Who had a good day in office and who had a week to forget...
UPs
Gylfi Sigurdsson, Swansea City
The Icelandic midfielder, a January loan signing from German team Hoffenheim, now has five goals in his last six games after a double in the 3-0 away win at Fulham. Swansea will hope he has not alerted rivals about a permanent move.
Howard Webb
Referees deserve to be praised when they get it right, given the amount of criticism they receive. Webb's handling of an emotional situation at White Hart Lane following Fabrice Muamba's heart attack was spot on, and he made the right decision to call Tottenham-Bolton off.
Fernando Torres, Chelsea
Having spent most of the season in the Downs column, the Spanish striker is due a mention after ending his 25-hour goal drought. OK, so his two strikes came against Leicester City, a second-tier team, but it is a step in the right direction.
DOWNs
Ronald Zubar, Wolves
Footballers do baffling things, such as taking their shirt off to
celebrate when they know it earns a yellow card. Zubar had already been
booked against Manchester United when he needlessly jumped into a
challenge. Red card.
David Moyes, Everton
The Everton manager took a risk by resting players for the derby with
Liverpool - a 3-0 defeat - to save them for the FA Cup tie with
Sunderland - a 1-1 draw. Now he faces a replay in the cup that negates
the rested players. And a derby thrashing for the fans.
Franco Di Santo, Wigan
The relegation-threatened club had 20 shots in the 1-1 draw at home to
West Bromwich Albion which leaves them second from bottom. Di Santo, the
Argentine striker, was the worst culprit, missing three chances that
could have moved Wigan up to 17th.
How to wear a kandura
Dos
- Wear the right fabric for the right season and occasion
- Always ask for the dress code if you don’t know
- Wear a white kandura, white ghutra / shemagh (headwear) and black shoes for work
- Wear 100 per cent cotton under the kandura as most fabrics are polyester
Don’ts
- Wear hamdania for work, always wear a ghutra and agal
- Buy a kandura only based on how it feels; ask questions about the fabric and understand what you are buying
Brief scores:
Scotland 371-5, 50 overs (C MacLeod 140 no, K Coetzer 58, G Munsey 55)
England 365 all out, 48.5 overs (J Bairstow 105, A Hales 52; M Watt 3-55)
Result: Scotland won by six runs
RESULT
Deportivo La Coruna 2 Barcelona 4
Deportivo: Perez (39'), Colak (63')
Barcelona: Coutinho (6'), Messi (37', 81', 84')
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 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
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
On sale: Available to order now
