Pakistan’s cricket authorities have confirmed that the remainder of the Pakistan Super League will be relocated to the UAE following a drone strike near Rawalpindi stadium, described by officials as a “deliberate attempt” by India to target players.
In India, a senior official said a decision will be made Friday as to what happens to the rest of the Indian Premier League season, after Thursday's match between Punjab Kings and Delhi Capitals in Dharamsala – less than 200 kilometres from the town of Jammu, where explosions were reported hours earlier – was abandoned due to apparent flood light failure.
The PSL's decision comes after Pakistan’s military intercepted and neutralised 28 Indian drones, including one shot down just outside the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium on Thursday morning – hours before Karachi Kings were scheduled to face Peshawar Zalmi. The match was immediately postponed.
Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar labelled the incident “a deliberate attempt to target domestic and foreign cricket players”, as tensions between the nuclear-armed neighbours reached a dangerous new low following deadly cross-border exchanges.
Pakistani forces launched several attacks using drones and other munitions along India's western border overnight, the Indian army said on X.
The Pakistan Cricket Board confirmed the Twenty20 league’s relocation in a statement on Friday, citing player safety as the top priority.
“Pakistan Cricket Board confirms that the remaining matches of the Pakistan Super League have been shifted to the UAE,” the statement read. “The updated schedule will be shared in due course.”
PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi, who also serves as Pakistan’s interior minister, said the decision had been made after consultation with PSL franchise owners and foreign players.
“We have shifted the remaining matches to the UAE so that the domestic as well as foreign cricketers, who are our precious guests, can be saved from the possible reckless targeting by India,” Naqvi said.
“The PCB has always stood by the position that politics and sports need to be kept apart. However, in view of the extremely irresponsible and dangerous Indian act of targeting the stadium, the PCB has taken this decision.”
Thirty-seven overseas players, including stars from Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, the West Indies, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Afghanistan, are currently involved in the tournament. Among them is former Australia vice-captain David Warner, who had recently returned to Pakistan after playing there in bilateral tours.
Sources told AFP that a number of foreign players had expressed serious concerns about staying in Pakistan amid escalating military tensions, prompting the PCB to act swiftly.
PSL organisers remain keen for the tournament, which has eight fixtures outstanding, to be completed, but the safety of players remains their priority.
International cricket only returned to Pakistan in 2020, more than a decade after the 2009 terror attack on the Sri Lankan team bus in Lahore forced teams to play Pakistan fixtures in neutral venues, primarily the UAE.
The return of top-tier cricket to Pakistan was widely viewed as a major step towards normalisation, with international sides slowly regaining confidence in the country’s security arrangements. Thursday’s drone incident, however, risks undoing years of hard-earned progress.
India and Pakistan have traded accusations and fire over the past 48 hours after New Delhi carried out air strikes into Pakistani territory on Wednesday, claiming retaliation for an attack in Indian-administered Kashmir – a charge Islamabad denies.
Pakistan says 31 people have been killed and 57 injured by air strikes in the country and Pakistan-administered Kashmir since Wednesday morning.
The fallout has raised fears of a wider conflict, with global powers urging restraint.
Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed, UAE Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, called on India and Pakistan to exercise restraint, de-escalate tensions and avoid further escalation that could threaten regional and international peace.
“Diplomacy and dialogue remain the most effective means of peacefully resolving crises, and achieving the shared aspirations of nations for peace, stability, and prosperity,” he said in quotes carried by the Wam news agency on Tuesday.
For the PSL, meanwhile, a tournament that has fought for credibility and international relevance now finds itself once again seeking shelter in the Gulf – not for commercial reasons, but survival.
IPL decision
In India, a power failure led to the abandonment of the IPL game between Punjab Kings and Delhi Capitals on Thursday with both teams awarded one point.
One of the light towers at the stadium malfunctioned due to the outage, and the game was called off.
It was the last game of the season in Dharamsala after organisers shifted Punjab's scheduled game on Sunday against Mumbai Indians from Dharamsala to Ahmedabad because of India-Pakistan tensions.
The IPL cited logistical challenges on Thursday.
Airports in Dharamsala and Chandigarh – where Punjab Kings are based – have been closed for civilian and commercial purposes since Wednesday. Airports across India’s northwestern corridor have been similarly closed off.
"We are monitoring the situation, seeking the government's advice, and will take the final decision on the IPL tomorrow," Rajeev Shukla, vice-president of cricket board the BCCI, told The Indian Express on Thursday.
