Dubai, Dec. 9 : India will go second in the Reliance Mobile ICC Test Championship table if it beats England in the upcoming two-Test series that gets underway in Chennai on Thursday.

By winning the series 1-0 or 2-0, Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s team will overtake South Africa and recapture second, a position it had briefly enjoyed after its 2-0 home series victory over Australia recently.

South Africa will have an immediate opportunity to take back that place with a three-match series in Australia on the horizon. The first match of that series begins in Perth on
17 December.

Dubai, Dec. 9 : The International Cricket Council has announced the referees and umpires who will officiate in the upcoming Test and ODI series between New Zealand and the West Indies.

Javagal Srinath from the Emirates Elite Panel of ICC Match Referees will lead the playing control team for the entire series.

Dubai, 8th Dec. 2008 -- By no means can the Middle East region be perceived today as one that is stable, prosperous or more democratic. By no measure could the region be categorised as being more secure. And by all measures, many policies carried out by the current US administration have played a role in bringing about such a state of affairs, a UAE daily paper asked today.

''The recent statement by George W. Bush with regard to US policies in the Middle East should not come as a surprise. Regardless of the numerous failures of American foreign policy in the region, Bush still blindly defends faulty stances, wrote Gulf News in its comment today.

Dubai, 8th Dec. 2008 -- Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum today offered the Eid Al Adha prayer at the Grand Eid Mussallah in Bur Dubai.

Sharjah, 8th Dec. 2008  -- Eid Al Adha prayers were held across the country with prayer leaders (Imams) pleading to Muslims to invoke the valuable, noble teachings of Prophet Mohammed (Peace Be Upon Him) regarding the Festival of Sacrifice.

In their Eid sermons, the Imams said the glorious occasion is a school where faithfuls learn how to show mercy on poor, orphans and needy.

They also urged Muslims to follow the moderate and tolerant approach of Islam and distance themselves from extremism and radicalism and advised parents to raise their children according to good morals and acts.