The taxi fare from the airport into Lisbon city centre is just €12 (Dh61). The driver thanks me so fervently when I tip him €3 (Dh15) that I walk into the Altis Avenida hotel feeling half pleased and half uneasy. His worn expression and shabby clothes stay in my mind as I take the lift to my room. I have a quick look around - high ceilings, black carpet, shiny bathroom: all very modern for this old-fashioned, once grand city. Then, with a free shopping guide from reception and a Lisbon Card for the trams (bought at the airport for €28.50 [Dh144] for 48 hours), I set out to make the most of two nights in a city I haven't been to for five years.
In Rossio Square, near my hotel, tiled in Lisbon's distinctive black and white mosaics and lined with 19th-century shops and cafes, I'm struck by the number of shoeshine men. Shoeshine men spell poverty. Maybe I just didn't notice them on my last trip? Suddenly all the stories about Portugal's deepening economic woes and a possible EU bail-out make sense. So does a recent UK survey comparing the cost of 36 countries based on a basket of eight items a visitor might buy. Portugal came out cheapest this year.
But don't feel sad and anxious for the Portuguese, I tell myself bracingly, as I slide onto a chair at the wood-panelled old Café Nacional. Be glad. Low prices means plenty of tourists. Make the most of it. And €1.6 (Dh8) for a coffee and cake at the Nacional is another bargain. Especially when the cake in question is the most delicious, sweet yolky pasteis de nata. You find these cinnamon-topped little cakes all over Lisbon - invented in a 19th-century nunnery as a way to use up yolks after the egg whites had been used to starch the nuns' wimples.
And in the Chiado shopping streets, up the hill from Rossio, I am soon relishing being able to shop without pain. In the minute Luvaria Ulisses glove shop on Rua do Carmo - so small that only one customer can get in at a time - I discover virtual doubles of the long, handmade calfskin gloves that Louis Vuitton, Prada and Gucci had this winter at about €700 (Dh3,542) - for €150 (Dh759). Wrist-length gloves cost €40 (Dh202). "My Italian customers say my gloves are better than those in Florence because we cut the fingers so long and slim," says the owner encouragingly, squeezed into the space between the tiny counter and the stock cupboard.
Further up the hill and around the corner in Paris em Lisboa on Rua Garrett, a linen store opened in 1888, I want to restock my entire linen cupboard. White, fringed monogrammed hand towels are an absolute snip at €9 (Dh46) each.
Dusk is falling and I'm now laden. I have a decaf and another sweet, eggy mouthful of pasteis de nata in the city's most famous old cafe, A Brasileira. All brass rails and dark mahogany brought back from Portugal's colony of Brazil, it harks back to the country's glory days as a great maritime power. I look in the elaborate church across the street and debate whether to take the Metro out to the 1998 Expo site on the edge of the city, an architectural treat, apparently. And then on Praca dos Camoes, the square that Rua Garrett leads into, I spot the thing that lifts the heart of every visitor to this lovely but steep-streeted city (strung beside the River Tagus along seven hills): the number 28 tram. This 19th-century wooden contraption clanks its way almost everywhere you might want to go. (The 25, with a route along the waterfront, goes everywhere else.)
I could sit on the dear 28 for hours, I think, as we rattle along. Lights are lit across the city now, so I have a clear view into little shops that tell you Lisbon's inhabitants still wear hats, smoke, make their own clothes and like to embroider things. When we start to climb past the Se cathedral into the alley-like streets of Alfama, the ridiculously photogenic medieval area of the city, people have to press themselves into doorways as the tram passes. Staring out, completely absorbed, I stay on to the square at Graca at the end of the route. Then I get on again for the return trip, getting off at a restaurant I'd spotted earlier.
It's 7pm and the 19th-century Estrela da Se on Largo San Antonio is empty, but so gloomily alluring I don't care that I am going to be the only person eating. I love its faded yellow walls, ticking clock and the tables set inside a series of wood-walled booths. I don't understand a thing on the menu - it's all in Portuguese. "Er, chicken?" I hazard. "Chicken and chips," the waiter says morosely. Fifteen minutes later, escalopes and the sneered-at chips arrive, oily but delicious. Safer not to order a coffee, though, I think. I fear the gloomy waiter would only pretend it was decaf.
Alfama is famous for its almost hilariously gloomy old fado bars, where locals gather to listen to wild, mournful lamentations that like the city itself seem to hark back to jollier times. But they don't get going until late. So I wait in dark chilliness for another 28 tram, and take it all the way to the other end of the route, just beyond Rossio. By 9pm, I am in bed back at the Altis Avenida watching a Portuguese soap opera set in Lisbon, thinking how satisfying it is to travel on your own, sometimes.
Friday morning is sunny and warm. The hotel's seventh floor roof terrace restaurant turns out to have good views and the pasties de nata I am now virtually living on. Across the street, I have a quick look inside the old Avenida Palace hotel (no relation) where, in the Second World War, throughout which Portugal remained neutral, the wood-panelled bar with velvet covered chairs was a spies' rendezvous. Then I take the funicular up the hill into the Bairro Alto and Principe Real. I find the areas transformed. Little design shops now line the elegant streets and an old bakery, Orpheu, now a cafe, has become the cool neighbourhood hang-out.