"The situation is changing day by day. We will do whatever we are told and inform all stakeholders.
"At the moment, our priority is the safety of all players, fans and stakeholders."
The newspaper – without disclosing its sources – said the BCCI is "keeping its options open", with suspending the world's richest cricket league or revising its itinerary among possible options.
The 10-team competition, which features numerous cricket stars from around the world, started on March 22.
The final is scheduled for May 25 at Kolkata's Eden Gardens and typically attracts a vast global television audience.
Farage on Muslim Brotherhood
Nigel Farage told Reform's annual conference that the party will proscribe the Muslim Brotherhood if he becomes Prime Minister.
"We will stop dangerous organisations with links to terrorism operating in our country," he said. "Quite why we've been so gutless about this – both Labour and Conservative – I don't know.
“All across the Middle East, countries have banned and proscribed the Muslim Brotherhood as a dangerous organisation. We will do the very same.”
It is 10 years since a ground-breaking report into the Muslim Brotherhood by Sir John Jenkins.
Among the former diplomat's findings was an assessment that “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” has “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
The prime minister at the time, David Cameron, who commissioned the report, said membership or association with the Muslim Brotherhood was a "possible indicator of extremism" but it would not be banned.
A Cat, A Man, and Two Women
Junichiro Tamizaki
Translated by Paul McCarthy
Daunt Books
Who's who in Yemen conflict
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
The National Archives, Abu Dhabi
Founded over 50 years ago, the National Archives collects valuable historical material relating to the UAE, and is the oldest and richest archive relating to the Arabian Gulf.
Much of the material can be viewed on line at the Arabian Gulf Digital Archive - https://www.agda.ae/en
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The alternatives
• Founded in 2014, Telr is a payment aggregator and gateway with an office in Silicon Oasis. It’s e-commerce entry plan costs Dh349 monthly (plus VAT). QR codes direct customers to an online payment page and merchants can generate payments through messaging apps.
• Business Bay’s Pallapay claims 40,000-plus active merchants who can invoice customers and receive payment by card. Fees range from 1.99 per cent plus Dh1 per transaction depending on payment method and location, such as online or via UAE mobile.
• Tap started in May 2013 in Kuwait, allowing Middle East businesses to bill, accept, receive and make payments online “easier, faster and smoother” via goSell and goCollect. It supports more than 10,000 merchants. Monthly fees range from US$65-100, plus card charges of 2.75-3.75 per cent and Dh1.2 per sale.
• 2checkout’s “all-in-one payment gateway and merchant account” accepts payments in 200-plus markets for 2.4-3.9 per cent, plus a Dh1.2-Dh1.8 currency conversion charge. The US provider processes online shop and mobile transactions and has 17,000-plus active digital commerce users.
• PayPal is probably the best-known online goods payment method - usually used for eBay purchases - but can be used to receive funds, providing everyone’s signed up. Costs from 2.9 per cent plus Dh1.2 per transaction.
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.”
Results:
Women:
1. Rhiannan Iffland (AUS) 322.95 points
2. Lysanne Richard (CAN) 285.75
3. Ellie Smart (USA) 277.70
Men:
1. Gary Hunt (GBR) 431.55
2. Constantin Popovici (ROU) 424.65
3. Oleksiy Prygorov (UKR) 392.30
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Islamophobia definition
A widely accepted definition was made by the All Party Parliamentary Group on British Muslims in 2019: “Islamophobia is rooted in racism and is a type of racism that targets expressions of Muslimness or perceived Muslimness.” It further defines it as “inciting hatred or violence against Muslims”.
Conservative MPs who have publicly revealed sending letters of no confidence
- Steve Baker
- Peter Bone
- Ben Bradley
- Andrew Bridgen
- Maria Caulfield
- Simon Clarke
- Philip Davies
- Nadine Dorries
- James Duddridge
- Mark Francois
- Chris Green
- Adam Holloway
- Andrea Jenkyns
- Anne-Marie Morris
- Sheryll Murray
- Jacob Rees-Mogg
- Laurence Robertson
- Lee Rowley
- Henry Smith
- Martin Vickers
- John Whittingdale
Dubai Bling season three
Cast: Loujain Adada, Zeina Khoury, Farhana Bodi, Ebraheem Al Samadi, Mona Kattan, and couples Safa & Fahad Siddiqui and DJ Bliss & Danya Mohammed
Rating: 1/5
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