Manchester United
Manchester United defender Patrice Evra has told the English club he would like to join Italian champions Juventus and the two teams are in talks over the transfer, British media reported on Thursday.
The loss of another of their most experienced defenders would be a blow to United but the club have a natural replacement after signing teenager Luke Shaw from Southampton.
Evra, who is 33 and only recently signed a one-year contract extension, joined United from Monaco in 2006 and played for France at the World Cup.
There is a change of the guard going on at United under new manager Louis van Gaal after they finished only seventh in the Premier League last season.
Evra’s former United teammate Nemanja Vidic has also moved to Italy, joining Inter Milan. Fellow central defender Rio Ferdinand is leaving the Premier League club too.
Villarreal
Jonathan Dos Santos has joined brother Giovani at Spanish league club Villarreal after Barcelona sold the Mexican midfielder on Thursday.
Barcelona said the deal is worth up to €2 million and includes a buy-back clause.
Both clubs say Dos Santos must first pass a standard medical before signing the five-year deal.
Dos Santos, like his brother Giovani, came through Barcelona’s youth academy before eventually earning a spot on the first team in 2012. But a serious knee injury forced him to miss most of last season.
Giovani Dos Santos, who played for Mexico at the World Cup, helped lift Villarreal to a sixth-place finish last season.
Inter Milan
Inter MIlan coach Walter Mazzarri has earmarked defender Andrea Ranocchia to take over the captaincy from the recently retired Javier Zanetti.
As Inter opened pre-season training, coach Walter Mazzarri said: “Ranocchia seems best suited for this responsibility.”
The 26-year-old Ranocchia made his debut for Inter midway through the 2010/11 season and has become a dependable starter. He was a back-up in Italy’s World Cup squad but was sent home before the Azzurri’s opener.
Zanetti had a 15-year reign as captain before retiring at the end of last season. He’s staying with the club as vice president.
Mazzarri adds that one of the focuses early on will be getting newly signed Nemanja Vidic accustomed to his three-man defense, “since he’s never played with this system.”
Juventus
Real Madrid striker Alvaro Morata is on the verge of a move to Juventus.
The forward is set to have a medical with the Serie A champions by the end of the week before signing a four-year contract, with the move believed to be worth about €22 million (Dh110m).
Morata, behind Karim Benzema, Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale and Jese in the pecking order in Madrid’s attack, was the subject of interest from Arsenal and Wolfsburg but he said Juventus have won the battle for his signature.
“I can’t wait to get to Turin, everyone has told me it’s a great city and I am looking forward to getting to know it,” Morata told Marca.
Once the deal goes through, Morata, 21, will join up with compatriot Fernando Llorente, who signed for Juventus from Athletic Bilbao last summer and scored 16 goals in the league
Arsenal
Arsenal midfielder Mikel Arteta has no intention of leaving the club, according to his agent - despite reports linking him with a summer move to Fiorentina.
The 32-year-old Spaniard, who is under contract with the Premier League outfit for a further season, is a reported target of the Serie A outfit.
However, Arteta’s agent Inaki Ibanez insists his client is staying in London.
“The player has no intention to leave London,” Ibanez said to Italian radio station Radio Blu.
“We have not spoken to any club and I would like to remind everyone that we are talking about the Arsenal captain, with all respect for Fiorentina.”
Arteta moved to the Emirates Stadium in 2011 following six years at Everton.
Atletico Madrid
Croatia striker Mario Mandzukic has signed a four-year deal with Atletico Madrid after joining from Bayern Munich, the La Liga club said on Thursday.
The Spanish champions have acted quickly to bring the 28-year-old target man on board after Spain forward Diego Costa sealed a move to English Premier League club Chelsea last week.
Mandzukic had become surplus to requirements at Bayern following the arrival of forward Robert Lewandowski from Bundesliga rivals Borussia Dortmund.
“The incorporation of Mario Mandzukic is great news because he has the features we were looking for to cover this position,” Atletico sports director Jose Luis Perez Caminero said on the club website. “He’s a winner, a player used to winning titles. He’ll contribute very much.”
