Ramon Vazquez of Team Puerto Rico slides safely into third base, beating a tag by Team USA's third baseman David Wright in the first inning.
Ramon Vazquez of Team Puerto Rico slides safely into third base, beating a tag by Team USA's third baseman David Wright in the first inning.
Ramon Vazquez of Team Puerto Rico slides safely into third base, beating a tag by Team USA's third baseman David Wright in the first inning.
Ramon Vazquez of Team Puerto Rico slides safely into third base, beating a tag by Team USA's third baseman David Wright in the first inning.

Mercy rule brings an end to humiliation for the US


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MIAMI // The mercy rule prevented the United States from any further embarrassment on Saturday when their World Baseball Classic second-round match against Puerto Rico was ended with them being 11-1 behind. The match was halted in the seventh inning because of the tournament's rule, under which a game is concluded when team take a 10-run lead.

"Everybody is embarrassed," shortstop Derek Jeter said. "But 2-1 or 11-1, we're still in the same position. You can't sit around and hang your head too long." US pitcher Jake Peavy lasted only two innings, in which he gave up six runs. "I take full responsibility for the boys' loss," Peavy said. "Nothing was working. Just a tough night." The Americans now face the Netherlands in an elimination game Sunday.

They were eager to make amends for a humiliating eighth-place finish in the inaugural WBC three years ago, and they came into the tournament one of the favourites for the title. But now they're in danger of repeating their second-round exit in 2006. Puerto Rico advance to a winner's game today against Venezuela, who beat the Netherlands 3-1 in the first game on Saturday. "To beat the United States like that, to take them out in seven innings and win by 10, that's big," Ivan Rodriguez said.

Jeter, Chipper Jones and Kevin Youklis went a combined 0-for-9 batting 2-3-4 for the US, and Mark DeRosa, a late replacement for the American League's Most Valuable Player Dustin Pedroia, went 0-for-3 with two strike-outs while stranding five runners. With the score 7-1, Carlos Beltran homered off Matt Thornton to start the seventh. Felipe Lopez doubled home a run and Mike Aviles hit a two-out, two-run single to end the game.

Puerto Rico poured out of the dugout as fans armed with thundersticks and flags let out one final roar. From the beginning, Peavy turned the game into international batting practice. He gave up singles to three of the first four hitters he faced, and Puerto Rico scored twice in the first. Carlos Delgado singled home the first run, and Alex Rios followed with a sacrifice fly. Things got worse in the second for Peavy (0-1). He gave up a leadoff walk and then Lopez's homer. Following another walk, Ramon Vazquez doubled, Beltran drove in a run with an infield single and Delgado delivered an RBI groundout.

Miguel Cabrera and Jose Lopez each had solo home runs to give Venezuela victory over the Netherlands. In his first game back at Dolphin Stadium, Cabrera reached back to his Florida Marlins' days with a line drive over the left-centre field wall in the fourth that gave Venezuela a lead they never lost. Cabrera took his familiar slow walk down the first-base line, watching his ball sail over the scoreboard and sending fans of the red, yellow and blue into a flag-waving frenzy. "It was very special to come back to Miami, my old home," Cabrera said. "I'm glad I got a home run and helped our team win the game."

Carlos Silva allowed one run and four hits in seven innings, and Lopez's homer in the eighth gave Venezuela all the cushion they needed. * AP

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Torque: 410Nm at 3,500rpm

Transmission: 6-speed manual

Fuel consumption: 10.2 l/100km

Price: Dh375,000 

On sale: now 

England Test squad

Ben Stokes (captain), Joe Root, James Anderson, Jonny Bairstow, Stuart Broad, Harry Brook, Zak Crawley, Ben Foakes, Jack Leach, Alex Lees, Craig Overton, Ollie Pope, Matthew Potts

 
WOMAN AND CHILD

Director: Saeed Roustaee

Starring: Parinaz Izadyar, Payman Maadi

Rating: 4/5

Who has been sanctioned?

Daniella Weiss and Nachala
Described as 'the grandmother of the settler movement', she has encouraged the expansion of settlements for decades. The 79 year old leads radical settler movement Nachala, whose aim is for Israel to annex Gaza and the occupied West Bank, where it helps settlers built outposts.

Harel Libi & Libi Construction and Infrastructure
Libi has been involved in threatening and perpetuating acts of aggression and violence against Palestinians. His firm has provided logistical and financial support for the establishment of illegal outposts.

Zohar Sabah
Runs a settler outpost named Zohar’s Farm and has previously faced charges of violence against Palestinians. He was indicted by Israel’s State Attorney’s Office in September for allegedly participating in a violent attack against Palestinians and activists in the West Bank village of Muarrajat.

Coco’s Farm and Neria’s Farm
These are illegal outposts in the West Bank, which are at the vanguard of the settler movement. According to the UK, they are associated with people who have been involved in enabling, inciting, promoting or providing support for activities that amount to “serious abuse”.

