CHiQ Captivates Global Audiences with Smart Living Innovation at 2025 Terra Wortmann Open
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Malay Mail
4 hours ago
- Malay Mail
Amorim backs Sesko to shine at Manchester United, ready for Arsenal challenge
LONDON, Aug 16 — Ruben Amorim has backed Benjamin Sesko to torment Premier League defenders saying Manchester United's new striker is ready to face Arsenal in their top-flight opener tomorrow. Sesko joined United from RB Leipzig in a deal worth up to £73.7 million (RM421 million) last Saturday. Armed with the predatory instincts and physical stature, the 22-year-old Slovenian will spearhead Amorim's bid to revitalise United after their worst season since 1973-74. Sesko could join fellow United new-boys Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo in Amorim's overhauled attack, starting with Arsenal's visit to Old Trafford this weekend. 'He can play different types of football,' Amorim told reporters on Friday. 'He is going to learn but he has a great potential and I can see Ben being a striker for Manchester United for a lot of years. 'That's why we paid so much money to have a striker that will have his history in our club.' Asked if Sesko could start against Arsenal, the United boss said: 'We didn't have a lot of time but he's ready. 'Physically, he's ready. That is a big component in our league. Then, he's really smart. Every detail that he asks, he's a guy that is always thinking. 'He spends all afternoon here working on his fitness, so he's ready to play. We will see if he's going to start.' Sesko scored 21 goals for German side Leipzig last term and has made a good first impression on Amorim at United's new-look Carrington training complex. 'He's one guy who stays here, has lunch, and goes to the medical department, does the stretching,' he said. 'He is always thinking about football. He's really obsessed about that and that is a good thing because you don't have to think about that aspect with that young guy. 'I don't need to tell Ben, 'Ben, this is Manchester United, a lot of pressure, you have to perform, you need to be ready for the physicality, we need to be ready, every game is like do or die'. Sesko's arrival in Manchester has raised fresh questions over the future of United striker Rasmus Hojlund. The 22-year-old Denmark international has been strongly linked with an exit, just two years on from joining from Atalanta. Hojlund said on United's pre-season tour that he wants to stay at United, but reports of a potential move to AC Milan persist. 'He is one more option,' Amorim said. 'We will see. We are focused on this game and Rasmus is still our player.' — AFP
Malay Mail
7 hours ago
- Malay Mail
Well-heeled US shoppers shrug off price hikes on Birkenstocks and Bugaboo strollers — for now
LONDON, Aug 16 — Well-heeled shoppers around the United States seem — so far at least — willing to soak up price hikes for aspirational products from trendy Birkenstock sandals to Bugaboo prams, despite the impact of trade tariffs and belt-tightening elsewhere. German sandal and clog brand Birkenstock has enjoyed strong consumer demand with little pushback from US retailers since hiking prices at the start of July, its chief executive said on Thursday. As brands raise prices and cut costs to mitigate the impact of higher US tariffs on their imported products, a key question is the extent to which consumers will be put off and buy less, or simply walk away from purchases. Comments from Birkenstock, Bugaboo, Coach, Ralph Lauren and other brands at the premium end of the market suggest that, so far, affluent consumers are shrugging off price hikes. 'We saw no pushback or cancellations following the July 1st price increases implemented in response to tariffs,' Birkenstock CEO Oliver Reichert told analysts on a call, adding demand for the brand has been 'tremendously strong.' Bank of America, the largest consumer facing US bank, said this week that middle- and upper-income earners spent more on their credit cards in July than the same month last year. In contrast, spending among the lowest income bracket remained flat, the bank found. Overall US consumer spending may stay strong, Bank of America said, as long as higher-income individuals keep spending. Lower-income earners account for only 15 per cent of all US consumer spending, according to Bank of America. However, Procter & Gamble, maker of Tide detergent, reported signs of spending cutbacks among higher-income consumers, indicating that shoppers may be becoming more selective with their purchases. Bugaboo, a Netherlands-based maker of expensive baby gear, also raised prices on its strollers, high chairs and play pens by US$50 (RM210) to US$300 in May because of US tariffs. Retailers were open and accepting. 