Australia's Travis Head celebrates his century during day two of the first Ashes Test against England at the Gabba in Brisbane on December 9, 2021. AFP
Australia's Travis Head plays a shot in front of England's Jos Buttler. AFP
Australia's Travis Head, right, celebrates with teammate Mitchell Starc after scoring a century. AP Photo
England's Rory Burns attempts to take a catch from Australia's Travis Head. AFP
Australia's Travis Head, left, is checked by a trainer after he was hit in the face while batting. AP Photo
Australia's Travis Head reacts after he was hit in the face while batting. AP Photo
Australia's Travis Head brings up his century with a drive down the ground. PA
Australia's David Warner bats during day two of the first Ashes cricket Test. AFP
Australia's David Warner plays a reverse sweep. AFP
Australia's David Warner plays a reverse sweep. AFP
Australian batsman David Warner reacts after he was dismissed by England bowler Ollie Robinson for 94 runs. EPA
Australia's David Warner hooks England's Jack Leach for four runs. AFP
Joe Root, centre, of England signals for a DRS decision for Steve Smith of Australia, which was turned down. EPA
Australian batsman Steve Smith reacts after he was dismissed by England bowler Mark Wood for 12 runs. EPA
Australian batsman Steve Smith reacts after he was dismissed. EPA
Australia's Marnus Labuschagne ducks under a high ball. AFP
Jack Leach, centre, of England celebrates with teammates after getting the wicket of Marnus Labuschagne of Australia. EPA
Marnus Labuschagne of Australia in action. EPA
Australia's Marnus Labuschagne walks off after being dismissed by England's Jack Leach for 74 runs. EPA
England's Ollie Pope dives to attempt to catch Marnus Labuschagne. PA
Travis Head blasted a rapid-fire century to crush England hopes on the second day of the opening Ashes Test at the Gabba on Thursday.
At the close of play Australia were 343-7, a lead of 196 on England's dismal first-innings total of 147.
Head was on 112 from only 95 balls, alongside Mitchell Starc, who was not-out 10.
England had threatened a comeback after tea when Ollie Robinson took two wickets in consecutive balls, but Head's aggressive innings put paid to any hopes of a miracle recovery.
Head came to the crease with Australia 189-3 after Steve Smith edged Mark Wood to keeper Jos Buttler just before tea.
He then watched David Warner (94) and Cameron Green depart to Robinson's accurate seamers after the break, with Australia still only 89 runs ahead.
But the 27-year-old Head attacked from the outset and was particularly harsh on spinners Jack Leach and Joe Root.
He smashed two sixes and 12 boundaries in his century, his third overall and his first since the Boxing Day Test against New Zealand in 2019.
Leach, 1-95 from 11 overs, failed to assert any control and with Ben Stokes also struggling for fitness, skipper Root had to rely heavily on his three-man seam attack.
Earlier, Warner rode his luck in the first two sessions.
The gritty opener was bowled by a no-ball by Stokes before lunch, then dropped by Rory Burns in the first over after the break, before Haseeb Hameed bungled a simple run-out when Warner was on 60.
Warner's good fortune began in the opening session when Stokes bowled him when he was on 17, but the all-rounder had overstepped to give the Australian opening batsman a reprieve.
It later transpired that technology issues were at the centre of the no-ball drama.
Television replays showed that Stokes had also overstepped on the first three balls of his over, but nothing was called.
That led to suggestions that had he been called earlier by the umpires, he would have adjusted his run-up and Warner's prized wicket - on Stokes's fourth delivery - may have stood.
Cricket Australia later said the technology that TV umpires use to help check no-balls was not working.
Dangerous pace
England needed to take all their chances to keep their hopes of salvaging anything from the first Test after their disastrous start on Wednesday, when they were bowled out in just 50.1 calamitous overs.
They started well when Robinson claimed his first Ashes wicket, Marcus Harris, with the score on 10.
