Munster aim for a repeat performance

Munster can push the French champions Perpignan closer to Heineken Cup elimination today and underline their own credentials for a possible third European title. Munster head to Stade Aime Giral fresh from a tense 24-23 victory over the same French side eight days ago, which left them top of Pool One with their hosts four points adrift in third. But the Irish side are not taking the challenge lightly against a team who have won their last 16 games on home soil.

Munster full-back Paul Warwick said: "It is always important to have a strong start playing over in France. "But we know pretty much what to expect and we are well-used to the large and noisy French crowds. You have to hang in there and focus on getting a winning result. "This group is very even, and I can see it all coming down to the last games next month." Munster were indebted to the nerveless kicking of their fly-half Ronan O'Gara last time out. He booted all their points to thwart a Perpignan side that scored three unanswered tries.

"We showed a huge amount of courage to come back after their late try, and Ronan's kicking was just outstanding. He showed his true class," Warwick added. "Our forwards did a great job at Thomond Park in a match that was all about field position with a lot of points coming from mistakes. "So, if we can cut out those simple errors and play in the right field positions again, hopefully we can go for the victory."

Today's other games see Gloucester take on Glasgow in Pool Two with both sides knowing a defeat will almost certainly end their hopes of reaching the knockout stages, while Sale Sharks, buoyed by a bonus-point win at Harlequins last Sunday, will retain strong quarter-final hopes from Pool Five if they can triumph in their re-match at Edgeley Park. * With agencies

THE BIO: Martin Van Almsick

Hometown: Cologne, Germany

Family: Wife Hanan Ahmed and their three children, Marrah (23), Tibijan (19), Amon (13)

Favourite dessert: Umm Ali with dark camel milk chocolate flakes

Favourite hobby: Football

Breakfast routine: a tall glass of camel milk

In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe

Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010

Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille

Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm

Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year

Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”

Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners

TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013

Killing of Qassem Suleimani

National Editorial: Suleimani has been killed, now we must de-escalate

Mina Al Oraibi: Air strike casts a long shadow over the decade ahead

Matthew Levitt: Iran retains its ability to launch terror attacks

Damien McElroy: A CEO tasked with spreading Iran's influence

Hussein Ibish: Trump's order on solid constitutional ground

Simon Waldman: Cautious Israel keeping a low profile

The more serious side of specialty coffee

While the taste of beans and freshness of roast is paramount to the specialty coffee scene, so is sustainability and workers’ rights.

The bulk of genuine specialty coffee companies aim to improve on these elements in every stage of production via direct relationships with farmers. For instance, Mokha 1450 on Al Wasl Road strives to work predominantly with women-owned and -operated coffee organisations, including female farmers in the Sabree mountains of Yemen.

Because, as the boutique’s owner, Garfield Kerr, points out: “women represent over 90 per cent of the coffee value chain, but are woefully underrepresented in less than 10 per cent of ownership and management throughout the global coffee industry.”

One of the UAE’s largest suppliers of green (meaning not-yet-roasted) beans, Raw Coffee, is a founding member of the Partnership of Gender Equity, which aims to empower female coffee farmers and harvesters.

Also, globally, many companies have found the perfect way to recycle old coffee grounds: they create the perfect fertile soil in which to grow mushrooms.