People in the southernmost United States have been urged to flee as the country braces itself for Hurricane Harvey, which is due to hit Texas on late Friday or early Saturday.
The storm, which is currently a category two hurricane, could be the most dangerous to hit US mainland for 12 years and is forecast to bring 35 inches (89 centimetres of rain).
Residents in the states of Texas and Louisiana have been told to leave, while several counties in Texas have ordered mandatory evacuation from coastal areas.
"All the advice we can give is get out, and get out now," said Patrick Rios, the mayor of Rockport, Texas where 60% of the town's 9,500 inhabitants are believed to have fled.
Mr Rios told those who refused to leave to “mark their arm with a sharpie pen, put their social security number” so they could be identified by authorities if found dead.
Harvey is expected to be the biggest storm since Hurricane Katrina in 2005, which left 2,000 people dead and left many more people displaced.
President Donald Trump has been warned to prepare for the damage that the storm will inflict and not to repeat the actions of former President George W Bush, who was criticised for his response to Katrina.
"Keep on top of hurricane Harvey don't make same mistake Pres Bush made w Katrina," Republican senator Chuck Grassley urged Mr Trump in a tweet.
On Friday afternoon President Trump tweeted: “I have spoken w/ @GovAbbott of Texas and @LouisianaGov Edwards. Closely monitoring #HurricaneHarvey developments & here to assist as needed.”
In Texas, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has prepared emergency supplies while 700 army and air troops have been mobilised.
Profile of Bitex UAE
Date of launch: November 2018
Founder: Monark Modi
Based: Business Bay, Dubai
Sector: Financial services
Size: Eight employees
Investors: Self-funded to date with $1m of personal savings
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.
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Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
