'I want to do something New Yorky," a friend said the other day when I asked him how he wanted to spend his Saturday. He moved to New York all the way from sunny California to attend university, but it has been almost six months and he's barely ventured outside the campus.
There are many things to do in the city that are supposedly "typical" New York, half of which most natives haven't done and have no interest in doing. I know very few true New Yorkers who have been to the Empire State Building, or taken the ferry to the Statue of Liberty, or gone to see a Broadway play or spent any more time than necessary in Times Square.
Yet, every time anyone visits and wants to get a quick New York fix, the destination is Times Square.
I absolutely loathe Times Square. I've spent most of my nine years here trying to avoid it. First, no one knows how to walk properly. There are too many people crammed together in a 10-block area, moving as a giant mass of confused bodies, distracted by the flashing lights. Second, you won't find anything in Times Square that isn't purely commercial: it has no soul. One thing you definitely will find is confused tourists - either foreign, or more often from Middle America - gawking at anything they recognise from a movie or music video.
I do like the lights and the fact that it's brighter on 42nd Street at 11pm than it would be at noon on a summer's day anywhere else, but the crowds make me uncomfortable. I only remember two occasions when Times Square was somewhere I wanted to be: when Obama won the election (now an obsolete celebration, I feel) and when it's snowing. For some reason when it snows, despite all the people, Times Square suddenly seems quieter; all movements happen in slow motion. Perhaps it's the white flakes glimmering in the overwhelming neon lights, but for a short period, Times Square is bearable, even beautiful.
I find it interesting how a stranger's conception of a city is usually based on some stereotype that natives either ignore or don't consider important: Londoners don't go to the Tower of London; Parisians don't climb the Eiffel Tower; and you don't find many Emiratis in the Burj al Arab. Many things that visitors to the UAE consider to be Emirati aren't Emirati at all. First of all, it's rare to find a local who would risk heat stroke by going on to the beach during the summer. Secondly, the belly dancing you see on the Arabian Nights-themed events sold by tourist agencies and hotels capitalise on old Orientalist fictions of "Arabia", not on Emirati culture.
Of course New Yorkers do do a lot of things you'll see in movies, like buying hot dogs from a street vendor, eating bagels and walking along the streets at breakneck speed. The equivalent in Abu Dhabi would be shawarma from Seashell, chai karak from the dodgiest hole-in-the-wall establishment and creeping through the malls at a snail's pace.
Secretly the natives like it that way: they like to know that you aren't a real New Yorker if you are walking through the brightest part of town with a camera slung around your neck, and you're not an Emirati if you're sand-boarding in Dubai. So when people do come to visit, I probably will still take them to 42nd Street right at the heart of Times Square.
Why your domicile status is important
Your UK residence status is assessed using the statutory residence test. While your residence status – ie where you live - is assessed every year, your domicile status is assessed over your lifetime.
Your domicile of origin generally comes from your parents and if your parents were not married, then it is decided by your father. Your domicile is generally the country your father considered his permanent home when you were born.
UK residents who have their permanent home ("domicile") outside the UK may not have to pay UK tax on foreign income. For example, they do not pay tax on foreign income or gains if they are less than £2,000 in the tax year and do not transfer that gain to a UK bank account.
A UK-domiciled person, however, is liable for UK tax on their worldwide income and gains when they are resident in the UK.
The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
UAE v Gibraltar
What: International friendly
When: 7pm kick off
Where: Rugby Park, Dubai Sports City
Admission: Free
Online: The match will be broadcast live on Dubai Exiles’ Facebook page
UAE squad: Lucas Waddington (Dubai Exiles), Gio Fourie (Exiles), Craig Nutt (Abu Dhabi Harlequins), Phil Brady (Harlequins), Daniel Perry (Dubai Hurricanes), Esekaia Dranibota (Harlequins), Matt Mills (Exiles), Jaen Botes (Exiles), Kristian Stinson (Exiles), Murray Reason (Abu Dhabi Saracens), Dave Knight (Hurricanes), Ross Samson (Jebel Ali Dragons), DuRandt Gerber (Exiles), Saki Naisau (Dragons), Andrew Powell (Hurricanes), Emosi Vacanau (Harlequins), Niko Volavola (Dragons), Matt Richards (Dragons), Luke Stevenson (Harlequins), Josh Ives (Dubai Sports City Eagles), Sean Stevens (Saracens), Thinus Steyn (Exiles)
From Zero
Artist: Linkin Park
Label: Warner Records
Number of tracks: 11
Rating: 4/5
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What can victims do?
Always use only regulated platforms
Stop all transactions and communication on suspicion
Save all evidence (screenshots, chat logs, transaction IDs)
Report to local authorities
Warn others to prevent further harm
Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence
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