Filipinos in the UAE are taking suitcases full of onions to their home country, as the price of the vegetable reached an all-time high of Dh40 ($10) per kg.
Red and white onions, which are staples in Filipino cuisine, now cost two or three times more than chicken and beef briskets in the Philippines.
The short supply and high inflation rates have caused the price increase.
Filipino residents are buying onions from the UAE at Dh1.50 per kg to take with them on their next trip home.
Jonathan Sibol, an animal trainer in Abu Dhabi, said he would be packing onions in his suitcase on his next flight to the Philippines.
“Onion is a very important ingredient for cooking in the Philippines, but sadly the price there is 600 [Dh40] pesos per kilo,” he said.
“If I get a chance to go home, I will bring onions with me because it's cheaper here. It's practical, and you'd save more money.
“For now, this is a major problem in our country — the lack of supply and high prices of onions. Hopefully, prices will be back to normal soon.”
Filipinos have posted pictures of suitcases full of onions on social media, with comments on the cheaper price of the vegetable in other parts of the world.
Kristina Canaberal said on Facebook: “I just want to ask — can we bring onions from the UAE to our place? It's not a joke how expensive a kilo of onion is in the Philippines.”
Joana Ramel posted photos of the vegetable on Facebook and said she hoped that it would be as cheap in the Philippines as it is in the UAE.
“Onions are cheap here,” she said.
Balusada Lou, another Filipino on Facebook, said: “Wow, the Philippines has its own plantation but it's still expensive. Here in UAE, it is exported but why is the price low?”
Buhay OFW, a weekly public service programme for Overseas Filipino Workers, said on its social media site: “In the Philippines, onions are gold, here in UAE, there are mountains of onions.”
Jigra
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Things Heard & Seen
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2/5
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The specs
Price, base: Dh228,000 / Dh232,000 (est)
Engine: 5.7-litre Hemi V8
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Power: 395hp @ 5,600rpm
Torque: 552Nm
Fuel economy, combined: 12.5L / 100km
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
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Launched: March 2017 on UAE Mother’s Day
Founder: Shamim Kassibawi
Based: Dubai with operations in the UAE and US
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Stage of funding: Seed
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A mark of Chatham House’s influence 100 years on since its founding, was Moscow’s formal declaration last month that it was an “undesirable
organisation”.
The depth of knowledge and academics that it drew on
following the Ukraine invasion had broadcast Mr Putin’s chicanery.
The institute is more used to accommodating world leaders,
with Nelson Mandela, Margaret Thatcher among those helping it provide
authoritative commentary on world events.
Chatham House was formally founded as the Royal Institute of
International Affairs following the peace conferences of World War One. Its
founder, Lionel Curtis, wanted a more scientific examination of international affairs
with a transparent exchange of information and ideas.
That arena of debate and analysis was enhanced by the “Chatham
House Rule” states that the contents of any meeting can be discussed outside Chatham
House but no mention can be made identifying individuals who commented.
This has enabled some candid exchanges on difficult subjects
allowing a greater degree of free speech from high-ranking figures.
These meetings are highly valued, so much so that
ambassadors reported them in secret diplomatic cables that – when they were
revealed in the Wikileaks reporting – were thus found to have broken the rule. However,
most speeches are held on the record.
Its research and debate has offered fresh ideas to
policymakers enabling them to more coherently address troubling issues from climate
change to health and food security.
EGYPT SQUAD
Goalkeepers: Ahmed El Shennawy, Mohamed El Shennawy, Mohamed Abou-Gabal, Mahmoud Abdel Rehem "Genesh"
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Midfielders: Walid Soliman, Abdallah El Said, Mohamed Elneny, Tarek Hamed, Mahmoud “Trezeguet” Hassan, Amr Warda, Nabil Emad
Forwards: Ahmed Ali, Mohamed Salah, Marwan Mohsen, Ahmed "Kouka" Hassan.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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A Cat, A Man, and Two Women
Junichiro Tamizaki
Translated by Paul McCarthy
Daunt Books
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets