It has been a good season in Europe for interim managers.
When Chelsea gave Rafa Benitez a seven-month contract and a job title that emphasised his impermanence, it looked like an insult. Benitez wrapped up his caretakership with a European trophy.
The head coach of the favourites to win the Uefa Champions League is also on a confined contract. Jupp Heynckes learnt in January he would be succeeded by Pep Guardiola at Bayern Munich at the beginning of next season.
He disliked the manner of the announcement, even if he had understood his employers were veering towards a younger coach.
Typically, his discomfort with the scenario has mostly been discreet.
That is Heynckes's way. But in the weeks building up to Saturday's showdown with Borusssia Dortmund at Wembley, he has clearly wanted the theme of Guardiola not to cloud the agenda.
Heynckes is entitled to that. His stack of achievements is already towering. His interim status has been no impediment to Bayern's winning the Bundesliga title by a record margin; reaching for the Champions League final for the second year on the trot, being in a position to complete a treble in the final of the German Cup on June 1.
This with a squad of players suffering the psychological damage of a year ago, having finished runners-up in all three competitions.
Heynckes is 68, long enough in his career to think about retirement, old enough to know that some farewells will be forever. After Bayern's last Bundesliga match of the season, last Saturday, he declared, moist-eyed, he would not be taking another job in Germany.
Bayern had just won 4-3 at Borussia Monchengladbach, the club where he played his best football, as a striker, in the 1960s and 1970s.
Fans of both teams had applauded him.
But at 68, there is also a reluctance to put a final full stop on his career.
He knows he will get offers from abroad: After all, Heynckes is on the verge of joining a very select group in his profession should Bayern defeat Dortmund. Only Ernst Happel, Ottmar Hitzfeld and Jose Mourinho have won the European Cup with two different clubs.
He won his first with Real Madrid, 15 years ago. He lost the job immediately afterwards. That Madrid should under-appreciate a head coach is scarcely a fresh story.
What is intriguing about the post-Heynckes Bayern is whether they will be deemed to have undervalued him, too.
Whatever the result on Saturday, and in the German Cup final, the monument to efficiency and swagger established over this domestic season casts an imposing shadow over Guardiola.
Bayern finished 25 points clear of second-placed Dortmund; they scored 98 times in their 34 matches; they lost only once; they conceded just 18 goals. Must Guardiola better that to prevent murmuring that the club should have stuck with Heynckes? The scrutiny on Guardiola - who for all his concentrated success in four years at Barcelona, has only ever held one senior coaching job - will be stern.
As Philipp Lahm, the Bayern captain, remarks: "When results don't come for Bayern, things get restless very fast. First you get the grumbling in the press, then finger-pointing on TV and then time runs out."
Ask Jurgen Klinsmann, who in 2008 took the Bayern coaching job with some of the fanfare now being accorded to Guardiola and left 10 months later.
Klinsmann's replacement?
An interim - Heynckes, for his second spell at Bayern, 18 years after his first stint there, which yielded two Bundesliga titles.
Ask the combative Dutchman Louis Van Gaal, who reached his point of crisis 10 months after having taken Bayern to the 2010 Champions League final.
That ushered in Heynckes for his third spell at Bayern. He brought stability, but also the blossoming of players like David Alaba and Toni Kroos, promoted from the youth ranks.
He has experienced the episodes of egotism for which the club has long had a notoriety and apparently overcome those problems with the same sober man-management that has turned the serial silver-medallists of 2012 into standard-bearers for Germany, and Europe, in 2013.
From New York, where Guardiola has spent the year since he left Barcelona on sabbatical, all this will have closely observed.
Guardiola knows he has a formidable challenge. When he took the Barcelona job, a greenhorn as a manager, he demanded that a pair of totemic players, Ronaldinho and Deco, leave.
Does he dare put such an emphatic stamp on the post-Heynckes Bayern? And how will he take the first hints of nostalgia for the distinguished veteran who built the greatest Bundesliga side of all-time?
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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
Three tips from La Perle's performers
1 The kind of water athletes drink is important. Gwilym Hooson, a 28-year-old British performer who is currently recovering from knee surgery, found that out when the company was still in Studio City, training for 12 hours a day. “The physio team was like: ‘Why is everyone getting cramps?’ And then they realised we had to add salt and sugar to the water,” he says.
2 A little chocolate is a good thing. “It’s emergency energy,” says Craig Paul Smith, La Perle’s head coach and former Cirque du Soleil performer, gesturing to an almost-empty open box of mini chocolate bars on his desk backstage.
