In the knee-jerk world of Premier League football embarrassment can quickly equal expense. One year ago, Arsenal imploded at Old Trafford, their eight goals conceded followed by four reconstructive transfers in.
On this campaign's first Saturday, Liverpool endured a less than ideal reign to life under Brendan Rodgers as they lost 3-0 to West Bromwich Albion.
Rodgers's response to the setback was to push aggressively on a loan signing who had appeared lost to Arsenal. Last Saturday morning, Nuri Sahin was on his way to London to replace Alex Song.
The Turkey international did not want to leave Madrid, but told he would have little playing time there he had chosen Arsenal over Liverpool for the opportunity to play Champions League football and work with Arsene Wenger. Real Madrid agreed to let him go.
A few days later the deal was off as Real asked for a larger loan fee for a player whose wages alone amounted to €3 million (Dh13.7) after tax.
Wenger baulked at the extra cost, his decision influenced by guidance that Jack Wilshere would soon be back in training and the idea that the funds could be directed to reinforcing elsewhere. Chastened by his opening weekend, Rodgers paid the premium for a player who "understands how to control games", with the season-long loan confirmed today.
Expectation and results are not the sole pressures playing on Liverpool's new manager. Committing Luiz Suarez to a contract extension was a success which reflected the forward's satisfaction with Rodgers's coaching, yet also came with the Uruguayan's demand that the quality of Liverpool's squad be markedly improved.
Andy Carroll has become a throbbing migraine. A striker Rodgers never wanted has set his heart on a return to Newcastle United, making it clear how difficult it will be should his wish not be granted. Though Rodgers says that "to even consider wanting to take him on loan is a liberty", he knows some form of analgesic is required.
Rodgers is not the only one with problems.
Queens Park Rangers lined up with four new signings (including an England international goalkeeper in Robert Green) against Swansea City and were on the receiving end of a 5-0 hiding.
Mark Hughes and Rangers reacted by going shopping for an entirely new centre to their defence. An offer worth up to £9 million (Dh52.2m) was accepted by Tottenham Hotspur for Michael Dawson, who subsequently decided he did not fancy Loftus Road and asked his agent to try to arrange him a transfer to Sunderland instead.
The London side even looked to take Ricardo Carvalho's hefty salary off Real Madrid's hands, but Real are waiting for compensation of their own before the player is allowed to depart.
To complete a trio of extraordinary measures, QPR opened negotiations to take Julio Cesar from Inter Milan.
The Champions League-winning Brazil goalkeeper is surplus to Inter's requirements precisely because he is so expensive. An after-tax salary of £3.1m to add to the chunky wages and agent's fees spent signing free agent Rob Green? It could be the definition of throwing money at a problem.
Happy managers are hard to find in this transfer window. Roman Abramovich has bought Chelsea four gaudy attacking midfielders in Eden Hazard, Oscar, Marko Marin and Victor Moses, leaving Roberto di Matteo to work out a means of combining a group not known for their defensive qualities while stopping opponents from scoring.
Manchester City may still be able to make some late moves following the departure of Adam Johnson to Sunderland and Emmanuel Adebayor to Tottenham this week, but their principal target, Roma's Daniel de Rossi, seems unlikely, while Robin van Persie signed for Manchester United last week.
That the latter ended up at Old Trafford can be partly attributed to Sir Alex Ferguson's own transfer market tribulations. Hazard was left to Chelsea because the £34m transfer fee, wages and £6m agent's fee were "absolutely ridiculous". A protracted pursuit of Lucas Moura ended when Paris Saint-Germain gazumped him by handing Sao Paulo €42m (£33.25m) for the Brazilian.
The last of the main Champions League contenders may have experienced the most frustrating summer of all. Andre Villas-Boas arrived at Tottenham bearing a plan to cash in on Luka Modric to buy the striker, winger, controlling midfielder and goalkeeper he wanted to rebalance their squad.
However, going into the window's final week, his Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy is still pushing for maximum income on Modric, and firing iron upon iron as he seeks the best deals on incoming transfers. No one, not even Levy, knows what squad Villas-Boas will end up with on September 1.
