Crystal Palace's Joel Ward, Crystal Palace's Jeffrey Schlupp and Leicester's Kelechi Iheanacho challenge for the ball during the English Premier League soccer match between Leicester City and Crystal Palace at the King Power Stadium in Leicester, England. AP
Crystal Palace's Joel Ward, Crystal Palace's Jeffrey Schlupp and Leicester's Kelechi Iheanacho challenge for the ball during the English Premier League soccer match between Leicester City and Crystal Palace at the King Power Stadium in Leicester, England. AP
Crystal Palace's Joel Ward, Crystal Palace's Jeffrey Schlupp and Leicester's Kelechi Iheanacho challenge for the ball during the English Premier League soccer match between Leicester City and Crystal Palace at the King Power Stadium in Leicester, England. AP
Crystal Palace's Joel Ward, Crystal Palace's Jeffrey Schlupp and Leicester's Kelechi Iheanacho challenge for the ball during the English Premier League soccer match between Leicester City and Crystal

Leicester's Brendan Rodgers impressed with team's 'hunger and desire' as they see off Palace


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Boss Brendan Rodgers praised Leicester's desire after a crucial win over Crystal Palace kept their Champions League dream on track.

Kelechi Iheanacho's 17th goal of the season, and his 14th in his last 14 games, earned a battling 2-1 win after the Eagles gave the hosts a scare.

Wilfried Zaha put Palace in front before Timothy Castagne and Iheanacho struck to move Leicester seven points clear of fifth-placed West Ham in the Premier League.

Three wins from their final five games would guarantee the Foxes, who are third, a top-four spot.

"We had that hunger and desire. It's a real collective win," Rodgers said.

"I always look forward and never behind. There are still five games to go and tonight we equalled our points total from last season [62]. Now we can recover from three tough games in nine days.

"We are constantly looking to improve each year. You are always looking to improve in terms of maturity and football.

"We have matched last season and if we can gain more points in the next five games it shows we are developing. I get great joy seeing these guys getting better every day.

"It was a different type of game, we went behind and playing against one of Roy's teams it was going to be a real test for us.

"We said at half-time about keeping calm and the goal early in the half was wonderful and that set the tone for us.

"What was really pleasing was the patience we kept. With a bit more finesse we might have had a couple more goals."

Palace scored with their first attack after 12 minutes when Ebere Eze fed Zaha and he beat Kasper Schmeichel for his 10th goal of the season.

Initially Leicester struggled to recover during a disjointed first half, but levelled five minutes after the break when Castagne collected Iheanacho's pass and drilled in from 10 metres.

Jonny Evans kept them level soon after with a wonderful last-gasp tackle to deny Christian Benteke a tap-in after Jairo Riedewald had broken clear but the Foxes kept pressing.

James Maddison and Jamie Vardy shot at Vicente Guaita before Vardy had a goal disallowed for offside.

It was in danger of becoming a frustrating night for the hosts before Iheanacho collected Evans' long ball, cut inside Scott Dann and blasted past a static Guaita from an angle with 10 minutes left.

"At half-time I thought we might go on to win," said Palace boss Roy Hodgson, with the Eagles 13th. It was a bit of a disappointment to leave here with nothing.

"If we hadn't conceded the goal so early in the second half, our confidence would have been high. The equaliser came too early after half-time.

"We didn't get enough time to enjoy the fact we were leading. I honestly thought we'd see the game through but I was wrong.

"We fell foul to a wonderful Iheanacho strike 10 minutes from the end."

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.

Dubai works towards better air quality by 2021

Dubai is on a mission to record good air quality for 90 per cent of the year – up from 86 per cent annually today – by 2021.

The municipality plans to have seven mobile air-monitoring stations by 2020 to capture more accurate data in hourly and daily trends of pollution.

These will be on the Palm Jumeirah, Al Qusais, Muhaisnah, Rashidiyah, Al Wasl, Al Quoz and Dubai Investment Park.

“It will allow real-time responding for emergency cases,” said Khaldoon Al Daraji, first environment safety officer at the municipality.

“We’re in a good position except for the cases that are out of our hands, such as sandstorms.

“Sandstorms are our main concern because the UAE is just a receiver.

“The hotspots are Iran, Saudi Arabia and southern Iraq, but we’re working hard with the region to reduce the cycle of sandstorm generation.”

Mr Al Daraji said monitoring as it stood covered 47 per cent of Dubai.

There are 12 fixed stations in the emirate, but Dubai also receives information from monitors belonging to other entities.

“There are 25 stations in total,” Mr Al Daraji said.

“We added new technology and equipment used for the first time for the detection of heavy metals.

“A hundred parameters can be detected but we want to expand it to make sure that the data captured can allow a baseline study in some areas to ensure they are well positioned.”

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BMW M5 specs

Engine: 4.4-litre twin-turbo V-8 petrol enging with additional electric motor

Power: 727hp

Torque: 1,000Nm

Transmission: 8-speed auto

Fuel consumption: 10.6L/100km

On sale: Now

Price: From Dh650,000

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)

On sale: Now

The burning issue

The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE. 

Read part four: an affection for classic cars lives on

Read part three: the age of the electric vehicle begins

Read part one: how cars came to the UAE

 

Specs

Engine: Dual-motor all-wheel-drive electric

Range: Up to 610km

Power: 905hp

Torque: 985Nm

Price: From Dh439,000

Available: Now

Ferrari 12Cilindri specs

Engine: naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12

Power: 819hp

Torque: 678Nm at 7,250rpm

Price: From Dh1,700,000

Available: Now

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What the law says

Micro-retirement is not a recognised concept or employment status under Federal Decree Law No. 33 of 2021 on the Regulation of Labour Relations (as amended) (UAE Labour Law). As such, it reflects a voluntary work-life balance practice, rather than a recognised legal employment category, according to Dilini Loku, senior associate for law firm Gateley Middle East.

“Some companies may offer formal sabbatical policies or career break programmes; however, beyond such arrangements, there is no automatic right or statutory entitlement to extended breaks,” she explains.

“Any leave taken beyond statutory entitlements, such as annual leave, is typically regarded as unpaid leave in accordance with Article 33 of the UAE Labour Law. While employees may legally take unpaid leave, such requests are subject to the employer’s discretion and require approval.”

If an employee resigns to pursue micro-retirement, the employment contract is terminated, and the employer is under no legal obligation to rehire the employee in the future unless specific contractual agreements are in place (such as return-to-work arrangements), which are generally uncommon, Ms Loku adds.