MUNICH // Standing head-to-head for the customary pre-fight "stare-down", the challenger Dereck Chisora slapped the WBC heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko during the weigh-in for their title fight tonight.
Handlers for both fighters had to be pulled apart yesterday after the British fighter, his face partially concealed by a Union Jack handkerchief, hit Klitschko across the face with his open right hand and launched a series of insults. Klitschko did not retaliate.
"I am going to hit back on Saturday," the Ukrainian champion said. "He will get his beating."
Chisora's blow may have been the closest he gets to hurting the champion. About the only advantage Chisora might have is his age.
The WBC champion is 40, while Chisora is 28. But Klitschko has a massive advantage in height and reach, and few give Chisora a chance of an upset.
Klitschko weighed 110.5 kilograms, Chisora 109.4kgs.
Chisora has bravely or rashly predicted he will knock out the Ukrainian in the eighth round and claims he can "smell fear" in Klitschko's camp. Klitschko has brushed aside such boasts but said he takes the British challenger seriously.
"Chisora can hit, and I do, too. So I don't see it going 12 rounds," Klitschko said earlier ahead of the fight in Munich's Olympic Hall. "I'm really looking forward to teaching this young gentleman a lesson. He is from Great Britain, but he's lacking appropriate manners."
Klitschko has had few problems defending his title nine times since winning it in 2004 against Corrie Sanders, and brings a 43-2 record into the fight. Chisora is 15-2.
The Bloomberg Billionaire Index in full
1 Jeff Bezos $140 billion
2 Bill Gates $98.3 billion
3 Bernard Arnault $83.1 billion
4 Warren Buffett $83 billion
5 Amancio Ortega $67.9 billion
6 Mark Zuckerberg $67.3 billion
7 Larry Page $56.8 billion
8 Larry Ellison $56.1 billion
9 Sergey Brin $55.2 billion
10 Carlos Slim $55.2 billion
Dubai Bling season three
Cast: Loujain Adada, Zeina Khoury, Farhana Bodi, Ebraheem Al Samadi, Mona Kattan, and couples Safa & Fahad Siddiqui and DJ Bliss & Danya Mohammed
Rating: 1/5
Ads on social media can 'normalise' drugs
A UK report on youth social media habits commissioned by advocacy group Volteface found a quarter of young people were exposed to illegal drug dealers on social media.
The poll of 2,006 people aged 16-24 assessed their exposure to drug dealers online in a nationally representative survey.
Of those admitting to seeing drugs for sale online, 56 per cent saw them advertised on Snapchat, 55 per cent on Instagram and 47 per cent on Facebook.
Cannabis was the drug most pushed by online dealers, with 63 per cent of survey respondents claiming to have seen adverts on social media for the drug, followed by cocaine (26 per cent) and MDMA/ecstasy, with 24 per cent of people.
The National Archives, Abu Dhabi
Founded over 50 years ago, the National Archives collects valuable historical material relating to the UAE, and is the oldest and richest archive relating to the Arabian Gulf.
Much of the material can be viewed on line at the Arabian Gulf Digital Archive - https://www.agda.ae/en
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Dust and sand storms compared
Sand storm
- Particle size: Larger, heavier sand grains
- Visibility: Often dramatic with thick "walls" of sand
- Duration: Short-lived, typically localised
- Travel distance: Limited
- Source: Open desert areas with strong winds
Dust storm
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How has net migration to UK changed?
The figure was broadly flat immediately before the Covid-19 pandemic, standing at 216,000 in the year to June 2018 and 224,000 in the year to June 2019.
It then dropped to an estimated 111,000 in the year to June 2020 when restrictions introduced during the pandemic limited travel and movement.
The total rose to 254,000 in the year to June 2021, followed by steep jumps to 634,000 in the year to June 2022 and 906,000 in the year to June 2023.
The latest available figure of 728,000 for the 12 months to June 2024 suggests levels are starting to decrease.
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