Foreign secretary Boris Johnson suggested on Wednesday that the widely reported €50 billion divorce bill between Britain and the European Union was indeed in the stages of being agreed, and that there would now be an opportunity to for the two sides to move ahead on to talks about the future trade arrangements between them.
“We’re hoping very much that the offer the prime minister is able to make at that council will be one that guarantees sufficient progress,” Mr Johnson told reporters in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire, where he was attending an EU-African Union summit. “Now’s the time to get the ship off the rocks.”
It was widely covered in British newpapers on Thursday that agreement had been reached on framework through which the UK would settle future payments to the union that the country was liable for.
While some reports suggested the figure could end up as high as €100 billion, the consensus was they would total about €45-55bn and would be paid over a period of time that could stretch into decades – they key term in discussions has been that the UK would pay their debts ‘when they [fell] due’.
Talking to Sky News earlier on Wednesday, his cabinet colleague Chris Grayling broadly accepted that an agreement was in the making, but refused to be drawn on ‘speculation’ about what the figure would include.
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Read more:
UK and EU agree Brexit divorce bill, reports
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“We’ve said that we'll meet our obligations, we’ve said that that needs to be part of a broader agreement – that nothing is agreed until everything is agreed,” he said.
“But we’ve made good progress in the negotiations on this and other aspects of the package that we're discussing and we hope that we can move on to trade talks at the European Council.”
However the ‘deal’ was described by former UKIP leader Nigel Farage as a “sellout”.
He said: “I have always argued that no deal is better than a bad deal. Make no mistake about it, €55bn to leave the EU is a very, very bad deal.”
“For a sum of this magnitude to be agreed in return for nothing more than a promise of a decent settlement on trade represents a complete and total sellout,” he wrote in The Daily Telegraph.
Others have noted the marked change in position of Mr Johnson, who as recently as July told the House of Commons that the EU could “go whistle” if they attempted to enforce an “extortionate” Brexit settlement on the UK.
Meanwhile, officials In Brussels were describing themselves as being “cautiously optimistic” about a deal, but that they “were waiting to see something in writing from the UK side.” The EU’s chief Breixt negotiator Michel Barnier said “we still have work to do, the negotiation is not over on this subject” but was hopeful an agreement could be struck next week.
And Ireland’s EU commissioner was also positive about developments: “I would welcome very much the fact that the United Kingdom has brought forward proposals that go very close towards meeting the requirements of the EU 27 member states,” said agriculture commissioner Phil Hogan.
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
'Nope'
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Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
The Bio
Hometown: Bogota, Colombia
Favourite place to relax in UAE: the desert around Al Mleiha in Sharjah or the eastern mangroves in Abu Dhabi
The one book everyone should read: 100 Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. It will make your mind fly
Favourite documentary: Chasing Coral by Jeff Orlowski. It's a good reality check about one of the most valued ecosystems for humanity
Traits of Chinese zodiac animals
Tiger:independent, successful, volatile
Rat:witty, creative, charming
Ox:diligent, perseverent, conservative
Rabbit:gracious, considerate, sensitive
Dragon:prosperous, brave, rash
Snake:calm, thoughtful, stubborn
Horse:faithful, energetic, carefree
Sheep:easy-going, peacemaker, curious
Monkey:family-orientated, clever, playful
Rooster:honest, confident, pompous
Dog:loyal, kind, perfectionist
Boar:loving, tolerant, indulgent
The years Ramadan fell in May
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cylinder turbo
Power: 258hp from 5,000-6,500rpm
Torque: 400Nm from 1,550-4,000rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 6.1L/100km
Price: from Dh362,500
On sale: now
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Company Fact Box
Company name/date started: Abwaab Technologies / September 2019
Founders: Hamdi Tabbaa, co-founder and CEO. Hussein Alsarabi, co-founder and CTO
Based: Amman, Jordan
Sector: Education Technology
Size (employees/revenue): Total team size: 65. Full-time employees: 25. Revenue undisclosed
Stage: early-stage startup
Investors: Adam Tech Ventures, Endure Capital, Equitrust, the World Bank-backed Innovative Startups SMEs Fund, a London investment fund, a number of former and current executives from Uber and Netflix, among others.
Specs
Engine: Electric motor generating 54.2kWh (Cooper SE and Aceman SE), 64.6kW (Countryman All4 SE)
Power: 218hp (Cooper and Aceman), 313hp (Countryman)
Torque: 330Nm (Cooper and Aceman), 494Nm (Countryman)
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh158,000 (Cooper), Dh168,000 (Aceman), Dh190,000 (Countryman)
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Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
