You don't have to be an athletic football player to deliver sustained excitement, just as long as you play a good, long game.
And there is no doubt that, more than any other car, the Volkswagen Golf has staying power. Now 38, it has again been under the surgeon's knife in an effort to remain young.
In 1974, the original car's designers hit on something amazing: Volkswagen created automotive democracy with a car that appealed equally to men and women, the wealthy and the working class, hipsters and rednecks, and so on. While you might hazard a prediction at the type of person driving the BMW in front, you could never do this with a Golf.
The launch of the seventh edition comes just four years behind the last, equally evolutionary model. But evolution isn't necessarily a bad thing, although those who like to see wholesale changes will always be disappointed. Given its pedigree, Volkswagen was never going to "throw an XJ" by wildly reshaping the vehicle while maintaining its age-old nameplate.
Indeed, this latest Golf is perhaps even more like the original than its predecessors, with many of the Mk1's design cues accentuated, such as the exaggerated chevron trail of the C-pillar, which more than anything heralded the car's signature appearance.
The new look consists mainly of designers' tweaks, meaning that observers will be hard-pressed to describe in detail the differences between this and the last model.
The addition of lower shut lines and higher wheel flares gives the new car a lower centre of gravity that is further enhanced by an additional 59mm of badly needed wheelbase - the previous model had the shortest in its class. A wider and lower frame also adds to this planted look.
While outdoor finish quality is a given with a Volkswagen, the new car's interior is a revelation. Gone are the days of boxy black plastics and fabrics as bland as a Russian breakfast. Indeed, Golf interiors have come a long way, to the point that even the base trim is decidedly premium. It's as if VW is trying to out-Audi with its inside appeal.
The fascia is as slick as the male protagonist in a bodice-ripping yarn, with plastics that look more like veneers, and buttons, switches and stalks that have both feel and thunk. Even the lowest trim line comes with a five-inch TFT screen and all sorts of electronic gubbins far beyond what you would expect.
Cars for the Middle East come with a high spec and, if you tick all the options, you'll find things like adaptive cruise control, emergency braking, fatigue detection, lane assist, auto park assist and progressive variable-rate steering.
At the moment, there is no 1.6L engine or GTI variant, but these will be coming next year. In the meantime, we tested the all-alloy 1.4L TSI unit, which weighs 40 per cent less than the old iron-block it replaces.
Indeed, VW engineers have reduced the Golf's weight by almost 100kg compared to its predecessor. The new single-turbo engine is simpler and lighter than the turbocharged-supercharged unit on the Golf6, meaning that the lower power rating of 140hp - 20hp down on the previous edition - only equates to a drop of 0.4 seconds on the 0-to-100kph dash, which it can make in 8.4 seconds.
The new Golf is not designed to be blistering to drive, and you'd be ill-advised to rev it high. On the flip-side, a sizeable well of low- and mid-range torque comes in reserve, to the tune of 250Nm, which gives plenty of pull.
The new, lighter, multi-link rear suspension is exceptionally polished and the optional Dynamic Chassis Control piles on additional sophistication to a ride that is already an improvement over the Golf6.
What's more, it is quiet, the steering is responsive and there is an excellent amount of room around the comfortable and supportive seats. VW has clearly focused on the things that made the Golf a success in the first place and then worked the rest.
Speaking as someone who was also born in 1974, the Golf certainly creaks less and is a whole lot more peppy for its 38 years. But even though the interior comes as a revelation, and the design and build quality keep getting better, this car doesn't offer much in the way of surprises.
That the Golf can maintain its appeal while piling on the years is quite a remarkable achievement. It is a master at playing the long game, and by doing so it has kept fresh while others age.
Sales in the Middle East have grown to give it 23 per cent market share within its segment in a very short time. And when it goes on sale in February 2013, the new Golf is bound to make an even bigger impact. Not bad for an old-timer.
Attacks on Egypt’s long rooted Copts
Egypt’s Copts belong to one of the world’s oldest Christian communities, with Mark the Evangelist credited with founding their church around 300 AD. Orthodox Christians account for the overwhelming majority of Christians in Egypt, with the rest mainly made up of Greek Orthodox, Catholics and Anglicans.
The community accounts for some 10 per cent of Egypt’s 100 million people, with the largest concentrations of Christians found in Cairo, Alexandria and the provinces of Minya and Assiut south of Cairo.
Egypt’s Christians have had a somewhat turbulent history in the Muslim majority Arab nation, with the community occasionally suffering outright persecution but generally living in peace with their Muslim compatriots. But radical Muslims who have first emerged in the 1970s have whipped up anti-Christian sentiments, something that has, in turn, led to an upsurge in attacks against their places of worship, church-linked facilities as well as their businesses and homes.
More recently, ISIS has vowed to go after the Christians, claiming responsibility for a series of attacks against churches packed with worshippers starting December 2016.
The discrimination many Christians complain about and the shift towards religious conservatism by many Egyptian Muslims over the last 50 years have forced hundreds of thousands of Christians to migrate, starting new lives in growing communities in places as far afield as Australia, Canada and the United States.
