Latest news with #Arabians
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Man United want two-time UCL finalist manager while Amorim resignation report emerges
A report in Italian media names Simone Inzaghi as a potential replacement for Ruben Amorim at Manchester United. The Red Devils sacked Erik ten Hag in October and replaced him with Amorim, but the club's results hardly improved, at least not on the domestic level. Advertisement United have been on a steady decline for months, as they currently sit 16th in the Premier League table. Although the team's focus has exclusively shifted to winning the Europa League, this woeful standing remains unjustifiable by all accounts. Ruben Amorim almost handed in his resignation Therefore, an emerging report from ESPN reveals that Amorim was determined to hand in his resignation in January, but was talked out of the idea by his collaborators. The 40-year-old has also been given some reassurances by the club's co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe and CEO Omar Berrada, who promised reinforcements in the summer. Advertisement Nevertheless, La Gazzetta dello Sport (via TuttoMercatoWeb) claims that Man Utd are still looking around just in case they end up parting ways with Amorim. The source identified the Red Devils as one of the clubs interested in Inzaghi. Man United following Simone Inzaghi with great interest Getty Images The 49-year-old is now considered one of the most coveted tacticians in Europe, especially after leading Inter Milan towards their second Champions League final in three seasons. The Nerazzurri felt short against Man City in 2023, but will be looking to make amends by beating PSG on May 31. But as the source tells it, Inzaghi's future remains to be written, especially with Al-Hilal determined to sway him to Saudi Arabia by offering him an irresistible contract with a yearly net salary of €20 million. The two parties are expected to hold talks in the coming days. The Arabians will certainly test the Italian's resolve, but the newspaper reveals that the manager also has the chance to remain in Europe and compete for the highest honours, as Man Utd, Chelsea and Tottenham are also interested in his services.
Indianapolis Star
18-05-2025
- Sport
- Indianapolis Star
Softball sectionals start next week. 9 storylines entering 2025 IHSAA state tournament
The IHSAA softball sectional tournament draw actually took place a few weeks ago, but now that the regular season is winding down and the tournament proper is upon us, it's time to start analyzing the 2025 state tournament. We're beginning our postseason coverage with nine Central Indiana takeaways from the draw. All hail the almighty bingo balls! Let's get to it. If the past week was any indication (let's be honest, it probably was), we are in for one heck of a finish to the 2025 high school softball season. A few highlights from around Central Indiana… ∎ Fishers tagged New Palestine for 10 runs, the most the Dragons have allowed all season (previous high was five), en route to a 10-4 win. Adrianne Cook and Cate Summerfield logged three hits apiece, Brooke Clayton drove in three RBIs, and Kate Murray broke the school's home run record and allowed just two earned runs on seven hits. Great, momentum building win for the Tigers. ∎ Brownsburg out-slugged Noblesville, 12-10. The teams combined for 24 hits, seven homers and 22 runs. Izzy Neal had four hits and Hailey Prather had four RBIs for the Dawgs; Haley Schatko had three hits and a couple RBIs for the Millers, who scored homers from Brookelyn Grayson, Addison Retzinger and Addi Emmerson. ∎ Greenfield-Central rallied from three down in the bottom of the seventh to knock off Pendleton Heights. ∎ Pendleton Heights bounced back from that loss with an impressive showing vs. New Palestine, holding the Dragons to four first-inning runs in a 4-3 loss. The Arabians logged nine hits against NP's Sadey Hughbanks, with two apiece from Brynlie Holden and Cassie Hayes. ∎ Cathedral rallied from a 2-0 sixth-inning deficit to down McCutcheon, 3-2. Angela Valentine tied it with a two-RBI single, then Kelsey Beres drove in the eventual winning run in the seventh. ∎ It took 10 innings to decide a winner between Plainfield and Mooresville, with Maci Hanlin's two-out RBI single lifting the Quakers to a 3-2 win. Sidney Parks (Plainfield) and Reagan Bauer (Mooresville) went the distance for their respective teams, both recording nine strikeouts. There were quite a few this year. In fact, the randomness of this entire process produced acceptable results almost across the board. A few of the bigger winners… ∎ Sectional 28: New Palestine and Roncalli are back together again, but thankfully it's on opposite sides of the bracket. More on those two below. ∎ Sectional 24: In terms of matchups, this one aligns pretty perfectly with Yorktown avoiding both Jay County and Hamilton Heights until the championship game. The Tigers have looked the part of a real championship contender in 3A and a rematch in the sectional final with Hamilton Heights would be superb (they went nine innings back in April). ∎ Center Grove: The Trojans are a fairly significant favorite in Sectional 12. Not only did they receive the bye, they drew away from both Franklin Central and Mooresville, the biggest challengers to their quest for a 26th sectional title. ∎ Cascade: Another sectional favorite with a favorable draw. The defending 2A champs (now in 3A) will only have to face one of Northview and Edgewood. The bye would've been nice, but