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China’s factory activity shrank at the sharpest pace since the pandemic first emerged nearly three years ago, after Beijing’s abrupt reversal of counter-epidemic measures this month set off a wave of Covid infections across the country.The official purchasing managers’ index (PMI) fell to 47.0 in December from 48.0 in November, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said yesterday.Economists in a Reuters poll had expected the PMI to come in at 48.0.The 50-point mark separates contraction from growth on a monthly basis.The drop was the biggest since the early days of the pandemic in February 2020.The data offered the first official snapshot of the manufacturing sector after China removed the world’s strictest Covid restrictions in early December.Cumulative infections likely reached 18.6mn in December, UK-based health data firm Airfinity estimated.Analysts said surging infections could cause temporary labour shortages and increased supply chain disruptions.Reuters reported on Wednesday that Tesla planned to run a reduced production schedule at its Shanghai plant in January, extending the reduced output it began this month into next year.Weakening external demand on the back of growing global recession fears amid rising interest rates, inflation and the war in Ukraine may further slow China’s exports, hurting its massive manufacturing sector and hampering an economic recovery.“Most factories I know are way below where they could be this time of year for orders next year. A lot of factories I’ve talked to are at 50%, some are below 20%,” said Cameron Johnson, a partner at Tidalwave Solutions, a supply chain consulting firm. “So even though China is opening up, manufacturing is still going to slow down because the rest of the world’s economy is slowing down.Factories will have workers, but they will have no orders.”NBS said 56.3% of surveyed manufacturers reported that they were greatly affected by the epidemic in December, up 15.5 percentage points from the previous month, although most also said they expected the situation would gradually improve.Chinese President Xi Jinping, in his New Year’s Eve speech on state television, said China’s 2022 economic output was expected to exceed 120tn yuan ($17.4tn). In 2021, inflation-adjusted gross domestic product reached 114.92tn yuan, up 8.4% from 2020.GDP expanded 3% in the first nine months of 2022, versus China’s official full-year goal of around 5.5%. The World Bank expects 2022 growth of 2.7%. China’s banking and insurance regulator pledged this week to step up financial support to small and private businesses in the catering and tourism sectors that were hit hard by the Covid-19 epidemic, stressing a consumption recovery will be a priority. The non-manufacturing PMI, which looks at services sector activity, fell to 41.6 from 46.7 in November, the NBS data showed, also marking the lowest reading since February 2020.The official composite PMI, which combines manufacturing and services, declined to 42.6 from 47.1.“The weeks before Chinese New Year are going to remain challenging for the service sector as people won’t want to go out and spend more than necessary for fear of catching an infection,” said Mark Williams, chief Asia economist at Capital Economics.“But the outlook should brighten around the time that people return from the Chinese New Year holiday — infections will have dropped back and a large share of people will have recently had Covid and feel they have a degree of immunity.”

Riyadh: Portugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo has joined Saudi Arabian club Al Nassr on a 2-1/2 year deal, a month after the 37-year-old forward became a free agent when his contract with Premier League club Manchester United was terminated.Here is what you need to know about the club.WHAT IS AL NASSR’S HISTORY?• Formed in 1955, Al Nassr is based in the Saudi capital of Riyadh and the club plays in the country’s top division — the Saudi Professional League (SPL), which has 18 teams.• It finished third last season, six points behind champions Al Hilal.• Al Nassr are the second-most successful team in the league with nine titles. Their last win was in the 2018-19 season. Only Al Hilal, also based in Riyadh, have won more titles (18).• They have also won the country’s knockout cup, the King’s Cup, six times, most recently in 1990.• The league’s all-time top scorer Majed Abdullah played for Al Nassr. The former Saudi striker scored 189 goals and averaged nearly a goal a game.• Al Nassr’s home ground is Mrsool Park, which has a capacity of 25,000.• Al Nassr’s best performance in Asia’s premier club competition, the AFC Champions League, came in 1995 when they finished runners-up.• Saudi teams have won the AFC Champions League six times, with Al Hilal claiming a record four titles while Al Ittihad won the continental competition twice.WHO IS AL NASSR’S COACH AND WHO IS IN THEIR SQUAD?• Al Nassr are coached by Rudi Garcia, who previously managed Lille, AS Roma, Olympique Marseille and Olympique Lyonnais. The Frenchman has been in charge since June.• SPL clubs can register eight foreign players but only seven can be named in a matchday squad.• Other notable foreign players in the squad include Cameroon’s World Cup hero Vincent Aboubakar — who changed the game against Serbia and scored the winner to stun Brazil in their last group game in Qatar.• Colombian goalkeeper David Ospina, who previously played for Arsenal and Napoli, as well as former Brazil international and midfielder Luiz Gustavo are also in the squad.HOW ARE AL NASSR DOING IN THE CURRENT SEASON?• Al Nassr are second in the league this season after 10 rounds, two points behind leaders Al Shabab.• They must win the league this season to qualify for the 2023-24 AFC Champions League.WHAT CAN RONALDO BRING TO AL NASSR?• Ronaldo has scored over 700 goals in club football and over 100 in international football to sit top of the all-time scoring charts with 819 strikes.• Despite Manchester United’s struggles last season, an ageing Ronaldo showed he still had some gas left in the tank when he finished top scorer with 24 goals, including 18 in the Premier League.• But he struggled this season at United, scoring only three times in all competitions before his exit.• In Qatar, he became the first player to score in five World Cups but he soon lost his place in the starting lineup after Portugal reached the knockout stages.• Scoring goals has not been a problem for Al Nassr this season, however, with the team netting a joint league-high 24 goals after 10 games — the same as leaders Al Shabab.

