Arsenal
Cesc Fabregas understands why Arsenal felt allowing him to join Barcelona was "impossible". The 23-year-old is set to return from a hamstring injury for the visit of Birmingham City tomorrow. Fabregas was close to returning to his boyhood club during the summer, but Arsenal rejected a £35 million (Dh203m) offer. "I maintain that I was right because [to play for Barcelona] is a dream," Fabregas told radio station Cadena Cope. "It wasn't to be and that's that, though in my head I keep thinking it could have been a good opportunity. But here [at Arsenal] I have everything. I am still happy."
Aston Villa
Marc Albrighton, Aston Villa's rookie winger, is unfazed by facing England's record-equalling left-back Ashley Cole in tomorrow's clash with Chelsea at Villa Park. Cole moved level with Kenny Sansom as the most capped England full-back, with 86 games, this week. It will be a big test for Albrighton, who has enjoyed his first extended spell of first-team football this season. "I wouldn't say it is daunting, it's exciting more than anything," Albrighton said. "Every player in that [Chelsea] team is world class and, if you can play well against them, you can play well against anybody."
Birmingham City
Cameron Jerome is doubtful for tomorrow's away trip to Arsenal because of injury. The Birmingham striker injured an ankle in training earlier in the week and, while scans have revealed that the knock is not too serious, it could keep Jerome, 24, the club's top scorer last season, out of the trip to the Emirates Stadium in London. "Cameron Jerome took a knock in training this week and is a doubt," Alex McLeish, the Birmingham manager, told the club's website. "There's nothing broken or anything like that and it's just a ligament strain or something like that."
Blackburn Rovers
Christopher Samba, the Blackburn captain, has criticised the club's start to the season, which sees them sitting 13th in the table, three points off fourth and two points away from the drop zone. "I would say our start to the season is below expectations," Samba told the Lancashire Evening Telegraph. "We are full of regret and that means we have not done the necessary to be where we wanted to be. You look at games like Arsenal, where we dominated and lost. With a little bit more effort and a little bit more quality we would have a lot more points. We just make things a little difficult for ourselves at times and that is regrettable."
Blackpool
Blackpool, the surprise package of the Premier League season so far, host big-spending Manchester City on Sunday and Ian Holloway, the home team's manager, has called it a case of opposites colliding. Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed-backed City have spent more than £300m (Dh1.75 billion) in the past two years. Blackpool, meanwhile, have splashed out just £3m. "This is the match between the biggest opposites in the division - massive-spending City and us," Holloway told the Blackpool Gazette. "You won't get two more opposite ends of the spectrum. We have one point out of six at home and I want to improve on that."
Bolton Wanderers
Owen Coyle believes England would have won on Tuesday night if Bolton's Kevin Davies had been introduced to the action earlier. Davies, 33, became the oldest England debutant since Leslie Compton in 1950 when he came on against Montenegro with 20 minutes remaining of a 0-0 draw. "As the manager of his football club, it filled me with immense pride," Coyle said. "I think it would have been a travesty if he had finished his career and hadn't won that elusive cap for England. I thought he did ever so well in the game and I truly believe, having sat and watched the game, if he had been on earlier, then England would have gone on to win."
Chelsea
Chelsea are still waiting on the fitness of captain John Terry ahead of tomorrow's trip to Aston Villa. Terry withdrew from the England squad to face Montenegro on Tuesday after hurting his back. The defender returned to Chelsea for treatment on the injury and the club are hoping he will be fit enough to lead the side against Villa. Defensive partner Alex, the Brazilian, is already out with a thigh injury and young centre-half Jeffrey Bruma withdrew from Holland's Under 21 squad because of a hamstring problem. If Terry is ruled out, Carlo Ancelotti could switch Michael Essien, the midfielder, alongside Branislav Ivanovic at centre-back.
Everton
Ross Barkley, the talented young Everton midfielder, is facing a lengthy spell on the sidelines. The club have confirmed Barkley suffered a double fracture of a leg during England Under 19s' 2-1 defeat to Belgium in Wednesday night's European Championship qualifier. Barkley, 16, was involved in a collision with teammate Andre Wisdom in the first half that led to both players needing to be substituted. The full extent of Barkley's injury is now being assessed by the Everton medical team. Barkley has been on the first-team bench this season but is yet to make his professional debut for David Moyes's team.
