Sam Warburton is one of the Rugby World Cup's more unlikely captains.
The 22-year-old openside flanker only made his debut for Wales against the United States in 2009 and initially seemed to be only a temporary replacement for the veteran Martyn Williams - a man who Warren Gatland, the coach, regarded so highly that he persuaded him to rescind his international retirement.
Williams was lauded for his role in Wales' 2008 Six Nations Grand Slam but Warburton's sparkling form since that 2009 game in Chicago means that he, and not his experienced colleague, is heading to New Zealand.
He is Wales' youngest captain since the 1970s, yet Williams considered him a good choice: "We always knew how good a player he was going to be."
Williams was omitted from the World Cup squad announced days after he had earned his 99th international appearance in a warm-up win over Argentina, losing his spot to Warburton.
"It is great for him and luckily we get on really well," said Williams. "He has been outstanding, particularly over the last 18 months."
Warburton's ascent to the position owes much to circumstance as well as talent.
Gatland stripped Ryan Jones of the captaincy in November, furious at the No 8 for conceding a last-minute penalty that allowed Fiji to force an embarrassing 16-16 draw in Cardiff, and leave Wales winless in a six-match span for the first time in seven years.
Matthew Rees took over as the captain but the Scarlets hooker has been ruled out of the World Cup because of neck surgery, leaving a gap for Warburton to fill.
When he took to the field against the Barbarians in June, Warburton became the second youngest man ever to lead Wales, Gareth Edwards, the scrum-half who became a legend of 1970s rugby, made his debut as captain aged 20 in 1968.
Warburton has led Wales only three times in 13 starts going into his country's World Cup opener against South Africa in Wellington on Sunday. That match against the defending champions is followed by Pool D encounters with Samoa, Namibia and Fiji.
Wales lost Warburton's first game as captain 31-28 despite leading the Barbarians 28-24 in the last minute, but the flanker said he and his team learnt a tough lesson in time for the World Cup.
"It was gutting against the Barbarians that we didn't just keep the ball for that last minute in play," he said. "It's something we wanted to do, and for one reason and another we didn't keep it tight. That's a mistake that I've learnt from and I definitely won't make again."
Five hopefuls to watch out for
Sam Warburton (Wales)
May have to break his habit of not talking to people in the dressing room before matches, seeing as the 22-year-old flanker, pictured, is now the Wales captain. He has a better chance than his former schoolmate, Gareth Bale, the Tottenham footballer, of success at a World Cup.
Seilala Mapusua (Samoa)
Mapusua went to the same school as Jonah Lomu in Auckland and won international titles with New Zealand at junior level. The call never came from the All Blacks, but he has still managed to carve out an impressive reputation for himself for London Irish and Samoa.
Jamie Heaslip (Ireland)
The gifted No 8 has a point to prove in New Zealand. When Ireland toured there last summer, he was sent off and then banned for five weeks for kneeing Richie McCaw, the New Zealand captain, in the head. He may find he is still a marked man among local supporters.
Juan Manuel Leguizamon (Argentina)
The industrious No 8 was part of the Argentine side who, surprisingly, finished third in France last time around. Many of Argentina's golden generation of players from then have moved on, and Leguizamon will have to be at his best if they are to repeat that feat.
Keith Earls (Ireland)
Was a British Lion within three years of playing in Ireland's Under 19 side at the 2006 World Championship in Dubai. The Lions coach, Sir Ian McGeechan, knows a player when he sees one, and Earls could be a game breaker for the Irish in New Zealand.
The National Archives, Abu Dhabi
Founded over 50 years ago, the National Archives collects valuable historical material relating to the UAE, and is the oldest and richest archive relating to the Arabian Gulf.
Much of the material can be viewed on line at the Arabian Gulf Digital Archive - https://www.agda.ae/en
Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
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 Bio
Hometown: Bogota, Colombia
Favourite place to relax in UAE: the desert around Al Mleiha in Sharjah or the eastern mangroves in Abu Dhabi
The one book everyone should read: 100 Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. It will make your mind fly
Favourite documentary: Chasing Coral by Jeff Orlowski. It's a good reality check about one of the most valued ecosystems for humanity
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
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
MATCH INFO
Euro 2020 qualifier
Croatia v Hungary, Thursday, 10.45pm, UAE
TV: Match on BeIN Sports