I walk down narrow streets of little lounge bars and boutiques, have a wander down Rus de Sao Bento, which is lined with antique shops, and by early afternoon end up in Santos. This is Lisbon's new waterfront design district, conjured in the last three years - with the help of EU grants - out of an old industrial area. It feels fresh, young and lively, full of new restaurants - Forneria and Estado Liquido sushi lounge on Largo de Santos look promising - and 20-somethings with asymmetric haircuts. "Nightlife here is wild, I tell you," an American student tells me, but I will have to take his word for it.
Tomorrow, before I leave, I muse, I have got to dip into the museums I remember so fondly. Immaculate interiors, treasure-packed collections: the Gilbenkian, the Museo Nacional de Arte Antiga, Museu da Marioneta and Museo do Design in Belem have to be some of the most engrossing I've ever been to. I should try to get out to the 1998 Expo site.
"That year was Lisbon's turning point. That was the year and that was the event Lisbon started looking forward, not backward," a man at the tourist office tells me, trying to sound positive. There's also the new Mude fashion and design museum to see.
But for the time being I am going to wander back into the centre - it's a treat to be able to get everywhere within a 10-minute walk or a few stops on a tram. I'm going to buy a takeaway coffee and, er, possibly something else, and then I'm going to take the train out to Cascais, the resort on the very edge of Europe, just 30 minutes away, where Portuguese explorers bid farewell to home before setting out for Africa and the Americas in their great voyages of the 16th and 17th centuries. I'm just going to sit and stare out of the window at the lovely, great wind-slapped beaches, feeling anonymous and free and happy.
If you go
The flight
A return flight from Dubai to Madrid on Emirates (www.emirates.com) costs from Dh4,055, including taxes. A connecting flight from Madrid to Lisbon on TAP Portugal (www.flytap.com) costs from €66.11 (Dh335), including taxes
The stay The newest five-star hotel in Lisbon is the 70-room Altis Avenida (www.altishotels.com; 00 351 21 044 0000). A double room costs from €125 (Dh632), including taxes and breakfast
The info
For more details, go to visitlisboa.com
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The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Power: 420hp
Torque: 623Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)
On sale: Now
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
The%20specs
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Empire of Enchantment: The Story of Indian Magic
John Zubrzycki, Hurst Publishers
Race card
5pm: Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 (Turf) 1,600m
5.30pm: Handicap (PA) Dh80,000 (T) 1,600m
6pm: Arabian Triple Crown Round-1 Listed (PA) Dh230,000 (T) 1,600m
6.30pm: Wathba Stallions Cup Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 (T) 1,400m
7pm: Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 (T) 1,200m
7.30pm: Handicap (TB) Dh100,000 (T) 2,400m
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
'Worse than a prison sentence'
Marie Byrne, a counsellor who volunteers at the UAE government's mental health crisis helpline, said the ordeal the crew had been through would take time to overcome.
“It was worse than a prison sentence, where at least someone can deal with a set amount of time incarcerated," she said.
“They were living in perpetual mystery as to how their futures would pan out, and what that would be.
“Because of coronavirus, the world is very different now to the one they left, that will also have an impact.
“It will not fully register until they are on dry land. Some have not seen their young children grow up while others will have to rebuild relationships.
“It will be a challenge mentally, and to find other work to support their families as they have been out of circulation for so long. Hopefully they will get the care they need when they get home.”
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
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COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Auron Mein Kahan Dum Tha
Starring: Ajay Devgn, Tabu, Shantanu Maheshwari, Jimmy Shergill, Saiee Manjrekar
Director: Neeraj Pandey
Rating: 2.5/5
IF YOU GO
The flights
FlyDubai flies direct from Dubai to Skopje in five hours from Dh1,314 return including taxes. Hourly buses from Skopje to Ohrid take three hours.
The tours
English-speaking guided tours of Ohrid town and the surrounding area are organised by Cultura 365; these cost €90 (Dh386) for a one-day trip including driver and guide and €100 a day (Dh429) for two people.
The hotels
Villa St Sofija in the old town of Ohrid, twin room from $54 (Dh198) a night.
St Naum Monastery, on the lake 30km south of Ohrid town, has updated its pilgrims' quarters into a modern 3-star hotel, with rooms overlooking the monastery courtyard and lake. Double room from $60 (Dh 220) a night.
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
On sale: Available to order now
Review: Tomb Raider
Dir: Roar Uthaug
Starring: Alicia Vikander, Dominic West, Daniel Wu, Walter Goggins
two stars
The Sky Is Pink
Director: Shonali Bose
Cast: Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Farhan Akhtar, Zaira Wasim, Rohit Saraf
Three stars
MEDIEVIL%20(1998)
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The specs: 2018 BMW R nineT Scrambler
Price, base / as tested Dh57,000
Engine 1,170cc air/oil-cooled flat twin four-stroke engine
Transmission Six-speed gearbox
Power 110hp) @ 7,750rpm
Torque 116Nm @ 6,000rpm
Fuel economy, combined 5.3L / 100km
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.