Arsenal head into 2023 with a formidable seven-point lead at the top of the Premier League after a 4-2 win at Brighton, while Manchester City’s title defence suffered a major setback as Everton snatched a 1-1 draw against the champions yesterday.Mikel Arteta’s side powered to a fifth successive league victory thanks to goals from Bukayo Saka, Martin Odegaard, Eddie Nketiah and Gabriel Martinelli on New Year’s Eve at the Amex Stadium. The Gunners stormed into the lead after just two minutes when Martinelli’s deflected effort reached England forward Saka, who took a deft touch before slotting past Brighton keeper Robert Sanchez.Arsenal were in complete control and Danish midfielder Odegaard netted with a thumping 39th minute strike after a corner was cleared to the edge of the Brighton area. Nketiah scored Arsenal’s third in the 47th minute, poking home after Sanchez failed to hold Martinelli’s effort.Kaoru Mitoma’s 65th minute strike for Brighton would have shaken Arsenal’s nerves in the past, but the current crop are made of sterner stuff.Six minutes later Martinelli bagged the fourth from Odegaard’s sublime long pass, a strike that rendered irrelevant Evan Ferguson’s first league goal for Brighton in the 77th minute.Arsenal’s ninth win in their last 10 league matches was even sweeter coming just hours after second placed City stumbled at the Etihad Stadium.Pep Guardiola’s side blew the lead given to them by Erling Haaland as Demarai Gray scored an eye-catching equaliser for struggling Everton. City have failed to win two of their last three league games and head into 2023 in danger of surrendering the title they have won four times in the last five seasons.Haaland put City ahead in the 24th minute with his 27th goal in 20 competitive appearances since his close-season move from Borussia Dortmund.Riyad Mahrez provided the assist with a dazzling run and pin-point pass to the Norway striker, who slotted past Jordan Pickford in ruthless fashion.But Everton equalised against the run of play in the 64th minute as Gray robbed City midfielder Rodri and curled a blistering strike into the top corner, in the process buying under-fire boss Frank Lampard some much-needed breathing space.Guardiola stayed positive, saying: “Dropping points at home is always tough. But we played really good in the last three games and it makes me feel optimistic.”Marcus Rashford responded to his benching for missing a team meeting after over-sleeping with the late strike that clinched Manchester United’s 1-0 win at Wolves. United manager Erik ten Hag dropped Marcus Rashford because of an “internal disciplinary” issue that broke “our rules”.The 25-year-old’s exile only lasted until half-time when he was sent on by Ten Hag in a move that proved the catalyst for fourth placed United to seal their fifth successive win in all competitions.Rashford looked determined to prove Ten Hag wrong as he rampaged through the Wolves defence to score his 11th goal in all competitions this season and his third in three appearances since the World Cup.“We draw a line under it and move on. I was a little bit late for a meeting. I overslept but it can happen,” Rashford said.“Obviously it’s team rules. I made a mistake. I’m obviously disappointed not to play but I understand the decision and I’m happy we managed to win anyway.”Ten Hag added: “It’s good after the decision. I think it happens often. Coming in he was bright, lively, he scored a goal and that is the right reaction.“Of course (that is the end of the matter). Everyone has to match the rules. This is the right answer.”Third placed Newcastle’s six-match winning run came to a halt in a 0-0 draw against Leeds at St James’ Park. Joao Palhinha’s last-gasp goal sealed Fulham’s 2-1 win against Southampton, who sit bottom of the table after a fifth successive defeat.Crystal Palace eased to a 2-0 win at Bournemouth as Patrick Vieira’s side ended their three-match goal drought thanks to Jordan Ayew and Eberechi Eze.

Barcelona stumbled in the Spanish title race with a 1-1 draw against rivals Espanyol in a bad-tempered Catalan derby yesterday, levelling Real Madrid at the top of La Liga.Xavi’s side threw away the two-point advantage they had earned before the World Cup break, with Joselu’s penalty pegging Barcelona back after Marcos Alonso’s opener.Both teams finished with 10 men as Jordi Alba and Vinicius Souza were sent off, with referee Mateu Lahoz allowing the game to spiral out of control at Camp Nou. “The draw is our fault, we can talk about the referee and other things but they are our mistakes,” said Xavi.“I think Mateu is a referee who controls games but today it got away from him in my opinion, he let the game get totally out of control.”“(But) I don’t blame him for anything, the fault is ours. We lowered our intensity.”The teams were at loggerheads before a ball was kicked because Barcelona started Robert Lewandowski, who had been banned before a late court ruling allowed him to play. The forward, due to miss three league matches, was only allowed to feature thanks to a controversial decision announced on Friday, suspending his punishment.It greatly angered Espanyol, whose president and directors boycotted the match, while Barca coach Xavi admitted his team had prepared all week expecting to be without the division’s top goalscorer. The Spanish football federation said in a statement yesterday they could not override the court’s decision.Lewandowski was not at his best but Barcelona took the lead after just seven minutes with Alonso capitalising on shoddy set-piece defending from Espanyol to head home.The former Chelsea defender, deployed as a centre-back, should have doubled his tally but sent Alba’s cross wide from point-blank range.Espanyol’s only chance of the first half came when Nico Melamed had a shot deflected wide of Marc-Andre ter Stegen’s far post, with the hosts looking comfortable. “We wanted to leave with a win, to leave as leaders,” said Sergi Roberto. “We had a very good first half, we lacked the goal to kill the game. In the second half there were a lot of cards, sendings off and the game stopped a lot.”Barcelona faded after the break with wingers Ansu Fati and Raphinha struggling to create danger. The visitors, 16th, weren’t particularly threatening either but won a penalty after Alonso tangled with Joselu in the area, and the forward dispatched it down the middle. Lahoz, racking up the bookings, sent off Alba for two in quick succession, before dismissing both Souza, for a foul, and Leandro Cabrera for a clash with Lewandowski seconds later. However he cancelled the latter dismissal after watching the incident again with VAR, and Barcelona could not find a winner in the nine minutes added on.Barcelona and Real Madrid, who beat Real Valladolid on Friday, are both on 38 points from 15 games, leaving the title race neck and neck ahead of the new year.

