A secret I now will reveal. The final few days in Paris, when it had gotten rainy, and even darker … I was looking forward to getting back to Abu Dhabi. Seriously. My preference, there at the end, was to leave Paris … and go to Abu Dhabi. Yes. Seems a bit daft. But we […]

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Living in the United States, it’s easy to think: “United Arab Emirates? Makes no difference to me. Not even sure where it is.” Two news stories in The National’s business section ought to make you reconsider that. One involves Boeing. The other involves Ford.

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You think your national soccer team has problems? (Well, if your team is China, it does.) The UAE fell out of contention for the 2014 World Cup today, November 11, 2011 — three-and-a-half years ahead of the 2014 World Cup. Done. Out of it. Can’t survive the second-to-last round of Asia Confederation qualifying. That’s right. […]

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If I have left you with the impression that the UAE — Abu Dhabi, in particular — is all work and no play, millions of nose-to-the-grindstone people with old-fashioned values … well, that would be wrong. This is a country that loves celebrity and pop culture as much as any and perhaps more than most. […]

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This differs markedly from the list in the item below — because this one includes the 40-plus foreigners in the league. The number of foreigners playing in the Pro League here in the UAE is up to a potential 48 this season (from 36 a year ago) because the league chose to add a fourth […]

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Rather a strange turn of events, even by UAE standards. Duke University’s men’s basketball team running and dunking at a small, stuffy gym at the Al Wasl Sports Club in Dubai as Mike Krzyzewski conducted an impromptu coaching clinic with about 30 guys sitting in the stands. “Sorry, I’m a little hoarse from yelling at […]

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The UAE didn’t exist 40 years ago. It was hardly heard of 20 years ago. Now, the country has some name recognition, and particularly the name “Dubai”. Almost all Europeans seem to be aware of it — to the point that when the Brits I work with go home on vacation they typically are asked […]

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I worked at The National for more than a year without setting foot in Dubai, which is about an hour’s drive up the coast of the UAE. More than a few people here thought that was just plain strange and, yes, I concede it was. A little bit. It would be like taking a job […]

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