FUJAIRAH // Thousands of music fans gathered in the Northern Emirates on Friday night for an exclusive concert by Diana Haddad at the City Centre shopping mall.
The Arab superstar dazzled in a one-hour performance with a set combining a mix of old favourites and new songs, including her latest single, Habeebi Masri (My Lover is Egyptian).
“Fujairah is amazing. I missed being here and I know that my fans missed me too. It has been a while since my last visit, but each time I come here I feel like I’m home,” she said.
“I’m Lebanese with Emirati citizenship. The UAE is my country and people here are my family. And for that reason I’m participating in the National Day musical operetta under the title Al Wafaa Lal Emirate – Loyalty to the United Arab Emirates.”
Haddad recently finished work on her latest album and she told The National about it.
“It will mark my first collaboration with Rotana Records and will be released by the beginning of December,” she said.
Some fans, however, complained of trouble in hearing the singer over the loud instruments and heavy bass.
“I barely heard the words. The sound of the instruments is way louder than her voice. But at least we had the chance to see her performing live,” said Said Mohammed, 28. “Me and my brother came to the mall to do some shopping and found out that Diana was performing and was singing our favourite song, Mali Mali.”
“She was fantastic, she is one of my favourite singers,” said Alaa Al Kindi. “I came from Khor Fakkan just to see her tonight. Although I couldn’t hear her voice clearly, I’m so glad that I finally had the chance to meet her face to face.”
The concert was hosted by developer Majid Al Futtaim with the aim of boosting the entertainment landscape in the emirate throughout the year.
rhaza@thenational.ae
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Engine: 2.4-litre four-cylinder
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Libya's Gold
UN Panel of Experts found regime secretly sold a fifth of the country's gold reserves.
The panel’s 2017 report followed a trail to West Africa where large sums of cash and gold were hidden by Abdullah Al Senussi, Qaddafi’s former intelligence chief, in 2011.
Cases filled with cash that was said to amount to $560m in 100 dollar notes, that was kept by a group of Libyans in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.
A second stash was said to have been held in Accra, Ghana, inside boxes at the local offices of an international human rights organisation based in France.
Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
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2pm Handicap Dh 90,000 1,800m
2.30pm Handicap Dh120,000 1,950m
3pm Handicap Dh105,000 1,600m
3.30pm Jebel Ali Classic Conditions Dh300,000 1,400m
4pm Maiden Dh75,000 1,600m
4.30pm Conditions Dh250,000 1,400m
5pm Maiden Dh75,000 1,600m
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The National selections:
2pm Arch Gold
2.30pm Conclusion
3pm Al Battar
3.30pm Golden Jaguar
4pm Al Motayar
4.30pm Tapi Sioux
5pm Leadership
5.30pm Dahawi
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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
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