LeBron James celebrated his 38th birthday by scoring a season-high 47 points, grabbing 10 rebounds and adding nine assists to spark the Los Angeles Lakers to a 130-121 victory in Atlanta on Friday.It was his first 40-point effort of the season, the second achieved in a birthday contest and the 70th 40-point performance of his spectacular 20-season NBA career.Even more amazing, teammates were congratulating him for saying before the game he would deliver a 40-point birthday beatdown against the Hawks.“I called it,” James said. “I told them before the game. I had to make it happen. After starting 1-for-5 I didn’t know if it was going to happen.”James, playing his third game in four nights, actually began shooting 1-for-6 but finished 18-of-27 from the floor, 4-of-6 from 3-point range, and 7-of-9 from the free throw line.“I didn’t even know it was three in four nights. I just knew I had to get my mind and body ready to go,” James said. “Make sure my body stays fresh but my mind more importantly.”James became only the fourth player in NBA history to score 45 points in a game at age 38 or older, joining Michael Jordan, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Jamal Crawford.The Hawks, powered by 29 points from Trae Young, led by as many as 15 points in the first half before James rallied the Lakers, scoring 16 points in the second and fourth quarters and 13 in the third.The only birthday contest in which James scored more points was when he got 48 against Atlanta in 2009.James, only one assist shy of the NBA’s first birthday triple double, is on pace to overtake Abdul-Jabbar and become the NBA’s all-time scoring leader in February.The Lakers (15-21) were without star big man Anthony Davis, out with a foot injury.Having his wife, mother and many other relatives and friends watching helped inspire James.“It’s a treat,” James said. “To have them here and support me on the road, on my birthday, is very important to me because they are the rock of everything I do, my mom and my wife and my family.”The night’s best 1-2 punch came at New Orleans, where the Pelicans got 42 points from C J McCollum and 36 by Zion Williamson to beat Philadelphia 127-116 for their fifth consecutive victory.McCollum hit 13-of-20 from the floor, including a record 11 3-pointers on 16 shots from beyond the arc, while Williamson netted 13-of-19 shots from the floor.Joel Embiid scored 37 in a losing cause with James Harden adding 20 points and 10 assists for the 76ers (20-14).The Pelicans improved to 23-12 to keep a share of the Western Conference lead with Denver, which outlasted visiting Miami 124-119.Serbian centre Nikola Jokic had a triple double with 19 points, 12 rebounds and 12 assists to spark Denver, which had eight double-digit scorers. Tyler Herro led Miami with 26 points.Jordan Poole scored 41 points, Klay Thompson added 31 and the defending NBA champion Golden State Warriors closed the game on a 16-2 run to beat visiting Portland 118-112.The Warriors stretched their win streak without injured Stephen Curry to four games while Damian Lillard scored 34 points to pace Portland.Greek star forward Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 43 points and grabbed 20 rebounds to lead the Milwaukee Bucks over visiting Minnesota 123-114.The Bucks snapped a four-game losing streak while the Timberwolves saw their losing slide stretch to five games.Zach LaVine scored 43 points on 15-of-20 shooting to spark Chicago’s 132-118 home victory over NBA doormat Detroit.At Sacramento, Kevin Huerter scored 30 points, including a game-winning 3-pointer with nine seconds to play, to give the host Kings a 126-125 victory over Utah.Gary Trent Jr scored 35 points to lead Toronto over Phoenix 113-104, the Raptors snapping a five-game home losing streak.Latvian forward Kristaps Porzingis had game-highs of 30 points and 13 rebounds to lead Washington’s 119-100 triumph at Orlando.

Rising Canadian star Felix Auger-Aliassime said yesterday he was determined to “improve and improve” in a bid to keep riding the wave of success he enjoyed over the closing stages of 2022.Speaking ahead of the season-opening Adelaide International, the 22-year-old said his brilliant late-season form had nothing to do with luck and was all down to his preparation. The world number six won three tournaments in October and November before leading Canada to Davis Cup glory when they beat Australia in the final. He said he wanted to take that form into the Australian summer.“When you have it, you try to ride that wave as long as it lasts, or at least you try to see what’s working and you try to kind of keep going with what’s working as much as you can,” Auger-Aliassime said at a press conference.“I feel like momentum plays a huge role on your confidence.“For me, it’s been great in the last few months. I like to understand why it’s happening, right?“I try to recreate it, not just think it’s some sort of stars aligned or some type of luck that you’re just trying to ride a wave on.“I think there’s reasons behind success - I feel like it’s about understanding why you’re succeeding constantly and trying to do it again.”The Canadian number one, who is seeded second in Adelaide behind Novak Djokovic, said he constantly analysed his game to try and improve.“With wins and losses, all the time I try to see what’s working, what’s not,” he said. “Then I try to improve and improve and improve.“But things have been working really well in the last few months for me, so hopefully that keeps going. I’m confident with the way I’ve been training, with the way I’ve prepared.“My body’s feeling good. My mind also. I’m confident that I can keep on playing some good tennis.” Auger-Aliassime plays a qualifier in the first round.Rune looks to build on success after surreal seasonHolger Rune said his surge up the world rankings in a stellar 12 months felt surreal, but the Danish teenager is fully focused on building on the momentum in 2023 as he gears up for the season’s first Grand Slam in Australia.The 19-year-old won three titles in 2022, including his first ATP Masters 1000 crown in Paris, where he defeated 21-times major champion Novak Djokovic in the final after getting past four other top-10 players along the way.Rune begins his season on Sunday against Japan’s Yoshihito Nishioka at the Adelaide International, a tournament where he was ranked 103 in January. The ATP Newcomer of the Year admitted his rise to number 11 felt dreamlike. “Yeah, it’s happened a lot. I still remember when I was here one year ago and to be here at a different ranking and different everything, it feels great. It’s been a great season,” Rune told a news conference on Saturday when asked if 2022 felt “surreal”.“Obviously some ups and downs, as well, but all in all, I keep improving, keep believing and I’m happy where I am right now. But still I want to continue to do better.”Rune said he had extended his partnership with Patrick Mouratoglou, who initially came on board as his coach in October until the end of the year, with the noted Frenchman now set to work with him at the Australian Open.“It’s great to have him in my team. We have a lot of fun both on and off the court and he’s a really good coach. He’s coming with a lot of good advice to me, both mentally, Tennis, everything,” Rune said. Rune said his 2022 exploits meant he had earned the respect of his opponents but there was also a target on his back. “But I don’t really think about it. I just think it’s great that I keep believing, working, improving and that’s really what I focus on,” Rune said.