Fulham
Simon Davies has warned Tottenham that Fulham will be out to prove just what a "dangerous team" they are in tomorrow's London derby at a sold-out Craven Cottage. Mark Hughes's men are unbeaten in the Premier League this season, but also have managed only one victory from seven matches.
"We look a really dangerous team and it has been a shame that we have not gone on and won a couple more games, but the longer the season goes on, the better I am sure we will become," Davies said on the club's official website. "The Cottage is a difficult place to come to and hopefully we can keep our home form going."
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.+
Cinco in numbers
Dh3.7 million
The estimated cost of Victoria Swarovski’s gem-encrusted Michael Cinco wedding gown
46
The number, in kilograms, that Swarovski’s wedding gown weighed.
1,000
The hours it took to create Cinco’s vermillion petal gown, as seen in his atelier [note, is the one he’s playing with in the corner of a room]
50
How many looks Cinco has created in a new collection to celebrate Ballet Philippines’ 50th birthday
3,000
The hours needed to create the butterfly gown worn by Aishwarya Rai to the 2018 Cannes Film Festival.
1.1 million
The number of followers that Michael Cinco’s Instagram account has garnered.
From exhibitions to the battlefield
In 2016, the Shaded Dome was awarded with the 'De Vernufteling' people's choice award, an annual prize by the Dutch Association of Consulting Engineers and the Royal Netherlands Society of Engineers for the most innovative project by a Dutch engineering firm.
It was assigned by the Dutch Ministry of Defence to modify the Shaded Dome to make it suitable for ballistic protection. Royal HaskoningDHV, one of the companies which designed the dome, is an independent international engineering and project management consultancy, leading the way in sustainable development and innovation.
It is driving positive change through innovation and technology, helping use resources more efficiently.
It aims to minimise the impact on the environment by leading by example in its projects in sustainable development and innovation, to become part of the solution to a more sustainable society now and into the future.
The biog
Age: 19
Profession: medical student at UAE university
Favourite book: The Ocean at The End of The Lane by Neil Gaiman
Role model: Parents, followed by Fazza (Shiekh Hamdan bin Mohammed)
Favourite poet: Edger Allen Poe
Sweet Tooth
Creator: Jim Mickle
Starring: Christian Convery, Nonso Anozie, Adeel Akhtar, Stefania LaVie Owen
Rating: 2.5/5
if you go
The flights Fly Dubai, Air Arabia, Emirates, Etihad, and Royal Jordanian all offer direct, three-and-a-half-hour flights from the UAE to the Jordanian capital Amman. Alternatively, from June Fly Dubai will offer a new direct service from Dubai to Aqaba in the south of the country. See the airlines’ respective sites for varying prices or search on reliable price-comparison site Skyscanner.
The trip
Jamie Lafferty was a guest of the Jordan Tourist Board. For more information on adventure tourism in Jordan see Visit Jordan. A number of new and established tour companies offer the chance to go caving, rock-climbing, canyoning, and mountaineering in Jordan. Prices vary depending on how many activities you want to do and how many days you plan to stay in the country. Among the leaders are Terhaal, who offer a two-day canyoning trip from Dh845 per person. If you really want to push your limits, contact the Stronger Team. For a more trek-focused trip, KE Adventure offers an eight-day trip from Dh5,300 per person.
