Eye on UAE is The National’s weekly look at the sporting scene around the United Arab Emirates.
• Sportsperson of the week: This week's UAE Sportsperson of the week is 16-year-old Maha Al Hanaei, who is a rising jiu-jitsu star for Mariam bint Sultan Girls School and represents Al Ain Club in competitions.
“I reached the medal rounds in every competition that I took part. Perhaps, more than 20. I think that’s some achievement,” she said.
Read more about her in her interview with Amith Passela.
• Passela also profiles UAE cricket umpire Rabiul Hoque.
Hoque, 32 from Bangladesh, has now emerged as one of the bright young umpiring prospects in the UAE and wants to become the leading man in Asia among the Associate nations.
Read his story here.
• Around the UAE: Our weekly round-up of sports around the UAE takes a look at Olympics swimming hopeful Sarra Lajnef, who moved closer to qualifying for the Rio 2016 games after winning gold and silver in a meet in Portugal.
We also look at the local motorsport, cricket and triathlon happenings.
Does your school or organization wish to be a part of Eye on UAE? If so, contact us:
sports@thenational.ae
Follow us on Twitter @NatSportUAE
Like us on Facebook at facebook.com/TheNationalSport
Arsenal's pre-season fixtures
Thursday Beat Sydney 2-0 in Sydney
Saturday v Western Sydney Wanderers in Sydney
Wednesday v Bayern Munich in Shanghai
July 22 v Chelsea in Beijing
July 29 v Benfica in London
July 30 v Sevilla in London
How tumultuous protests grew
- A fuel tax protest by French drivers appealed to wider anti-government sentiment
- Unlike previous French demonstrations there was no trade union or organised movement involved
- Demonstrators responded to online petitions and flooded squares to block traffic
- At its height there were almost 300,000 on the streets in support
- Named after the high visibility jackets that drivers must keep in cars
- Clashes soon turned violent as thousands fought with police at cordons
- An estimated two dozen people lost eyes and many others were admitted to hospital
Iraq negotiating over Iran sanctions impact
- US sanctions on Iran’s energy industry and exports took effect on Monday, November 5.
- Washington issued formal waivers to eight buyers of Iranian oil, allowing them to continue limited imports. Iraq did not receive a waiver.
- Iraq’s government is cooperating with the US to contain Iranian influence in the country, and increased Iraqi oil production is helping to make up for Iranian crude that sanctions are blocking from markets, US officials say.
- Iraq, the second-biggest producer in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, pumped last month at a record 4.78 million barrels a day, former Oil Minister Jabbar Al-Luaibi said on Oct. 20. Iraq exported 3.83 million barrels a day last month, according to tanker tracking and data from port agents.
- Iraq has been working to restore production at its northern Kirkuk oil field. Kirkuk could add 200,000 barrels a day of oil to Iraq’s total output, Hook said.
- The country stopped trucking Kirkuk oil to Iran about three weeks ago, in line with U.S. sanctions, according to four people with knowledge of the matter who asked not to be identified because they aren’t allowed to speak to media.
- Oil exports from Iran, OPEC’s third-largest supplier, have slumped since President Donald Trump announced in May that he’d reimpose sanctions. Iran shipped about 1.76 million barrels a day in October out of 3.42 million in total production, data compiled by Bloomberg show.
- Benchmark Brent crude fell 47 cents to $72.70 a barrel in London trading at 7:26 a.m. local time. U.S. West Texas Intermediate was 25 cents lower at $62.85 a barrel in New York. WTI held near the lowest level in seven months as concerns of a tightening market eased after the U.S. granted its waivers to buyers of Iranian crude.
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
