Liverpool go into tomorrow's Premier League game against Middlesbrough boosted by crucial peace talks at the club.
The manager Rafa Benitez and Rick Parry, the chief executive, have had a clear-the-air meeting to resolve issues which have affected their relationship. The main one was Liverpool's reluctance to bankroll an £18 million (Dh124m) deal for Gareth Barry. Benitez has been promised funds, with Albert Riera and Stewart Downing now other targets. Benitez said: "It was a positive discussion and we will now move forward together."
Sunderland, who the Reds beat last Saturday, have moved for Fulham's Northern Ireland striker, David Healy after also agreeing a season-long loan for former Liverpool striker Djibril Cisse from Marseille. Blackburn, who take on Hull at home, could also sell Benni McCarthy to Sunderland as they look to take Nicola Zigic from Valencia on loan. Juventus midfielder Tiago, once of Chelsea, says he does not want to join Everton, who travel to West Brom.
Manchester City missed out on signing Cisse, but have had a bid accepted for Hamburg's Belgian centre-back Vincent Kompany.
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TOURNAMENT INFO
Fixtures
Sunday January 5 - Oman v UAE
Monday January 6 - UAE v Namibia
Wednesday January 8 - Oman v Namibia
Thursday January 9 - Oman v UAE
Saturday January 11 - UAE v Namibia
Sunday January 12 – Oman v Namibia
UAE squad
Ahmed Raza (captain), Rohan Mustafa, Mohammed Usman, CP Rizwan, Waheed Ahmed, Zawar Farid, Darius D’Silva, Karthik Meiyappan, Jonathan Figy, Vriitya Aravind, Zahoor Khan, Junaid Siddique, Basil Hameed, Chirag Suri
Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
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Match info
Australia 580
Pakistan 240 and 335
Result: Australia win by an innings and five runs
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Afghanistan squad
Gulbadin Naib (captain), Mohammad Shahzad (wicketkeeper), Noor Ali Zadran, Hazratullah Zazai, Rahmat Shah, Asghar Afghan, Hashmatullah Shahidi, Najibullah Zadran, Samiullah Shinwari, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, Dawlat Zadran, Aftab Alam, Hamid Hassan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman.