If you want to build an oil pipeline that stretches 2,700km from Canada's oil sands to Texan refineries, you're going to have to answer to Hollywood.
In Robert Redford's latest screen appearances, the Oscar-winning legend isn't taming horses or romancing Meryl Streep. He's on YouTube, speaking out against the controversial Keystone XL pipeline. Redford calls on President Barack Obama to protect "America's heartland" from environmental disaster by blocking the pipeline. And he just might get the last word.
Ever since Hollywood stars turned up the heat on the pipeline project, its future has become increasingly uncertain. On November 10, the government announced the initiative would be shelved until at least 2013. Redford issued a new video - this time, extending a heartfelt thank you to the president for listening to the voices of the people.
The announced delay represents a dramatic political turnaround from just a few weeks ago. Obama was expected to give Keystone the nod in December, allowing construction to begin in the new year. The pipeline would cross over an ecologically sensitive area in Nebraska, but that was seen as a small price to pay for creating jobs and meeting America's energy demands.
Of course, environmental groups had been opposed to the pipeline since its infancy, arguing it would only increase the country's dependence on oil and that leaks and spills would be inevitable. But when high-profile Hollywood celebrities joined the chorus in the summer, the issue shot to the top of the media, and the public, radars. The battle against Keystone turned a corner.
In August, the actress Daryl Hannah was among several hundred people arrested during a sit-in protest outside the White House. Even as the handcuffs were put on her, she shouted: "No to the Keystone pipeline!" Over the course of the autumn, the actor Mark Ruffalo emerged as an anti-pipeline spokesman in the news, and the actress Julia Louis-Dreyfus turned up at the White House to join the crowd who were forming a human chain around the building.
The veteran protesters welcomed Hollywood with open arms. Greenpeace Canada's Mike Hudema says celebrities reach a mainstream audience that environmental groups don't always access. He maintains this is a people's victory - but he is thankful for Redford's YouTube videos and Ruffalo's media interviews.
"I think it helped. I think in any campaign, the more voices you have calling out, the more diversity in who those voices are and what audiences those voices reach, the more effective your campaign is going to be."
The Hollywood stars weren't the only familiar faces who joined in the chorus against Keystone. Nobel Laureates including Archbishop Desmond Tutu and the Dalai Lama wrote letters to Obama and the Canadian prime minister Stephen Harper calling on them to rethink the pipeline.
None of this went over well with Canada's energy minister, Joe Oliver, the man tasked with selling Americans on the pipeline. In his addresses to business and political audiences, Oliver took to singling out "celebrity protesters" and dismissing them as not having the facts. He was evidently concerned they were being heard.
An A-list celebrity is a valuable asset to any cause, says Sol Hart, a communications professor at the American University in Washington. Celebrities grab the attention of the media and the public. If they're active on Twitter, that further increases their influence among their fellow citizens.
But this doesn't mean political activism is all fun and games for the stars. Hart adds that celebrity political engagement can affect a star's marketability - sometimes for better, but sometimes for worse. While Angelina Jolie's advocacy work demanded Americans pay attention to the floods in Pakistan last year, The Dixie Chicks' lead singer Natalie Maines is still ostracised in parts of the US after speaking out against the George W Bush administration ahead of the Iraq war.
The decision to put the pipeline on hold is widely viewed as a political manoeuvre to save Obama from deciding one way or the other before the 2012 presidential election. Many of Obama's base supporters are opposed to the pipeline, and he doesn't want to lose their votes. Hollywood stars bring the additional promise of not only being left-leaning, but wealthy and motivated - valuable assets as the Democrats launch a tough re-election campaign.
The proponents of Keystone XL hope that the pipeline construction will proceed, after it is re-routed around the Sand Hills ecoregion of Nebraska and wins political backing. The day the delay was announced, Canada's energy minister stayed positive.
"While we are disappointed with the delay, we remain hopeful the project will be decided on its merits and eventually approved," Oliver said in a statement.
Not if Redford has anything to say about it.
Why it pays to compare
A comparison of sending Dh20,000 from the UAE using two different routes at the same time - the first direct from a UAE bank to a bank in Germany, and the second from the same UAE bank via an online platform to Germany - found key differences in cost and speed. The transfers were both initiated on January 30.
Route 1: bank transfer
The UAE bank charged Dh152.25 for the Dh20,000 transfer. On top of that, their exchange rate margin added a difference of around Dh415, compared with the mid-market rate.
Total cost: Dh567.25 - around 2.9 per cent of the total amount
Total received: €4,670.30
Route 2: online platform
The UAE bank’s charge for sending Dh20,000 to a UK dirham-denominated account was Dh2.10. The exchange rate margin cost was Dh60, plus a Dh12 fee.
Total cost: Dh74.10, around 0.4 per cent of the transaction
Total received: €4,756
The UAE bank transfer was far quicker – around two to three working days, while the online platform took around four to five days, but was considerably cheaper. In the online platform transfer, the funds were also exposed to currency risk during the period it took for them to arrive.
THREE
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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
Race card
6.30pm: Handicap (TB) $68,000 (Dirt) 1,200m
7.05pm: Meydan Cup – Listed Handicap (TB) $88,000 (Turf) 2,810m
7.40pm: UAE 2000 Guineas – Group 3 (TB) $125,000 (D) 1,600m
8.15pm: Firebreak Stakes – Group 3 (TB) $130,000 (D) 1,600m
9.50pm: Meydan Classic – Conditions (TB) $$50,000 (T) 1,400m
9.25pm: Dubai Sprint – Listed Handicap (TB) $88,000 (T) 1,200m
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Florida: The critical Sunshine State
Though mostly conservative, Florida is usually always “close” in presidential elections. In most elections, the candidate that wins the Sunshine State almost always wins the election, as evidenced in 2016 when Trump took Florida, a state which has not had a democratic governor since 1991.
Joe Biden’s campaign has spent $100 million there to turn things around, understandable given the state’s crucial 29 electoral votes.
In 2016, Mr Trump’s democratic rival Hillary Clinton paid frequent visits to Florida though analysts concluded that she failed to appeal towards middle-class voters, whom Barack Obama won over in the previous election.
THE SPECS
Range Rover Sport Autobiography Dynamic
Engine: 5.0-litre supercharged V8
Transmission: six-speed manual
Power: 518bhp
Torque: 625Nm
Speed: 0-100kmh 5.3 seconds
Price: Dh633,435
On sale: now
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
The specs
Engine: Four electric motors, one at each wheel
Power: 579hp
Torque: 859Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh825,900
On sale: Now