3 Take chances, says Young, who has worked all over the world, including most recently at Dragone’s show in China. “Every time we go out of our comfort zone, we learn a lot about ourselves,” she says.
F1 drivers' standings
1. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes 281
2. Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari 247
3. Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes 222
4. Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull 177
5. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari 138
6. Max Verstappen, Red Bull 93
7. Sergio Perez, Force India 86
8. Esteban Ocon, Force India 56
More coverage from the Future Forum
Dubai Bling season three
Cast: Loujain Adada, Zeina Khoury, Farhana Bodi, Ebraheem Al Samadi, Mona Kattan, and couples Safa & Fahad Siddiqui and DJ Bliss & Danya Mohammed
Rating: 1/5
Springtime in a Broken Mirror,
Mario Benedetti, Penguin Modern Classics
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
Tuesday results:
- Singapore bt Malaysia by 29 runs
- UAE bt Oman by 13 runs
- Hong Kong bt Nepal by 3 wickets
Final:
Thursday, UAE v Hong Kong
HOSTS
T20 WORLD CUP
2024: US and West Indies; 2026: India and Sri Lanka; 2028: Australia and New Zealand; 2030: England, Ireland and Scotland
ODI WORLD CUP
2027: South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia; 2031: India and
Bangladesh
CHAMPIONS TROPHY
2025: Pakistan; 2029: India
The%20specs
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More from Neighbourhood Watch:
Ashes 2019 schedule
August 1-5: First Test, Edgbaston
August 14-18: Second Test, Lord's
August 22-26: Third Test, Headingley
September 4-8: Fourth Test, Old Trafford
September 12-16: Fifth Test, Oval
How green is the expo nursery?
Some 400,000 shrubs and 13,000 trees in the on-site nursery
An additional 450,000 shrubs and 4,000 trees to be delivered in the months leading up to the expo
Ghaf, date palm, acacia arabica, acacia tortilis, vitex or sage, techoma and the salvadora are just some heat tolerant native plants in the nursery
Approximately 340 species of shrubs and trees selected for diverse landscape
The nursery team works exclusively with organic fertilisers and pesticides
All shrubs and trees supplied by Dubai Municipality
Most sourced from farms, nurseries across the country
Plants and trees are re-potted when they arrive at nursery to give them room to grow
Some mature trees are in open areas or planted within the expo site
Green waste is recycled as compost
Treated sewage effluent supplied by Dubai Municipality is used to meet the majority of the nursery’s irrigation needs
Construction workforce peaked at 40,000 workers
About 65,000 people have signed up to volunteer
Main themes of expo is ‘Connecting Minds, Creating the Future’ and three subthemes of opportunity, mobility and sustainability.
Expo 2020 Dubai to open in October 2020 and run for six months
The specs
Price, base / as tested Dh100,000 (estimate)
Engine 2.4L four-cylinder
Gearbox Nine-speed automatic
Power 184bhp at 6,400rpm
Torque 237Nm at 3,900rpm
Fuel economy, combined 9.4L/100km
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
PRESIDENTS CUP
Draw for Presidents Cup fourball matches on Thursday (Internationals first mention). All times UAE:
02.32am (Thursday): Marc Leishman/Joaquin Niemann v Tiger Woods/Justin Thomas
02.47am (Thursday): Adam Hadwin/Im Sung-jae v Xander Schauffele/Patrick Cantlay
03.02am (Thursday): Adam Scott/An Byeong-hun v Bryson DeChambeau/Tony Finau
03.17am (Thursday): Hideki Matsuyama/CT Pan v Webb Simpson/Patrick Reed
03.32am (Thursday): Abraham Ancer/Louis Oosthuizen v Dustin Johnson/Gary Woodland
Visa changes give families fresh hope
Foreign workers can sponsor family members based solely on their income
Male residents employed in the UAE can sponsor immediate family members, such as wife and children, subject to conditions that include a minimum salary of Dh 4,000 or Dh 3,000 plus accommodation.
Attested original marriage certificate, birth certificate of the child, ejari or rental contract, labour contract, salary certificate must be submitted to the government authorised typing centre to complete the sponsorship process
In Abu Dhabi, a woman can sponsor her husband and children if she holds a residence permit stating she is an engineer, teacher, doctor, nurse or any profession related to the medical sector and her monthly salary is at least Dh 10,000 or Dh 8,000 plus accommodation.
In Dubai, if a woman is not employed in the above categories she can get approval to sponsor her family if her monthly salary is more than Dh 10,000 and with a special permission from the Department of Naturalization and Residency Dubai.
To sponsor parents, a worker should earn Dh20,000 or Dh19,000 a month, plus a two-bedroom accommodation