World number two Ons Jabeur said yesterday her pair of 2022 Grand Slam finals have only increased her desire to finally lift a major trophy. The Tunisian top seed at the Adelaide International lost in three sets to Elena Rybakina at Wimbledon last July, then reached the US Open title match two months later, going down to Iga Swiatek. She said she was keen to take her game to the highest podium, starting at the Australian Open in January. “I was ready to win this year (2022), but it didn’t happen,” she said. “I’m doing everything possible to win a Grand Slam. I’m just going to go for it. “This year, 2023, is about just being free and playing my game. I’m glad I got the experience from two finals in a Grand Slam.” Jabeur, the first Arab woman in the WTA top 10, said she and her team laboured during the off-season to fine-tune her powerful game. “We’ve worked really hard to improve a lot of things, we are more aware of my game,” she said. “I feel like this year is going to be very special for me. I gave it all, I put in the hard work during practices, and I’m hitting the ball well.” And the 28-year-old said the infamous Australian summer weather would not be a problem for her. “I’m from Tunisia and used to the hot weather - that’s a good thing,” she said. “The most important thing is to be ready, to hydrate better and do (your) routine for hot weather.” Jabeur will open in Adelaide after a first-round bye against the winner from Romania’s Sorana Cirstea and a qualifier.

World number five Aryna Sabalenka is aiming to hold onto the momentum from her season-ending run at the WTA Finals when she starts as second seed at the Adelaide International next week.The Belarusian lost in the decider of the WTA Finals in Texas in November to France’s Caroline Garcia after stunning top-ranked Iga Swiatek enroute.With an elusive maiden Grand Slam title on her mind, the 24-year-old only took a week off before resuming training for the Australian Open where she has never gone beyond the fourth round.Sabalanka said she was keen to get as much match practice as possible in Adelaide in the run-up to the opening Grand Slam of the year in January as she searches for a first WTA title since the Madrid Masters in 2021.“We all want to win this tournament, that would really help me at the Australian Open,” she said. “I will do my best here, because I feel like I need to play some matches.“I prefer to play matches, to be in a different situations on court, make sure that in the Grand Slam I’ll be ready for everything.”Sabalenka, who is seeded behind Wimbledon finalist Ons Jabeur at the Memorial Drive venue, has a bye in the first round which starts today. She will begin against the winner from China’s Zhang Shuai and Russian Liudmila Samsonova.

Rafael Nadal lost his opening match of the season yesterday in the countdown to the defence of his Australian Open title, but women’s world number one Iga Swiatek cruised to victory at the United Cup.Nadal, who was also below-par at the season-ending ATP Finals in November, crashed to Britain’s 14th-ranked Cameron Norrie 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 in the mixed-teams tournament in Sydney. The 22-time Grand Slam champion struggled with his first serve, getting just 58 percent in, which ultimately cost him a first defeat to Norrie in their fifth meeting.“It’s pretty crazy, I never won a set before (against him) so firstly I wanted to do that and I had to stay super patient,” Norrie said after the 2hrs 44mins battle at a packed Ken Rosewall Arena.“It was a super physical match and huge to get through that and finally beat him. He’s beaten me easy the last few times.”There was little to separate them in the opening games, with a first break point in game six for Nadal, but Norrie saved with a half-volley.Nadal’s relentless pressure earned him a second and this time the Spanish world number two converted with a searing cross-court forehand before methodically closing out the set in 52 minutes. But his poor first-serve was an issue and he was broken to go 4-2 behind in the second set. He saved two set points but Norrie nailed a third on his serve to level at one set-all.Nadal fired consecutive double faults to open set three and while he recovered to hold, his serve once more deserted him in the fifth game when he was broken and the 36-year-old couldn’t find a way back.In Brisbane, Swiatek got Poland off to the perfect start with a dominant 6-1, 6-3 win over Kazakhstan’s Yulia Putintseva.She broke three times in the first set and twice in the second to completely overpower her opponent in just 64 minutes.“I’m pretty happy with my performance - first matches of the season are always rusty so I’m happy that in the important moments I was very composed,” Swiatek said.“I feel that representing Poland is always really special. I am willing to focus even more because when I go on court I have goosebumps.“It’s hard to play so well when you’re so emotional, but I have to get used to it and I’m really proud to represent my country. I feel like this is a really inspiring tournament.”Also in Sydney, former world number two Alexander Zverev slumped to defeat in his first ATP match since tearing ankle ligaments during his French Open semi-final against Nadal in June.The two-time ATP Finals champion hit eight double faults in losing 6-4, 6-2 to 81st-ranked Jiri Lehecka. His German teammate Jule Niemeier then lost to Marie Bouzkova 6-2, 7-5 to give the Czech Republic a 2-0 lead in the tie.Olympic champion Zverev, who has dropped to 12 in the world from a career-high two before his injury, was clearly still struggling.He fended off break points at 2-3 in the first set but a double fault at 4-5 handed the Czech set point and he grabbed the opportunity, converting with a lob.With his serve not firing, Zverev was broken to go 3-1 behind in the second set and never recovered.“I was able to show up in crucial moments. All the experience from last year, losing to good players, gave me the confidence to play against a player like him,” said Lehecka, 21.Brazil, meanwhile, took a 2-0 lead over Norway with Beatriz Haddad Maia and Felipe Meligeni Alves both winning in straight sets.