'In general, we did not see any pushback. They are like us. They understand it is a fluid situation,' Chief Commercial Officer for North America, Jeanelle Teves, said. Bugaboo manufactures in China and sells strollers for more than US$1,000 at Target, Nordstrom, Bloomingdales and independent mom and pop stores. Coach handbags also remain in strong demand despite a gloomier economic outlook: the brand drew in more than 4.6 million new customers in North America this year, many of whom are Gen Z and millennials, Tapestry CEO Joanne Kuvoiserat said on Thursday. Coach, whose popular Tabby shoulder bags retail for US$350, will maintain its operating profit margin despite the pressure of tariffs, Kuvoiserat said. Ralph Lauren, meanwhile, raised its annual revenue forecast as shoppers snapped up items like its US$398 Polo Bear sweaters. But consumers' behavior in the coming months remains hard to predict, CEO Patrice Louvet highlighted on a conference call with analysts. 'The bigger unknown here today is the price sensitivity and how the consumer reacts to the broader pricing environment. So that's what we're watching very closely as we head into the second half.' — Reuters
Malay Mail
17 hours ago
- Malay Mail
Fresh from 6.29m record, Duplantis says sky's the limit ahead of ‘super-sick' Tokyo worlds
CHORZÓW (Poland), Aug 15 — Record-breaking Armand 'Mondo' Duplantis has predicted a 'super-sick' world championships in Tokyo, where he won his first Olympic medal in the Covid-delayed Summer Games, but insisted statistics were unimportant to him. The US-born Swede has been in electric form, setting a 13th world record, of 6.29 metres, in Budapest on Tuesday to further seal his claim as one of the best track and field athletes in history. But Duplantis shies away from the bravado often shown by sprinters, reiterating that he is not bothered by the numbers game. 'I'm just making sure that all the little details and everything are very polished and that I'm really ready to go at the most important time,' Duplantis said yesterday ahead of the Diamond League meet in Silesia, Poland. 'It's a lot of recognition,' he conceded of setting multiple world records. 'It's always an amazing feeling and I'm always super grateful, and it feels kind of surreal in a way every time I've been able to push the record a little bit higher.' A return to Tokyo's Olympic Stadium for the September 13-21 world champs, with a full crowd compared to the empty tribunes in 2021 because of the pandemic, left Duplantis 'super excited'. 'I have super high expectations,' he said. 'It's going to super sick, honestly. 'I think the atmosphere is going to be insane. Then it's just up to me to enjoy it and channel what everybody's giving me and try to put on a good show.' But the 25-year-old, who has used the same pole to set the last 10 world records, again played down expectations of how high he thought the bar might be raised to. 'I just love competing,' he said. 'It doesn't matter how many world records that I break. 'When it comes to sports in general, you always have to prove yourself on the day because nobody just gives you anything, it's all earned. 'They don't just give me the trophy because I'm the favourite. I still have to go out there and have to compete. I have to be on my A game, and I have to earn my title as the one that's going to be the best and last man standing on that day every time.' No special magic number As for the 6.30m mark and beyond, Duplantis added: 'I don't want to lie and make something up and act like there's some special magic number that I'm aiming for that's always in the back of my mind when it's really not the case, because I'm really not very super fixated on anything in particular. 'I feel like I'm very much somebody that lives in the present moment and I try to maximise and achieve the most that I can in the now.' That said, the Swede then fired out a warning, saying he knew he was going 'to keep jumping higher, there's a lot more to come, and I'm going to keep pushing it'. 'I just try to jump as well as I can every day and I know that if I jump the way that I should jump then I should be the best guy on the track and I should be the guy that's the last man standing.' Duplantis also said he had vastly improved, both physically and mentally, over recent years, allowing him an unprecedented consistency in competition. 'I'm just better in every way,' he said. 'I'm more experienced. I have a better understanding... how to take care of myself and my body and what to do to remain in good shape, also just better performing and getting the most of myself on each given day. 'There's going to be a day where I'm not going to jump very well, but that happens. Doesn't happen that often, though, and it probably won't happen two times in a row.' — AFP