England had gone into the Test without veteran seamers Jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad, surprising many, including Australian captain Pat Cummins.
But the seam attack of Robinson, Chris Woakes and the outright pace of Wood were able to keep the Australian batters pinned down early on with some tight and accurate bowling.
Robinson was particularly dangerous and made the breakthrough when he enticed Harris to play forward to a ball that left him slightly, the Australian opener edging to second slip, where Dawid Malan took a good low catch.
Warner and Marnus Labuschagne consolidated but late in the second session Labuschagne sliced an attempted cut off Leach to Wood at backward point to fall for 74.
Soon after Wood, who bowled with real pace all day, gave England some cheer when he removed the dangerous Smith -- so often England's tormentor -- in the penultimate over of the second session.
When Warner slapped a short Robinson ball to Stokes at short cover after tea and then Green shouldered arms and was bowled next ball, England must have had some belief.
But that was soon quashed by Head's swashbuckling innings.
Trump v Khan
2016: Feud begins after Khan criticised Trump’s proposed Muslim travel ban to US
2017: Trump criticises Khan’s ‘no reason to be alarmed’ response to London Bridge terror attacks
2019: Trump calls Khan a “stone cold loser” before first state visit
2019: Trump tweets about “Khan’s Londonistan”, calling him “a national disgrace”
2022: Khan’s office attributes rise in Islamophobic abuse against the major to hostility stoked during Trump’s presidency
July 2025 During a golfing trip to Scotland, Trump calls Khan “a nasty person”
Sept 2025 Trump blames Khan for London’s “stabbings and the dirt and the filth”.
Dec 2025 Trump suggests migrants got Khan elected, calls him a “horrible, vicious, disgusting mayor”
Results
4pm: Maiden; Dh165,000 (Dirt); 1,400m Winner: Solar Shower; William Lee (jockey); Helal Al Alawi (trainer)
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
Tottenham Hotspur 3 (Son 1', Kane 8' & 16') West Ham United 3 (Balbuena 82', Sanchez og 85', Lanzini 90' 4)
Man of the match Harry Kane
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.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Produced: Lionsgate Films, Shanghai Ryui Entertainment, Street Light Entertainment Directed: Roland Emmerich Cast: Ed Skrein, Woody Harrelson, Dennis Quaid, Aaron Eckhart, Luke Evans, Nick Jonas, Mandy Moore, Darren Criss Rating: 3.5/5 stars
Closing the loophole on sugary drinks
As The National reported last year, non-fizzy sugared drinks were not covered when the original tax was introduced in 2017. Sports drinks sold in supermarkets were found to contain, on average, 20 grams of sugar per 500ml bottle.
The non-fizzy drink AriZona Iced Tea contains 65 grams of sugar – about 16 teaspoons – per 680ml can. The average can costs about Dh6, which would rise to Dh9.
Drinks such as Starbucks Bottled Mocha Frappuccino contain 31g of sugar in 270ml, while Nescafe Mocha in a can contains 15.6g of sugar in a 240ml can.
Flavoured water, long-life fruit juice concentrates, pre-packaged sweetened coffee drinks fall under the ‘sweetened drink’ category
Not taxed:
Freshly squeezed fruit juices, ground coffee beans, tea leaves and pre-prepared flavoured milkshakes do not come under the ‘sweetened drink’ band.
Australia: Aaron Finch (c), Mitchell Marsh, Alex Carey, Ashton Agar, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Chris Lynn, Nathan Lyon, Glenn Maxwell, Ben McDermott, D’Arcy Short, Billy Stanlake, Mitchell Starc, Andrew Tye, Adam Zampa.
Pakistan: Sarfraz Ahmed (c), Fakhar Zaman, Mohammad Hafeez, Sahibzada Farhan, Babar Azam, Shoaib Malik, Asif Ali, Hussain Talat, Shadab Khan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Usman Khan Shinwari, Hassan Ali, Imad Wasim, Waqas Maqsood, Faheem Ashraf.
