A new training centre, the latest state-of-the-art declaration of Paris Saint-Germain’s yearning for elite status among Europe’s superclubs, greeted the French champions’ new manager on Wednesday.
Luis Enrique, formerly of the Spain national team, Barcelona and Roma, enjoyed his inspection of its facilities, but can only hope that future activities there run more smoothly than they did for his official unveiling.
The ceremony, Enrique’s first official act of his two-year contract, was delayed for more than three hours as attendees waited for the club’s president, Nasser Al Khelaifi to arrive after his flight into Paris had been delayed.
It was an inauspicious start to a job that has become notoriously treacherous, its previous incumbent, Christophe Galtier having lasted a single season, and his predecessor, Mauricio Pochettino, barely 18 months.
They both won the Ligue 1 title shortly before being fired, but fell a long way short of capturing the prize Al Khelaifi craves most urgently, the Champions League title.
The training site at Poissy certainly looks a fitting launchpad for the next attempt at that dream, and, for the first time since Carlo Ancelotti was appointed coach 11 years ago – to coincide with Qatar Sports Investments taking full ownership of the club and a big-spending recruitment drive that has characterised the last decade – PSG have brought in a manager with previous experience of winning the European Cup. Luis Enrique guided Barcelona to it in 2015.
He returns to club football after six years away, most of them spent in charge of Spain, who reached a European championship semi-final and a Uefa Nations League final on his watch. In Qatar last December, however, the momentum petered out, with elimination on penalties to Morocco at the last-16 stage of the World Cup.
Luis Enrique stepped down, but found his reputation still high enough to have been sounded out for a number of heavyweight posts in the months since. Chelsea spoke to his representatives, as did Tottenham Hotspur.
The job he has accepted betters both of those in the likelihood of silverware – PSG have won nine of the last 11 French leagues – and in that it means Champions League participation in 2023-24.
There is also the privileged status PSG enjoy as the only top division team from a city that is perhaps the most fertile capital in Europe in terms of young talent. Above that, there’s the financial muscle. Money from Doha has smashed various transfer-fee and salary records to bring in some of the game’s finest attacking players.
The costliest duo, Neymar and Kylian Mbappe are both hot issues this summer, as they were for Galtier, Pochettino and Thomas Tuchel, the last three PSG bosses. Mbappe’s future is again clouded after he made public his intention not to trigger an extension clause in a contract that expires in 2024.
It means PSG could at the end of this season lose, without a fee, a footballer they have invested over €500m in, taking in his vast wages and the sum paid to Monaco for him. PSG may yet feel they should cash in if a mammoth offer comes in for Mbappe before September.
Asked about Mbappe, Luis Enrique said only: “We will try to have the best squad possible. Any discussions we have had remain private.”
Neymar, for whom PSG paid Barca €222m in 2017, ended last season injured and, on one alarming afternoon, saw PSG fans crowding around the gates of his Paris mansion to boo him and demand he leaves the club.
Unless a suitable new employer can be found, an exit remains unlikely. To a question about Neymar, Luis Enrique responded: “I haven’t had a chance to talk with him yet,” but added: “This is the start of a new era.”
For his part, the Brazilian is understood to feel positively about Enrique’s appointment. They worked together at Barcelona, a period that included the 2015 treble of Champions League, Liga and Copa del Rey.
That remains the high point of the Spaniard’s managerial career, one punctuated by tough calls and proof of an independent mind.
He has been a bold enough coach to have dropped Francesco Totti, the Roma icon, when he was a relatively novice manager in Rome; he benched Xavi and – briefly – Lionel Messi while in charge of Barca, and effectively retired from international football the Spain legend and captain, Sergio Ramos.
He has been tactically imaginative, especially while in charge of Spain, and unafraid of confrontation, be it with superstars or orthodox opinion.
At PSG, where the dressing room, the executive floor and the grandstands have all been sites of conflict in the years of striving in vain for a first Champions League title, they will discover a manager who does not easily yield.
But after a long wait for his official introduction, Luis Enrique welcomed the challenge. “I’m grateful for the confidence the club have shown in me,” he said.
The President's Cake
Director: Hasan Hadi
Starring: Baneen Ahmad Nayyef, Waheed Thabet Khreibat, Sajad Mohamad Qasem
Rating: 4/5
How has net migration to UK changed?
The figure was broadly flat immediately before the Covid-19 pandemic, standing at 216,000 in the year to June 2018 and 224,000 in the year to June 2019.
It then dropped to an estimated 111,000 in the year to June 2020 when restrictions introduced during the pandemic limited travel and movement.
The total rose to 254,000 in the year to June 2021, followed by steep jumps to 634,000 in the year to June 2022 and 906,000 in the year to June 2023.
The latest available figure of 728,000 for the 12 months to June 2024 suggests levels are starting to decrease.