Sweden’s Mattias Ekstrom drove his Audi hybrid to victory in the 13km-long prologue of the Dakar Rally as Qatar’s reigning champion Nasser Saleh al-Attiyah of Qatar finished 12 seconds adrift in fourth in his Toyota in Saudi Arabia yesterday.Ekstrom edged out France’s nine-time World Rally champion Sebastien Loeb (BRX) by a second. “It’s always nice to start in a good way, but, of course, the day is long and the rally is even longer,” said Ekstrom. “A good end to 2022, but tomorrow is the real start. We’ll have to try and be focused for another two weeks.”The Swede’s Audi teammate Stephane Peterhansel – the Dakar great who has won the event 14 times (eight in a car and six on a bike) – rounded out the opening podium of the 45th edition of the Dakar.Al-Attiyah and his co-driver Mathieu Baumel were the first car crew to enter the prologue stage in their Toyota GR Hilux DKR T1. A four-time winner at Dakar, al-Attiyah said finishing fourth was a ‘good result’ as he was aiming to win today’s first stage. “Finishing behind the trio is not a bad result from the perspective of fighting for the stage win tomorrow, which would come in handy to open stage 2 right before the key third stage,” the Qatari said.The prologue acts as a way to determine the order of the top 10 starters in the first stage proper today, a 603km run including 368km of timed specials. That was not lost on Ekstrom, who said it was “really good... (as) a junior in the sport, to start from the back so I have some tracks to follow”.“The race is on,” added Peterhansel, often referred to as ‘Mr Dakar’. “You put your helmet on at the start and you know you are about to be launched into the thick of it. We finished first, third and sixth. Personally, I did better than I expected. The course was more favourable to pure rally or rally-cross drivers, which I’m not, so it was a good result. I’m not used to coming up with strategies, but I’ll be in a good position to pick my starting order for tomorrow.”Australian KTM rider Toby Price edged compatriot Daniel Sanders (GasGas) in the motorbike section, with Botswana’s Ross Branch (Hero) in third, 9sec behind. Defending title holder Sam Sunderland (GasGas) came in 10th. “It’s a really good start,” said Price. “I don’t know if it’s a good thing. For sure, it’s nice to pick your starting spot, but I don’t know if it’s going to be an advantage or a disadvantage. Last year, the strategy we had was basically completely the wrong direction of what I needed to do. I’ll just leave my mind open. Long stages to go, in 14 days, a lot can happen. It’s nice to win the prologue today, but it’s not going to guarantee anything. We’ll stay on two wheels, have fun and enjoy the desert.”This year’s Dakar stretches 8,549 km over 15 days of racing, including a four-day excursion into the as yet unexplored desert dunes of the vast Rub’ al-Khali, or Empty Quarter. Some 790 riders, drivers and co-drivers set off in an array of motorcycles, cars, quads, trucks and light vehicles when the race started on the shores of the Red Sea. It finishes in the eastern Saudi city of Dammam on January 15.Prologue Stage Result(Sea Camp)1 Mattias Ekstrom/Emil Bergkvist (Team Audi Sport) 8m002 Sebastien Loeb/Fabian Lurquin (Bahrain Raid Xtreme) +1s3 Stephane Peterhansel/Edouard Boulanger (Team Audi Sport) +11s4 Nasser al-Attiyah/Mathieu Baumel (Toyota Gazoo Racing) +12s5 Guerlain Chicherit/Alex Winocq (GCK Motorsport) +13s6 Carlos Sainz/Lucas Cruz (Team Audi Sport) +14s7 Yazeed al-Rajhi/Dirk von Zitzewitz (Overdrive Racing) +16s8 Jakub Przygónski/Armand Monleon (X-Raid Mini JCW) +16s9 Orlando Terranova/Alex Haro Bravo (Bahrain Raid Xtreme) +20s10 Henk Lategan/Brett Cummings (Toyota Gazoo Racing) +21s

Some of Brazilian football legend Pele’s former teammates on Friday remembered him as the greatest player of all time, as they mourned his death and celebrated his legacy. Gerson and Pepe, who played with Pele in World Cup-winning Brazil sides, described the only man to win three World Cup trophies as a player from another planet, who was also a great guy off the pitch.Pele, whose full name was Edson Arantes do Nascimento, died on Thursday due to multiple organ failures resulting from the progression of colon cancer, according to Sao Paulo’s Albert Einstein Hospital. He was 82.Brazil has declared three days of mourning to lament his passing, with global leaders, fans and friends paying their respects to the sports icon. Gerson, who won the 1970 World Cup with Brazil alongside Pele, said in an interview from his home in Niteroi, Rio de Janeiro, that playing with him “was knowing that victory would come. “He was the best, the king of football. Edson Arantes do Nascimento has died, but Pele is eternal,” said 81-year-old Gerson.Both he and Pele scored in the 1970 final, when Brazil thrashed Italy 4-1 to clinch their third world title. Jose Macia, nicknamed Pepe, participated in the previous two tournaments in 1958 and 1962, and also played with Pele for club side Santos.He praised his former teammate as one of a kind, whose skills will never be seen again. “I joke that his mother threw away the formula she used to create him. There will never be someone like him,” said Pepe, 87, in an interview at his home in Socorro, a small city near Sao Paulo. “Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Neymar, Maradona are all exceptional, wonderful players, but they are human. Pele was not human, he came from Saturn.”Gerson went further: “Is there any place further than Saturn?” he wondered. “If so, that’s where he came from”.Pele was the best, says KloppLiverpool boss Juergen Klopp is convinced no one can be greater than Pele but what he marvelled at the most was the Brazilian football great’s humility despite being one of the most popular people on the planet.Klopp said he did not have even “0.01%” of the skills of Pele and described how he received a signed number 10 Brazil shirt on his birthday when he met the former striker and German great Franz Beckenbauer at the World Cup in 2006. “Whatever anyone tells me in the future, Pele was the best. I will not forget that,” Klopp said.“Both of them showed me that if you are the most famous person on the planet, you can still be a completely normal guy. That’s what I love the most, that’s what I took as a lesson, that’s something I will never forget. So because I’m Christian, this is not over. He will now play football in a wonderful stadium with fantastic players from the past.”

