Live updates: follow the latest news on Russia-Ukraine
The International Tennis Federation (ITF) announced on Monday that Australia will replace the suspended Russia team in the Billie Jean King Cup Finals.
Russia was banned from defending its Davis Cup and Billie Jean King Cup titles following the country's February 24 invasion of Ukraine.
Belarus, a key staging area for the invasion, which Russia says is a "special operation", has also been banned from the international team competitions.
The Australian team were the highest ranked side among the losing semi-finalists in 2021 and will take Russia's automatic spot in this year's Finals of the tournament, formerly known as the Fed Cup.
Slovakia, who were scheduled to play Australia in next month's qualifiers for the women's team event, will get a bye and also advance directly to the 2022 Finals, scheduled to be held in November.
Also advancing to the Finals - for which the host country has yet to be named - will be Belgium, after its side received a walkover in the qualifiers due to Belarus' suspension.
The three sides will be joined by the host, last year's runner-up Switzerland and the remaining seven winners of the qualifiers on April 15-16.
In the men's Davis Cup, also won last year by a Russian team led by top-ranked Daniil Medvedev, Serbia was awarded the automatic spot as the highest-ranked losing semi-finalist.
A wildcard for the 2022 Finals that was previously awarded to Serbia will be handed to one of the 12 nations knocked out in the qualifiers earlier this month.
The 12 winning teams from the qualifiers, 2021 finalists Croatia and wildcard Britain are the other confirmed sides for the 2022 Finals, which will see 16 nations competing in four groups across four cities from September 14-18.
The top eight teams will advance to the knockout stages, which will serve as the season-ending event on the men's tennis calendar and will be held from Nov. 23-27 in a fifth host city.
The host cities for the Davis Cup competition also have not yet been named.
Gulf Under 19s final
Dubai College A 50-12 Dubai College B
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
It Was Just an Accident
Director: Jafar Panahi
Stars: Vahid Mobasseri, Mariam Afshari, Ebrahim Azizi, Hadis Pakbaten, Majid Panahi, Mohamad Ali Elyasmehr
Rating: 4/5
Other must-tries
Tomato and walnut salad
A lesson in simple, seasonal eating. Wedges of tomato, chunks of cucumber, thinly sliced red onion, coriander or parsley leaves, and perhaps some fresh dill are drizzled with a crushed walnut and garlic dressing. Do consider yourself warned: if you eat this salad in Georgia during the summer months, the tomatoes will be so ripe and flavourful that every tomato you eat from that day forth will taste lacklustre in comparison.
Badrijani nigvzit
A delicious vegetarian snack or starter. It consists of thinly sliced, fried then cooled aubergine smothered with a thick and creamy walnut sauce and folded or rolled. Take note, even though it seems like you should be able to pick these morsels up with your hands, they’re not as durable as they look. A knife and fork is the way to go.
Pkhali
This healthy little dish (a nice antidote to the khachapuri) is usually made with steamed then chopped cabbage, spinach, beetroot or green beans, combined with walnuts, garlic and herbs to make a vegetable pâté or paste. The mix is then often formed into rounds, chilled in the fridge and topped with pomegranate seeds before being served.
What is a Ponzi scheme?
A fraudulent investment operation where the scammer provides fake reports and generates returns for old investors through money paid by new investors, rather than through ligitimate business activities.
How to wear a kandura
Dos
- Wear the right fabric for the right season and occasion
- Always ask for the dress code if you don’t know
- Wear a white kandura, white ghutra / shemagh (headwear) and black shoes for work
- Wear 100 per cent cotton under the kandura as most fabrics are polyester
Don’ts
- Wear hamdania for work, always wear a ghutra and agal
- Buy a kandura only based on how it feels; ask questions about the fabric and understand what you are buying
How does ToTok work?
The calling app is available to download on Google Play and Apple App Store
To successfully install ToTok, users are asked to enter their phone number and then create a nickname.
The app then gives users the option add their existing phone contacts, allowing them to immediately contact people also using the application by video or voice call or via message.
Users can also invite other contacts to download ToTok to allow them to make contact through the app.
Company%20profile
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EName%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Belong%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Dubai%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounders%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Michael%20Askew%20and%20Matthew%20Gaziano%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESector%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Technology%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETotal%20funding%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20%243.5%20million%20from%20crowd%20funding%20and%20angel%20investors%3Cstrong%3E%3Cbr%3ENumber%20of%20employees%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%2012%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The Prison Letters of Nelson Mandela
Edited by Sahm Venter
Published by Liveright
The candidates
Dr Ayham Ammora, scientist and business executive
Ali Azeem, business leader
Tony Booth, professor of education
Lord Browne, former BP chief executive
Dr Mohamed El-Erian, economist
Professor Wyn Evans, astrophysicist
Dr Mark Mann, scientist
Gina MIller, anti-Brexit campaigner
Lord Smith, former Cabinet minister
Sandi Toksvig, broadcaster
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Lamsa
Founder: Badr Ward
Launched: 2014
Employees: 60
Based: Abu Dhabi
Sector: EdTech
Funding to date: $15 million
'Munich: The Edge of War'
Director: Christian Schwochow
Starring: George MacKay, Jannis Niewohner, Jeremy Irons
Rating: 3/5
