Prince William will soon be back travelling, after his trip to the UAE earlier in February. Photo: Karim Sahib
Prince William will soon be back travelling, after his trip to the UAE earlier in February. Photo: Karim Sahib
Prince William will soon be back travelling, after his trip to the UAE earlier in February. Photo: Karim Sahib
Prince William will soon be back travelling, after his trip to the UAE earlier in February. Photo: Karim Sahib

British royal family to mark Queen Elizabeth II's platinum jubilee with world tour


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The British royal family has announced a tour of the globe to mark Queen Elizabeth II's platinum jubilee year.

Prince William and his wife Kate, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, will travel to the Caribbean, touring Belize, Jamaica and The Bahamas from March 19 to 26.

Heir to the throne Prince Charles and his wife Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall will visit Ireland from March 23 to 25.

Prince Edward and his wife Sophie, the Earl and Countess of Wessex, will travel to Antigua and Barbuda, Grenada, St Lucia, and St Vincent and the Grenadines from April 22 to 28.

Princess Anne, the Princess Royal, will visit Papua New Guinea from April 11 to 13.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have already tweeted their excitement at the upcoming jubilee tour.

Officials at Kensington Palace, where the royal couple live, said it was their first joint tour since the start of the pandemic, and they have asked to meet as many local people as possible.

They will visit historic Mayan sites, celebrate the rich culture of the Garifuna community in Belize and explore the country's biodiversity.

In Jamaica, the duke and duchess will engage with the Jamaican Defence Force and celebrate the legacy of Bob Marley and other ground-breaking Jamaican musicians, alongside potential stars of the future.

In the Bahamas, the Cambridges visit a number of islands and experience a world famous junkanoo parade.

A Kensington Palace spokeswoman said: “Throughout their visit, the duke and duchess will take the opportunity to commemorate Her Majesty's platinum jubilee.

“Their programme will also touch on a number of themes that are close to Their Royal Highnesses' hearts and a key focus of their work with The Royal Foundation, including The Earthshot Prize, mental health and the importance of early childhood to lifelong outcomes.”

She added: “Their Royal Highnesses are very much looking forward to the visit, which will be their first joint official overseas tour since the onset of Covid-19 in 2020.”

The Cambridges are also keen to learn more about the impact of the pandemic on the Caribbean and how communities coped.

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Jubilee tour continues long tradition

Jubilee tours abroad have long been carried out in celebration of the queen's milestone anniversaries.

The queen herself is currently convalescing with mild Covid symptoms after she became infected through contact with an unknowingly infectious Prince Charles.

During her recuperation, the monarch, 95, has cancelled several virtual engagements, to which she has become accustomed during the coronavirus pandemic.

Even when in full health, and permissible or advisable depending on pandemic restrictions, the queen no longer carries out overseas engagements.

Her last trip abroad was to Malta in 2015. Since then, younger members of the clan have taken up the slack.

Just this week, the Duchess of Cambridge visited Denmark where she met with Princess Mary in Danish capital Copenhagen. Kate revealed on the tour she was thinking of having a fourth child.

The duchess's trip came hot on the heels of her husband Prince William's tour of the UAE, where he was shown around Expo 2020 Dubai by Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed, Crown Prince of Dubai.

Prince William also met Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed, member of the Abu Dhabi Executive Council and chairman of Abu Dhabi Executive Office, at Abu Dhabi's Jubail Mangrove Park.

The queen reached her platinum jubilee on February 6, becoming the first British monarch in history to do so.

Overseas are not the only way it is being commemorated, however. National festivities will take place in the UK on a four-day bank holiday weekend in June.

The queen's 70 years on throne - in 70 pictures

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'Downton Abbey: A New Era'

Director: Simon Curtis

 

Cast: Hugh Bonneville, Elizabeth McGovern, Maggie Smith, Michelle Dockery, Laura Carmichael, Jim Carter and Phyllis Logan

 

Rating: 4/5

 
How Tesla’s price correction has hit fund managers

Investing in disruptive technology can be a bumpy ride, as investors in Tesla were reminded on Friday, when its stock dropped 7.5 per cent in early trading to $575.

It recovered slightly but still ended the week 15 per cent lower and is down a third from its all-time high of $883 on January 26. The electric car maker’s market cap fell from $834 billion to about $567bn in that time, a drop of an astonishing $267bn, and a blow for those who bought Tesla stock late.