From the second floor of her house, Onofra Alves Costa Rovai can see the Vila Belmiro, the stadium where Brazilian football legend Pele first took the world’s breath away.Rovai has fond memories of chatting with “O Rei” (The King), who died on Thursday in a Sao Paulo hospital at age 82, triggering an outpouring of emotion in Brazil – and especially in Santos, the city where he played most of his storied career. “He would come out that door after matches and we would talk football. He was like that – just an ordinary person, he would talk to anyone about anything. He was marvellous,” said Rovai, 91, motioning to the stadium’s main gate, a stone’s throw from her modest blue house. “My mother used to love Pele,” the white-haired retiree recalled with a smile. “What a player. My God in heaven, he was born for it.”Santos, a southeastern port city around 75 kilometres (45 miles) from Sao Paulo, is preparing a massive tribute to its late hero, widely considered the greatest footballer of all time. A 24-hour wake for Pele, whose real name was Edson Arantes do Nascimento, will be held at the 16,000-capacity stadium from tomorrow till Tuesday.That will be followed by what is expected to be a massive funeral procession through the city’s streets. He will then be buried in Santos’s Memorial Cemetery in a private ceremony on Tuesday. Pele debuted for Santos at the age of just 15, and went on to score 1,091 goals in 1,116 matches for the club, winning 45 titles along the way, according to the team’s records. The Vila Belmiro has become a place of pilgrimage for a stream of die-hard fans since Thursday, all eager to pay homage to the only player in history to win three World Cups. As Brazil held the second of three days of national mourning for Pele on Friday – extended to seven days in Santos and surrounding Sao Paulo state – a light rain drizzled from a gray sky in the port city, fitting the local mood.Several houses sported Santos FC banners celebrating Pele’s 18-year career with the club. Three bouquets of flowers had been placed at the foot of a Pele statue outside the stadium.One lifelong Santos fan, Anaur Aparecido Deolindo, went to the stadium as soon as he heard the news.“It’s as if I lost a family member. He was just a boy when he arrived here. He grew up here and went on to conquer the world,” the 57-year-old retiree said. “Now he’s back where he belongs, right in God’s lap,” he added. “Edson died, but Pele is eternal.”Jonas Augusto dos Santos, another lifelong Santos fan, like his father and grandfather, went to the stadium with a group of friends in tribute.“Life hasn’t been easy for Brazilians, that’s why we’re always in search of a hero. Pele may be dead, but he won’t stop being one, said the 28-year-old software analyst. He added: “I’m sure his soul is right around this stadium, and in the hearts of all Brazilians.”Wearing the club’s jersey, elementary school teacher Luiz Santos said the gloomy weather had kept many mourners away - but that he was sure the turnout for the wake and funeral procession would be massive. “This is going to be packed Monday,” he said. “A lot of people are going to come.”

Chinese state-media have railed against the growing number of foreign governments imposing Covid tests on travellers from China, calling the measures “discriminatory.” Having kept its borders all but shut for three years, imposing a strict regime of lockdowns and relentless testing, Beijing abruptly reversed course toward living with the virus on Dec 7, and infections have spread rapidly in recent weeks.South Korea and Spain yesterday joined a growing list of countries, including the United States, India and others, which have imposed Covid tests for travellers from China over concerns about the scale of its Covid outbreak and scepticism over Beijing’s health statistics.Malaysia said it would screen all international arrivals for fever. “The real intention is to sabotage China’s three years of Covid-19 control efforts and attack the country’s system,” state-run tabloid Global Times said in an article late on Thursday, calling the restrictions “unfounded” and “discriminatory.”China will stop requiring inbound travellers to go into quarantine from Jan 8. But it will still demand a negative PCR test result within 48 hours before departure.Senior Chinese health officials held a video conference with the World Health Organisation yesterday and exchanged views the current epidemic situation, China’s National Health Commission said in a statement without elaborating further. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said earlier in the day that the organisation needed more information to assess the latest surge in infections in China, without taking a position on the issue of travel tests. Not all countries are imposing tests. European Union members, in particular, are divided.Over the past days, officials in France, Germany and Portugal have said they saw no need for now for new restrictions, while Austria has stressed the economic benefits of Chinese tourists’ return to Europe. Global spending by Chinese visitors was worth more than $250bn a year before the pandemic. Acting a day after EU health officials failed to agree on a joint course of action, Spain followed Italy’s lead to become the second of the bloc’s 27 members to require tests for travellers from China.“At a national level, we will implement airport controls requiring all passengers coming from China to show a negative Covid-19 test or proof of a full vaccination course,” Health Minister Carolina Darias said. EU health experts are expected to hold a crisis response meeting next week, according to an EU source.In the meantime, EU health chief Stella Kyriakides wrote to the bloc’s health ministers to suggest they immediately scale up genomic sequencing of Covid-19 infections and monitoring of waste water, including from airports, to detect any new variants given the virus surge in China.The US Center for Disease Control and Prevention is also considering sampling wastewater from international aircraft to track any emerging new variants, the agency told Reuters. The United States has raised concerns about potential mutations of the virus as it sweeps through the world’s most populous country, as well as over China’s data transparency. Meanwhile, a Covid vaccination campaign for German nationals in China started its pilot phase, the German ambassador in Beijing, Patricia Flor said on Twitter.A shipment of 11,500 doses of the BioNTech vaccine arrived last week, enough to give one shot each to half of the 20,000 or so German nationals residing in China.

Democrats in Congress released six years of Donald Trump’s tax records to the public yesterday, disclosing documents the former president long sought to keep secret and dealing another setback as he again seeks the White House in 2024.A Democratic-controlled US House of Representatives committee released Trump’s redacted returns for 2015 through 2020, capping a multi-year battle between the Republican former president and Democratic lawmakers that was settled only last month by the US Supreme Court.Aside from the returns themselves, the release did not contain much new.In response, Trump warned of dire consequences and used the occasion to seek campaign donations.Trump’s tax data will now be available for in-depth investigations by journalists, independent tax experts and others during the run-up to the 2024 presidential election, and could shed light on Trump’s wealth, his businesses’ performance and how he reduced his tax liability.The nearly 6,000 pages of records include over 2,700 pages of personal returns from Trump and his wife Melania Trump, plus more than 3,000 pages of returns from his businesses.The records show that Trump’s income and tax liability fluctuated dramatically from 2015 through 2020, during his first presidential bid and subsequent term in office.He and his wife claimed large deductions and losses, and paid little or no income tax in several of those years.Trump, a businessman who held public office for the first time when he entered the White House in 2017, was the first presidential candidate in decades not to release his tax returns.He sued the committee to try to keep them private but the US high court ruled in the committee’s favour.In findings disclosed last week, the committee said the tax-collecting Internal Revenue Service (IRS) broke its own rules by not auditing Trump for three out of four years while he was president“Our findings turned out to be simple – IRS did not begin their mandatory audit of the former president until I made my initial request,” House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal said in a statement.Neal first requested the returns in 2019, arguing that Congress needed them to determine if legislation on presidential tax returns was warranted.It was the latest blow for Trump, 76, who was impeached twice by the Democratic-led House only to be acquitted both times by the US Senate and now faces multiple legal woes as he mounts a 2024 re-election bid.Earlier this month, the House committee investigating the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol by his supporters asked federal prosecutors to charge him with four crimes including obstruction and insurrection for his role in the deadly riot.In a statement, Trump said: “The Democrats should have never done it, the Supreme Court should have never approved it, and it’s going to lead to horrible things for so many people.”“The great USA divide will now grow far worse. The Radical Left Democrats have weaponised everything, but remember, that is a dangerous two-way street!” he said.Representative Kevin Brady, the House panel’s top Republican, warned that future committee chairmen will have “nearly unlimited” power to make public the tax returns of private citizens, including “political enemies”.“This is a regrettable stain on the Ways and Means Committee and Congress and will make American politics even more divisive and disheartening. In the long run, Democrats will come to regret it,” Brady said in a statement.Details previously released by the panel showed Trump paid no income tax in 2020, his final full year in office, despite millions of dollars in earnings from his sprawling business empire.Democrats were on a tight timeline to find a way to handle the returns once they obtained them, given that Republicans will take control of the House on Tuesday after winning a slim majority in November’s midterm elections.The Democratic-controlled House passed a bill before it left on its winter recess that would mandate the tax-collecting IRS to complete audits of presidents’ tax filings within 90 days of their inaugurations.

