Within sight of the summit, Al Nasr have committed to a potentially risky push for the top.
They cannot be blamed for their ambition. When your club have not won a league championship since 1986 … when they are only three points off the lead with 10 matches left in the season … what better time to take a chance with a bold move which just might bring that first championship in 26 years?
This bold move pivots on one of Italy's most famous footballers, the towering forward Luca Toni, who has scored as many as 39 goals in a season - but who has not played a match in the current one.
Toni no doubt was the choice of Walter Zenga, Nasr's Italian coach, who has enjoyed so much production this season from Mark Bresciano, another veteran of Seria A.
Zenga's decisions have, so far, been nearly unassailable. He certainly has earned the indulgence of Nasr administrators, who reeled in Toni from Juventus in a deal finalised yesterday.
Nasr are particularly dependent on their expatriates; their Emirati players have not been in great demand by the senior national or Olympic teams. Only one, Habib Fardad, is currently with the Olympic team; one more, Ali Abbas, who yesterday joined Al Jazira in exchange for Ali Salem Al Amri, is in the national side. Some clubs have four or five in each.
Foreigners have scored 17 of Nasr's 25 league goals, with Bresciano accounting for seven and Amare Diane, the Ivorian, another four.
If Toni can fire in a few more …
Given the club's run of results, seven victories and two draws in their past nine league matches, Nasr fans can be forgiven for being a bit giddy.
Ahmad Aldarwish, 26, is a supporter who tweets at @AlNasrBlues, where he describes himself as "Al Nasr Biggest Fan". He concedes it has been a long dry spell for the country's oldest club (founded 1945), who have not won a trophy since 2002, when they captured the forerunner of the Etisalat Cup.
"We are actually shooting for the title," Aldarwish wrote in an e-mail. "It is not that far away. We can win big this season … and I am very happy."
Nasr of late have been arguably the most poorly supported of the country's "big" clubs. In 2010, they finished only one slot above relegation, the final chapter in a period of mediocrity, or worse. "That's when we lost many, many fans," Aldarwish said.
The club have not broken records for spending on prominent foreigners, instead generally preferring to trawl in the bargain bin for their expatriates. Until this season.
After a late surge to third place in the league last year, and a 2012 berth in the increasingly prominent Asian Champions League, Bresciano was brought in from Lazio for a reported £3.4 million (Dh19.6m). Now comes Toni, and the deal for him must be pricey, even if he hasn't played a match in almost a year.
Aldarwish, the supporter, believes in Zenga and is confident his latest acquisition can be decisive. "He knows what we need and knows the player very well," Aldarwish said. "I believe that he will become our scoring machine. In my opinion this move is calling for the title."
A more cynical analysis grasps the risk here.
One is in tweaking a side who have been on a sensational run. To make room in the team for Toni, Brazilian Careca will be exiting.
The bigger risk is taking on a player who is 34 years old. The Pro League has no history of players of that age thriving. Fabio Cannavaro was 37, and looked every bit of it, in his season at Al Ahli. David Trezeguet, 34, at Baniyas, Phillip Cocu, 37 at Jazira, did little or nothing.
But Nasr can see the top of the mountain. They will chance Luca Toni being able to help carry them to the top.
Stars: Cate Blanchett, Kevin Kline, Lesley Manville
Rating: 4/5
Company Profile
Founders: Tamara Hachem and Yazid Erman
Based: Dubai
Launched: September 2019
Sector: health technology
Stage: seed
Investors: Oman Technology Fund, angel investor and grants from Sharjah's Sheraa and Ma'an Abu Dhabi
Started: December 2016
Founder: Ibrahim Kamalmaz
Based: UAE
Sector: Finance / legal
Size: 3 employees, pre-revenue
Stage: Early stage
Investors: Founder's friends and Family
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.
As per the document, there are six filing options, including choosing to report on a realisation basis and transitional rules for pre-tax period gains or losses.
SMEs with revenue below Dh3 million per annum can opt for transitional relief until 2026, treating them as having no taxable income.
Larger entities have specific provisions for asset and liability movements, business restructuring, and handling foreign permanent establishments.
Huddersfield Town 2 Manchester United 1
Huddersfield: Mooy (28'), Depoitre (33')
Manchester United: Rashford (78')
Man of the Match: Aaron Mooy (Huddersfield Town)
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.
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There are thousands to choose from, with the five biggest providers BlackRock’s iShares range, Vanguard, State Street Global Advisors SPDR ETFs, Deutsche Bank AWM X-trackers and Invesco PowerShares.
The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)
McLaren GT specs
Engine: 4-litre twin-turbo V8
Transmission: seven-speed
Power: 620bhp
Torque: 630Nm
Price: Dh875,000
On sale: now
THE NEW BATCH'S FOCUS SECTORS
AiFlux – renewables, oil and gas
DevisionX – manufacturing
Event Gates – security and manufacturing
Farmdar – agriculture
Farmin – smart cities
Greener Crop – agriculture
Ipera.ai – space digitisation
Lune Technologies – fibre-optics
Monak – delivery
NutzenTech – environment
Nybl – machine learning
Occicor – shelf management
Olymon Solutions – smart automation
Pivony – user-generated data
PowerDev – energy big data
Sav – finance
Searover – renewables
Swftbox – delivery
Trade Capital Partners – FinTech
Valorafutbol – sports and entertainment
Workfam – employee engagement
Wicked
Director: Jon M Chu
Stars: Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, Jonathan Bailey
Welterweight Mostafa Radi (PAL) v Tohir Zhuraev (TJK)
Catchweight 75kg Leandro Martins (BRA) v Anas Siraj Mounir (MAR)
Flyweight Corinne Laframboise (CAN) v Manon Fiorot (FRA)
Featherweight Ahmed Al Darmaki (UAE) v Bogdan Kirilenko (UZB)
Lightweight Izzedine Al Derabani (JOR) v Atabek Abdimitalipov (KYG)
Featherweight Yousef Al Housani (UAE) v Mohamed Arsharq Ali (SLA)
Catchweight 69kg Jung Han-gook (KOR) v Elias Boudegzdame (ALG)
Catchweight 71kg Usman Nurmagomedov (RUS) v Jerry Kvarnstrom (FIN)
Featherweight title Lee Do-gyeom (KOR) v Alexandru Chitoran (ROU)
Lightweight title Bruno Machado (BRA) v Mike Santiago (USA)
Recent winners
2002 Giselle Khoury (Colombia)
2004 Nathalie Nasralla (France)
2005 Catherine Abboud (Oceania)
2007 Grace Bijjani (Mexico)
2008 Carina El-Keddissi (Brazil)
2009 Sara Mansour (Brazil)
2010 Daniella Rahme (Australia)
2011 Maria Farah (Canada)
2012 Cynthia Moukarzel (Kuwait)
2013 Layla Yarak (Australia)
2014 Lia Saad (UAE)
2015 Cynthia Farah (Australia)
2016 Yosmely Massaad (Venezuela)
2017 Dima Safi (Ivory Coast)
2018 Rachel Younan (Australia)
German plea
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told the German parliament that. Russia had erected a new wall across Europe.
"It's not a Berlin Wall -- it is a Wall in central Europe between freedom and bondage and this Wall is growing bigger with every bomb" dropped on Ukraine, Zelenskyy told MPs.
Mr Zelenskyy was applauded by MPs in the Bundestag as he addressed Chancellor Olaf Scholz directly.
"Dear Mr Scholz, tear down this Wall," he said, evoking US President Ronald Reagan's 1987 appeal to Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev at Berlin's Brandenburg Gate.
