The UAE is not unlike the U.S. — and much of the rest of the world — in this: Nearly everyone behind the wheel of a car will drive over the speed limit. The UAE is also like the U.S. in this: It employs officers who are prepared to give you a ticket for speeding. […]

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This is a match made in Emirati heaven. Tearing around the French countryside in high-end sports cars for hours and hours. Till you literally can’t stand driving 175 mph anymore. Le Mans, how had you never met the UAE?

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Watching American sports live, from the UAE, takes some extra effort. Not that things are not available. They are, if you pay a little bit extra — maybe $50 a year — to augment your basic cable package (most of which is not in English) with a set of stations that includes ESPN, Fox and, […]

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Look anywhere in the world, and you will find more than a few people with wonky teeth. Several of my close relatives have had work done, or should have. It is fairly commonly assumed, in the U.S., at least, that Britons are particularly disinterested in matters dental. Remember Mike Myers as Austin Powers, international man […]

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If you pay any attention to the U.S.-based National Hot Rod Association — better known as the NHRA — you know the name of an Emirati. Which puts you ahead of most of the planet’s people. That guy who drives one of the two Top Fuel cars for Al Anabi Racing? Khaled Al Balooshi? An […]

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What is the U.S. perception of Pakistan? Not particularly good, it seems safe to say. In theory, an ally of the U.S., but a very shabby ally. Apparently, Osama bin Laden hid out in Pakistan for much of the period when he was hunted by the U.S. military, and was in Pakistan when he finally […]

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A bit of a fuss was raised this week over the revelations that the U.S. government can keep records of every phone call made by every U.S. citizen, as well as read their email and internet chats. The New York Times weighed in with an editorial critical of this broad federal power, and some people […]

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Anyone who has run a newspaper sports section knows that eight months of the year, maybe even nine or 10 … you do not have to worry about a section having a newsy feel. News just happens, in the form of scheduled events. Might be news in addition to the scheduled events. Might break your […]

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You could come to the UAE in January to have a look around. The temps would be in the 80s Fahrenheit, and if you hailed from the northern halves of Europe or North America you would be quite grateful for the sun and the warmth and perhaps even for the sheer number of fellow snowbirds […]

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  We spent barely 18 hours (the cretins!) in Florence, and then it was right back out of town, south to Fiumicino Airport, near Rome, for the final two events of a visit to Italy. We did not return via the A1 autostrade, Italy’s most-traveled highway. Instead, we detoured south and a little west to […]

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