• 2016/17 La Liga preview:
Atletico Madrid | Barcelona | The rest | 5 players to watch
European champions Real Madrid have yet to sign a superstar galactico in the close season.
Zinedine Zidane’s side, who also lifted the European Super Cup last week by defeating Sevilla, welcomed back Alvaro Morata from Juventus, plus Marco Asensio who was on loan at Espanyol last term.
Both were presented this week, but to crowds of 3,000 rather than the 60,000 who greeted past superstar signings. They put on a brave face after losing out on Paul Pogba.
The inactivity is surprising given Madrid may face a transfer ban, but the talk is of more departures than arrivals, with James Rodriguez or Isco likely to leave if Madrid receive a huge offer from an English side.
President Florentino Perez likes a late August move in the transfer market and, given that most big clubs have already concluded their business, the stage will be theirs for the attention they crave.
Madrid’s strongest XI is likely to be a 4-3-3 of Keylor Navas in goal, Danilo at right-back, Sergio Ramos and Pepe in central defence and Marcelo at left-back. Casemiro rose to prominence as the holding midfielder under Zidane after being overlooked by Rafa Benitez.
Toni Kroos and Luca Modric should start as the more attacking midfielders, with another famed front three of Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale and Karim Benzema. Lucas Vazquez is also likely to feature frequently, with Rodriguez and Isco out of the best XI. There is more defensive cover with Dani Carvajal, Raphael Varane and the returning Fabio Coentrao.
Jese Rodriguez has been the biggest name to depart, while Alvaro Arbeloa and Denis Cheryshev have also gone, and there remain health concerns surrounding Lucas Silva.
Madrid have won the Primera Liga only once in the past eight years. Like Barca, only a league or European title will be considered a success, though December’s Club World Cup will give Madrid a chance to call themselves world champions for the second time in three years.
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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
Profile
Company: Justmop.com
Date started: December 2015
Founders: Kerem Kuyucu and Cagatay Ozcan
Sector: Technology and home services
Based: Jumeirah Lake Towers, Dubai
Size: 55 employees and 100,000 cleaning requests a month
Funding: The company’s investors include Collective Spark, Faith Capital Holding, Oak Capital, VentureFriends, and 500 Startups.
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
The BIO:
He became the first Emirati to climb Mount Everest in 2011, from the south section in Nepal
He ascended Mount Everest the next year from the more treacherous north Tibetan side
By 2015, he had completed the Explorers Grand Slam
Last year, he conquered K2, the world’s second-highest mountain located on the Pakistan-Chinese border
He carries dried camel meat, dried dates and a wheat mixture for the final summit push
His new goal is to climb 14 peaks that are more than 8,000 metres above sea level
The specs
Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
Transmission: seven-speed
Power: 720hp
Torque: 770Nm
Price: Dh1,100,000
On sale: now
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
Boulder shooting victims
• Denny Strong, 20
• Neven Stanisic, 23
• Rikki Olds, 25
• Tralona Bartkowiak, 49
• Suzanne Fountain, 59
• Teri Leiker, 51
• Eric Talley, 51
• Kevin Mahoney, 61
• Lynn Murray, 62
• Jody Waters, 65