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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.
Who's who in Yemen conflict
Houthis: Iran-backed rebels who occupy Sanaa and run unrecognised government
Yemeni government: Exiled government in Aden led by eight-member Presidential Leadership Council
Southern Transitional Council: Faction in Yemeni government that seeks autonomy for the south
Habrish 'rebels': Tribal-backed forces feuding with STC over control of oil in government territory
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
PROFILE
Name: Enhance Fitness
Year started: 2018
Based: UAE
Employees: 200
Amount raised: $3m
Investors: Global Ventures and angel investors
The Prison Letters of Nelson Mandela
Edited by Sahm Venter
Published by Liveright
Landfill in numbers
• Landfill gas is composed of 50 per cent methane
• Methane is 28 times more harmful than Co2 in terms of global warming
• 11 million total tonnes of waste are being generated annually in Abu Dhabi
• 18,000 tonnes per year of hazardous and medical waste is produced in Abu Dhabi emirate per year
• 20,000 litres of cooking oil produced in Abu Dhabi’s cafeterias and restaurants every day is thrown away
• 50 per cent of Abu Dhabi’s waste is from construction and demolition
Results
Ashraf Ghani 50.64 per cent
Abdullah Abdullah 39.52 per cent
Gulbuddin Hekmatyar 3.85 per cent
Rahmatullah Nabil 1.8 per cent
What drives subscription retailing?
Once the domain of newspaper home deliveries, subscription model retailing has combined with e-commerce to permeate myriad products and services.
The concept has grown tremendously around the world and is forecast to thrive further, according to UnivDatos Market Insights’ report on recent and predicted trends in the sector.
The global subscription e-commerce market was valued at $13.2 billion (Dh48.5bn) in 2018. It is forecast to touch $478.2bn in 2025, and include the entertainment, fitness, food, cosmetics, baby care and fashion sectors.
The report says subscription-based services currently constitute “a small trend within e-commerce”. The US hosts almost 70 per cent of recurring plan firms, including leaders Dollar Shave Club, Hello Fresh and Netflix. Walmart and Sephora are among longer established retailers entering the space.
UnivDatos cites younger and affluent urbanites as prime subscription targets, with women currently the largest share of end-users.
That’s expected to remain unchanged until 2025, when women will represent a $246.6bn market share, owing to increasing numbers of start-ups targeting women.
Personal care and beauty occupy the largest chunk of the worldwide subscription e-commerce market, with changing lifestyles, work schedules, customisation and convenience among the chief future drivers.
What is graphene?
Graphene is a single layer of carbon atoms arranged like honeycomb.
It was discovered in 2004, when Russian-born Manchester scientists Andrei Geim and Kostya Novoselov were "playing about" with sticky tape and graphite - the material used as "lead" in pencils.
Placing the tape on the graphite and peeling it, they managed to rip off thin flakes of carbon. In the beginning they got flakes consisting of many layers of graphene. But as they repeated the process many times, the flakes got thinner.
By separating the graphite fragments repeatedly, they managed to create flakes that were just one atom thick. Their experiment had led to graphene being isolated for the very first time.
At the time, many believed it was impossible for such thin crystalline materials to be stable. But examined under a microscope, the material remained stable, and when tested was found to have incredible properties.
It is many times times stronger than steel, yet incredibly lightweight and flexible. It is electrically and thermally conductive but also transparent. The world's first 2D material, it is one million times thinner than the diameter of a single human hair.
But the 'sticky tape' method would not work on an industrial scale. Since then, scientists have been working on manufacturing graphene, to make use of its incredible properties.
In 2010, Geim and Novoselov were awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics. Their discovery meant physicists could study a new class of two-dimensional materials with unique properties.
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
'Ashkal'
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Polarised public
31% in UK say BBC is biased to left-wing views
19% in UK say BBC is biased to right-wing views
19% in UK say BBC is not biased at all
Source: YouGov
Dunki
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