Abu Dhabi // It has been an eventful year for Efipania Balala – she turned 50 and was given the all-clear from cancer.
This year “was a good year and a happy year, 2012 was a scary year”, said Ms Balala, from the Philippines.
In June, the mother of three needed a colonoscopy, a blood test and a body scan to check for any sign of the return of colorectal cancer, which had been diagnosed the previous year.
“During the examination it was really scary,” she said. “I was anxious about what was going on and whether it was totally healed.
“When waiting for the results I felt scared, of course, and worried.”
Fortunately, the news was positive.
“The colonoscopy was great, as during the examination the doctors told me I was fine,” she said. “They gave me the result and showed me how clear it was.”
When the other results were also good, the Abu Dhabi resident told her children, who were waiting for news back in the Philippines, where they live with relatives.
“They were eager to know. When I got the result, immediately I informed them. They were very happy and thankful to God,” said Ms Balala, who has lived in the UAE for 23 years.
Her three sons, 16, 14 and 9, had been living with her in Abu Dhabi.
They returned to the Philippines shortly after she had an operation to remove the tumour at Sheikh Khalifa Medical City in June last year.
“It is so scary to look back at that. I thought it was the end of my life really, I was crying,” said Ms Balala, who turned 50 in July.
“I sent them to the Philippines because I was scared about my health. I did not know what the result would be and what the doctors would tell me.”
Ms Balala, who manages a gift shop in Khalidiya, hopes her children can return to the UAE soon.
“Now I feel more confident and I feel I can take them back to be together. There is nothing more happy for a mother than to be with her children,” she said.
Ms Balala, who will have another check-up in three years – unless there is cause for concern before then – has goals for the next 12 months.
“In 2014 I am hoping for having a good business and to bring my children back here to Abu Dhabi,” she said.
ecleland@thenational.ae
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
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
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
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.
Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
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57%20Seconds
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In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
