The Formula One legend Michael Schumacher smiles during a press conference to announce the Michael Schumacher World Champion Tower during the Cityscape Dubai at Dubai International Exhibition Centre.
The Formula One legend Michael Schumacher smiles during a press conference to announce the Michael Schumacher World Champion Tower during the Cityscape Dubai at Dubai International Exhibition Centre.

Schumacher's advice for Yas Island track builders



DUBAI // Michael Schumacher will not be completing a victory lap "certainly not as a Formula One driver," he said.

"Yes I may come back here to the race to watch it, but not to drive it. Not unless it's a fun motorbike race." The seven-time F1 world champion was in Dubai and Abu Dhabi this week to reveal the plans for a foray into the less sporty realm of real estate. Yesterday he unveiled the model for the Michael Schumacher World Champion Tower during the Citiscape exhibition.

Although he made a brief walk back into the limelight to introduce the project, the racer said he valued his private life and freedom from the public eye. He insists there is life after Formula One. "I'm still alive, absolutely." Since retiring from the circuit in 2006 as one of the most statistically successful racers in the sport's history, Schumacher said he has stayed involved with F1. "I'm still enrolled in the background," he said. "At some of the races I go simply to see how the team functions, to supervise and offer advice in order to keep our winning spirit." Schumacher is also still involved as an ambassador of Ferrari, the iconic red car that carried him to multiple victories.

He also has advice for the track under construction on Yas Island in Abu Dhabi: create a track that will have long-term appeal by turning it into a talking point. "I hope that they build with the knowledge of what F1 really needs," he said. "You can make a beautiful circuit but then, as a driver, or as a show afterwards, it won't function. There are some principles that people have to look into and follow."

Between the races in Bahrain, Singapore and Abu Dhabi, Schumacher said he had no doubt of the sport's growth in Asia and the Middle East. "Asia and the nearby region has certainly a lot more potential to develop because if you look at how many race tracks exist in the regions, there are far less than in Europe," he said. "Asia and the near east are in a position to afford (new race tracks and races." Of course, holding an F1 race is not an altruistic endeavour.

"F1 is an investment strategy that increases the knowlege of the country, that is, the ability to be known as a country, quite dramatically. It is why you see places like Bahrain and Abu Dhabi hosting races because they want to have people coming over to visit the country." Meanwhile, the Canadian Grand Prix has been dropped from the Formula One calendar for the 2009 season. The World Motor Sport Council met in Paris yesterday and decided to go ahead with a programme with no races in North America.

The addition of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix means the season remains 18 races long. The calendar also allows for a summer break as the Turkish GP has moved from August to June while the British Grand Prix is scheduled for one last time at Silverstone on June 21.

The 2009 F1 calendar: Australia - March 29; Malaysia - April 5; Bahrain - April 9; Spain - May 10; Monaco - May 24; Turkey - June 7; Great Britain - June 21; France - June 28; Germany - July 12; Hungary - July 26; Valencia - Aug 23; Belgium - Aug 30; Italy - Sept 13; Singapore - Sept 27; Japan - Oct 11; China - Oct 18; Brazil - Nov 1; Abu Dhabi - Nov 15

Schumacher's fact file

• Born: January 3, 1969

• A seven-time world champion

• The only German to win the World championship

• He is the only driver to have an entire season of podium finishes

• Teams: Benetton (1992-95), Ferrari (1996-2006)

• Championship titles: 1994, 1995, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004

• Consecutive titles: 5 (2000-2004)

• Race victories: 91

• Consecutive wins: 7 (2004, Europe-Hungary)

• Record wins with one team: 72 (Ferrari)

• Most successful GP: 8 (France)

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THE SPECS

Engine: 4.4-litre V8

Transmission: Automatic

Power: 530bhp 

Torque: 750Nm 

Price: Dh535,000

On sale: Now

THE SPECS

      

 

Engine: 1.5-litre

 

Transmission: 6-speed automatic

 

Power: 110 horsepower 

 

Torque: 147Nm 

 

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The Dictionary of Animal Languages
Heidi Sopinka
​​​​​​​Scribe

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Name: ARDH Collective
Based: Dubai
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Sector: Sustainability
Total funding: Self funded
Number of employees: 4
Martin Sabbagh profile

Job: CEO JCDecaux Middle East

In the role: Since January 2015

Lives: In the UAE

Background: M&A, investment banking

Studied: Corporate finance

How to protect yourself when air quality drops

Install an air filter in your home.

Close your windows and turn on the AC.

Shower or bath after being outside.

Wear a face mask.

Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.

If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.

How Apple's credit card works

The Apple Card looks different from a traditional credit card — there's no number on the front and the users' name is etched in metal. The card expands the company's digital Apple Pay services, marrying the physical card to a virtual one and integrating both with the iPhone. Its attributes include quick sign-up, elimination of most fees, strong security protections and cash back.

What does it cost?

Apple says there are no fees associated with the card. That means no late fee, no annual fee, no international fee and no over-the-limit fees. It also said it aims to have among the lowest interest rates in the industry. Users must have an iPhone to use the card, which comes at a cost. But they will earn cash back on their purchases — 3 per cent on Apple purchases, 2 per cent on those with the virtual card and 1 per cent with the physical card. Apple says it is the only card to provide those rewards in real time, so that cash earned can be used immediately.

What will the interest rate be?

The card doesn't come out until summer but Apple has said that as of March, the variable annual percentage rate on the card could be anywhere from 13.24 per cent to 24.24 per cent based on creditworthiness. That's in line with the rest of the market, according to analysts

What about security? 

