WADI AD-DAWASIR, Saudi Arabia (AP) — Nani Roma overcame three punctures to lead the Dakar Rally for the first time in 12 years after a dramatic stage nine on Tuesday.
Five-time champion Nasser Al-Attiyah held the lead since Friday until four-time winner Carlos Sainz took over after Al-Attiyah got lost. Then 2014 champion Roma seized it at the very end after Sainz also lost his way and was penalized for speeding.
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Driver Carlos Sainz gives a phone call at the end of the ninth stage of the Dakar Rally between Wadi Ad Dawasir and Bisha, Saudi Arabia, Tuesday, Jan.13, 2026. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)
Driver Guillaume de Mevius and co-driver Mathieu Baumel change a tire of their car at the end of the ninth stage of the Dakar Rally between Wadi Ad Dawasir and Bisha, Saudi Arabia, Tuesday, Jan.13, 2026. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)
Driver Mattias Ekstrom and co-driver Emil Bergkvist check their car at the end of the ninth stage of the Dakar Rally between Wadi Ad Dawasir and Bisha, Saudi Arabia, Tuesday, Jan.13, 2026. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)
Driver Simon Vitse and co-driver Max Delfino check their car at the end of the ninth stage of the Dakar Rally between Wadi Ad Dawasir and Bisha, Saudi Arabia, Tuesday, Jan.13, 2026. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)
Journalists film driver Carlos Sainz, center, and co-driver Lucas Cruz at the end of the ninth stage of the Dakar Rally between Wadi Ad Dawasir and Bisha, Saudi Arabia, Tuesday, Jan.13, 2026. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)
The motorbikes took a different, slightly longer northwest route out of Wadi ad-Dawasir and, without the benefit of bike tracks to follow, the cars struggled to stay on course.
The 410-kilometer first half of a marathon stage was claimed by Eryk Gozcal for his maiden major stage win, made even more special by his uncle Michal finishing second nearly eight minutes back. Eryk's father Marek, who heads their family-run team driving Toyotas, was 26th. Marek inspired Eryk to become the youngest ever Dakar driver in 2023 at 18.
Saood Variawa, following his stage victory on Monday, opened the way and was soon joined by Toyota Gazoo teammate Henk Lategan. But Lategan, third overall at the start of the day, lost 14 minutes at the 183-kilometer pit stop to fix his power steering. Ford's Mitch Guthrie, the stage three winner, was also stalled at the pit stop to repair an oil leak. He finished the stage more than an hour behind.
Sébastien Loeb’s Dacia, running fifth, lost power steering at 220 kilometers. Teammate Lucas Moraes, who had been leading the stage for over 200 kilometers, struck navigation problems and, at around 280, Dacia leader Al-Attiyah and Ford’s Mattias Ekström lost their way.
Al-Attiyah's provisional overall lead of nearly seven minutes over Ekström and more than 13 minutes over Roma evaporated in the dust.
Sainz, hanging in the top five for the past week, suddenly led the provisional general standings, followed by Roma and Al-Attiyah. Then a 70-second speeding penalty cost him. The Fords of Spaniards Sainz and Roma finished the stage in seventh and eighth within five seconds of each other.
“Everyone had problems today,” Roma said. “Now we cross the fingers. We must be humble and quiet and try to arrive in Bisha tomorrow well.”
Roma rose from fourth overnight to first overall by 57 seconds over Sainz, followed by Al-Attiyah (1:10 down), Lategan (6:13) and Ekstrom (11:19).
It's the closest top five ever this deep into a Dakar. The second half of the marathon stage to Bisha is on Wednesday and the race ends on Saturday.
The motorbike lead also changed, reverting to defending champion Daniel Sanders after KTM teammate Luciano Benavides became lost early while opening the way.
Sanders recovered to overtake Benavides and pick up time bonuses. Sanders was eventually caught himself by Honda's Tosha Schareina, who went on to win his third stage of this Dakar. Sanders was second, 4 1/2 minutes back, and Michael Docherty a surprising third to keep Honda's Ricky Brabec off the podium.
Overall, Sanders has a six-minute lead over Brabec, and seven minutes over Benavides. Schareina cut his deficit to 15 1/2 minutes.
AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing
Driver Carlos Sainz gives a phone call at the end of the ninth stage of the Dakar Rally between Wadi Ad Dawasir and Bisha, Saudi Arabia, Tuesday, Jan.13, 2026. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)
Driver Guillaume de Mevius and co-driver Mathieu Baumel change a tire of their car at the end of the ninth stage of the Dakar Rally between Wadi Ad Dawasir and Bisha, Saudi Arabia, Tuesday, Jan.13, 2026. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)
Driver Mattias Ekstrom and co-driver Emil Bergkvist check their car at the end of the ninth stage of the Dakar Rally between Wadi Ad Dawasir and Bisha, Saudi Arabia, Tuesday, Jan.13, 2026. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)
Driver Simon Vitse and co-driver Max Delfino check their car at the end of the ninth stage of the Dakar Rally between Wadi Ad Dawasir and Bisha, Saudi Arabia, Tuesday, Jan.13, 2026. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)
Journalists film driver Carlos Sainz, center, and co-driver Lucas Cruz at the end of the ninth stage of the Dakar Rally between Wadi Ad Dawasir and Bisha, Saudi Arabia, Tuesday, Jan.13, 2026. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Strong winter winds collapsed walls onto flimsy tents for Palestinians displaced by war in Gaza, killing at least four, hospital authorities said Tuesday.