Britain’s cost-of-living crisis has turned into a bitter winter in households trying to keep their energy bills down: Some lecture flatmates for keeping the lights on.Others move to better heated homes.Common energy-saving measures also include not using heating during the day — and buying an electric blanket instead of switching on radiators.It can be complicated for people in shared accommodation, with relationships complicated by different lifestyles and salaries, which means they must compromise to lower their bills.“Everyone is conscious about not leaving lights on,” said Joe, a 33-year-old schoolteacher who shares an east London home with five other people.The housemates have together agreed to turn off heating in bedrooms.They still warm the living room, where two of them work from home, but they use an electric heater during the day rather than firing up the boiler.Arguments can flare up, particularly when housemates bring partners to stay over. Notes are sometimes left as a reminder to turn the heating down.“We have had a few passive-aggressive messages: If you’re not in the room, turn the lights off,” added Joe.Other London flatmates opted to avoid all heating unless the temperature dips to a really cold level, as it did over Christmas.Household electricity and gas bills have rocketed across Europe this year, after key energy producer Russia invaded Ukraine in February.In Britain, the average domestic energy bill has roughly doubled over the last 12 months.That has helped push inflation to the highest level in four decades, in turn creating a cost-of-living crisis as wages fail to keep pace, despite the government’s partial subsidy for fuel.NO ONE SPAREDSimon Francis, campaigner at pressure group End Fuel Poverty, said that the fuel crisis was hitting everyone.“People are all just suffering from this cost-of-living crisis — so no matter really how much you’re earning, you are going to be suffering,” he said.“Obviously those people who are earning the least are suffering the most. And clearly that is potentially going to lead to tensions between housemates and flatmates.”Simon Knoplioch, a 29-year-old Frenchman who works in London’s key finance sector, says he recently left his previous house for a more efficient and modern building that retains heat.“Before we were living in an energy sieve,” he said.Landlords have “no interest” in installing installation because they enjoy high rents and strong demand in London, he added.Francis expressed concern that some tenants — whose rent includes energy bills — might not benefit from state assistance.“For some people, their landlord might actually be controlling their energy so they might be paying for it as part of their rental house,” he said.“What we’re concerned about there is that people aren’t then seeing the benefits of some of the support the government has introduced.”“So the landlords aren’t necessarily passing through the savings that they’re being given by the government.”TOUGH CHOICESThe energy crisis has sparked deep concern over the number of Britons forced to choose between heating or eating. Campaigners worry even more households will face fuel poverty, whereby they spend more than 10% of their total income on fuel.“This winter we are expecting around 7mn households right across the UK to be in fuel poverty,” added Francis.“So that means they don’t have enough money to keep their homes warm to an acceptable standard.”Some authorities are looking to establish “warm banks” that offer temporary heating in shared public spaces like libraries.

Married for over a decade, Alia Abdel-Razak is one of a million Iraqis deprived of crucial civil status documents, often caught in legal limbo in a country paralysed by bureaucracy and the ravages of war. The 37-year-old has to overcome countless hurdles just to get her children into school, and she cannot register her family to obtain the food subsidies she and her husband so desperately need.A mother of four, Abdel-Razak relies on a pro-bono lawyer from aid group the International Rescue Committee (IRC) to help her navigate the labyrinthine processes required to get her papers in order. Like many others, she struggles with endless red tape - but also the fallout from the country’s gruelling battle to defeat the Islamic State group - to obtain documents like marriage and birth certificates. “I don’t have the means, lawyers want $300-500. Where can I get this money when I don’t even have enough to eat?” she told AFP.Her dilapidated Mosul apartment bears witness to her daily struggle, with its bare concrete floors and broken windows patched up with cardboard. She was married in 2012 and gave birth to her first daughter a year later. But in 2014, IS seized Mosul and declared it the capital of its “caliphate”, driving out local officials in favour of their own administration. The absence of civil status documents obstructs access to basic services such as “education, healthcare, and social security benefits”, according to the United Nations refugee agency UNHCR.It can also “lead to restricted freedom of movement, increased risk of arrest and detention”, the agency says. Abdel-Razak’s lawyer has launched a legal process to have her marriage and children officially recognised, with a decision expected in January. In the meantime, they have scored one small victory - at nearly 10 years old, her firstborn Nazek has just joined school for the first time. But to obtain some of the documents requested by the judge, it took three visits just to get the intelligence services’ seal on some papers. One major hurdle has been the fact that her jailed brother is accused of having ties with IS.According to the UN, 1mn Iraqis are living with at least one missing civil status document in a country still struggling to recover five years on from IS’ defeat back in 2017. Marriage contracts agreed under the militant group’s rule have yet to be recognised, along with the children born out of these unions. On top of that, many of the civil bureaus that kept such documentation on record were destroyed when IS rose to power or in the years-long battle to drive the militants out, according to the spokesman for the Ministry of Migration and Displaced Persons.In co-operation with the interior ministry, his ministry co-ordinates mobile missions in camps to allow displaced people to obtain their missing documents, Ali Jahangir said. IRC communications co-ordinator, Jordan Lesser-Roy, pointed to the work of non-governmental organisations in raising awareness among state bodies and reducing the waiting time for such paperwork. “You need mayoral approval for these processes ... and then of course you need policy change,” she said, calling for budget increases to the Civil Affairs Directorate and for more “mobile missions”. In a report published in September, aid groups including the IRC pointed to the added complexities faced by families “with perceived ISIS affiliation”.To obtain a birth certificate, mothers must provide DNA samples from up to three male relatives, and these documents can only be obtained in Baghdad. They must also provide “evidence of the whereabouts of the child’s father in the form of a death certificate or evidence of incarceration”. This is “an impossibility for many households where the head of household died or disappeared during the conflict”, according to the report. Hussein Adnan, 23, lost his ID card while fleeing the battle against IS in 2017. He was subsequently arrested and spent five months in detention before he was declared innocent.He was married and had a son under the militant group’s reign. With the help of an IRC lawyer, Adnan was able to obtain a divorce after having his marriage and his six-year-old recognised, though he has yet to obtain a birth certificate for his son. The process was further complicated as his ex-wife remarried and became pregnant again in the interim. He was “beaten and tortured” while in detention and, despite family pressure to work, he remains frozen by fear of another arrest.“I can’t work or go anywhere... I’m staying at home until my ID card is issued,” he said.