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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AT4 Ultimate, as tested

Engine: 6.2-litre V8

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TEST SQUADS

Bangladesh: Mushfiqur Rahim (captain), Tamim Iqbal, Soumya Sarkar, Imrul Kayes, Liton Das, Shakib Al Hasan, Mominul Haque, Nasir Hossain, Sabbir Rahman, Mehedi Hasan, Shafiul Islam, Taijul Islam, Mustafizur Rahman and Taskin Ahmed.

Australia: Steve Smith (captain), David Warner, Ashton Agar, Hilton Cartwright, Pat Cummins, Peter Handscomb, Matthew Wade, Josh Hazlewood, Usman Khawaja, Nathan Lyon, Glenn Maxwell, Matt Renshaw, Mitchell Swepson and Jackson Bird.

RESULTS

Bantamweight: Victor Nunes (BRA) beat Azizbek Satibaldiev (KYG). Round 1 KO

Featherweight: Izzeddin Farhan (JOR) beat Ozodbek Azimov (UZB). Round 1 rear naked choke

Middleweight: Zaakir Badat (RSA) beat Ercin Sirin (TUR). Round 1 triangle choke

Featherweight: Ali Alqaisi (JOR) beat Furkatbek Yokubov (UZB). Round 1 TKO

Featherweight: Abu Muslim Alikhanov (RUS) beat Atabek Abdimitalipov (KYG). Unanimous decision

Catchweight 74kg: Mirafzal Akhtamov (UZB) beat Marcos Costa (BRA). Split decision

Welterweight: Andre Fialho (POR) beat Sang Hoon-yu (KOR). Round 1 TKO

Lightweight: John Mitchell (IRE) beat Arbi Emiev (RUS). Round 2 RSC (deep cuts)

Middleweight: Gianni Melillo (ITA) beat Mohammed Karaki (LEB)

Welterweight: Handesson Ferreira (BRA) beat Amiran Gogoladze (GEO). Unanimous decision

Flyweight (Female): Carolina Jimenez (VEN) beat Lucrezia Ria (ITA), Round 1 rear naked choke

Welterweight: Daniel Skibinski (POL) beat Acoidan Duque (ESP). Round 3 TKO

Lightweight: Martun Mezhlumyan (ARM) beat Attila Korkmaz (TUR). Unanimous decision

Bantamweight: Ray Borg (USA) beat Jesse Arnett (CAN). Unanimous decision

Our family matters legal consultant

Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais

Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.

Can NRIs vote in the election?

Indians residing overseas cannot cast their ballot abroad

Non-resident Indians or NRIs can vote only by going to a polling booth in their home constituency

There are about 3.1 million NRIs living overseas

Indians have urged political parties to extend the right to vote to citizens residing overseas

A committee of the Election Commission of India approved of proxy voting for non-resident Indians

Proxy voting means that a person can authorise someone residing in the same polling booth area to cast a vote on his behalf.

This option is currently available for the armed forces, police and government officials posted outside India

A bill was passed in the lower house of India’s parliament or the Lok Sabha to extend proxy voting to non-resident Indians

However, this did not come before the upper house or Rajya Sabha and has lapsed

The issue of NRI voting draws a huge amount of interest in India and overseas

Over the past few months, Indians have received messages on mobile phones and on social media claiming that NRIs can cast their votes online

The Election Commission of India then clarified that NRIs could not vote online

The Election Commission lodged a complaint with the Delhi Police asking it to clamp down on the people spreading misinformation

UPI facts

More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions

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Directors: Min Geun, Oh Yoon-Dong

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Favourite piece of music: Verdi’s Requiem. It’s awe-inspiring.

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SCHEDULE

December 8: UAE v USA (Sharjah Cricket Stadium)

December 9: USA v Scotland (Sharjah Cricket Stadium)

December 11: UAE v Scotland (Sharjah Cricket Stadium)

December 12: UAE v USA (ICC Academy Oval 1)

December 14: USA v Scotland (ICC Academy Oval 1)

December 15: UAE v Scotland (ICC Academy Oval 1)

All matches start at 10am

 

Company Profile:

Name: The Protein Bakeshop

Date of start: 2013

Founders: Rashi Chowdhary and Saad Umerani

Based: Dubai

Size, number of employees: 12

Funding/investors:  $400,000 (2018) 

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Name: Thndr
Started: 2019
Co-founders: Ahmad Hammouda and Seif Amr
Sector: FinTech
Headquarters: Egypt
UAE base: Hub71, Abu Dhabi
Current number of staff: More than 150
Funds raised: $22 million

Checks continue

A High Court judge issued an interim order on Friday suspending a decision by Agriculture Minister Edwin Poots to direct a stop to Brexit agri-food checks at Northern Ireland ports.

Mr Justice Colton said he was making the temporary direction until a judicial review of the minister's unilateral action this week to order a halt to port checks that are required under the Northern Ireland Protocol.

Civil servants have yet to implement the instruction, pending legal clarity on their obligations, and checks are continuing.