Paris Saint-Germain's stars came through their final game before the World Cup unscathed, with France forward Kylian Mbappe opening the scoring in the unbeaten league leader's 5-0 home win against Auxerre on Sunday.
Argentina star Lionel Messi, Brazil’s Neymar and Mbappe all started against Auxerre as PSG maintained their five-point lead over second-place Lens.
Messi and Neymar came off with 15 minutes left but Mbappe played the full match, despite coming off near the end last weekend with muscle fatigue.
Mbappe joins up with defending champion France's squad on Monday before flying to Qatar on Wednesday.
PSG's players didn't hold back against Auxerre, despite the fear of a late injury, as the opening goal came after 10 minutes.
Messi lofted a clever pass over the defence for Portugal defender Nuno Mendes sprinting down the left, and his pass was volleyed in by Mbappe for his league-leading 12th goal.
PSG's defence was caught napping when M'Baye Niang profited from a long ball and hit a powerful shot that goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma parried well.
The World Cup-bound Mendes broke free again down the left and his cross was deftly turned in by forward Carlos Soler in the 51st minute, with right-back Achraf Hakimi made it 3-0 soon after.
Hakimi, one of the main players in Morocco's World Cup squad, latched on to Soler's pass and sprinted clear from halfway to beat goalkeeper Benoit Costil with a smart sidefooted shot.
Soler, who is in Spain's World Cup squad, was replaced after an hour, and Messi hit the post with a curling shot soon after.
Central defender Presnel Kimpembe, who has played only an hour of football since sustaining a hamstring injury on September 18, was on the bench and came on for the last 15 minutes.
Kimpembe, who helped Les Bleus win the 2018 World Cup, is in France's injury-hit squad.
Attacking midfielder Renato Sanches added the fourth goal with an angled shot from the right that bounced in off the left post, and Hugo Ekitike made it 5-0.
The specs
Engine: 1.4-litre 4-cylinder turbo
Power: 180hp at 5,500rpm
Torque: 250Nm at 3,00rpm
Transmission: 5-speed sequential auto
Price: From Dh139,995
On sale: now
The specs
Engine: 3.5-litre twin-turbo V6
Power: 380hp at 5,800rpm
Torque: 530Nm at 1,300-4,500rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Price: From Dh299,000 ($81,415)
On sale: Now
If you go
Flying
Despite the extreme distance, flying to Fairbanks is relatively simple, requiring just one transfer in Seattle, which can be reached directly from Dubai with Emirates for Dh6,800 return.
Touring
Gondwana Ecotours’ seven-day Polar Bear Adventure starts in Fairbanks in central Alaska before visiting Kaktovik and Utqiarvik on the North Slope. Polar bear viewing is highly likely in Kaktovik, with up to five two-hour boat tours included. Prices start from Dh11,500 per person, with all local flights, meals and accommodation included; gondwanaecotours.com
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Retirement funds heavily invested in equities at a risky time
Pension funds in growing economies in Asia, Latin America and the Middle East have a sharply higher percentage of assets parked in stocks, just at a time when trade tensions threaten to derail markets.
Retirement money managers in 14 geographies now allocate 40 per cent of their assets to equities, an 8 percentage-point climb over the past five years, according to a Mercer survey released last week that canvassed government, corporate and mandatory pension funds with almost $5 trillion in assets under management. That compares with about 25 per cent for pension funds in Europe.
The escalating trade spat between the US and China has heightened fears that stocks are ripe for a downturn. With tensions mounting and outcomes driven more by politics than economics, the S&P 500 Index will be on course for a “full-scale bear market” without Federal Reserve interest-rate cuts, Citigroup’s global macro strategy team said earlier this week.
The increased allocation to equities by growth-market pension funds has come at the expense of fixed-income investments, which declined 11 percentage points over the five years, according to the survey.
Hong Kong funds have the highest exposure to equities at 66 per cent, although that’s been relatively stable over the period. Japan’s equity allocation jumped 13 percentage points while South Korea’s increased 8 percentage points.
The money managers are also directing a higher portion of their funds to assets outside of their home countries. On average, foreign stocks now account for 49 per cent of respondents’ equity investments, 4 percentage points higher than five years ago, while foreign fixed-income exposure climbed 7 percentage points to 23 per cent. Funds in Japan, South Korea, Malaysia and Taiwan are among those seeking greater diversification in stocks and fixed income.
• Bloomberg
Women’s World T20, Asia Qualifier
UAE results
Beat China by 16 runs
Lost to Thailand by 10 wickets
Beat Nepal by five runs
Beat Hong Kong by eight wickets
Beat Malaysia by 34 runs
Standings (P, W, l, NR, points)
1. Thailand 5 4 0 1 9
2. UAE 5 4 1 0 8
3. Nepal 5 2 1 2 6
4. Hong Kong 5 2 2 1 5
5. Malaysia 5 1 4 0 2
6. China 5 0 5 0 0
Final
Thailand v UAE, Monday, 7am
