US Coast Guard is searching for 4 divers who went missing south of Cape Fear
The US Coast Guard is searching for four divers who went missing south of Cape Fear, North Carolina, on Sunday, authorities said.
1970-01-01 08:00
Man City fears grow after Kevin De Bruyne hamstrung by the same old problem
The disconsolate trudge is becoming a disconcertingly familiar sight. Kevin De Bruyne has limped out of grander games than the curtain raiser to a Premier League. He has made an early exit from bigger occasions this summer. His Champions League final, like his evening in Burnley, came to a premature conclusion. A focus on De Bruyne’s body can concentrate on the remarkable right foot he uses to unlock defences, to pass and cross with an ability most can only envy. It may switch to his increasingly fragile hamstrings. For De Bruyne, Inter Milan may be bracketed alongside Burnley in the memory. His last two starts, two months apart, ended with him hamstrung. “He was injured again, unfortunately. A problem in the same position, he said to me as in the final of the Champions League,” rued Pep Guardiola. “It depends on the magnitude of the injury but it will be a few weeks out.” There will be no De Bruyne against Sevilla in the European Super Cup or against Newcastle in the first major test of Manchester City’s defence of their Premier League title. He could sit out the start of their Champions League campaign. A summer sandwiched by injuries suggests De Bruyne was rushed back. He had said after the Community Shield he was way ahead of schedule; he had targeted the Super Cup for his comeback. “It’s a pity because he had recovered well,” Guardiola said. “Maybe it was my mistake [to pick him] but if he is injured after 15-20 minutes it is not something wrong, when it is 65 or 70 it is the fatigue of the muscle. We have to talk with the doctors and him.” His plan, he had said, was to give the Belgian 50 or 55 minutes, rather than the cameo he had at Wembley. Which, as that culminated in the penalty he slammed against the underside of the bar in the shootout, has completed an ill-fated start to the season. “He is disappointed but he is strong and will be back,” added Guardiola. Yet for how long? De Bruyne may be increasingly injury prone. For a player who has never looked like a natural athlete, a red-faced figure who can seem a throwback to earlier eras, he has shown great durability. He has won 99 caps for Belgium – he would have brought up a century in the summer but for injury – and this was the 587th game of his club career. His 32nd birthday only came in June but to play almost 700 matches by that stage means he has plenty of miles on the clock. Or miles on the hamstring. He revealed after the Champions League final he had played for two months with the risk it could snap. By the time he is fit again, he will have spent the vast majority of six months with a hamstring problem of some description. It has prompted fears it will be a constant for the rest of his career. A reunion with City’s other talismanic Belgian could illustrate it. Vincent Kompany, a colleague for club and country, still made huge contributions in the latter years of his time at the Etihad Stadium but did not make 30 appearances in any of the last four campaigns. He played his final game at 33. De Bruyne should show greater longevity but his appearances will have to be rationed. All of which could create a problem, even in a squad as gifted as City’s. De Bruyne is a unique talent – “what a player he is,” gushed Kompany – and, as his total of 29 assists last season shows, reaches extraordinary levels of creativity. He is Erling Haaland’s supplier-in-chief and the shifting dynamics in the City squad has rendered his qualities perhaps still more significant. The departures of Riyad Mahrez and Ilkay Gundogan have stripped them of two of the likeliest providers of goals and assists amid the band of attacking midfielders and wingers. Mateo Kovacic won’t deliver as many as the German; should Lucas Paqueta arrive, another able technician won’t replicate Mahrez’s contribution in the final third. De Bruyne is irreplaceable in various respects: no one is a like-for-like alternative and, as he ventures further into his thirties, City will have to ponder the question of who his long-term successor is. In the short term, they can console themselves with memories of Phil Foden’s impact when he came on for De Bruyne in the Champions League final and that, when he was sidelined for much of the 2018-19 campaign, they did a domestic treble. But now each injury comes with the sense that it will not be the last, but that De Bruyne is nearer the end. A man who has illuminated many a game may miss more and more. Read More Kevin De Bruyne faces ‘a few weeks out’ after suffering another hamstring injury Pep Guardiola reveals extent of Kevin De Bruyne’s hamstring injury Erling Haaland at the double as Manchester City kick off new campaign in style
1970-01-01 08:00
Niger junta: ousted president could be prosecuted for high treason
NIAMEY (Reuters) -The junta that seized power in Niger in a July 26 coup said late on Sunday that ousted
1970-01-01 08:00
Ruble Crashes Through 100 Per Dollar Despite Central Bank’s Move
The ruble broke through the psychologically important level of 100 to the dollar for the first time since
1970-01-01 08:00
Top Singapore Banker Calls for Rethink of City’s Large Reserves
Singapore needs to figure out how to better deploy its sizable reserves and leverage its wealthy status by
1970-01-01 08:00
Australia regulator allows union to ballot workers for strike at Chevron LNG platform
SYDNEY Australia's labour regulator cleared the way for strike action at Chevron's Wheatstone platform if workers vote in
1970-01-01 08:00
HK Democracy Activists Win Narrow Legal Victory in Protest Case
A Hong Kong court overturned one of two convictions for seven top democracy activists including media mogul Jimmy
1970-01-01 08:00
Yuan Falls Toward This Year’s Low as Chinese Economy Sputters
China’s yuan fell toward its weakest level this year after a series of disappointing economic figures added to
1970-01-01 08:00
Agnellis’ Exor Buys 15% Stake in Philips for Around $2.8 Billion
The Agnelli family’s Exor NV bought a minority stake in Dutch medical technology company Koninklijke Philips NV. Exor,
1970-01-01 08:00
Blackstone Eyes Japan Property After Selling $4.5 Billion
Blackstone Inc. is exploring more acquisitions in Japanese real estate, after selling about $4.5 billion worth in the
1970-01-01 08:00
Taiwan vice president is 'troublemaker', says Beijing
William Lai's stopovers in New York and San Francisco on his way to Paraguay have riled China.
1970-01-01 08:00
Analysis-US loss of AAA badge a reminder of 'regime shift' for government debt
By Yoruk Bahceli Financial markets barely flinched when Fitch stripped the United States of its top credit rating,
1970-01-01 08:00