Canada’s merger court ruled in favour of Rogers Communications Inc and Shaw Communications Inc in a key antitrust case, clearing one of the final hurdles to the union of two of the nation’s largest telecommunications firms. The federal antitrust commissioner failed to prove that the deal would cause significant harm to competition in the industry, the Competition Tribunal said in a summary of its ruling, released late Thursday. The merger of Rogers and Shaw is “not likely to result in materially higher prices” or a decline in service or innovation, the court found. It’s a huge victory for the Canadian companies, concluding a seven-month legal process that has delayed the closing of the C$20bn ($14.8bn) transaction far past its original planned date. But the saga is not over yet. Competition Commissioner Matthew Boswell could try to appeal the ruling, and even if he doesn’t, the transaction still requires the approval of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government. “I am very disappointed that the Tribunal is dismissing our application to block the merger between Rogers and Shaw. We are carefully considering our next steps,” Boswell said in a statement. Rogers and Shaw said they welcomed the decision and have agreed to extend the closing deadline to Jan. 31. The firms had been hoping to close by the end of this year. Rogers, Canada’s largest wireless company with more than 10mn phone customers, agreed to buy Shaw in March 2021 to bulk up its home internet and cable television businesses and add key network infrastructure in Western Canada. Post-acquisition, Rogers would have some C$20bn in annual revenue, the kind of scale it says it needs to make 5G network investments and compete with rivals BCE Inc and Telus Corp.Toronto-based Rogers had also been hoping to extend its lead in wireless — its most lucrative line of business — through the acquisition of Shaw’s Freedom Mobile division. However, the government made it clear earlier this year that it wouldn’t allow Rogers to take control of Shaw’s wireless licences. Then Boswell’s agency sued the companies in May to block the deal, on the grounds that it would hurt consumers by driving up consumer costs or reducing service. That forced Rogers and Shaw into action, and they cut a conditional deal to sell Freedom Mobile to Montreal-based Quebecor Inc, which offers cable and wireless products to customers through its Videotron unit. The latter transaction, worth C$2.85bn, will only happen if the larger Rogers-Shaw transaction is allowed to close. But it was key to the Rogers court victory.“Videotron is an experienced market disrupter that has achieved substantial success in Quebec. It has drawn upon that experience to develop very detailed and fully costed plans for its entry into and expansion within the relevant markets in Alberta and British Columbia, as well as in Ontario,” the tribunal said on Thursday. “It bears underscoring that there will continue to be four strong competitors in the wireless markets in Alberta and British Columbia,” the tribunal added, the two Canadian provinces where Shaw does most of its business. Rogers, Telus and BCE are major wireless providers in the region; Videotron would step into Shaw’s place as the fourth. Industry Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne, who’s responsible for telecommunications policy, appeared to signal the government’s support for the deals by publicly setting out the conditions under which he’d sign off on Quebecor’s purchase of Freedom. Quebecor has already agreed to those conditions. Rogers is offering C$40.50 in cash for each share of Shaw, which closed at C$35.77 per share on Thursday in Toronto. The three-person panel that heard the case, led by Federal Court Chief Justice Paul Crampton, is working to release its full decision within 48 hours. “Competition Tribunal decisions are often appealed successfully and there are big questions left unanswered in this summary decision,” said Keldon Bester, a fellow at the Center for International Governance Innovation and a former special adviser to Canada’s Competition Bureau. He said it’s “certainly possible” that Boswell will appeal it.

A former Soviet soldier who chose to stay in Afghanistan when the Red Army withdrew following a disastrous decade-long occupation that ended in 1989 has died, officials said yesterday. Bakhretdin Khakimov, who was thought to be in his 60s and was known as Sheikh Abdullah after converting to Islam, died of carbon monoxide poisoning from a leaking heater in the western city of Herat, they said. “He died from inhaling gas that comes out of heaters,” Ahmad Shah Mushfiq, head of Herat’s forensic department, told AFP, adding that there were no suspicious circumstances. Government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid offered his condolences to Abdullah’s family. “He came to Afghanistan with former Soviet forces and was taken prisoner,” Mujahid said in a tweet. “He later became a Muslim, got married here, and lived in Herat.” Abdullah was an officer in the military intelligence wing of the Soviet army, which occupied Afghanistan for 10 years after invading in 1979. He was injured in battle around 1985, suffering a serious head wound, he told AFP in an interview in 2015. He said he owed his life to his Afghan enemies, who found him and treated him. “I feel very ashamed because I damaged this country, caused losses to people,” he said at the time. “I stayed in Afghanistan because Afghans are very kind and hospitable people.” In recent years Abdullah, bearded and usually dressed in traditional Afghan attire, worked at a museum in Herat and also as a healer. “He was a good man, a good Muslim,” friend Saeed Ghulam Hassan told AFP. After invading on Christmas Eve in 1979, the Red Army pulled out a decade later having lost nearly 15,000 troops fighting Western-backed mujahideen forces. That precipitated a civil war which gave rise to the Taliban and their first stint in power from 1996 to 2001.