the Cadets get the early game on both nights and if they play to their standard, they'll be able to get their younger players some valuable postseason experience. ∎ Sectional 43: Bit of deja vu here with Eastern Hancock and Triton Central standing as the top teams and the bracket sets up for another sectional title rematch, this time at Eastern Hancock. For all the good the bingo balls provided us, they gave us some less-than-good, too. Same as above. Let's get to it… ∎ Sectional 39: Lapel and Frankton delivered a classic back on April 1, with the latter twice rallying to tie the score in the middle innings before Lapel scratched a run across in the sixth to come away with a 4-3 win. It's a shame one of them will be done after opening night of sectionals. ∎ Sectional 8: There's not really a perfect solution for this bracket, but losing two of Hamilton Southeastern, Noblesville, Westfield and Zionsville on opening night is really going to stink. ∎ Cathedral: The Irish are big favorites in Sectional 26 and getting the bye is certainly a win. But having to face city rival Bishop Chatard in the semifinals isn't exactly the easiest draw. ∎ Western Boone: The Stars are set on a collision course with defending Class A state champion Rossville in the sectional semifinals, a rather unkind welcome back to the 2A ranks. The defending 4A state champions have a really daunting draw. First, a rematch vs. Noblesville — which beat the Royals, 1-0, a couple weeks ago — followed by rival and sectional host Fishers (Murray in the circle fighting to extend her career is an intimidating proposition) and likely another top-5 opponent, Zionsville, in the final. The Royals are a fairly inexperienced team, but ace Grace Swedarsky is accustomed to pitching a lot of high-stress innings and the bats will have an opportunity to build momentum down the stretch entering the tournament. The most intriguing hypothetical sectional championship: Roncalli vs. New Palestine. Reunited in the same 3A sectional after a couple seasons apart, the Dragons snapped a five-game losing streak in the series with a 4-3 victory on May 7 and have a legitimate case among the state's best team regardless of class, boasting a rock-solid pitcher in Hughbanks, an expectedly dependable defense and impressively explosive offense. Coach Ed Marcum took steps to ensure Roncalli's batters only saw Hughbanks once through the lineup and though the four runs were below their season average, they were making solid contact. But it's still Roncalli. And while the Royals have a more difficult path to the final, there's a lot of value in their postseason experience (specifically against New Pal) and pitchers Elise Baker and Addy Poe kept the New Pal bats in check most of the way. Keep an eye on the Golden Bears. They drew away from sectional favorite New Palestine and will instead open against Indian Creek, with the winner advancing to face Roncalli. Shelbyville, which was scheduled to visit the Royals last Tuesday (rained out), has a potent top-half of the lineup led by Marshall commit Addison Stieneker, who's already clear of 40 hits, 40 RBIs and 40 runs scored with double-digit homers, and Anna Shearer, who's at 30 hits, 30 RBIs and, as of last Wednesday, nearing 30 runs scored. Kali Laycock provides a bit of speed and some pop, while sophomore pitcher Gracie Crafton is clear of 100 strikeouts through her first 100 innings pitched. The Cougars are the favorites to win Sectional 9, but advancing to week two for the first time since 2017 will require navigating a potentially tricky path. Mt. Vernon is young and in the midst of a rebuilding season, but scored a late-season win over Westfield (Graci Hines allowed just two runs on six hits). Pendleton Heights, the next-best team in this group, has been something of a wild card this spring, but has the talent to spring a semifinal upset and return to regionals (GC staged a four-run seventh to knock off the Arabians last week). Greenfield-Central has a solid top-four anchoring its lineup with Savvanna Riall, Josie White, Charlotte Riehle and Kristen Wineinger, while Ailea Dowdy and Addie Heacox have handled pitching responsibilities. Another fascinating hypothetical? A Sectional 11 semifinal between bracket favorites Plainfield and Brownsburg. The Quakers scored three runs in the seventh to win the regular season match-up, 4-3, but neither team threw their top pitchers, so — barring a Brownsburg loss to Ben Davis — we'll see Plainfield seniors Sidney Parks and/or Kami Arnett vs. Brownsburg freshman Etta Schroering for the first time. The Quakers have an extremely impressive record that includes wins over Cascade, Noblesville and the aforementioned Dawgs, but Brownsburg's played a much tougher schedule between the Hoosier Crossroads gauntlet and non-conference tilts vs. Castle, Center Grove and Crown Point. The other side of the bracket is intriguing, as well, with Tri-West looking to make a surprise run in its first season as a 4A squad. Reaching the finale will require the Bruins to navigate Pike and Avon. The Warriors opened the season with losses to Plainfield, Lawrence North, McCutcheon and Cathedral, but responded with a nine-game win streak that included a 5-2 win over Western Boone (the Stars snapped said streak the next night). They'll be favored to win their first sectional championship in three seasons, led by Addison Davis, Allie Gunter, Cassie Thompson and Piper Whiston (among others) at the plate, and junior Autumn Muncy and her nearly 100 strikeouts in the circle.
