SUNDERLAND // Brendan Rodgers insists Liverpool have the best strike pair in the Premier League after watching Luis Suarez and Daniel Sturridge cement their growing partnership.
Suarez scored twice on his return to top flight action after a 10-game ban, both goals set up by Sturridge, who broke the deadlock in a 3-1 win at Sunderland that pushed Rodgers’ side back up to second.
The Liverpool manager expects the duo to keep on improving together, and warned their Premier League rivals: “I’m not sure there’s a better front two in the league.”
He added: “Of course you’ve got van Persie and Rooney at Manchester United, but our two are up there with the best in the country.
“The two of them will only get better the longer they play together. They’re working hard in training, and it helps that they’re two different types of player. One has pace, power and two good feet, and one is a wriggler who ends up in the box and is hard to track.
“Luis isn’t fazed by much. There’s a remarkable mentality and the steel in his mindset, he’s just so focused and it’s like a new signing with him coming back. It’s great for the team and great for the supporters, who deserve to see someone of that quality.”
While Sturridge has 11 goals in his last 11 top flight appearances, Suarez hit the ground running, finding the net on his first Premier League appearance in 161 days, punishment for sinking his teeth into Branislav Ivanovic, the Chelsea defender, in April.
The Uruguayan, who now boasts seven goals in six games against Sunderland, has stayed sharp thanks to a rigorous fitness regime during his enforced absence.
“Goalscorers are judged on goals and assists. Daniel got one and set up two, and they both have a hunger to score,” said Rodgers.
“Luis has not been cocooned away and then just come back in. He’s someone who loves football and I knew how much it would hurt him not to be playing, so he’s been doing extra finishing sessions and conditioning sessions to help him get back up to speed.
“It’d be hard for anyone to say he wasn’t very good today, and his performance is credit to our conditioning team for the work they’ve done with him.”
Sunderland remain bottom with a point from six games.
They are without a Premier League win for more than five months, despite a performance from which Kevin Ball, the interim manager, drew plenty of positives.
The managerless Wearside club continue to search for a successor to Paolo Di Canio, having already held talks with Gus Poyet, the former Brighton manager, and Rene Meulensteen, the former Manchester United coach.
“Our efforts are focused on appointing a new head coach,” Margaret Byrne, the chief executive, said. “There’s been a lot of interest but there is no definitive timescale as we’re carefully examining all the options available to us.
“We’ve had contact with interested parties and have others to speak to in the coming days. As soon as we’ve identified the right person to take the club forward we will make an announcement.”
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The story of Edge
Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, established Edge in 2019.
It brought together 25 state-owned and independent companies specialising in weapons systems, cyber protection and electronic warfare.
Edge has an annual revenue of $5 billion and employs more than 12,000 people.
Some of the companies include Nimr, a maker of armoured vehicles, Caracal, which manufactures guns and ammunitions company, Lahab
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Email sent to Uber team from chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi
From: Dara
To: Team@
Date: March 25, 2019 at 11:45pm PT
Subj: Accelerating in the Middle East
Five years ago, Uber launched in the Middle East. It was the start of an incredible journey, with millions of riders and drivers finding new ways to move and work in a dynamic region that’s become so important to Uber. Now Pakistan is one of our fastest-growing markets in the world, women are driving with Uber across Saudi Arabia, and we chose Cairo to launch our first Uber Bus product late last year.
Today we are taking the next step in this journey—well, it’s more like a leap, and a big one: in a few minutes, we’ll announce that we’ve agreed to acquire Careem. Importantly, we intend to operate Careem independently, under the leadership of co-founder and current CEO Mudassir Sheikha. I’ve gotten to know both co-founders, Mudassir and Magnus Olsson, and what they have built is truly extraordinary. They are first-class entrepreneurs who share our platform vision and, like us, have launched a wide range of products—from digital payments to food delivery—to serve consumers.
I expect many of you will ask how we arrived at this structure, meaning allowing Careem to maintain an independent brand and operate separately. After careful consideration, we decided that this framework has the advantage of letting us build new products and try new ideas across not one, but two, strong brands, with strong operators within each. Over time, by integrating parts of our networks, we can operate more efficiently, achieve even lower wait times, expand new products like high-capacity vehicles and payments, and quicken the already remarkable pace of innovation in the region.
This acquisition is subject to regulatory approval in various countries, which we don’t expect before Q1 2020. Until then, nothing changes. And since both companies will continue to largely operate separately after the acquisition, very little will change in either teams’ day-to-day operations post-close. Today’s news is a testament to the incredible business our team has worked so hard to build.
It’s a great day for the Middle East, for the region’s thriving tech sector, for Careem, and for Uber.
Uber on,
Dara
Mercedes V250 Avantgarde specs
Engine: 2.0-litre in-line four-cylinder turbo
Gearbox: 7-speed automatic
Power: 211hp at 5,500rpm
Torque: 350Nm
Fuel economy, combined: 6.0 l/100 km
Price: Dh235,000