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The biog
Simon Nadim has completed 7,000 dives.
The hardest dive in the UAE is the German U-boat 110m down off the Fujairah coast.
As a child, he loved the documentaries of Jacques Cousteau
He also led a team that discovered the long-lost portion of the Ines oil tanker.
If you are interested in diving, he runs the XR Hub Dive Centre in Fujairah
Green ambitions
- Trees: 1,500 to be planted, replacing 300 felled ones, with veteran oaks protected
- Lake: Brown's centrepiece to be cleaned of silt that makes it as shallow as 2.5cm
- Biodiversity: Bat cave to be added and habitats designed for kingfishers and little grebes
- Flood risk: Longer grass, deeper lake, restored ponds and absorbent paths all meant to siphon off water
The five pillars of Islam
Coffee: black death or elixir of life?
It is among the greatest health debates of our time; splashed across newspapers with contradicting headlines - is coffee good for you or not?
Depending on what you read, it is either a cancer-causing, sleep-depriving, stomach ulcer-inducing black death or the secret to long life, cutting the chance of stroke, diabetes and cancer.
The latest research - a study of 8,412 people across the UK who each underwent an MRI heart scan - is intended to put to bed (caffeine allowing) conflicting reports of the pros and cons of consumption.
The study, funded by the British Heart Foundation, contradicted previous findings that it stiffens arteries, putting pressure on the heart and increasing the likelihood of a heart attack or stroke, leading to warnings to cut down.
Numerous studies have recognised the benefits of coffee in cutting oral and esophageal cancer, the risk of a stroke and cirrhosis of the liver.
The benefits are often linked to biologically active compounds including caffeine, flavonoids, lignans, and other polyphenols, which benefit the body. These and othetr coffee compounds regulate genes involved in DNA repair, have anti-inflammatory properties and are associated with lower risk of insulin resistance, which is linked to type-2 diabetes.
But as doctors warn, too much of anything is inadvisable. The British Heart Foundation found the heaviest coffee drinkers in the study were most likely to be men who smoked and drank alcohol regularly.
Excessive amounts of coffee also unsettle the stomach causing or contributing to stomach ulcers. It also stains the teeth over time, hampers absorption of minerals and vitamins like zinc and iron.
It also raises blood pressure, which is largely problematic for people with existing conditions.
So the heaviest drinkers of the black stuff - some in the study had up to 25 cups per day - may want to rein it in.
Rory Reynolds
Farage on Muslim Brotherhood
Nigel Farage told Reform's annual conference that the party will proscribe the Muslim Brotherhood if he becomes Prime Minister.
"We will stop dangerous organisations with links to terrorism operating in our country," he said. "Quite why we've been so gutless about this – both Labour and Conservative – I don't know.
“All across the Middle East, countries have banned and proscribed the Muslim Brotherhood as a dangerous organisation. We will do the very same.”
It is 10 years since a ground-breaking report into the Muslim Brotherhood by Sir John Jenkins.
Among the former diplomat's findings was an assessment that “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” has “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
The prime minister at the time, David Cameron, who commissioned the report, said membership or association with the Muslim Brotherhood was a "possible indicator of extremism" but it would not be banned.
Teachers' pay - what you need to know
Pay varies significantly depending on the school, its rating and the curriculum. Here's a rough guide as of January 2021:
- top end schools tend to pay Dh16,000-17,000 a month - plus a monthly housing allowance of up to Dh6,000. These tend to be British curriculum schools rated 'outstanding' or 'very good', followed by American schools
- average salary across curriculums and skill levels is about Dh10,000, recruiters say
- it is becoming more common for schools to provide accommodation, sometimes in an apartment block with other teachers, rather than hand teachers a cash housing allowance
- some strong performing schools have cut back on salaries since the pandemic began, sometimes offering Dh16,000 including the housing allowance, which reflects the slump in rental costs, and sheer demand for jobs
- maths and science teachers are most in demand and some schools will pay up to Dh3,000 more than other teachers in recognition of their technical skills
- at the other end of the market, teachers in some Indian schools, where fees are lower and competition among applicants is intense, can be paid as low as Dh3,000 per month
- in Indian schools, it has also become common for teachers to share residential accommodation, living in a block with colleagues
Closing the loophole on sugary drinks
As The National reported last year, non-fizzy sugared drinks were not covered when the original tax was introduced in 2017. Sports drinks sold in supermarkets were found to contain, on average, 20 grams of sugar per 500ml bottle.
