Desert Mojito
Nazli Ghassemi
If only a woman would write a novel about her experiences living in Dubai without the focus being on lipstick, stilettos or sparkling beverages. Nazli Ghassemi's fluffy first venture, Desert Mojito, is not such a book.
The reader follows Maya, an Iranian-American poet - who appears to support herself on little more than air, friends and near-constant observations on local life - through a series of contrived scenes. These include a mishap at Ski Dubai, hobnobbing at the Dubai World Cup, a variety of Les Mills classes and a quick weekend on Kish Island. But it feels as though there is very little in the way of a plot to hold the book together, save for a slow-burning romance.
Maya knows the city isn't always fair - labourers get several sympathetic nods, for example - but it feels very much as if she is telling rather than showing in her story arc.
The dialogue and phrasing are hard going too. For instance, in explaining how not all passports are created equal: "In a perfect world, one passport is as good as another. A person could travel the world and the seven seas 'cause sweet dreams are made of these."
* Ann Marie McQueen
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
COMPANY PROFILE
● Company: Bidzi
● Started: 2024
● Founders: Akshay Dosaj and Asif Rashid
● Based: Dubai, UAE
● Industry: M&A
● Funding size: Bootstrapped
● No of employees: Nine
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The specs: 2019 Mercedes-Benz C200 Coupe
Price, base: Dh201,153
Engine: 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder
Transmission: Nine-speed automatic
Power: 204hp @ 5,800rpm
Torque: 300Nm @ 1,600rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 6.7L / 100km