Dangerous living conditions persist in Gaza after more than two years of devastating Israeli bombardment and aid shortfalls. A ceasefire has been in effect since Oct. 10. But aid groups say that Palestinians broadly lack the shelter necessary to withstand frequent winter storms.
The dead include two women, a girl and a man, according to Shifa Hospital, Gaza City’s largest, which received the bodies.
Meanwhile, the child death toll in Gaza ticked up. The Gaza Health Ministry said Tuesday a 1-year-old boy died of hypothermia overnight, while the spokesman for the U.N.'s children agency said over 100 children and teenagers have been killed by “military means" since the ceasefire began.
Three members of the same family — 72-year-old Mohamed Hamouda, his 15-year-old granddaughter and his daughter-in-law — were killed when an 8-meter (26-foot)-high wall collapsed onto their tent in a coastal area along the Mediterranean shore of Gaza City, Shifa Hospital said. At least five others were injured.
Their relatives on Tuesday began removing the rubble that had buried their loved ones and rebuilding the tent shelters for survivors.
“The world has allowed us to witness death in all its forms,” Bassel Hamouda said after the funeral. “It’s true the bombing may have temporarily stopped, but we have witnessed every conceivable cause of death in the world in the Gaza Strip.”
A second woman was killed when a wall fell on her tent in the western part of the city, Shifa Hospital said.
The majority of Palestinians live in makeshift tents since their homes were reduced to rubble during the war. When storms strike the territory, Palestinian rescue workers warn people against seeking shelter inside damaged buildings for fears of collapse. Aid groups say not enough shelter materials are entering Gaza during the truce.
In the central town of Zawaida, Associated Press footage showed inundated tents Tuesday morning, with people trying to rebuild their shelters.
Yasmin Shalha, a displaced woman from the northern town of Beit Lahiya, stood against winds that lifted the tarps of tents around her as she stitched hers back together with needle and thread. She said it had fallen on top of her family the night before, as they slept.
“The winds were very, very strong. The tent collapsed over us,” the mother of five told the AP. “As you can see, our situation is dire.”
On the shore in southern Gaza, tents were swept away into the Mediterranean. Families pulled what was left from the sea, while some built sand barriers to hold back rising water.
“The sea took our mattresses, our tents, our food, and everything we owned," Shaban Abu Ishaq said, as he dragged part of his tent out of the sea in the Muwasi area of Khan Younis.
Mohamed al-Sawalha, a 72-year-old man from the northern refugee camp of Jabaliya, said the conditions most Palestinians in Gaza endure are barely livable.
“It doesn’t work neither in summer nor in winter,” he said of the tent. “We left behind houses and buildings (with) doors that could be opened and closed. Now we live in a tent. Even sheep don’t live like we do.”
Residents aren’t able to return to their homes in Israeli-controlled areas of the Gaza Strip.
Gaza's Health Ministry said the 1-year-old in the central town of Deir al-Balah was the seventh fatality due to the cold conditions since winter started. Others included a baby just seven days old and a 4-year-old girl, whose deaths were announced Monday.
The ministry, part of the Hamas-run government, says more than 440 people were killed by Israeli fire and their bodies brought to hospitals since the ceasefire went into effect. The ministry maintains detailed casualty records that are seen as generally reliable by U.N. agencies and independent experts.
UNICEF spokesman James Elder said Tuesday at least 100 children under the age of 18 — 60 boys and 40 girls — have been killed since the truce began due to military operations, including drone strikes, airstrikes, tank shelling and use of live ammunition. Those figures, he said, reflect incidents where enough details have been compiled to warrant recording, but the total toll is expected to be higher. He said hundreds of children have been wounded.
While “bombings and shootings have slowed” during the ceasefire, they have not stopped, Elder told reporters at a U.N. briefing in Geneva by video from Gaza City. “So what the world now calls calm would be considered a crisis anywhere else,” he said.
Gaza's population of more than 2 million people has been struggling to keep the cold weather and storms at bay while facing shortages of humanitarian aid and a lack of more substantial temporary housing, which is badly needed during the winter months. It's the third winter since the war between Israel and Hamas started on Oct. 7, 2023, when militants stormed into southern Israel and killed around 1,200 people and abducted 251 others into Gaza.
Gaza’s Health Ministry says more than 71,400 Palestinians have been killed in Israel's retaliatory offensive.
Samy Magdy reported from Cairo. Associated Press writers Toqa Ezzidin in Cairo, Jamey Keaten in Geneva and Julia Frankel in Jerusalem contributed to this report.
Palestinians repair their tents after they were damaged by a storm at a displacement camp in Gaza City, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
A view of a displacement camp sheltering Palestinians on a beach amid stormy weather in Gaza City, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
A man carries a piece of wood at a displacement camp sheltering Palestinians on a beach amid stormy weather in Gaza City, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
Members of the Hamouda family bid farewell to relatives who died when a damaged building collapsed onto their tents during a storm of wind and rain, at Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
People inspect the site where at least four Palestinians died following the collapse of walls onto tents sheltering displaced people in Gaza City amid rainfall and strong winds, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
