva (64')
More on animal trafficking
Zayed Sustainability Prize
Defence review at a glance
• Increase defence spending to 2.5% of GDP by 2027 but given “turbulent times it may be necessary to go faster”
• Prioritise a shift towards working with AI and autonomous systems
• Invest in the resilience of military space systems.
• Number of active reserves should be increased by 20%
• More F-35 fighter jets required in the next decade
• New “hybrid Navy” with AUKUS submarines and autonomous vessels
Russia's Muslim Heartlands
Dominic Rubin, Oxford
Herc's Adventures
Developer: Big Ape Productions
Publisher: LucasArts
Console: PlayStation 1 & 5, Sega Saturn
Rating: 4/5
Company Profile
Company name: OneOrder
Started: October 2021
Founders: Tamer Amer and Karim Maurice
Based: Cairo, Egypt
Industry: technology, logistics
Investors: A15 and self-funded
Racecard
5pm: Al Maha Stables – Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 (Turf) 1,600m
5.30pm: Wathba Stallions Cup – Maiden (PA) Dh70,000 (T) 1,600m
6pm: Emirates Fillies Classic – Prestige (PA) Dh100,000 (T) 1,600m
6.30pm: Emirates Colts Classic – Prestige (PA) Dh100,000 (T) 1,600m
7pm: The President’s Cup – Group 1 (PA) Dh2,500,000 (T) 2,200m
7.30pm: The President’s Cup – Listed (TB) Dh380,000 (T) 1,400m
Honeymoonish
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A State of Passion
Directors: Carol Mansour and Muna Khalidi
Stars: Dr Ghassan Abu-Sittah
Rating: 4/5
GAC GS8 Specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 248hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 400Nm at 1,750-4,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 9.1L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh149,900
Dr Afridi's warning signs of digital addiction
Spending an excessive amount of time on the phone.
Neglecting personal, social, or academic responsibilities.
Losing interest in other activities or hobbies that were once enjoyed.
Having withdrawal symptoms like feeling anxious, restless, or upset when the technology is not available.
Experiencing sleep disturbances or changes in sleep patterns.
What are the guidelines?
Under 18 months: Avoid screen time altogether, except for video chatting with family.
Aged 18-24 months: If screens are introduced, it should be high-quality content watched with a caregiver to help the child understand what they are seeing.
Aged 2-5 years: Limit to one-hour per day of high-quality programming, with co-viewing whenever possible.
Aged 6-12 years: Set consistent limits on screen time to ensure it does not interfere with sleep, physical activity, or social interactions.
Teenagers: Encourage a balanced approach – screens should not replace sleep, exercise, or face-to-face socialisation.
Source: American Paediatric Association
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
