With regard to the report Coronavirus: UAE records 781 new cases and 13 deaths (May 10): proportion of recoveries is increasing to the number of new cases. So this is going in the right direction.
Cheryl Murray, Abu Dhabi
As a healthcare worker with some common sense, I can say, stay home. Stop mingling in the malls. Keep the kids at home. These steps will go a long way to prevent the spread. This is not going to magically disappear in a puff of sanitiser. It's going to get worse before it starts getting better.
Anne Poulton Van Binsbergen-Hope, Cape Town, Western Cape
When I search for the total number of tests, it puts me at ease. I read the authorities are currently testing 300,000 labour workers in a specific area in Abu Dhabi in a matter of days, so this is positive to find the cases. There is bound to be a rise as they test more people, isolate and treat. The government is doing a great job in testing. The recoveries are increasing, too. I also read the total number of tests as of 25 April hit over one million. And each day since they have carried out many more tests. This is amazing.
Helen Ranson, Abu Dhabi
Safety checks notwithstanding, the dilemma of airlines
With reference to your editorial 'Air travel must be informed by ground reality' (May 11): with Covid-19 cases still rising all over the world, it is not plausible to lift air travel restrictions, even with proper safety measures in place. However, airlines cannot remain inactive for so long. Neither can they afford to fly if they were to respect social distancing norms. It is important that passengers continue to be tested for Covid-19 before boarding and face masks be made mandatory during flights. We may not like it but airlines will have no choice but to increase the price of tickets on account of the expense of taking precautions against Covid-19. Health and safety remains critical during this time.
Ramachandran Nair, Muscat, Oman
Parents' negotiating the task of monitoring kids learning at home
Regarding the article by Patrick Ryan and Anam Rizvi Coronavirus: How would UAE parents and employers manage e-learning until 2021? (May 10): it will be good to take into consideration the younger kids, for whom e-learning is impossible without the involvement of parents, who will need to balance office work. So who will follow up on the kids for e-learning?
Nathalie Ravier, Dubai
There are no easy solutions for this. There are pros and cons for all scenarios and the government, rightly so, is preparing for all scenarios. It is the right thing to do. September is still months away. Let's all do the best we can today for a safer tomorrow. Stay positive.
Nisha Subramanian, Dubai
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UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
FINAL RESULT
Sharjah Wanderers 20 Dubai Tigers 25 (After extra-time)
Wanderers
Tries: Gormley, Penalty
cons: Flaherty
Pens: Flaherty 2
Tigers
Tries: O’Donnell, Gibbons, Kelly
Cons: Caldwell 2
Pens: Caldwell, Cross
Ms Yang's top tips for parents new to the UAE
- Join parent networks
- Look beyond school fees
- Keep an open mind
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
The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
Drishyam 2
Directed by: Jeethu Joseph
Starring: Mohanlal, Meena, Ansiba, Murali Gopy
Rating: 4 stars
The specs: 2019 Audi A8
Price From Dh390,000
Engine 3.0L V6 turbo
Gearbox Eight-speed automatic
Power 345hp @ 5,000rpm
Torque 500Nm @ 1,370rpm
Fuel economy, combined 7.5L / 100km
From Conquest to Deportation
Jeronim Perovic, Hurst
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
COMPANY PROFILE
Initial investment: Undisclosed
Investment stage: Series A
Investors: Core42
Current number of staff: 47
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Power: 420hp
Torque: 623Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)
On sale: Now
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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