The Star
01-05-2025
- Health
- The Star
Horse therapy program brings joy to kids with learning disabilities in Namibia
Susan de Meyer's horses have different effects on different children. Hyperactive kids learn to be a little quieter around them while non-verbal children are moved to communicate and to bond with them. De Meyer runs a program in the southern African country of Namibia that harnesses the power but also the gentleness of horses to help children with learning disabilities and conditions like ADHD and autism. Each weekday morning, de Meyer's dusty paddock just outside the capital, Windhoek, is enlivened by a group of eight to 10 children from one of the special schools she helps. The children ride the horses, groom them, stroke them and often, de Meyer says, talk to them. Merci who participates in the 'Enabling Through the Horse', therapy program, petting one of the animals horse. De Meyer grew up on a farm surrounded by horses and they've always been part of her life. She said they have a quality that is invaluable: They don't judge the children, no matter how different they are. 'The horse is the hero in this whole situation because these kids don't want to be around a lot of people,' de Meyer said. De Meyer's program, 'Enabling Through the Horse', is supported by the Namibian Equestrian Federation and won an award last year from the International Equestrian Federation because it 'underlines the wonderful characteristics of the horse in exuding sensitivity and intuition'. Horse therapy has been promoted by autism groups and those that work with children with learning disabilities as having a positive impact. And animal therapy in general has been found to be useful in many instances, like dogs that help military veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder and therapy cats that are taken to hospitals and nursing homes. Program founder De Meyer (in red) grew up on a farm surrounded by horses. Some survivors of the devastating 2023 Hawaii wildfires in the United States found relief in horse therapy while grieving loved ones they had lost. De Meyer jokes she has 'two-and-a-half horses'. These include two Arabians – a white mare named Faranah and a brown gelding, Lansha – while the 'half' is a miniature horse called Bonzi, who is about head-high for a five-year-old. The Arabians are often the most useful for the children's therapy because of their size, de Meyer said. 'It gives them self-esteem. When they stroke the horse, the therapy starts because this is a very big animal compared to their height, and they are not scared to stroke the horse ... and then to ride it and tell the horse what they want,' she said. De Meyer works with children with a range of conditions or disabilities, including autism, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, Down syndrome, those who are non-verbal or touch sensitive, and some who were born with fetal alcohol syndrome and have developmental problems. She has received interest from other countries in Africa and Asia to start similar programs there. 'The changes that I've seen with the learners are significant,' said Chriszell Louw, a teacher at Dagbreek School, which says it is one of just two government schools in Namibia for children with intellectual disabilities. 'We have a learner that likes to talk a lot. When we come here, she knows she has to keep quiet. She sits in her place.' 'Some of them you see they are more open, they are happy. Some of them were very scared when they started with the horse riding but now they are very excited. When they hear we're going to the horses they are very excited and just want to go by themselves,' Louw said. De Meyer said her program helps with fine-motor skills, gross-motor skills, muscle strengthening, coordination, balance and posture, all important for kids who struggle to sit at a desk at school and learn. One simple exercise de Meyer has children do when they ride is to let go of the reins and stretch their arms out straight and to the sides, using only their torso and lower body to balance as a groom leads the horse around the paddock. Some of the kids break out in smiles when they let go and look like they're soaring. 'We make the world different for these kids,' de Meyer said. – AP
Spectator
30-04-2025
- Spectator
The gender frenzy has wrecked language
