Abu Dhabi, both the city and the greater emirate, is not new to hosting movie makers. But it seems fair to say that never before have two movies as prominent as these in production around Abu Dhabi at the same time. And those would be the seventh episode of the Star Wars franchise, due for […]

[Read more →]

I was in the office today when this story exploded. Which is what stories do in the era of Twitter. They turn into flaming meteors the size of New Jersey which slam into the news cycle, crushing everything else. When the 144-character primary news source (that would be Twitter) gets hold of a story it […]

[Read more →]

For the sixth anniversary of The National, tomorrow, the newspaper at which I work, in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, it was decided by the editor, Mohammed Al Otaiba, to do something different. Something very different. Our four standard news sections … with almost no words. The mission: Telling the news of the day through […]

[Read more →]

James Milner is an Englishman who plays for the Manchester City club. He is in the starting 11 now and then. Mostly, he is an industrious backup midfielder. With the emphasis on industrious. Supreme fitness seems to preoccupy him. At a Euro 2012 tournament game, he famously ran 1.4 kilometers more (in excess of .86 […]

[Read more →]

We make room for offbeat stories and lists and lots of photos on pages 2 and 3 of The National sports section. The stories can come from anywhere in the world. Even, say, San Francisco, where the first ball of the Giants’ home opener was thrown out by … “Batkid”. But before we get any […]

[Read more →]

I’m trying to figure out how this happened. How Al Ahli of Dubai went from being one of the better teams in the UAE soccer league to being the unrivaled best team in the country. And, like many takeovers, it was incremental. I saw Ahli play last night, against Al Jazira, just down the street […]

[Read more →]

Clocks in Western Europe and Britain were moved ahead by an hour over the weekend — about three weeks behind the U.S. clock-tweaking. They have moved to Euro daylight savings time, and England is now three hours behind Abu Dhabi, sted the four hours during the winter, and the continent is two hours behind, sted […]

[Read more →]

In the offices of The National today, a press release landed in company email under a Moet & Chandon logo. The message included the following: –That a new variety of the company’s famous champagne, “Moet Platinum” was being launched. –To mark the occasion, on May 25 the company would fill the Dubai Fountain, just outside […]

[Read more →]

Back in August, we first had this discussion, in The National newsroom. “Manchester United, ordinary team.” I said, “Every great sports franchise has down periods. Interludes. And it could happen to Manchester United. Like, this season.” My colleague, a United fan, said: “Not possible. Too much revenue. They can buy any player they want.” And […]

[Read more →]

And this does not involve soccer. I never thought I would encounter, in the UAE, anything even vaguely similar to the “prep football Friday nights” all sports journalists in the States know. For one, “football” here involves a round ball and, two, American football is rarely played here. As of about three years ago, it […]

[Read more →]