ICC rule in favour of Harper



Daryl Harper, the third umpire during England's Test against South Africa in Johannesburg in January, has been cleared of any blame for the failings in the use of the umpire decision review system (DRS). The International Cricket Council's (ICC) Lockie-Lloyd enquiry, convened in response to an official complaint from the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) over Harper's decision-making during the match, found in favour of Harper on all three incidents under investigation.

The most contentious issue came when Graeme Smith, the Proteas captain, swung cross-batted away from his body and edged Ryan Sidebottom to Matt Prior, the wicketkeeper, and television replays clearly indicated the noise of a nick. Smith, on 15 at the time, was reprieved after Harper was unable to detect the noise and went on to make 105. Andy Flower, the England coach, and Giles Clarke, the ECB chairman, later accused the Australian official of failing to turn up the volume on his video feed - a suggestion dismissed by the enquiry as "both manifestly wrong and entirely unfair".

The verdict of the enquiry - conducted by Clive Lloyd, the ICC cricket committee chairman, and Brent Lockie, an ICC code of conduct commissioner - continued: "The volume control had been set by technicians, and they did not operate or adjust the volume control during the entire series. "However, differing sounds were heard on the footage of the various broadcasters, namely SABC, Supersport and Sky. The enquiry concluded that it was most likely that the actual sound feed coming through to the third umpire's room was lost at the crucial time."

It was also adjudged that Harper had reached the correct decisions in giving England's Alastair Cook out in their first innings and in giving South Africa's AB de Villiers not out in South Africa's first innings. * PA

The Sand Castle

Director: Matty Brown

Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea

Rating: 2.5/5

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SPECS
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EEngine%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%201.5-litre%204-cylinder%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPower%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20101hp%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETorque%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20135Nm%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETransmission%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3A%20Six-speed%20auto%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPrice%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20From%20Dh79%2C900%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EOn%20sale%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Now%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Libya's Gold

UN Panel of Experts found regime secretly sold a fifth of the country's gold reserves. 

The panel’s 2017 report followed a trail to West Africa where large sums of cash and gold were hidden by Abdullah Al Senussi, Qaddafi’s former intelligence chief, in 2011.

Cases filled with cash that was said to amount to $560m in 100 dollar notes, that was kept by a group of Libyans in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.

A second stash was said to have been held in Accra, Ghana, inside boxes at the local offices of an international human rights organisation based in France.

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Water waste

In the UAE’s arid climate, small shrubs, bushes and flower beds usually require about six litres of water per square metre, daily. That increases to 12 litres per square metre a day for small trees, and 300 litres for palm trees.

Horticulturists suggest the best time for watering is before 8am or after 6pm, when water won't be dried up by the sun.

A global report published by the Water Resources Institute in August, ranked the UAE 10th out of 164 nations where water supplies are most stretched.

The Emirates is the world’s third largest per capita water consumer after the US and Canada.

Nayanthara: Beyond The Fairy Tale

Starring: Nayanthara, Vignesh Shivan, Radhika Sarathkumar, Nagarjuna Akkineni

Director: Amith Krishnan

Rating: 3.5/5

The specs

Price, base / as tested Dh1,470,000 (est)
Engine 6.9-litre twin-turbo W12
Gearbox eight-speed automatic
Power 626bhp @ 6,000rpm
Torque: 900Nm @ 1,350rpm
Fuel economy, combined 14.0L / 100km

'Morbius'

Director: Daniel Espinosa 

Stars: Jared Leto, Matt Smith, Adria Arjona

Rating: 2/5

MATCH INFO

Chelsea 1 (Hudson-Odoi 90 1')

Manchester City 3 (Gundogan 18', Foden 21', De Bruyne 34')

Man of the match: Ilkay Gundogan (Man City)

The Bio

Name: Lynn Davison

Profession: History teacher at Al Yasmina Academy, Abu Dhabi

Children: She has one son, Casey, 28

Hometown: Pontefract, West Yorkshire in the UK

Favourite book: The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

Favourite Author: CJ Sansom

Favourite holiday destination: Bali

Favourite food: A Sunday roast