'I regard this as a single-sex space,' said my husband as I perched in his study, on the arm of a chair which was piled with books, trying to find out if he'd eat monkfish if provided with it. I doubt the Supreme Court will come to his aid, but gender frenzy has left some puzzling wreckage in the language. The Times recently reported that a drunken architect took a meat cleaver and pursued a teenager, 'who locked themself into the bathroom'. The writer did not want to specify the teenager's sex, but did want to keep him or her singular. Another author in the Guardian wrote about 'how an abuser finds themselves classified in this way'. On the wilder shores of the Sun, a piece explained that 'Someone who calls themself a 'starseed' is a human who believes they were aliens in a past life'. Grammatical number there is a bramble patch. It could have been: 'People who call themselves 'starseeds' are humans who believe they were aliens in a past life.' Perhaps we should have stuck to it as the sexually unspecific pronoun. Babies had long been called it, even when their sex was known. Surprisingly, the chaos of themselves and themself has been going on for 800 years. Of themself, the OED remarks that it is 'somewhat rare between 16th and 19th centuries'. Walter Raleigh, writing in 1618 of the Moors, called them 'the progeny of such Arabians as after their Conquests seated themself in that part of Africa'. Shakespeare, on the other hand, used themselves to refer to one person, as in The Rape of Lucrece: 'Everie one to rest themselves.' One can see subtleties. A magazine in 1905 quoted a woman saying that 'Every one at breakfast, she added, in an awed voice, 'had a finger-bowl to themself'.' It wasn't just for all in the group.
Ya Biladi
28-04-2025
- Sport
- Ya Biladi
Moroccan jockeys dominate at the inaugural UAE-Moroccan Festival in Casablanca
The Anfa Sand Track in Casablanca hosted the first edition of the UAE-Moroccan Festival on Saturday, celebrating the two nations' shared passion for the equestrian world. Organized by Morocco's national agency for the promotion and development of the horse industry, SOREC, in partnership with the UAE President's Cup (Group 3 PA)—a prestigious international race for Purebred Arabians—the festival featured eight exciting races. Two of the festival's prestigious races were claimed by Moroccan jockeys. Notably, the UAE President's Cup race, considered one of the most well-endowed races on the Moroccan equestrian calendar, was won by Moroccan jockey Faddoul Abderrahim, representing Daissaoui Mohamed Studs and riding Buraak. The race, which saw 17 jockeys participate, offered generous prize allocations of up to 2,500,000 dirhams for the winners. The second major race of the day, the Abu Dhabi Cup, was also won by a Moroccan jockey. This time, it was Khalid Ibba who triumphed on Almohiba Fal from the FAL Stud. «We are happy today that the horses of the Moroccan owners have won the two important races of the day», commented Omar Skalli, SOREC's General Director, after presenting the prizes to the two jockeys. «This is the result of a very important and fruitful collaboration between the organizers of the UAE President's Cup and SOREC», Skalli said, reflecting on the first edition of the UAE-Moroccan Festival. Celebrating a strong partnership He further emphasized the significance of the partnership: «We have already worked together. This race (the UAE President's Cup race) was organized during the 10th edition of the Morocco International Meeting in November, but together with the organizers, we decided to dedicate it to a full festival, highlighting not only the importance of our collaboration but also the quality of the Moroccan races». Skalli also highlighted Morocco's special position in the international racing world, noting that while the UAE President's Cup race is organized in about 15 countries, «Morocco is the only country to host an entire festival dedicated to it». Faisal Al Rahmani, the General Secretary of the UAE President's Cup Series High Committee for Purebred Arabian Horses, echoed this enthusiasm, sharing his excitement about the event: «I am very happy to be here with SOREC, which has a long history of achievements. I believe this is just the beginning, not the end. The future will bring surprises and even better rewards». «As time passes, next year's event will be much bigger and more regular, far beyond what you see today», Al Rahmani continued, offering a hopeful outlook for future editions. In addition to these two international races, the UAE-Moroccan Festival also included six national races. The Prix Damas was won by Khalid Ibba on Ibn Dahess FAL, while the Prix Floralys went to Omar Lakjal on Tulip Grine. The Prix Mayar was claimed by Kacem Faddoul on Volver, and the Prix Qadem was won by Zouhair Madihi on Bint Metrag Angad. Omar Lakjal triumphed again in the Prix Sprint, this time on Frere Grine, and the Prix Dragon was claimed by Rachid Ban Doukia on Chahid Green.
