Dubai, November 28: The Dubai Duty Free celebrated the 47th National Day of UAE at the company’s head office in Umm Ramool on Wednesday. Both Emiratis and their expat colleagues of the company participated in the programme.

Executive Vice Chairman and CEO Colm McLoughlin inaugurated the celebrations and was commemorated with the UAE national anthem followed by local traditional Emirati dance and cake cutting ceremony.  

Speaking on the occasion, McLoughlin said that “UAE national day is a time for people from all walks of life to experience the rich culture of the nation. I am proud to see our Emirati and expat colleagues came together to celebrate the event in the country”.

As part of the celebrations, an Emirati exhibition was organized on the grounds of the Dubai Duty Free Head Office, showcasing the UAE’s rich traditions and history, live cooking of traditional Emirati cuisine, calligraphy and henna decorations.

Earlier, Dubai Duty Free has announced a 20% discount across a wide range of products from November 30 to December 2 to all arriving and departing passengers travelling through Dubai International Airport and Al Maktoum International Airport. The promotion applies to major categories including perfumes, cosmetics, watches, costume jewellery, precious jewellery, handbags, luggage, sunglasses, ladies, men's & children's fashion, confectionery and delicatessen.

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London (AP): England is not sacking anybody following the 4-1 Ashes loss in Australia.

A review of the tour by the England and Wales Cricket Board, announced within hours of the final match in January, was concluded on Monday. Firing people would “be the easy thing to do,” ECB chief executive Richard Gould said but he insisted, "This is not the time to throw everything out."

Managing director Rob Key, coach Brendon McCullum and captain Ben Stokes kept their jobs after the best England side to go to Australia in 14 years lost the Ashes in 11 days with two games to spare.

“Moving people on can sometimes be the easy thing to do. That's not the route that we're going to take,” Gould said. “I've seen the driving ambition and determination that we're lucky enough to have within our leadership group to take the lessons from the Ashes and move forward.”

Gould previously was the chief executive of Bristol City soccer club and said the ECB would not follow the same route as soccer's hire-and-fire culture.

“Cricket is a very unique sport in that it takes a team of leadership ... it's not like football where there's a single point of failure or success with a manager," he said. He added the ECB would not “select or deselect management based on a popularity campaign.”

The main criticisms of England's tour were poor preparation, player misbehavior, and selection mistakes.

At a press conference at Lord's, Gould and Key said McCullum and Stokes have not had a “bust up,” they did not want McCullum to “completely change” but “to evolve,” the behavior of some players was “unprofessional,” there will be more consequences for underperforming, and a commitment to “better long-term planning” ahead of major test series.

Some changes were already implemented for the Twenty20 World Cup, where England reached the semifinals. Gould implied that performance saved McCullum.

Key acknowledged that England supporters would be disappointed to see the management team go unpunished.

“I know people want punishment and that people then should be sacked for that,” Key said. “That doesn't mean we don't feel like we've gone through some serious pain: Brendon, myself, Ben. It's been as tough a time as I think I've had.”