No major league in Europe has had its landscape altered as much as France’s in the past five years.
In early 2011, Ligue 1 was wondering if it even deserved to be categorised as one of the elite European divisions, its club budgets seeming so dwarfed by those of Spain’s big two, by the Premier League, the Bundesliga and the top of Serie A.
With the takeover of Paris Saint-Germain by Qatari investors, France had a sudden, startling presence among the continent’s heavyweights, a financial muscle that, as in each of the past four summers, has been flexed again this August with the purchase for more than €60 million (Dh240m) of Angel di Maria from Manchester United.
Nowhere in Europe has the physical landscape of a football culture changed so dramatically as in France, either.
New stadiums are on display throughout Ligue 1 and the likes of Lyon, Bordeaux, Lille and Nice may have but a fraction of PSG’s transfer spending power, but they certainly look the part of ambitious, go-getting institutions.
Bordeaux, Lille and Nice are all in smart new homes, and Lyon are preparing to move into theirs this season that begins on Friday night.
The new arenas are a pointer to why this is a big year for French football.
Once the Ligue 1 campaign is over, the continent’s finest international players will arrive in France, for the European Championship, staged across the new venues and some polished up older ones. Hosts France have a shot at winning the trophy.
Ligue 1, PSG apart, is still more used to seeing its finest international footballers depart in June and July as they chase higher wages and more prestigious leagues.
Some of the clubs who hope to make a sustained challenge to PSG’s hold on a title they have won the past three years on the trot may worry they are weakened by the loss of senior men.
Marseille have said au revoir to Dmitri Payet and Andre Ayew, both gone to mid-ranking Premier League clubs, West Ham United and Swansea City. Monaco's habit of selling off young starlets means they are without Geoffrey Kondogbia – to Inter Milan – and Yannick Carrasco, who has joined Atletico Madrid.
One intrigue, with four weeks to run until the close of the transfer window, is what happens to Alexandre Lacazette, Lyon’s striker and leading scorer in the 2014/15 campaign.
PSG admire him, as do some leading English clubs, and the Paris juggernaut would not only be even more formidable for his acquisition but Lyon, runners-up last term, would look far less convincing rivals without him.
PSG are hardly short-staffed up front, with Edinson Cavani still on the roster, Zlatan Ibrahimovic still only flirting with AC Milan’s interest in him, but they are covetous of Lacazette.
They need only look over the border at the Bundesliga to know that nothing maintains a club’s long-term grip on the summit of the domestic hierarchy like pinching away the next best team’s star man. Since Bayern Munich took Mario Gotze and Robert Lewandowski from Borussia Dortmund, they have opened up a huge gap between the two clubs.
Yet the France of a financially dominant PSG is not like Germany; Ligue 1 not a one-horse race by November.
Though PSG have finished up with comfortable leads over their closest pursuers in 2013, 2014, and 2015, there has been suspense in all of those races.
At the winter-break stage in all three of the campaigns the PSG advantage was narrow, or non-existent: Last Christmas, PSG trailed both Marseille and Lyon in the table and coach Laurent Blanc’s future in charge looked tenuous.
His position would be strengthened by one match above all, the second leg of the Uefa Champions League last-16 tie at Chelsea, when PSG emerged, on away goals, having had Ibrahimovic sent off in the first half.
It was to the next phase of PSG’s development Di Maria referred to ahead of his medical with the club last week: “I want to help this club reach the later stages of the Champions League,” said the Argentine. “They broke the barrier of the quarter-finals last season and I want to help them go farther.”
Monaco broke that last-16 ceiling in the European Cup, too, and although the club of the Principality are no longer the extravagant spenders of two years ago, their new business model is fascinating: a high turnover, and an emphasis on youth and development, much like Monaco had the last time France prepared for hosting a major tournament, the World Cup of 1998.
Back then, several Monaco graduates – Thierry Henry, Lilian Thuram and Emmanuel Petit among them – won that World Cup.
Lyon, too, have a rich seam of native French talent, epitomised by the potential of Nabil Fekir. Despite a ragged set of pre-season results, they still look the best equipped to push PSG.
Marseille will hope to have a longer say in the outcome than they did in 2014/15 with Marcelo Bielsa, the dogmatic, eccentric coach embarking on his second season in charge there.
No league with him in the cast, or Hatem Ben Arfa, looking to resurrect his career at Nice, on the stage, or Ibrahimovic lording it, can be described as second rate for entertainment.
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Western Clubs Champions League:
- Friday, Sep 8 - Abu Dhabi Harlequins v Bahrain
- Friday, Sep 15 – Kandy v Abu Dhabi Harlequins
- Friday, Sep 22 – Kandy v Bahrain
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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.
Read more about the coronavirus
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Drivers’ championship standings after Singapore:
1. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes - 263
2. Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari - 235
3. Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes - 212
4. Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull - 162
5. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari - 138
6. Sergio Perez, Force India - 68
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Griselda
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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Labour dispute
The insured employee may still file an ILOE claim even if a labour dispute is ongoing post termination, but the insurer may suspend or reject payment, until the courts resolve the dispute, especially if the reason for termination is contested. The outcome of the labour court proceedings can directly affect eligibility.
