Lazio's Miroslav Klose celebrates after scoring during their Serie A win over Empoli last Sunday. Ettore Ferrari / AP / April 12, 2015
Lazio's Miroslav Klose celebrates after scoring during their Serie A win over Empoli last Sunday. Ettore Ferrari / AP / April 12, 2015

‘More mature’ Lazio ready to challenge Juventus, even if title is out of sight



Lazio coach Stefano Pioli has played down suggestions that equalling Sven Goran Eriksson's club record of nine consecutive wins will put them within sight of challenging Juventus for the Serie A title.

Lazio have replaced city rivals AS Roma in second spot in the Italian top flight and sit 12 points behind Juventus ahead of their top-of-the-table clash in Turin later Saturday.

Juve coach Massimiliano Allegri underlined the danger of Pioli’s visitors when he said the game was a “title decider”.

But Pioli said: “Juventus have too much of a lead for us to become a threat. Even a win in Turin for us would change little.”

Nevertheless, Lazio travel north on the back of eight consecutive league wins that has seen Pioli’s men take their goals tally to 58 for the season – one more than Juve’s total of 57.

A ninth consecutive win would see Pioli equal a club record set by Sven Goran Eriksson, who led Lazio to their second scudetto in 2000.

Pioli, meanwhile, claims a “more mature” Lazio have learned their lesson from a 3-0 defeat to Juventus in the Italian capital at the end of November.

“That game served as a lesson for us. We were far too generous and made the mistake of trying not to concede goals, and we lost our focus,” he added.

“Now, the squad is more intelligent and more mature. This time, we’ll be a lot more compact and that will allow us to concentrate on our own game.

“We have a chance to win this game and we’ll certainly try. But trying to equal the record has never been on our minds, we simply try to focus on one match at a time.”

Juventus are looking to make up for last week’s shock 1-0 defeat away to Parma, and the club were also in action in midweek when they laboured to a 1-0 win over AS Monaco in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final.

Allegri, for one, is not underestimating the task against a side which he said is having an “extraordinary season”.

“Tomorrow’s game could decide the scudetto. Lazio are having an extraordinary season and will come here on the back of eight straight wins.

“At the start of the season nobody would have imagined they’d be where they are now. They can still reach 82 points and Roma 81, so nothing’s settled yet.”

Allegri will still be without injured Paul Pogba but is set to hand Andrea Pirlo a start at the centre of midfield after the Italy international made his return from a five-week injury lay-off in midweek.

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'Outclassed in Kuwait'
Taleb Alrefai, 
HBKU Press 

What is graphene?

Graphene is extracted from graphite and is made up of pure carbon.

It is 200 times more resistant than steel and five times lighter than aluminum.

It conducts electricity better than any other material at room temperature.

It is thought that graphene could boost the useful life of batteries by 10 per cent.

Graphene can also detect cancer cells in the early stages of the disease.

The material was first discovered when Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov were 'playing' with graphite at the University of Manchester in 2004.

MATCH INFO

Champions League quarter-final, first leg

Tottenham Hotspur v Manchester City, Tuesday, 11pm (UAE)

Matches can be watched on BeIN Sports

Company Profile

Name: Thndr
Started: 2019
Co-founders: Ahmad Hammouda and Seif Amr
Sector: FinTech
Headquarters: Egypt
UAE base: Hub71, Abu Dhabi
Current number of staff: More than 150
Funds raised: $22 million

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The specs
Engine: 2.7-litre 4-cylinder Turbomax
Power: 310hp
Torque: 583Nm
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
Price: From Dh192,500
On sale: Now
SPECS
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Company%20Profile
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Why it pays to compare

A comparison of sending Dh20,000 from the UAE using two different routes at the same time - the first direct from a UAE bank to a bank in Germany, and the second from the same UAE bank via an online platform to Germany - found key differences in cost and speed. The transfers were both initiated on January 30.