The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre 6-cyl turbo
Power: 374hp at 5,500-6,500rpm
Torque: 500Nm from 1,900-5,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 8.5L/100km
Price: from Dh285,000
On sale: from January 2022
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Company Profile
Name: Direct Debit System
Started: Sept 2017
Based: UAE with a subsidiary in the UK
Industry: FinTech
Funding: Undisclosed
Investors: Elaine Jones
Number of employees: 8
COMPANY PROFILE
Company: Eco Way
Started: December 2023
Founder: Ivan Kroshnyi
Based: Dubai, UAE
Industry: Electric vehicles
Investors: Bootstrapped with undisclosed funding. Looking to raise funds from outside
Top 10 most competitive economies
1. Singapore
2. Switzerland
3. Denmark
4. Ireland
5. Hong Kong
6. Sweden
7. UAE
8. Taiwan
9. Netherlands
10. Norway
COMPANY PROFILE
Company name: Klipit
Started: 2022
Founders: Venkat Reddy, Mohammed Al Bulooki, Bilal Merchant, Asif Ahmed, Ovais Merchant
Based: Dubai, UAE
Industry: Digital receipts, finance, blockchain
Funding: $4 million
Investors: Privately/self-funded
Last 10 NBA champions
2017: Golden State bt Cleveland 4-1
2016: Cleveland bt Golden State 4-3
2015: Golden State bt Cleveland 4-2
2014: San Antonio bt Miami 4-1
2013: Miami bt San Antonio 4-3
2012: Miami bt Oklahoma City 4-1
2011: Dallas bt Miami 4-2
2010: Los Angeles Lakers bt Boston 4-3
2009: Los Angeles Lakers bt Orlando 4-1
2008: Boston bt Los Angeles Lakers 4-2
Remaining fixtures
Third-place-play-off: Portugal v Mexico, 4pm on Sunday
Final: Chile v Germany, 10pm on Sunday
Company Profile
Founders: Tamara Hachem and Yazid Erman
Based: Dubai
Launched: September 2019
Sector: health technology
Stage: seed
Investors: Oman Technology Fund, angel investor and grants from Sharjah's Sheraa and Ma'an Abu Dhabi
How Tesla’s price correction has hit fund managers
Investing in disruptive technology can be a bumpy ride, as investors in Tesla were reminded on Friday, when its stock dropped 7.5 per cent in early trading to $575.
It recovered slightly but still ended the week 15 per cent lower and is down a third from its all-time high of $883 on January 26. The electric car maker’s market cap fell from $834 billion to about $567bn in that time, a drop of an astonishing $267bn, and a blow for those who bought Tesla stock late.
The collapse also hit fund managers that have gone big on Tesla, notably the UK-based Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust and Cathie Wood’s ARK Innovation ETF.
Tesla is the top holding in both funds, making up a hefty 10 per cent of total assets under management. Both funds have fallen by a quarter in the past month.
Matt Weller, global head of market research at GAIN Capital, recently warned that Tesla founder Elon Musk had “flown a bit too close to the sun”, after getting carried away by investing $1.5bn of the company’s money in Bitcoin.
He also predicted Tesla’s sales could struggle as traditional auto manufacturers ramp up electric car production, destroying its first mover advantage.
AJ Bell’s Russ Mould warns that many investors buy tech stocks when earnings forecasts are rising, almost regardless of valuation. “When it works, it really works. But when it goes wrong, elevated valuations leave little or no downside protection.”
A Tesla correction was probably baked in after last year’s astonishing share price surge, and many investors will see this as an opportunity to load up at a reduced price.
Dramatic swings are to be expected when investing in disruptive technology, as Ms Wood at ARK makes clear.
Every week, she sends subscribers a commentary listing “stocks in our strategies that have appreciated or dropped more than 15 per cent in a day” during the week.
Her latest commentary, issued on Friday, showed seven stocks displaying extreme volatility, led by ExOne, a leader in binder jetting 3D printing technology. It jumped 24 per cent, boosted by news that fellow 3D printing specialist Stratasys had beaten fourth-quarter revenues and earnings expectations, seen as good news for the sector.
By contrast, computational drug and material discovery company Schrödinger fell 27 per cent after quarterly and full-year results showed its core software sales and drug development pipeline slowing.
Despite that setback, Ms Wood remains positive, arguing that its “medicinal chemistry platform offers a powerful and unique view into chemical space”.
In her weekly video view, she remains bullish, stating that: “We are on the right side of change, and disruptive innovation is going to deliver exponential growth trajectories for many of our companies, in fact, most of them.”
Ms Wood remains committed to Tesla as she expects global electric car sales to compound at an average annual rate of 82 per cent for the next five years.
She said these are so “enormous that some people find them unbelievable”, and argues that this scepticism, especially among institutional investors, “festers” and creates a great opportunity for ARK.
Only you can decide whether you are a believer or a festering sceptic. If it’s the former, then buckle up.