The death of Prince Philip left a wave of sadness around the world on Friday. Since then pupils and teachers in Dubai have been reflecting on how the Duke of Edinburgh's Award (DofE) has left a lasting impression on the lives of those who took part.
Founded in 1956, the award offers young people the chance to challenge themselves through various outlets, including community work, fitness and challenging outdoor expeditions.
Open to people aged 14 to 24, hundreds of thousands across the globe have joined the programme, including more than 2,500 pupils in Dubai last year.
Having met The Duke of Edinburgh on more than one occasion, it always struck me how much he cared about the young people completing the award
There are three levels of award: bronze, silver and gold. In the past, many who achieved the highest gold award were invited to attend a special ceremony to meet Prince Philip.
Sarah Donovan, director of sport at Dubai British School, was one of them.
“As a PE teacher, it is no surprise I have been heavily involved in the award for the last 21 years, not to mention I did bronze, silver and gold as a pupil,” she said.
“A personal highlight has to be going to Buckingham Palace with pupils for their Gold Award Ceremony.
“Having met His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh on more than one occasion, it always struck me how much he cared about the young people completing the award.
“He would make time to chat to them individually and hear about their experiences. Whilst he may have awarded hundreds of students in each ceremony, he made every group feel unique and important."
As an assessor and supervisor for the award in the Middle East for eight years, Ms Donovan has supervised expeditions in the UAE, Nepal and Sri Lanka.
She said the “grit and resilience the expedition element affords the pupils” is unrivalled by any other school activity.
Haya Salam, a grade 10 pupil at Uptown International School, holds a bronze and silver DofE Award.
She said an extremely rewarding part of her journey was when she completed the service section of her silver award.
“Volunteering as a Global Goals Leader gave me the opportunity to gain the experience of a work environment, test out possible career pathways, develop new skills, or develop existing ones,” she said.
“It was a great feeling knowing that I was making a huge difference and giving something back to my community each week."
There are four main sections of the programme: volunteering, physical, skills and expedition. At gold level, participants also complete a residential section.
Here, participants must undertake a shared activity or course with people they do not know, in a residential setting, away from home and in an unfamiliar environment.
At this level, pupils often live temporarily on boats, barges or camps.
Laura Treliving, head of PE at Uptown International School, is a Duke of Edinburgh's Award international co-ordinator.
Having been involved in the award, both in the UK and internationally, she said she has seen it “change students’ lives”.
“New talents have been discovered, passions become ignited, life-long skills developed and a true love of learning and growing has been created during the process of completing the award,” she said.
“When I moved over to teach in Dubai I had to continue the award here to give our students at UIS these same opportunities.
“I worked hard to get the school accredited and launch the award here, which has been one of my greatest achievements.
“His Royal Highness Prince Philip has been an inspiration by setting up this award and has had such a positive impact on millions of people's lives. His legacy will live on."
Francesca Di Meo-Smith, a teacher at Dubai British School, has been heavily involved in getting pupils enrolled in the Duke of Edinburgh's Award.
“Within our school, pupils have explored a variation of tasks from snowboarding to knitting, and even climbed the height of Mount Everest on their stairs at home,” she said.
“The school has relished seeing pupils become more confident within themselves.
“With the help of Zoom, pupils have helped tutor younger students, do yoga classes at home and arrange dog walks for vulnerable members of society.”
Prince Philip in the Middle East: in pictures
HEADLINE HERE
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War 2
Director: Ayan Mukerji
Stars: Hrithik Roshan, NTR, Kiara Advani, Ashutosh Rana
Rating: 2/5
The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)
Like a Fading Shadow
Antonio Muñoz Molina
Translated from the Spanish by Camilo A. Ramirez
Tuskar Rock Press (pp. 310)
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
RESULTS
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If you go...
Etihad Airways flies from Abu Dhabi to Kuala Lumpur, from about Dh3,600. Air Asia currently flies from Kuala Lumpur to Terengganu, with Berjaya Hotels & Resorts planning to launch direct chartered flights to Redang Island in the near future. Rooms at The Taaras Beach and Spa Resort start from 680RM (Dh597).
