US First Lady Melania Trump accused her husband's first wife Ivana of making "attention-seeking and self-serving noise" on Monday, after the former Mrs Trump jokingly referred to herself as the first lady while trying to sell her memoirs.
In an interview with ABC News to promote her new book — "Raising Trump" — the 68-year-old Ivana Trump attempted a little joke when describing her long-standing relationship with the 45th US president.
"I have the direct number to White House but I don't really want to call him there because Melania is there, and I don't really want to cause any kind of jealousy or something like that because I'm basically first Trump wife, OK? I'm first lady, OK?" she told ABC, with a laugh.
Melania Trump, 47 and normally very reserved, was not amused.
"Mrs Trump has made the White House a home for Barron and the president," said a tersely worded statement from her spokeswoman Stephanie Grisham, published by CNN. Barron is the Trumps' young son.
"She loves living in Washington, DC, and is honoured by her role as First Lady of the United States."
"She plans to use her title and role to help children, not sell books," Ms Grisham said.
She added: "There is clearly no substance to this statement from an ex. This is unfortunately only attention-seeking and self-serving noise."
Ivana Trump is the mother of Mr Trump's three eldest children: Donald Jr, Ivanka and Eric.
The former real estate magnate has two other children: Tiffany, with his second wife, Marla Maples, and 11-year-old Barron — who lives with his parents at the White House.
Ivana, a Czech-born former model, skier and businesswoman, married Mr Trump in 1979. The couple were a fixture on the New York celebrity circuit before divorcing in a blaze of scandal in 1992.
Mr Trump went on to marry Ms Maples, with whom he had been having an affair, but they divorced six years later. Melania is Mr Trump's third wife.
Ivana is perhaps best known for coining Trump's nickname "The Donald."
'Cheb%20Khaled'
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How Filipinos in the UAE invest
A recent survey of 10,000 Filipino expatriates in the UAE found that 82 per cent have plans to invest, primarily in property. This is significantly higher than the 2014 poll showing only two out of 10 Filipinos planned to invest.
Fifty-five percent said they plan to invest in property, according to the poll conducted by the New Perspective Media Group, organiser of the Philippine Property and Investment Exhibition. Acquiring a franchised business or starting up a small business was preferred by 25 per cent and 15 per cent said they will invest in mutual funds. The rest said they are keen to invest in insurance (3 per cent) and gold (2 per cent).
Of the 5,500 respondents who preferred property as their primary investment, 54 per cent said they plan to make the purchase within the next year. Manila was the top location, preferred by 53 per cent.
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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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
Book%20Details
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The%20specs
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NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5