RAMALLAH // Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas swore in all 24 members of his caretaker cabinet yesterday, despite confusion over his choice of premier.
Rami Hamdallah is to remain prime minister of the Palestinian Authority, which rules the West Bank, even though Mr Abbas accepted his resignation earlier this year, said Ehab Bseiso, the Palestinian Authority (PA) spokesman. “It was agreed between the president and Prime Minister Hamdallah that the government should continue on as is,” Mr Bseiso said.
Mr Hamdallah, formerly the president of An-Najah National University in Nablus, was appointed by Mr Abbas in June to replace Salam Fayyad as prime minister. But he surprised political observers by resigning two weeks later.
Mr Abbas accepted Mr Hamdallah’s resignation, but asked him to stay on as caretaker premier until a replacement was named.
Last month, Mr Abbas announced that he had given Mr Hamdallah five weeks to form a new government.
“By accepting to form the government five weeks ago, that means the prime minister withdrew his resignation,” Mr Bseiso explained.
The perplexing series of events highlight what critics have long called a crisis in the Palestinian leadership, which last held parliamentary elections in 2006 and is bitterly divided.
Earlier this year, the Fatah faction, which Mr Abbas heads, and its Hamas rivals, who control the Gaza Strip, agreed to hold national elections by August 14.
But renewed bickering quickly scuttled that plan, which the factions had billed as a renewed push to implement their stalled reconciliation accord of 2011.
That agreement laid out the framework for uniting Palestinians in the West Bank with Gaza, which Hamas captured from Fatah forces in 2007.
Since then, both factions, still bitterly divided, have ruled their respective areas by decree.
hnaylor@thenational.ae
The biog
Family: He is the youngest of five brothers, of whom two are dentists.
Celebrities he worked on: Fabio Canavaro, Lojain Omran, RedOne, Saber Al Rabai.
Where he works: Liberty Dental Clinic
Miss Granny
Director: Joyce Bernal
Starring: Sarah Geronimo, James Reid, Xian Lim, Nova Villa
3/5
(Tagalog with Eng/Ar subtitles)
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
Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
Concrete and Gold
Foo Fighters
RCA records
The years Ramadan fell in May
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
Company%C2%A0profile
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The Bio
Name: Lynn Davison
Profession: History teacher at Al Yasmina Academy, Abu Dhabi
Children: She has one son, Casey, 28
Hometown: Pontefract, West Yorkshire in the UK
Favourite book: The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
Favourite Author: CJ Sansom
Favourite holiday destination: Bali
Favourite food: A Sunday roast
The specs
Engine: Four electric motors, one at each wheel
Power: 579hp
Torque: 859Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh825,900
On sale: Now
The Case For Trump
By Victor Davis Hanson
Quick%20facts
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What are NFTs?
Are non-fungible tokens a currency, asset, or a licensing instrument? Arnab Das, global market strategist EMEA at Invesco, says they are mix of all of three.
You can buy, hold and use NFTs just like US dollars and Bitcoins. “They can appreciate in value and even produce cash flows.”
However, while money is fungible, NFTs are not. “One Bitcoin, dollar, euro or dirham is largely indistinguishable from the next. Nothing ties a dollar bill to a particular owner, for example. Nor does it tie you to to any goods, services or assets you bought with that currency. In contrast, NFTs confer specific ownership,” Mr Das says.
This makes NFTs closer to a piece of intellectual property such as a work of art or licence, as you can claim royalties or profit by exchanging it at a higher value later, Mr Das says. “They could provide a sustainable income stream.”
This income will depend on future demand and use, which makes NFTs difficult to value. “However, there is a credible use case for many forms of intellectual property, notably art, songs, videos,” Mr Das says.
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
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