The physical card has no numbers so purchases are made with the embedded chip and the digital version lives in your Apple Wallet on your phone, where it's protected by fingerprints or facial recognition. That means that even if someone steals your phone, they won't be able to use the card to buy things.

Is it easy to use?

Apple says users will be able to sign up for the card in the Wallet app on their iPhone and begin using it almost immediately. It also tracks spending on the phone in a more user-friendly format, eliminating some of the gibberish that fills a traditional credit card statement. Plus it includes some budgeting tools, such as tracking spending and providing estimates of how much interest could be charged on a purchase to help people make an informed decision. 

* Associated Press 

The struggle is on for active managers

David Einhorn closed out 2018 with his biggest annual loss ever for the 22-year-old Greenlight Capital.

The firm’s main hedge fund fell 9 per cent in December, extending this year’s decline to 34 percent, according to an investor update viewed by Bloomberg.

Greenlight posted some of the industry’s best returns in its early years, but has stumbled since losing more than 20 per cent in 2015.

Other value-investing managers have also struggled, as a decade of historically low interest rates and the rise of passive investing and quant trading pushed growth stocks past their inexpensive brethren. Three Bays Capital and SPO Partners & Co., which sought to make wagers on undervalued stocks, closed in 2018. Mr Einhorn has repeatedly expressed his frustration with the poor performance this year, while remaining steadfast in his commitment to value investing.

Greenlight, which posted gains only in May and October, underperformed both the broader market and its peers in 2018. The S&P 500 Index dropped 4.4 per cent, including dividends, while the HFRX Global Hedge Fund Index, an early indicator of industry performance, fell 7 per cent through December. 28.

At the start of the year, Greenlight managed $6.3 billion in assets, according to a regulatory filing. By May, the firm was down to $5.5bn. 

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Secret Pigeon Service: Operation Colomba, Resistance and the Struggle to Liberate Europe
Gordon Corera, Harper Collins

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COMPANY PROFILE

Company: Bidzi

● Started: 2024

● Founders: Akshay Dosaj and Asif Rashid

● Based: Dubai, UAE

● Industry: M&A

● Funding size: Bootstrapped

● No of employees: Nine

Thank You for Banking with Us

Director: Laila Abbas

Starring: Yasmine Al Massri, Clara Khoury, Kamel El Basha, Ashraf Barhoum

Rating: 4/5

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Our legal columnist

Name: Yousef Al Bahar

Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994

Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers

COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
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The specs

Engine: 6.2-litre supercharged V8

Power: 712hp at 6,100rpm

Torque: 881Nm at 4,800rpm

Transmission: 8-speed auto

Fuel consumption: 19.6 l/100km

Price: Dh380,000

On sale: now 

Moon Music

Artist: Coldplay

Label: Parlophone/Atlantic

Number of tracks: 10

Rating: 3/5

EA Sports FC 25
MATCH INFO

Manchester United 1 (Rashford 36')

Liverpool 1 (Lallana 84')

Man of the match: Marcus Rashford (Manchester United)

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Match info

Athletic Bilbao 0

Real Madrid 1 (Ramos 73' pen)

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The specs

Engine: 1.5-litre 4-cylinder petrol

Power: 154bhp

Torque: 250Nm

Transmission: 7-speed automatic with 8-speed sports option 

Price: From Dh79,600

On sale: Now

INFO

Everton 0

Arsenal 0

Man of the Match: Djibril Sidibe (Everton)

SPEC SHEET

Display: 6.8" edge quad-HD  dynamic Amoled 2X, Infinity-O, 3088 x 1440, 500ppi, HDR10 , 120Hz

Processor: 4nm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1/Exynos 2200, 8-core

Memory: 8/12GB RAM

Storage: 128/256/512GB/1TB

Platform: Android 12

Main camera: quad 12MP ultra-wide f/2.2, 108MP wide f/1.8, 10MP telephoto f/4.9, 10MP telephoto 2.4; Space Zoom up to 100x, auto HDR, expert RAW

Video: 8K@24fps, 4K@60fps, full-HD@60fps, HD@30fps, super slo-mo@960fps

Front camera: 40MP f/2.2

Battery: 5000mAh, fast wireless charging 2.0 Wireless PowerShare

Connectivity: 5G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.2, NFC

I/O: USB-C

SIM: single nano, or nano and SIM, nano and nano, eSIM/nano and nano

Colours: burgundy, green, phantom black, phantom white, graphite, sky blue, red

Price: Dh4,699 for 128GB, Dh5,099 for 256GB, Dh5,499 for 512GB; 1TB unavailable in the UAE

Tottenham's 10 biggest transfers (according to transfermarkt.com):

1). Moussa Sissokho - Newcastle United - £30 million (Dh143m): Flop

2). Roberto Soldado - Valencia -  £25m: Flop

3). Erik Lamela - Roma -  £25m: Jury still out

4). Son Heung-min - Bayer Leverkusen -  £25m: Success

5). Darren Bent - Charlton Athletic -  £21m: Flop

6). Vincent Janssen - AZ Alkmaar -  £18m: Flop

7). David Bentley - Blackburn Rovers -  £18m: Flop

8). Luka Modric - Dynamo Zagreb -  £17m: Success

9). Paulinho - Corinthians -  £16m: Flop

10). Mousa Dembele - Fulham -  £16m: Success

The Meg
Director: Jon Turteltaub
Starring:   
Two stars

The five new places of worship

Church of South Indian Parish

St Andrew's Church Mussaffah branch

St Andrew's Church Al Ain branch

St John's Baptist Church, Ruwais

Church of the Virgin Mary and St Paul the Apostle, Ruwais

 

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