Dubai-based motorcyclist Sam Sunderland abandoned his Dakar Rally title defence on the fourth stage due to back pain and has gone to hospital for tests.
Rally organisers said Sunderland, the overall leader on a KTM, withdrew near the end of the 330km special around San Juan de Marcona when he was hurt after a jump.
His team manager Alex Doringer told reporters: "He landed in a ditch and caught a compression. He immediately felt strong pain in his lower back.
“Nevertheless he rode on, but stopped after a few kilometres and called for help. In this moment his feet started to feel numb.
“It's difficult to say what's really the situation, but he has problems with his back. He had his first examination at the medical and now he is on his way to [Clinica Anglo Americana] hospital in Lima.
“I talked with him. He said he was in pain, but the doctors have not yet determined what's really the cause."
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Meanwhile Sebastien Loeb was forced to pull out of the rally after a back injury suffered by his co-driver in a forgettable fifth stage won by defending champion Stephane Peterhansel on Wednesday.
As Peterhansel took another important step towards his 14th Dakar title Loeb's dream of winning his first Dakar was left in tatters after his car twice ran into early sand trouble on the run from San Juan de Marcona to Arequipe in Peru.
The French hero's hopes of adding a Dakar to his nine world rally championship crowns at the third attempt had appeared encouraging after climbing to second in the standings with success on Tuesday's fourth stage.
But instead he was left rebooking his flight home after his Peugeot became stuck in the dunes twice, with a truck having to help him out of a sand hole, costing him almost three hours.
Yet it was an injury suffered by co-driver Daniel Elena as they descended a dune that forced Loeb to bring a premature end to his 2018 Dakar 10 days before the finish in Cordoba, Argentina.
"He screams as soon as I go over 30 km/h, I can't see how we can go on like this", explained Loeb, second last year.
He added later: "It went badly, the dunes are too soft, we did not see the hole, we hit it hard ... It's over, Daniel is bad, but he'll be okay. It's so soft, without the [assistance] truck, we wouldn't have got out," Loeb told France Television.
After his fourth stage win on Tuesday Loeb was placed seven minutes second to Peterhansel in another Peugeot.
France's 'Mr Dakar' has won the car title seven times with a further six titles on two wheels, the first coming way back in 1991.
The 52-year-old saw off the Toyotas of Bernhard ten Brinke and Giniel de Villiers to lead his Spanish teammate Carlos Sainz by over half an hour overall.
Third-placed ten Brinke is a massive 1hr 15min adrift.
Loeb's defection followed on from that earlier on Wednesday of Andre Villas-Boas, the former Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur manager who had to pull out with a bad back, his Toyota team reported.
Honda's Spanish rider Joan Barreda Hort won the motorbike stage with Yamaha's Adrien van Beveren retaining the overall lead.
Barreda covered the 264 kilometre timed section in three hours 19 minutes 42 seconds to cross the line over 10mins up on Matthias Walkner on a KTM and Kevin Benavides (Honda).
France's van Beveren took fifth to hold a slim one minute cushion over Benavides with Walkner 1min 14sec off the pace.
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How to get exposure to gold
Although you can buy gold easily on the Dubai markets, the problem with buying physical bars, coins or jewellery is that you then have storage, security and insurance issues.
A far easier option is to invest in a low-cost exchange traded fund (ETF) that invests in the precious metal instead, for example, ETFS Physical Gold (PHAU) and iShares Physical Gold (SGLN) both track physical gold. The VanEck Vectors Gold Miners ETF invests directly in mining companies.
Alternatively, BlackRock Gold & General seeks to achieve long-term capital growth primarily through an actively managed portfolio of gold mining, commodity and precious-metal related shares. Its largest portfolio holdings include gold miners Newcrest Mining, Barrick Gold Corp, Agnico Eagle Mines and the NewMont Goldcorp.
Brave investors could take on the added risk of buying individual gold mining stocks, many of which have performed wonderfully well lately.
London-listed Centamin is up more than 70 per cent in just three months, although in a sign of its volatility, it is down 5 per cent on two years ago. Trans-Siberian Gold, listed on London's alternative investment market (AIM) for small stocks, has seen its share price almost quadruple from 34p to 124p over the same period, but do not assume this kind of runaway growth can continue for long
However, buying individual equities like these is highly risky, as their share prices can crash just as quickly, which isn't what what you want from a supposedly safe haven.
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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.
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Towering concerns
About Okadoc
Date started: Okadoc, 2018
Founder/CEO: Fodhil Benturquia
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Healthcare
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Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
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Company: Justmop.com
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Key figures in the life of the fort
Sheikh Dhiyab bin Isa (ruled 1761-1793) Built Qasr Al Hosn as a watchtower to guard over the only freshwater well on Abu Dhabi island.
Sheikh Shakhbut bin Dhiyab (ruled 1793-1816) Expanded the tower into a small fort and transferred his ruling place of residence from Liwa Oasis to the fort on the island.
Sheikh Tahnoon bin Shakhbut (ruled 1818-1833) Expanded Qasr Al Hosn further as Abu Dhabi grew from a small village of palm huts to a town of more than 5,000 inhabitants.
Sheikh Khalifa bin Shakhbut (ruled 1833-1845) Repaired and fortified the fort.
Sheikh Saeed bin Tahnoon (ruled 1845-1855) Turned Qasr Al Hosn into a strong two-storied structure.
Sheikh Zayed bin Khalifa (ruled 1855-1909) Expanded Qasr Al Hosn further to reflect the emirate's increasing prominence.
Sheikh Shakhbut bin Sultan (ruled 1928-1966) Renovated and enlarged Qasr Al Hosn, adding a decorative arch and two new villas.
Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan (ruled 1966-2004) Moved the royal residence to Al Manhal palace and kept his diwan at Qasr Al Hosn.
Sources: Jayanti Maitra, www.adach.ae
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Pharaoh's curse
British aristocrat Lord Carnarvon, who funded the expedition to find the Tutankhamun tomb, died in a Cairo hotel four months after the crypt was opened.
He had been in poor health for many years after a car crash, and a mosquito bite made worse by a shaving cut led to blood poisoning and pneumonia.
Reports at the time said Lord Carnarvon suffered from “pain as the inflammation affected the nasal passages and eyes”.
Decades later, scientists contended he had died of aspergillosis after inhaling spores of the fungus aspergillus in the tomb, which can lie dormant for months. The fact several others who entered were also found dead withiin a short time led to the myth of the curse.
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1. Black holes are objects whose gravity is so strong not even light can escape their pull
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