Etihad Airways is competing with Emirates and Qatar Airways for the lucrative high-end traveler. Etihad may be winning. The Abu Dhabi-based airline has introduced a three-room ultra-class ticket they call The Residence. It is available on their A380 flights to London, beginning Saturday, and can be had for … No need for a spoiler alert. […]

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Al Jazira is an Abu Dhabi club that has been pretty good for most of a decade but hasn’t been particularly good at sealing deals at the end of the UAE soccer season. In 40 years, the club has one league title (2011), two President Cup championships (2011, 2012) and one Arabian Gulf Cup (2010). […]

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A Taliban attack in Pakistan yesterday left 132 schoolchildren dead. It was the worst terror attack in Pakistan’s history. Today, Pakistan’s national cricket team played New Zealand in a one-day international in Abu Dhabi. Some wondered at the propriety of it. Among them was The National’s correspondent Osman Samiuddin, probably the planet’s leading authority on […]

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As we have noted here in years past, Christmas is surprisingly popular in this part of the Arabian Peninsula. Of course, it is not a religious holiday but, then, it isn’t a very religious holiday in the West, either. And this week, a massive, artificial, 42-foot Christmas tree has gone up in the enormous lobby […]

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A reporter for The National had a look at the food for sale in the cafeterias at three of the biggest government hospitals in Abu Dhabi … And few, if any, healthy choices were available. Eating at the hospital was enough to make people sick. The story started with the findings of our reporter: Prominent […]

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We have stipulated jet lag just kicks my butt. At least, it does going west to east and crossing 10 or more time zones. I have remarked upon this several times, since we have been based in Abu Dhabi. Going from here to SoCal? Not a huge problem. But going from California to the eastern […]

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Actually, I prefer the never-ending day. The day when you take the long jet ride west, and it’s only a few hours later, in terms of clocks, when you arrive, than when you left — 7,000, 8,000, 9,000 miles ago. But the lost day has something to be said about it, too. It’s a sort […]

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The city of Long Beach comes in for a lot of criticism. Some of it from me. But it has some things going for it. Particularly down by the Pacific Ocean. We spent our last night in California in Long Beach, and were glad to do so. Some scenery, some dinner, some Christmas lights.

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This crime is by far the most sensational in Abu Dhabi since we set foot in the city in October of 2009: An American mother and kindergarten teacher stabbed to death in a restroom at a tower on Reem Island, which is recently developed part of Abu Dhabi. The killing occurred on Monday, and suspicion […]

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Aside from four months in Hong Kong, six years ago, I have never spent any stretch of time in a rainy environment. Abu Dhabi gets maybe two inches of rain a year. Often in the span of a few hours. But something less than two inches over the course of a year is not uncommon. […]

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