ARGYLLE
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
At a glance
Fixtures All matches start at 9.30am, at ICC Academy, Dubai. Admission is free
Thursday UAE v Ireland; Saturday UAE v Ireland; Jan 21 UAE v Scotland; Jan 23 UAE v Scotland
UAE squad Rohan Mustafa (c), Ashfaq Ahmed, Ghulam Shabber, Rameez Shahzad, Mohammed Boota, Mohammed Usman, Adnan Mufti, Shaiman Anwar, Ahmed Raza, Imran Haider, Qadeer Ahmed, Mohammed Naveed, Amir Hayat, Zahoor Khan
Election pledges on migration
CDU: "Now is the time to control the German borders and enforce strict border rejections"
SPD: "Border closures and blanket rejections at internal borders contradict the spirit of a common area of freedom"
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
Company%C2%A0profile
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The%20specs
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THREE
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Results:
First Test: New Zealand 30 British & Irish Lions 15
Second Test: New Zealand 21 British & Irish Lions 24
Third Test: New Zealand 15 British & Irish Lions 15
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
Email sent to Uber team from chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi
From: Dara
To: Team@
Date: March 25, 2019 at 11:45pm PT
Subj: Accelerating in the Middle East
Five years ago, Uber launched in the Middle East. It was the start of an incredible journey, with millions of riders and drivers finding new ways to move and work in a dynamic region that’s become so important to Uber. Now Pakistan is one of our fastest-growing markets in the world, women are driving with Uber across Saudi Arabia, and we chose Cairo to launch our first Uber Bus product late last year.
Today we are taking the next step in this journey—well, it’s more like a leap, and a big one: in a few minutes, we’ll announce that we’ve agreed to acquire Careem. Importantly, we intend to operate Careem independently, under the leadership of co-founder and current CEO Mudassir Sheikha. I’ve gotten to know both co-founders, Mudassir and Magnus Olsson, and what they have built is truly extraordinary. They are first-class entrepreneurs who share our platform vision and, like us, have launched a wide range of products—from digital payments to food delivery—to serve consumers.
I expect many of you will ask how we arrived at this structure, meaning allowing Careem to maintain an independent brand and operate separately. After careful consideration, we decided that this framework has the advantage of letting us build new products and try new ideas across not one, but two, strong brands, with strong operators within each. Over time, by integrating parts of our networks, we can operate more efficiently, achieve even lower wait times, expand new products like high-capacity vehicles and payments, and quicken the already remarkable pace of innovation in the region.
This acquisition is subject to regulatory approval in various countries, which we don’t expect before Q1 2020. Until then, nothing changes. And since both companies will continue to largely operate separately after the acquisition, very little will change in either teams’ day-to-day operations post-close. Today’s news is a testament to the incredible business our team has worked so hard to build.
It’s a great day for the Middle East, for the region’s thriving tech sector, for Careem, and for Uber.
Uber on,
Dara
Sarfira
Director: Sudha Kongara Prasad
Starring: Akshay Kumar, Radhika Madan, Paresh Rawal
Rating: 2/5
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
hall of shame
SUNDERLAND 2002-03
No one has ended a Premier League season quite like Sunderland. They lost each of their final 15 games, taking no points after January. They ended up with 19 in total, sacking managers Peter Reid and Howard Wilkinson and losing 3-1 to Charlton when they scored three own goals in eight minutes.
SUNDERLAND 2005-06
Until Derby came along, Sunderland’s total of 15 points was the Premier League’s record low. They made it until May and their final home game before winning at the Stadium of Light while they lost a joint record 29 of their 38 league games.
HUDDERSFIELD 2018-19
Joined Derby as the only team to be relegated in March. No striker scored until January, while only two players got more assists than goalkeeper Jonas Lossl. The mid-season appointment Jan Siewert was to end his time as Huddersfield manager with a 5.3 per cent win rate.
ASTON VILLA 2015-16
Perhaps the most inexplicably bad season, considering they signed Idrissa Gueye and Adama Traore and still only got 17 points. Villa won their first league game, but none of the next 19. They ended an abominable campaign by taking one point from the last 39 available.
FULHAM 2018-19
Terrible in different ways. Fulham’s total of 26 points is not among the lowest ever but they contrived to get relegated after spending over £100 million (Dh457m) in the transfer market. Much of it went on defenders but they only kept two clean sheets in their first 33 games.
LA LIGA: Sporting Gijon, 13 points in 1997-98.
BUNDESLIGA: Tasmania Berlin, 10 points in 1965-66
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cylinder turbo
Power: 240hp at 5,500rpm
Torque: 390Nm at 3,000rpm
Transmission: eight-speed auto
Price: from Dh122,745
On sale: now
