Why Kansas City?
It's the place where Jackie Robinson learnt to play professional baseball, Charlie Parker learnt to play jazz, Walt Disney learnt to draw and Ernest Hemingway learnt to write. Kansas City is my hometown and as Dorothy says in The Wizard of Oz, "there's no place like home". If you've never heard of the city, it's in the middle of the United States. It has a lot of the things that you would find in a bigger city – excellent museums, major-league sports teams, expansive parks, a unique music scene and award-winning chefs – but it has far fewer tourists and can be more family-friendly.
The city was established in the early 1800s and today more than 2 million people live in the metropolitan area. While the city holds historical significance as a gateway to the west and a battleground of the American Civil War, it is also becoming known for the transformation it’s making now.
With more than US$6.5 billion (Dh23.88bn) invested in downtown development, the city has added an eight-block entertainment district and renovated many prized older buildings. The skyline boasts the tall buildings found in every Midwestern city amid the shiny metallic Sprint Center and Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts, both host to musical performances and events. The geography of the city is separated by state lines, so there are actually two Kansas Cities: Kansas City, Kansas, and Kansas City, Missouri.
A comfortable bed
Hotel Sorella Country Club Plaza (www.hotelsorella-countryclubplaza.com, 001 816 753 8800) is the newest hotel in town and also has one of the best locations. The real standout is the suites' palatial bathrooms. Doubles start at $185 (Dh680) per night, including tax.
If you're looking for something exciting for the whole family, try the Great Wolf Lodge (www.greatwolflodge.com/kansascity, 001 913 299 7001) on the Kansas State side of town. It's a hotel with a water park both inside and out, putting an emphasis on entertainment for the kids. Family suites start at $170 (Dh624) per night.
If aquatic adventures are your thing, the lodge is located only a few kilometres from Schlitterbahn Water Park (www.schlitterbahn.com/kansas-city), which recently built the tallest and fastest water slide in the world, at 51 metres.
Find your feet
Sprawling Kansas City isn't very walkable, but you can get outside in a few shopping areas. Crown Center (www.crowncenter.com)is the most centrally located and offers a mix of shopping and children's activities. The centre is the international base for Hallmark Cards and the company headquarters has a free tour about the making of its cards (www.hallmarkvisitorscenter.com).
Walk a few blocks south or follow The Link, which is an air-conditioned walkway, over to Union Station (www.unionstation.org, 001 816 460 2020), a restored train station that features travelling exhibits and the interactive Science City. From here, cross Pershing Road to Liberty Memorial (www.theworldwar.org, 001 816 888 8100), a First World War memorial. The highlight is taking a creaking elevator to the top of the memorial's 66-metre tower for the best view in the city.
Meet the locals
Outside the suburban sprawl of the Kansas City area, there are farms in every direction. Head to City Market (www.thecitymarket.org) on Saturdays and Sundays to meet farmers and taste some truly local food.
Book a table
If you like good steak, you'll find Kansas City strip on almost every menu. You can't go wrong with the Plaza III Steakhouse (www.plazaiiikcsteakhouse.com, 001 816 753 0000) on the Country Club Plaza. Go on a Saturday to hear Kansas City jazz while you eat and get a classic Midwestern order of Kansas City strip, salad and garlic mashed potatoes for $55 (Dh202).
Kansas City is also known for its barbecue – a tomato-and-molasses-based sauce is its signature. I recommend Joe's Kansas City (www.oklahomajoesbbq.com; 001 913 722 3366) or Arthur Bryant's (www.arthurbryantsbbq.com; 001 816 231 1123) – the latter is recognised as the origin of Kansas City 'cue.
Shopper’s paradise
Your first stop should be the Country Club Plaza (www.countryclubplaza.com), designed to look like Seville, Spain. Or get away from the major retail chains at the Crossroads district (www.kccrossroads.org), which has more local shops and art galleries. If you happen to be in town on the first Friday of the month, you can check out First Fridays, when the district turns into a street fair, with live music and food.
Don’t miss
Kansas City is full of diehard sports fans and its teams have all had a great year – this week, its baseball team, the Royals, is playing in the World Series – so if you happen to be in town when a game is on, be sure to soak up the atmosphere.
What to avoid
Kansas City, Kansas. Almost anything you’d want to see is on the Missouri side.
Getting there
Etihad (www.etihad.com) offers flights via Chicago from Dh7,500 return, including taxes.
rmctarsney@thenational.ae
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Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
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- 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
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Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
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Europe’s rearming plan
- Suspend strict budget rules to allow member countries to step up defence spending
- Create new "instrument" providing €150 billion of loans to member countries for defence investment
- Use the existing EU budget to direct more funds towards defence-related investment
- Engage the bloc's European Investment Bank to drop limits on lending to defence firms
- Create a savings and investments union to help companies access capital
Why are you, you?
Why are you, you?
From this question, a new beginning.
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Ben Okri,
'Laal Kaptaan'
Director: Navdeep Singh
Stars: Saif Ali Khan, Manav Vij, Deepak Dobriyal, Zoya Hussain
Rating: 2/5
Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
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At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
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What can you do?
Document everything immediately; including dates, times, locations and witnesses
Seek professional advice from a legal expert
You can report an incident to HR or an immediate supervisor
You can use the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation’s dedicated hotline
In criminal cases, you can contact the police for additional support
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
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