Route 1: bank transfer

The UAE bank charged Dh152.25 for the Dh20,000 transfer. On top of that, their exchange rate margin added a difference of around Dh415, compared with the mid-market rate.

Total cost: Dh567.25 - around 2.9 per cent of the total amount

Total received: €4,670.30 

Route 2: online platform

The UAE bank’s charge for sending Dh20,000 to a UK dirham-denominated account was Dh2.10. The exchange rate margin cost was Dh60, plus a Dh12 fee.

Total cost: Dh74.10, around 0.4 per cent of the transaction

Total received: €4,756

The UAE bank transfer was far quicker – around two to three working days, while the online platform took around four to five days, but was considerably cheaper. In the online platform transfer, the funds were also exposed to currency risk during the period it took for them to arrive.

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One in four Americans don't plan to retire

Nearly a quarter of Americans say they never plan to retire, according to a poll that suggests a disconnection between individuals' retirement plans and the realities of ageing in the workforce.

Experts say illness, injury, layoffs and caregiving responsibilities often force older workers to leave their jobs sooner than they'd like.

According to the poll from The Associated Press-NORC Centre for Public Affairs Research, 23 per cent of workers, including nearly two in 10 of those over 50, don't expect to stop working. Roughly another quarter of Americans say they will continue working beyond their 65th birthday.

According to government data, about one in five people 65 and older was working or actively looking for a job in June. The study surveyed 1,423 adults in February this year.

For many, money has a lot to do with the decision to keep working.

"The average retirement age that we see in the data has gone up a little bit, but it hasn't gone up that much," says Anqi Chen, assistant director of savings research at the Centre for Retirement Research at Boston College. "So people have to live in retirement much longer, and they may not have enough assets to support themselves in retirement."

When asked how financially comfortable they feel about retirement, 14 per cent of Americans under the age of 50 and 29 per cent over 50 say they feel extremely or very prepared, according to the poll. About another four in 10 older adults say they do feel somewhat prepared, while just about one-third feel unprepared. 

"One of the things about thinking about never retiring is that you didn't save a whole lot of money," says Ronni Bennett, 78, who was pushed out of her job as a New York City-based website editor at 63.

She searched for work in the immediate aftermath of her layoff, a process she describes as akin to "banging my head against a wall." Finding Manhattan too expensive without a steady stream of income, she eventually moved to Portland, Maine. A few years later, she moved again, to Lake Oswego, Oregon. "Sometimes I fantasise that if I win the lottery, I'd go back to New York," says Ms Bennett.

 

'Texas Chainsaw Massacre'

Rating: 1 out of 4

Running time: 81 minutes

Director: David Blue Garcia

Starring: Sarah Yarkin, Elsie Fisher, Mark Burnham

How%20to%20avoid%20getting%20scammed
%3Cul%3E%0A%3Cli%3ENever%20click%20on%20links%20provided%20via%20app%20or%20SMS%2C%20even%20if%20they%20seem%20to%20come%20from%20authorised%20senders%20at%20first%20glance%3C%2Fli%3E%0A%3Cli%3EAlways%20double-check%20the%20authenticity%20of%20websites%3C%2Fli%3E%0A%3Cli%3EEnable%20Two-Factor%20Authentication%20(2FA)%20for%20all%20your%20working%20and%20personal%20services%3C%2Fli%3E%0A%3Cli%3EOnly%20use%20official%20links%20published%20by%20the%20respective%20entity%3C%2Fli%3E%0A%3Cli%3EDouble-check%20the%20web%20addresses%20to%20reduce%20exposure%20to%20fake%20sites%20created%20with%20domain%20names%20containing%20spelling%20errors%3C%2Fli%3E%0A%3C%2Ful%3E%0A
How to protect yourself when air quality drops

Install an air filter in your home.

Close your windows and turn on the AC.

Shower or bath after being outside.

Wear a face mask.

Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.

If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.

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Company%20profile
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BORDERLANDS

Starring: Cate Blanchett, Kevin Hart, Jamie Lee Curtis

Director: Eli Roth

Rating: 0/5


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