Maradona's men, Uruguay and Ecuador play musical chairs



BUENOS AIRES // Diego Forlan and Martin Palermo scored last-gasp goals as Argentina, Uruguay and Ecuador switched places in a dramatic penultimate series of South American qualifiers for the 2010 World Cup to set up a delicately poised final round on Wednesday. Diego Maradona's Argentina, having beaten Peru 2-1 at home in torrential rain, go to Montevideo to defend an automatic qualifying berth against a Uruguay side who turned the tables on Ecuador.

Ecuador had started the day in fourth place, but their 2-1 home defeat by Uruguay left them sixth before their visit to Chile, who took South America's third berth with a 4-2 win in Colombia. Maradona called veteran striker Martin Palermo a hero after his goal three minutes into stoppage time gave Argentina victory. "I thought we were liquidated, but at that moment I forgot about Palermo," a relieved Maradona said of his desperation in the agonising minutes between Hernan Rengifo's last-minute equaliser for Peru and Palermo's winner.

Forlan converted a penalty with the last kick of the game in Quito to give Uruguay their victory after recovering from a goal down but coach Oscar Washington Tabarez was quick to tell his players the job was not yet done. "We are going to take things calmly and come out of our joy quickly to think about Argentina," Tabarez said. Uruguay must win to swap places with Argentina and qualify for their first finals since 2002, sending their cross-river neighbours into the play-off against the team that finishes fourth in the Concacaf region, either Costa Rica or Honduras.

Ecuador, though, are not out of the running. Argentina (25 points) could even miss out altogether if Uruguay (24) and Ecuador (23) win. Venezuela's hopes of reaching the finals for the first time took a blow as they lost to 2-1 to Paraguay. They are not out of it mathematically but their chances are extremely poor. "We must recognise that the Paraguayans are one of the best teams of the qualifiers," said Venezuela's coach Cesar Farias, who had just returned from coaching the Under 20 side at the World Cup in Egypt.

Chileans celebrated reaching the finals for the first time since 1998 with a team revived by the methodical coaching of Argentine Marcelo Bielsa, a foreign national hero. Bielsa, whose Argentina side flopped as favourites in 2002, made an inspired substitution after half an hour in Medellin. Chile had fallen behind but Bielsa sent on Jorge Valdivia, Al Ain's playmaker, for Matias Fernandez and Chile went 2-1 up within four minutes and did not look back, eliminating Colombia.

* Reuters

Citadel: Honey Bunny first episode

Directors: Raj & DK

Stars: Varun Dhawan, Samantha Ruth Prabhu, Kashvi Majmundar, Kay Kay Menon

Rating: 4/5

Electoral College Victory

Trump has so far secured 295 Electoral College votes, according to the Associated Press, exceeding the 270 needed to win. Only Nevada and Arizona remain to be called, and both swing states are leaning Republican. Trump swept all five remaining swing states, North Carolina, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, sealing his path to victory and giving him a strong mandate. 

 

Popular Vote Tally

The count is ongoing, but Trump currently leads with nearly 51 per cent of the popular vote to Harris’s 47.6 per cent. Trump has over 72.2 million votes, while Harris trails with approximately 67.4 million.

COMPANY PROFILE

Company: Bidzi

● Started: 2024

● Founders: Akshay Dosaj and Asif Rashid

● Based: Dubai, UAE

● Industry: M&A

● Funding size: Bootstrapped

● No of employees: Nine

What it means to be a conservationist

Who is Enric Sala?

Enric Sala is an expert on marine conservation and is currently the National Geographic Society's Explorer-in-Residence. His love of the sea started with his childhood in Spain, inspired by the example of the legendary diver Jacques Cousteau. He has been a university professor of Oceanography in the US, as well as working at the Spanish National Council for Scientific Research and is a member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Future Council on Biodiversity and the Bio-Economy. He has dedicated his life to protecting life in the oceans. Enric describes himself as a flexitarian who only eats meat occasionally.

What is biodiversity?

According to the United Nations Environment Programme, all life on earth – including in its forests and oceans – forms a “rich tapestry of interconnecting and interdependent forces”. Biodiversity on earth today is the product of four billion years of evolution and consists of many millions of distinct biological species. The term ‘biodiversity’ is relatively new, popularised since the 1980s and coinciding with an understanding of the growing threats to the natural world including habitat loss, pollution and climate change. The loss of biodiversity itself is dangerous because it contributes to clean, consistent water flows, food security, protection from floods and storms and a stable climate. The natural world can be an ally in combating global climate change but to do so it must be protected. Nations are working to achieve this, including setting targets to be reached by 2020 for the protection of the natural state of 17 per cent of the land and 10 per cent of the oceans. However, these are well short of what is needed, according to experts, with half the land needed to be in a natural state to help avert disaster.

My Cat Yugoslavia by Pajtim Statovci
Pushkin Press

Company%20Profile
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COMPANY%20PROFILE
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ENGLAND SQUAD

Goalkeepers: Jack Butland, Jordan Pickford, Nick Pope 
Defenders: John Stones, Harry Maguire, Phil Jones, Kyle Walker, Kieran Trippier, Gary Cahill, Ashley Young, Danny Rose, Trent Alexander-Arnold 
Midfielders: Eric Dier, Jordan Henderson, Dele Alli, Jesse Lingard, Raheem Sterling, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Fabian Delph 
Forwards: Harry Kane, Jamie Vardy, Marcus Rashford, Danny Welbeck

If you go
Where to stay: Courtyard by Marriott Titusville Kennedy Space Centre has unparalleled views of the Indian River. Alligators can be spotted from hotel room balconies, as can several rocket launch sites. The hotel also boasts cool space-themed decor.

When to go: Florida is best experienced during the winter months, from November to May, before the humidity kicks in.

How to get there: Emirates currently flies from Dubai to Orlando five times a week.
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
 
Started: 2020
 
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
 
Based: Dubai, UAE
 
Sector: Entertainment 
 
Number of staff: 210 
 
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
Cricket World Cup League 2

UAE squad

Rahul Chopra (captain), Aayan Afzal Khan, Ali Naseer, Aryansh Sharma, Basil Hameed, Dhruv Parashar, Junaid Siddique, Muhammad Farooq, Muhammad Jawadullah, Muhammad Waseem, Omid Rahman, Rahul Bhatia, Tanish Suri, Vishnu Sukumaran, Vriitya Aravind

Fixtures

Friday, November 1 – Oman v UAE
Sunday, November 3 – UAE v Netherlands
Thursday, November 7 – UAE v Oman
Saturday, November 9 – Netherlands v UAE

FFP EXPLAINED

What is Financial Fair Play?
Introduced in 2011 by Uefa, European football’s governing body, it demands that clubs live within their means. Chiefly, spend within their income and not make substantial losses.

What the rules dictate? 
The second phase of its implementation limits losses to €30 million (Dh136m) over three seasons. Extra expenditure is permitted for investment in sustainable areas (youth academies, stadium development, etc). Money provided by owners is not viewed as income. Revenue from “related parties” to those owners is assessed by Uefa's “financial control body” to be sure it is a fair value, or in line with market prices.

What are the penalties? 
There are a number of punishments, including fines, a loss of prize money or having to reduce squad size for European competition – as happened to PSG in 2014. There is even the threat of a competition ban, which could in theory lead to PSG’s suspension from the Uefa Champions League.

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Kanguva
Director: Siva
Stars: Suriya, Bobby Deol, Disha Patani, Yogi Babu, Redin Kingsley
Rating: 2/5
 
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