Petrol and diesel prices will rise again starting Monday as the price of crude oil hovers above US$50.
The UAE Ministry of Energy announced today that consumers will pay Dh2.01 a litre for Super 98, up 3 per cent from April; Special 95 will increase 3.2 per cent to Dh1.90; and E Plus will cost Dh1.83, growing by 3.3 per cent.
Diesel will inch up to Dh1.97 from April’s Dh1.95.
The Ministry of Energy began liberalising fuel prices nearly two years ago using “benchmark prices” that have not been publicly disclosed. Though the price of Brent declined 0.78 per cent to $51.33 from the day April’s petrol prices were announced, it should be noted that the previous day’s price was up 1.93 per cent at $50.75.
A barrel of Brent crude traded at US$51.73 at the end of last week, an 8.9 per cent drop since the start of the year at $56.82 per barrel.
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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