The non-fizzy drink AriZona Iced Tea contains 65 grams of sugar – about 16 teaspoons – per 680ml can. The average can costs about Dh6, which would rise to Dh9.
Drinks such as Starbucks Bottled Mocha Frappuccino contain 31g of sugar in 270ml, while Nescafe Mocha in a can contains 15.6g of sugar in a 240ml can.
Flavoured water, long-life fruit juice concentrates, pre-packaged sweetened coffee drinks fall under the ‘sweetened drink’ category
Not taxed:
Freshly squeezed fruit juices, ground coffee beans, tea leaves and pre-prepared flavoured milkshakes do not come under the ‘sweetened drink’ band.
Red flags
- Promises of high, fixed or 'guaranteed' returns.
- Unregulated structured products or complex investments often used to bypass traditional safeguards.
- Lack of clear information, vague language, no access to audited financials.
- Overseas companies targeting investors in other jurisdictions - this can make legal recovery difficult.
- Hard-selling tactics - creating urgency, offering 'exclusive' deals.
Courtesy: Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching
Director: Laxman Utekar
Cast: Vicky Kaushal, Akshaye Khanna, Diana Penty, Vineet Kumar Singh, Rashmika Mandanna
Rating: 1/5
The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Power: 420hp
Torque: 623Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)
On sale: Now
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)
Ten tax points to be aware of in 2026
1. Domestic VAT refund amendments: request your refund within five years
If a business does not apply for the refund on time, they lose their credit.
2. E-invoicing in the UAE
Businesses should continue preparing for the implementation of e-invoicing in the UAE, with 2026 a preparation and transition period ahead of phased mandatory adoption.
3. More tax audits
Tax authorities are increasingly using data already available across multiple filings to identify audit risks.
4. More beneficial VAT and excise tax penalty regime
Tax disputes are expected to become more frequent and more structured, with clearer administrative objection and appeal processes. The UAE has adopted a new penalty regime for VAT and excise disputes, which now mirrors the penalty regime for corporate tax.
5. Greater emphasis on statutory audit
There is a greater need for the accuracy of financial statements. The International Financial Reporting Standards standards need to be strictly adhered to and, as a result, the quality of the audits will need to increase.
6. Further transfer pricing enforcement
Transfer pricing enforcement, which refers to the practice of establishing prices for internal transactions between related entities, is expected to broaden in scope. The UAE will shortly open the possibility to negotiate advance pricing agreements, or essentially rulings for transfer pricing purposes.
7. Limited time periods for audits
Recent amendments also introduce a default five-year limitation period for tax audits and assessments, subject to specific statutory exceptions. While the standard audit and assessment period is five years, this may be extended to up to 15 years in cases involving fraud or tax evasion.
8. Pillar 2 implementation
Many multinational groups will begin to feel the practical effect of the Domestic Minimum Top-Up Tax (DMTT), the UAE's implementation of the OECD’s global minimum tax under Pillar 2. While the rules apply for financial years starting on or after January 1, 2025, it is 2026 that marks the transition to an operational phase.
9. Reduced compliance obligations for imported goods and services
Businesses that apply the reverse-charge mechanism for VAT purposes in the UAE may benefit from reduced compliance obligations.
10. Substance and CbC reporting focus
Tax authorities are expected to continue strengthening the enforcement of economic substance and Country-by-Country (CbC) reporting frameworks. In the UAE, these regimes are increasingly being used as risk-assessment tools, providing tax authorities with a comprehensive view of multinational groups’ global footprints and enabling them to assess whether profits are aligned with real economic activity.
Contributed by Thomas Vanhee and Hend Rashwan, Aurifer
THE SIXTH SENSE
Starring: Bruce Willis, Toni Collette, Hayley Joel Osment
Director: M. Night Shyamalan
Rating: 5/5
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