Lexus LX700h specs
Engine: 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 plus supplementary electric motor
Power: 464hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 790Nm from 2,000-3,600rpm
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 11.7L/100km
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Price: From Dh590,000
The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Power: 420hp
Torque: 623Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)
On sale: Now
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
Specs
Engine: Electric motor generating 54.2kWh (Cooper SE and Aceman SE), 64.6kW (Countryman All4 SE)
Power: 218hp (Cooper and Aceman), 313hp (Countryman)
Torque: 330Nm (Cooper and Aceman), 494Nm (Countryman)
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh158,000 (Cooper), Dh168,000 (Aceman), Dh190,000 (Countryman)
Jetour T1 specs
Engine: 2-litre turbocharged
Power: 254hp
Torque: 390Nm
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Available: Now
The specs: 2018 Nissan 370Z Nismo
The specs: 2018 Nissan 370Z Nismo
Price, base / as tested: Dh182,178
Engine: 3.7-litre V6
Power: 350hp @ 7,400rpm
Torque: 374Nm @ 5,200rpm
Transmission: Seven-speed automatic
Fuel consumption, combined: 10.5L / 100km
Iran's dirty tricks to dodge sanctions
There’s increased scrutiny on the tricks being used to keep commodities flowing to and from blacklisted countries. Here’s a description of how some work.
1 Going Dark
A common method to transport Iranian oil with stealth is to turn off the Automatic Identification System, an electronic device that pinpoints a ship’s location. Known as going dark, a vessel flicks the switch before berthing and typically reappears days later, masking the location of its load or discharge port.
2. Ship-to-Ship Transfers
A first vessel will take its clandestine cargo away from the country in question before transferring it to a waiting ship, all of this happening out of sight. The vessels will then sail in different directions. For about a third of Iranian exports, more than one tanker typically handles a load before it’s delivered to its final destination, analysts say.
3. Fake Destinations
Signaling the wrong destination to load or unload is another technique. Ships that intend to take cargo from Iran may indicate their loading ports in sanction-free places like Iraq. Ships can keep changing their destinations and end up not berthing at any of them.
4. Rebranded Barrels
Iranian barrels can also be rebranded as oil from a nation free from sanctions such as Iraq. The countries share fields along their border and the crude has similar characteristics. Oil from these deposits can be trucked out to another port and documents forged to hide Iran as the origin.
* Bloomberg
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
SPECS
Toyota land Cruiser 2020 5.7L VXR
Engine: 5.7-litre V8
Transmission: eight-speed automatic
Power: 362hp
Torque: 530Nm
Price: Dh329,000 (base model 4.0L EXR Dh215,900)
Learn more about Qasr Al Hosn
In 2013, The National's History Project went beyond the walls to see what life was like living in Abu Dhabi's fabled fort:
SERIES INFO
Cricket World Cup League Two
Nepal, Oman, United States tri-series
Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu
Fixtures
Wednesday February 5, Oman v Nepal
Thursday, February 6, Oman v United States
Saturday, February 8, United States v Nepal
Sunday, February 9, Oman v Nepal
Tuesday, February 11, Oman v United States
Wednesday, February 12, United States v Nepal
Table
The top three sides advance to the 2022 World Cup Qualifier.
The bottom four sides are relegated to the 2022 World Cup playoff
1 United States 8 6 2 0 0 12 0.412
2 Scotland 8 4 3 0 1 9 0.139
3 Namibia 7 4 3 0 0 8 0.008
4 Oman 6 4 2 0 0 8 -0.139
5 UAE 7 3 3 0 1 7 -0.004
6 Nepal 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
7 PNG 8 0 8 0 0 0 -0.458
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
What sanctions would be reimposed?
Under ‘snapback’, measures imposed on Iran by the UN Security Council in six resolutions would be restored, including:
- An arms embargo
- A ban on uranium enrichment and reprocessing
- A ban on launches and other activities with ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons, as well as ballistic missile technology transfer and technical assistance
- A targeted global asset freeze and travel ban on Iranian individuals and entities
- Authorisation for countries to inspect Iran Air Cargo and Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines cargoes for banned goods