Here is a look at major attacks against Egypt's Coptic Christians in recent years:
November 2: Masked gunmen riding pickup trucks opened fire on three buses carrying pilgrims to the remote desert monastery of St. Samuel the Confessor south of Cairo, killing 7 and wounding about 20. IS claimed responsibility for the attack.
May 26, 2017: Masked militants riding in three all-terrain cars open fire on a bus carrying pilgrims on their way to the Monastery of St. Samuel the Confessor, killing 29 and wounding 22. ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack.
April 2017: Twin attacks by suicide bombers hit churches in the coastal city of Alexandria and the Nile Delta city of Tanta. At least 43 people are killed and scores of worshippers injured in the Palm Sunday attack, which narrowly missed a ceremony presided over by Pope Tawadros II, spiritual leader of Egypt Orthodox Copts, in Alexandria's St. Mark's Cathedral. ISIS claimed responsibility for the attacks.
February 2017: Hundreds of Egyptian Christians flee their homes in the northern part of the Sinai Peninsula, fearing attacks by ISIS. The group's North Sinai affiliate had killed at least seven Coptic Christians in the restive peninsula in less than a month.
December 2016: A bombing at a chapel adjacent to Egypt's main Coptic Christian cathedral in Cairo kills 30 people and wounds dozens during Sunday Mass in one of the deadliest attacks carried out against the religious minority in recent memory. ISIS claimed responsibility.
July 2016: Pope Tawadros II says that since 2013 there were 37 sectarian attacks on Christians in Egypt, nearly one incident a month. A Muslim mob stabs to death a 27-year-old Coptic Christian man, Fam Khalaf, in the central city of Minya over a personal feud.
May 2016: A Muslim mob ransacks and torches seven Christian homes in Minya after rumours spread that a Christian man had an affair with a Muslim woman. The elderly mother of the Christian man was stripped naked and dragged through a street by the mob.
New Year's Eve 2011: A bomb explodes in a Coptic Christian church in Alexandria as worshippers leave after a midnight mass, killing more than 20 people.
MATCH INFO
Europa League final
Who: Marseille v Atletico Madrid
Where: Parc OL, Lyon, France
When: Wednesday, 10.45pm kick off (UAE)
TV: BeIN Sports
THE NEW BATCH'S FOCUS SECTORS
AiFlux – renewables, oil and gas
DevisionX – manufacturing
Event Gates – security and manufacturing
Farmdar – agriculture
Farmin – smart cities
Greener Crop – agriculture
Ipera.ai – space digitisation
Lune Technologies – fibre-optics
Monak – delivery
NutzenTech – environment
Nybl – machine learning
Occicor – shelf management
Olymon Solutions – smart automation
Pivony – user-generated data
PowerDev – energy big data
Sav – finance
Searover – renewables
Swftbox – delivery
Trade Capital Partners – FinTech
Valorafutbol – sports and entertainment
Workfam – employee engagement
TV: World Cup Qualifier 2018 matches will be aired on on OSN Sports HD Cricket channel
Bullet%20Train
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20David%20Leitch%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStars%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Brad%20Pitt%2C%20Aaron%20Taylor-Johnson%2C%20Brian%20Tyree%20Henry%2C%20Sandra%20Bullock%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%203%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
THE%C2%A0SPECS
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EEngine%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E2.4-litre%20four-cylinder%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPower%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20210hp%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETorque%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20320Nm%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPrice%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Starting%20from%20Dh89%2C900%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EOn%20sale%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ENow%0D%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Results:
First Test: New Zealand 30 British & Irish Lions 15
Second Test: New Zealand 21 British & Irish Lions 24
Third Test: New Zealand 15 British & Irish Lions 15
Six pitfalls to avoid when trading company stocks
Following fashion
Investing is cyclical, buying last year's winners often means holding this year's losers.
Losing your balance
You end up with too much exposure to an individual company or sector that has taken your fancy.
Being over active
If you chop and change your portfolio too often, dealing charges will eat up your gains.
Running your losers
Investors hate admitting mistakes and hold onto bad stocks hoping they will come good.
Selling in a panic
If you sell up when the market drops, you have locked yourself out of the recovery.
Timing the market
Even the best investor in the world cannot consistently call market movements.
AIDA%20RETURNS
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ECarol%20Mansour%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarring%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EAida%20Abboud%2C%20Carol%20Mansour%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%203.5.%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
If you go:
The flights: Etihad, Emirates, British Airways and Virgin all fly from the UAE to London from Dh2,700 return, including taxes
The tours: The Tour for Muggles usually runs several times a day, lasts about two-and-a-half hours and costs £14 (Dh67)
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is on now at the Palace Theatre. Tickets need booking significantly in advance
Entrance to the Harry Potter exhibition at the House of MinaLima is free
The hotel: The grand, 1909-built Strand Palace Hotel is in a handy location near the Theatre District and several of the key Harry Potter filming and inspiration sites. The family rooms are spacious, with sofa beds that can accommodate children, and wooden shutters that keep out the light at night. Rooms cost from £170 (Dh808).
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
