Prince Charles has recorded a message of heartfelt congratulations to Jordan on its centenary.
"As salaam alaykum. I take great pleasure in offering his majesty King Abdullah II and the Jordanian people my warmest possible greetings on the occasion of Jordan's centenary," said the British royal, noting this year also marks "100 years of partnership between Jordan and the United Kingdom."
Prince Charles also called for "investing in the links between our young people so that they come to know at first hand the uniqueness of our relationship, built on a wonderful combination of the traditional and the modern. So, I am delighted that both my Prince's Trust and the Turquoise Mountain Foundation have been able to establish roots in your very special country."
The Turquoise Mountain Trust is a charity established by Prince Charles that works on heritage projects, training artisans to make jewellery and craftwork in a number of countries in the Middle East, including Jordan.
The Prince's Trust runs courses in business and personal development for disadvantaged young people, on multiple continents including Europe.
The prince then described the disappointment and suffering arising from the global pandemic and briefly laid out a vision for post-Covid-19 recovery around the world, involving more initiatives to combat climate change and to support the environment.
This was something Jordan excelled at, said the prince, who suffered from Covid-19 in March last year, which he described as a "strange, frustrating and often distressing experience".
He also talked about conservation.
"I share his majesty King Abdullah's passion for biodiversity in all its forms. I can only commend Jordan's commitment to the Global Ocean Alliance, through the designation of seven kilometres of your coastline as a marine protection area."
Echoing comments by the leaders of the UAE who joined Jordan in celebrating the centenary, Prince Charles highlighted the peace-building role Jordan has played in the region over the decades, what he called, "remarkable and long-standing diplomacy in the region. Jordan has been a tireless advocate for peace and a vital force for stability."
Prince Charles finished his address by saying that he hoped he would be able to visit Jordan again soon, with his wife Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall.
"The kingdom and people of Jordan have always been very dear to my heart and I have so many cherished visits over the years. My wife and I were deeply, deeply disappointed that our planned visit to Jordan in March last year had to be postponed because of this dreadful global pandemic," he said.
He is just one of the dozens of world leaders, members of royal families and senior government officials who have wished Jordan well in recent days.
Canada's Justin Trudeau congratulated Jordan on Sunday in a video message in which he said he wished he could have been in Amman in person to mark the occasion.
"After all," he said, "people have always been at the heart of what has brought our two countries together."
THE BIO
Age: 30
Favourite book: The Power of Habit
Favourite quote: "The world is full of good people, if you cannot find one, be one"
Favourite exercise: The snatch
Favourite colour: Blue
RESULT
Huddersfield Town 1 Manchester City 2
Huddersfield: Otamendi (45' 1 og), van La Parra (red card 90' 6)
Man City: Agüero (47' pen), Sterling (84')
Man of the match: Christopher Schindler (Huddersfield Town)
if you go
The flights
Direct flights from the UAE to the Nepalese capital, Kathmandu, are available with Air Arabia, (www.airarabia.com) Fly Dubai (www.flydubai.com) or Etihad (www.etihad.com) from Dh1,200 return including taxes. The trek described here started from Jomson, but there are many other start and end point variations depending on how you tailor your trek. To get to Jomson from Kathmandu you must first fly to the lake-side resort town of Pokhara with either Buddha Air (www.buddhaair.com) or Yeti Airlines (www.yetiairlines.com). Both charge around US$240 (Dh880) return. From Pokhara there are early morning flights to Jomson with Yeti Airlines or Simrik Airlines (www.simrikairlines.com) for around US$220 (Dh800) return.
The trek
Restricted area permits (US$500 per person) are required for trekking in the Upper Mustang area. The challenging Meso Kanto pass between Tilcho Lake and Jomson should not be attempted by those without a lot of mountain experience and a good support team. An excellent trekking company with good knowledge of Upper Mustang, the Annaurpuna Circuit and Tilcho Lake area and who can help organise a version of the trek described here is the Nepal-UK run Snow Cat Travel (www.snowcattravel.com). Prices vary widely depending on accommodation types and the level of assistance required.
Dubai Women's Tour teams
Agolico BMC
Andy Schleck Cycles-Immo Losch
Aromitalia Basso Bikes Vaiano
Cogeas Mettler Look
Doltcini-Van Eyck Sport
Hitec Products – Birk Sport
Kazakhstan National Team
Kuwait Cycling Team
Macogep Tornatech Girondins de Bordeaux
Minsk Cycling Club
Pannonia Regional Team (Fehérvár)
Team Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
Team Ciclotel
UAE Women’s Team
Under 23 Kazakhstan Team
Wheel Divas Cycling Team
Profile Periscope Media
Founder: Smeetha Ghosh, one co-founder (anonymous)
Launch year: 2020
Employees: four – plans to add another 10 by July 2021
Financing stage: $250,000 bootstrap funding, approaching VC firms this year
Investors: Co-founders
Three ways to boost your credit score
Marwan Lutfi says the core fundamentals that drive better payment behaviour and can improve your credit score are:
1. Make sure you make your payments on time;
2. Limit the number of products you borrow on: the more loans and credit cards you have, the more it will affect your credit score;
3. Don't max out all your debts: how much you maximise those credit facilities will have an impact. If you have five credit cards and utilise 90 per cent of that credit, it will negatively affect your score.
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League quarter-final second leg:
Juventus 1 Ajax 2
Ajax advance 3-2 on aggregate
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: N2 Technology
Founded: 2018
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Startups
Size: 14
Funding: $1.7m from HNIs
The Penguin
Starring: Colin Farrell, Cristin Milioti, Rhenzy Feliz
Creator: Lauren LeFranc
Rating: 4/5
The%20Beekeeper
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EDavid%20Ayer%C2%A0%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarring%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EJason%20Statham%2C%20Josh%20Hutcherson%2C%20Emmy%20Raver-Lampman%2C%20Minnie%20Driver%2C%20Jeremy%20Irons%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E3%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Match info
Uefa Champions League Group F
Manchester City v Hoffenheim, midnight (Wednesday, UAE)
Duminy's Test career in numbers
Tests 46; Runs 2,103; Best 166; Average 32.85; 100s 6; 50s 8; Wickets 42; Best 4-47
