The Mayans worshipped it, the British rarely see it and in the UAE it's there nearly every day, but the sun can be dangerous, particularly on young skin. As it beats down on the Emirates, it bathes us in ultraviolet (UV) radiation. You can't feel UV - it's not the heat on your skin nor the brightness of the sun, and yet the link between UV exposure and skin cancer is well established.
As summer kicks in, bringing UV radiation levels in Abu Dhabi to the "very high" or "extreme" end of the spectrum, what can we do to protect our children and make them more sun-aware? Children are particularly at risk, not necessarily because their skins are more sensitive to the sun, but because they tend to spend more time outdoors than adults, and have more time ahead of them in which any skin cancer can develop. The disease comes in two groups, as Dr Andre Rizk, chief of medical oncology at the Gulf International Cancer Centre in Abu Dhabi, explains: "One is related to the accumulation of exposure during your lifetime, so the more you are exposed [to the sun], the greater your risk. These are melanomas. The other group, which is basically the basal cell carcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma, are more related to an insult [the medical term for, in this case, sunburn] that happens at any time, and how many sunburns happen. Melanoma can be deadly if not caught early enough. The others are less aggressive and less likely to be fatal but nevertheless can cause a lot of grief with mutilation, surgeries, cosmetic issues."
The first rule, as explained by Rizk, is simple: "Children should not sunbathe - with or without protection." While the overriding medical concern is to keep children out of the sun as much as possible, Rizk acknowledges that children want and need to play outside, "but there is no reason why they have to be in the sun between 10am and 3pm. Activities should be done before or after this period, when the sun is not at its zenith. You are already decreasing their exposure by up to 60 per cent just by doing this."
Rizk also advises that children be covered with UV sun protection clothing that reaches right down their wrists and ankles, "for as long as they can be reasoned with", he says, acknowledging the challenge that poses to parents. Hats, too, are a must. "A lot of young children don't have a lot of hair so the scalp is also exposed. The scalp can be very dangerous because in the future they will have hair and they won't be able to see what is on their scalp."
Fortunately, UV protective beach clothing for children is becoming more widely available in the UAE. Beyond the Beach stocks several brands and Mothercare and Mamas & Papas have ranges for babies and toddlers. Other products that will help limit children's sun exposure are the pop-up beach tents and sunshades for buggies and prams. Just Kidding in Dubai stocks the sunshades for Bugaboos and Mamas & Papas stocks shades for its own range of prams. In the car, you can try to get hold of special UV window tint; otherwise stick-on sunblinds can be purchased relatively cheaply from most children's shops.
There has been some controversy that sun-awareness advice is leading to an increase in cases of vitamin D deficiency. Vitamin D is vital for healthy bones and is created by the body when the skin is exposed to sunlight. High deficiency rates have been recorded in Australia and in the UAE, in part because of cultural practices but also as people simply avoid strong sun. But Rizk says: "It is a trade-off and vitamin D replacement can be taken in many other ways, in milk and in pharmaceutical form; but once we have advanced cancer we can't do much about it, especially melanoma."
He adds: "You don't need to be out when the sun is at its zenith to produce vitamin D. I don't think the vitamin D issue should be used as justification for exposure to the sun." Above all, sun protection should be fun. The UV tops come in some very cool styles, and if you let your children chose their own hats and sunglasses they can do a bit of dressing-up on the beach. Nivea and Boots make fabulous bright green and blue sun creams. By starting them young we can make them realise that putting on a hat and sunscreen when they leave the house is normal. Above all expats, particularly from the northern hemisphere, need to re-educate themselves; you're not in Kansas, Blackpool, Stockholm, or Paris now, Dorothy.
Thirty years ago, faced with an increasing incidence of melanoma and mounting evidence of a link between sun exposure and skin cancer, the Anti-Cancer Council of Victoria in Australia commissioned an advertising company to come up with a slogan for its public education campaign. Peter Best and Alex Stitt got to work and in 1980 Sid the lisping seagull tap-danced across television screens exhorting everyone to "slip on a shirt, slop on some sunscreen and slap on a hat", launching an enduringly successful campaign.
In 2007, the motto was updated to include "seek, slide", meaning seek some shade and slide on some sunglasses. The campaign has been now been adopted by several other countries around the world, including the US and Canada. Several schools in the UAE now have their own "slip, slop, slap" campaigns, and have installed sunshades in playgrounds. For a UV forecast for the UAE visit www.timeanddate.com/weather/united-arab-emirates. Click on your emirate and then "extended weather forecast". Alternatively, visit www.weatheronline.co.uk/ untdarabemirates/abudhabi/ Uvindex.htm.
TV: World Cup Qualifier 2018 matches will be aired on on OSN Sports HD Cricket channel
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Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Director: Laxman Utekar
Cast: Vicky Kaushal, Akshaye Khanna, Diana Penty, Vineet Kumar Singh, Rashmika Mandanna
Rating: 1/5
Quick facts on cancer
- Cancer is the second-leading cause of death worldwide, after cardiovascular diseases
- About one in five men and one in six women will develop cancer in their lifetime
- By 2040, global cancer cases are on track to reach 30 million
- 70 per cent of cancer deaths occur in low and middle-income countries
- This rate is expected to increase to 75 per cent by 2030
- At least one third of common cancers are preventable
- Genetic mutations play a role in 5 per cent to 10 per cent of cancers
- Up to 3.7 million lives could be saved annually by implementing the right health
strategies
- The total annual economic cost of cancer is $1.16 trillion
Book%20Details
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Naga
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If you go
The flights
There are direct flights from Dubai to Sofia with FlyDubai (www.flydubai.com) and Wizz Air (www.wizzair.com), from Dh1,164 and Dh822 return including taxes, respectively.
The trip
Plovdiv is 150km from Sofia, with an hourly bus service taking around 2 hours and costing $16 (Dh58). The Rhodopes can be reached from Sofia in between 2-4hours.
The trip was organised by Bulguides (www.bulguides.com), which organises guided trips throughout Bulgaria. Guiding, accommodation, food and transfers from Plovdiv to the mountains and back costs around 170 USD for a four-day, three-night trip.
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
Set-jetting on the Emerald Isle
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Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
The specs: 2019 Chevrolet Bolt EV
Price, base: Dh138,000 (estimate)
Engine: 60kWh battery
Transmission: Single-speed Electronic Precision Shift
Power: 204hp
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Range: 520km (claimed)
NO OTHER LAND
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Specs
Engine: Electric motor generating 54.2kWh (Cooper SE and Aceman SE), 64.6kW (Countryman All4 SE)
Power: 218hp (Cooper and Aceman), 313hp (Countryman)
Torque: 330Nm (Cooper and Aceman), 494Nm (Countryman)
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The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
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TOUCH RULES
Touch is derived from rugby league. Teams consist of up to 14 players with a maximum of six on the field at any time.
Teams can make as many substitutions as they want during the 40 minute matches.
Similar to rugby league, the attacking team has six attempts - or touches - before possession changes over.
A touch is any contact between the player with the ball and a defender, and must be with minimum force.
After a touch the player performs a “roll-ball” - similar to the play-the-ball in league - stepping over or rolling the ball between the feet.
At the roll-ball, the defenders have to retreat a minimum of five metres.
A touchdown is scored when an attacking player places the ball on or over the score-line.
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
Student Of The Year 2
Director: Punit Malhotra
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1.5 stars
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
The specs
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Power: 181hp
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The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Power: 420hp
Torque: 623Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)
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