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
On sale: Available to order now
RESULTS
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KEY HIGHLIGHTS
Healthcare spending to double to $2.2 trillion rupees
Launched a 641billion-rupee federal health scheme
Allotted 200 billion rupees for the recapitalisation of state-run banks
Around 1.75 trillion rupees allotted for privatisation and stake sales in state-owned assets
Emergency phone numbers in the UAE
Estijaba – 8001717 – number to call to request coronavirus testing
Ministry of Health and Prevention – 80011111
Dubai Health Authority – 800342 – The number to book a free video or voice consultation with a doctor or connect to a local health centre
Emirates airline – 600555555
Etihad Airways – 600555666
Ambulance – 998
Knowledge and Human Development Authority – 8005432 ext. 4 for Covid-19 queries
UAE jiu-jitsu squad
Men: Hamad Nawad and Khalid Al Balushi (56kg), Omar Al Fadhli and Saeed Al Mazroui (62kg), Taleb Al Kirbi and Humaid Al Kaabi (69kg), Mohammed Al Qubaisi and Saud Al Hammadi (70kg), Khalfan Belhol and Mohammad Haitham Radhi (85kg), Faisal Al Ketbi and Zayed Al Kaabi (94kg)
Women: Wadima Al Yafei and Mahra Al Hanaei (49kg), Bashayer Al Matrooshi and Hessa Al Shamsi (62kg)
Abu%20Dhabi%E2%80%99s%20Racecard
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Reading List
Practitioners of mindful eating recommend the following books to get you started:
Savor: Mindful Eating, Mindful Life by Thich Nhat Hanh and Dr Lilian Cheung
How to Eat by Thich Nhat Hanh
The Mindful Diet by Dr Ruth Wolever
Mindful Eating by Dr Jan Bays
How to Raise a Mindful Eaterby Maryann Jacobsen
European arms
Known EU weapons transfers to Ukraine since the war began: Germany 1,000 anti-tank weapons and 500 Stinger surface-to-air missiles. Luxembourg 100 NLAW anti-tank weapons, jeeps and 15 military tents as well as air transport capacity. Belgium 2,000 machine guns, 3,800 tons of fuel. Netherlands 200 Stinger missiles. Poland 100 mortars, 8 drones, Javelin anti-tank weapons, Grot assault rifles, munitions. Slovakia 12,000 pieces of artillery ammunition, 10 million litres of fuel, 2.4 million litres of aviation fuel and 2 Bozena de-mining systems. Estonia Javelin anti-tank weapons. Latvia Stinger surface to air missiles. Czech Republic machine guns, assault rifles, other light weapons and ammunition worth $8.57 million.
The Florida Project
Director: Sean Baker
Starring: Bria Vinaite, Brooklynn Prince, Willem Dafoe
Four stars
Afcon 2019
SEMI-FINALS
Senegal v Tunisia, 8pm
Algeria v Nigeria, 11pm
Matches are live on BeIN Sports
AI traffic lights to ease congestion at seven points to Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Street
The seven points are:
Shakhbout bin Sultan Street
Dhafeer Street
Hadbat Al Ghubainah Street (outbound)
Salama bint Butti Street
Al Dhafra Street
Rabdan Street
Umm Yifina Street exit (inbound)
Five famous companies founded by teens
There are numerous success stories of teen businesses that were created in college dorm rooms and other modest circumstances. Below are some of the most recognisable names in the industry:
- Facebook: Mark Zuckerberg and his friends started Facebook when he was a 19-year-old Harvard undergraduate.
- Dell: When Michael Dell was an undergraduate student at Texas University in 1984, he started upgrading computers for profit. He starting working full-time on his business when he was 19. Eventually, his company became the Dell Computer Corporation and then Dell Inc.
- Subway: Fred DeLuca opened the first Subway restaurant when he was 17. In 1965, Mr DeLuca needed extra money for college, so he decided to open his own business. Peter Buck, a family friend, lent him $1,000 and together, they opened Pete’s Super Submarines. A few years later, the company was rebranded and called Subway.
- Mashable: In 2005, Pete Cashmore created Mashable in Scotland when he was a teenager. The site was then a technology blog. Over the next few decades, Mr Cashmore has turned Mashable into a global media company.
- Oculus VR: Palmer Luckey founded Oculus VR in June 2012, when he was 19. In August that year, Oculus launched its Kickstarter campaign and raised more than $1 million in three days. Facebook bought Oculus for $2 billion two years later.
About Karol Nawrocki
• Supports military aid for Ukraine, unlike other eurosceptic leaders, but he will oppose its membership in western alliances.
• A nationalist, his campaign slogan was Poland First. "Let's help others, but let's take care of our own citizens first," he said on social media in April.
• Cultivates tough-guy image, posting videos of himself at shooting ranges and in boxing rings.
• Met Donald Trump at the White House and received his backing.
Wicked: For Good
Director: Jon M Chu
Starring: Ariana Grande, Cynthia Erivo, Jonathan Bailey, Jeff Goldblum, Michelle Yeoh, Ethan Slater
Rating: 4/5
Quick pearls of wisdom
Focus on gratitude: And do so deeply, he says. “Think of one to three things a day that you’re grateful for. It needs to be specific, too, don’t just say ‘air.’ Really think about it. If you’re grateful for, say, what your parents have done for you, that will motivate you to do more for the world.”
Know how to fight: Shetty married his wife, Radhi, three years ago (he met her in a meditation class before he went off and became a monk). He says they’ve had to learn to respect each other’s “fighting styles” – he’s a talk it-out-immediately person, while she needs space to think. “When you’re having an argument, remember, it’s not you against each other. It’s both of you against the problem. When you win, they lose. If you’re on a team you have to win together.”
The specs: 2017 Porsche 718 Cayman
Price, base / as tested Dh222,500 / Dh296,870
Engine 2.0L, flat four-cylinder
Transmission Seven-speed PDK
Power 300hp @ 6,500rpm
Torque 380hp @ 1,950rpm
Fuel economy, combined 6.9L / 100km
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
Family reunited
Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe was born and raised in Tehran and studied English literature before working as a translator in the relief effort for the Japanese International Co-operation Agency in 2003.
She moved to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies before moving to the World Health Organisation as a communications officer.
She came to the UK in 2007 after securing a scholarship at London Metropolitan University to study a master's in communication management and met her future husband through mutual friends a month later.
The couple were married in August 2009 in Winchester and their daughter was born in June 2014.
She was held in her native country a year later.
MATCH DETAILS
Liverpool 2
Wijnaldum (14), Oxlade-Chamberlain (52)
Genk 1
Samatta (40)