The collapse also hit fund managers that have gone big on Tesla, notably the UK-based Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust and Cathie Wood’s ARK Innovation ETF.

Tesla is the top holding in both funds, making up a hefty 10 per cent of total assets under management. Both funds have fallen by a quarter in the past month.

Matt Weller, global head of market research at GAIN Capital, recently warned that Tesla founder Elon Musk had “flown a bit too close to the sun”, after getting carried away by investing $1.5bn of the company’s money in Bitcoin.

He also predicted Tesla’s sales could struggle as traditional auto manufacturers ramp up electric car production, destroying its first mover advantage.

AJ Bell’s Russ Mould warns that many investors buy tech stocks when earnings forecasts are rising, almost regardless of valuation. “When it works, it really works. But when it goes wrong, elevated valuations leave little or no downside protection.”

A Tesla correction was probably baked in after last year’s astonishing share price surge, and many investors will see this as an opportunity to load up at a reduced price.

Dramatic swings are to be expected when investing in disruptive technology, as Ms Wood at ARK makes clear.

Every week, she sends subscribers a commentary listing “stocks in our strategies that have appreciated or dropped more than 15 per cent in a day” during the week.

Her latest commentary, issued on Friday, showed seven stocks displaying extreme volatility, led by ExOne, a leader in binder jetting 3D printing technology. It jumped 24 per cent, boosted by news that fellow 3D printing specialist Stratasys had beaten fourth-quarter revenues and earnings expectations, seen as good news for the sector.

By contrast, computational drug and material discovery company Schrödinger fell 27 per cent after quarterly and full-year results showed its core software sales and drug development pipeline slowing.

Despite that setback, Ms Wood remains positive, arguing that its “medicinal chemistry platform offers a powerful and unique view into chemical space”.

In her weekly video view, she remains bullish, stating that: “We are on the right side of change, and disruptive innovation is going to deliver exponential growth trajectories for many of our companies, in fact, most of them.”

Ms Wood remains committed to Tesla as she expects global electric car sales to compound at an average annual rate of 82 per cent for the next five years.

She said these are so “enormous that some people find them unbelievable”, and argues that this scepticism, especially among institutional investors, “festers” and creates a great opportunity for ARK.

Only you can decide whether you are a believer or a festering sceptic. If it’s the former, then buckle up.

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- Three wins in past 10 starts
- 45 pro starts worldwide: 5 wins, 17 top 5s
- Ranked 551th in world on debut, now No 4 (was No 2 earlier this year)
- 5th player in last 30 years to win 3 European Tour and 2 PGA Tour titles before age 24 (Woods, Garcia, McIlroy, Spieth)

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Know before you go
  • Jebel Akhdar is a two-hour drive from Muscat airport or a six-hour drive from Dubai. It’s impossible to visit by car unless you have a 4x4. Phone ahead to the hotel to arrange a transfer.
  • If you’re driving, make sure your insurance covers Oman.
  • By air: Budget airlines Air Arabia, Flydubai and SalamAir offer direct routes to Muscat from the UAE.
  • Tourists from the Emirates (UAE nationals not included) must apply for an Omani visa online before arrival at evisa.rop.gov.om. The process typically takes several days.
  • Flash floods are probable due to the terrain and a lack of drainage. Always check the weather before venturing into any canyons or other remote areas and identify a plan of escape that includes high ground, shelter and parking where your car won’t be overtaken by sudden downpours.

 

Director: Laxman Utekar

Cast: Vicky Kaushal, Akshaye Khanna, Diana Penty, Vineet Kumar Singh, Rashmika Mandanna

Rating: 1/5

War 2

Director: Ayan Mukerji

Stars: Hrithik Roshan, NTR, Kiara Advani, Ashutosh Rana

Rating: 2/5

Key findings of Jenkins report
  • Founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, Hassan al Banna, "accepted the political utility of violence"
  • Views of key Muslim Brotherhood ideologue, Sayyid Qutb, have “consistently been understood” as permitting “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” and “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
  • Muslim Brotherhood at all levels has repeatedly defended Hamas attacks against Israel, including the use of suicide bombers and the killing of civilians.
  • Laying out the report in the House of Commons, David Cameron told MPs: "The main findings of the review support the conclusion that membership of, association with, or influence by the Muslim Brotherhood should be considered as a possible indicator of extremism."
Updated: February 25, 2022, 2:50 PM`