- Abdullah Ishnaneh, Partner, BSA Law
The biog
Name: Younis Al Balooshi
Nationality: Emirati
Education: Doctorate degree in forensic medicine at the University of Bonn
Hobbies: Drawing and reading books about graphic design
Milestones on the road to union
1970
October 26: Bahrain withdraws from a proposal to create a federation of nine with the seven Trucial States and Qatar.
December: Ahmed Al Suwaidi visits New York to discuss potential UN membership.
1971
March 1: Alex Douglas Hume, Conservative foreign secretary confirms that Britain will leave the Gulf and “strongly supports” the creation of a Union of Arab Emirates.
July 12: Historic meeting at which Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid make a binding agreement to create what will become the UAE.
July 18: It is announced that the UAE will be formed from six emirates, with a proposed constitution signed. RAK is not yet part of the agreement.
August 6: The fifth anniversary of Sheikh Zayed becoming Ruler of Abu Dhabi, with official celebrations deferred until later in the year.
August 15: Bahrain becomes independent.
September 3: Qatar becomes independent.
November 23-25: Meeting with Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid and senior British officials to fix December 2 as date of creation of the UAE.
November 29: At 5.30pm Iranian forces seize the Greater and Lesser Tunbs by force.
November 30: Despite a power sharing agreement, Tehran takes full control of Abu Musa.
November 31: UK officials visit all six participating Emirates to formally end the Trucial States treaties
December 2: 11am, Dubai. New Supreme Council formally elects Sheikh Zayed as President. Treaty of Friendship signed with the UK. 11.30am. Flag raising ceremony at Union House and Al Manhal Palace in Abu Dhabi witnessed by Sheikh Khalifa, then Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi.
December 6: Arab League formally admits the UAE. The first British Ambassador presents his credentials to Sheikh Zayed.
December 9: UAE joins the United Nations.
La Mer lowdown
La Mer beach is open from 10am until midnight, daily, and is located in Jumeirah 1, well after Kite Beach. Some restaurants, like Cupagahwa, are open from 8am for breakfast; most others start at noon. At the time of writing, we noticed that signs for Vicolo, an Italian eatery, and Kaftan, a Turkish restaurant, indicated that these two restaurants will be open soon, most likely this month. Parking is available, as well as a Dh100 all-day valet option or a Dh50 valet service if you’re just stopping by for a few hours.
Emergency
Director: Kangana Ranaut
Stars: Kangana Ranaut, Anupam Kher, Shreyas Talpade, Milind Soman, Mahima Chaudhry
Rating: 2/5
The specs
Engine: 3.6 V6
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Power: 295bhp
Torque: 353Nm
Price: Dh155,000
On sale: now
Specs
Engine: Electric motor generating 54.2kWh (Cooper SE and Aceman SE), 64.6kW (Countryman All4 SE)
Power: 218hp (Cooper and Aceman), 313hp (Countryman)
Torque: 330Nm (Cooper and Aceman), 494Nm (Countryman)
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh158,000 (Cooper), Dh168,000 (Aceman), Dh190,000 (Countryman)
WOMAN AND CHILD
Director: Saeed Roustaee
Starring: Parinaz Izadyar, Payman Maadi
Rating: 4/5
How The Debt Panel's advice helped readers in 2019
December 11: 'My husband died, so what happens to the Dh240,000 he owes in the UAE?'
JL, a housewife from India, wrote to us about her husband, who died earlier this month. He left behind an outstanding loan of Dh240,000 and she was hoping to pay it off with an insurance policy he had taken out. She also wanted to recover some of her husband’s end-of-service liabilities to help support her and her son.
“I have no words to thank you for helping me out,” she wrote to The Debt Panel after receiving the panellists' comments. “The advice has given me an idea of the present status of the loan and how to take it up further. I will draft a letter and send it to the email ID on the bank’s website along with the death certificate. I hope and pray to find a way out of this.”
November 26: ‘I owe Dh100,000 because my employer has not paid me for a year’
SL, a financial services employee from India, left the UAE in June after quitting his job because his employer had not paid him since November 2018. He owes Dh103,800 on four debts and was told by the panellists he may be able to use the insolvency law to solve his issue.
SL thanked the panellists for their efforts. "Indeed, I have some clarity on the consequence of the case and the next steps to take regarding my situation," he says. "Hopefully, I will be able to provide a positive testimony soon."
October 15: 'I lost my job and left the UAE owing Dh71,000. Can I return?'
MS, an energy sector employee from South Africa, left the UAE in August after losing his Dh12,000 job. He was struggling to meet the repayments while securing a new position in the UAE and feared he would be detained if he returned. He has now secured a new job and will return to the Emirates this month.
“The insolvency law is indeed a relief to hear,” he says. "I will not apply for insolvency at this stage. I have been able to pay something towards my loan and credit card. As it stands, I only have a one-month deficit, which I will be able to recover by the end of December."
More on Quran memorisation:
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The five pillars of Islam
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Brief scoreline:
Al Wahda 2
Al Menhali 27', Tagliabue 79'
Al Nassr 3
Hamdallah 41', Giuliano 45 1', 62'
