The first time Nermal was nearly shipped to Abu Dhabi on Jan 28 1984.
The first time Nermal was nearly shipped to Abu Dhabi on Jan 28 1984.
The first time Nermal was nearly shipped to Abu Dhabi on Jan 28 1984.
The first time Nermal was nearly shipped to Abu Dhabi on Jan 28 1984.

'To: Anyone, Abu Dhabi'


  • English
  • Arabic

Garfield, the title character of the world's most widely syndicated comic strip, has been shipping the kitten Nermal here for nearly 25 years. John Mather speaks to the cartoon's creator and asks him why he chose the capital.
Garfield, the obese cat who believes "lethargy takes real discipline", stands in front of a mirror admiring his physique while Nermal, the self-proclaimed cutest kitten in the world, sits beside him. "How do you think I look?" Garfield asks.

"Like a million, give or take a year," Nermal responds. "I think I carry my weight rather well," Garfield continues. Nermal shoots back: "You should. You've had the practice." Finally, Garfield says: "Do you think I have a strong chin?" "Which one?" With that, Garfield pats Nermal on the head, stuffs the kitten in a box and places him on the doorstep with the address: "Anyone, Abu Dhabi". It is not the first time the lasagne-loving feline has tried to ship his nemesis to the capital. The joke began in 1984, when Jim Davis, Garfield's creator, picked the UAE as the last stop on the Annoying Kitten Express. Since then, the gag has been syndicated in more than 2,000 newspapers worldwide, and has put Abu Dhabi on the map for many people contemplating a move to the Arab world. But few know why Davis chose Abu Dhabi as the place where all the cute kittens go.

"I wanted to pick something that sounded like nothing in the United States," he says from his office in Albany, Indiana, where he runs the all-things-Garfield company Paws Inc. "I didn't want to send him to Middleton or Springfield." The cartoonist remembers liking the ring of Abu Dhabi - "it sounds like a song" - but his assistant was pushing him to send Nermal to Tierra del Fuego, the archipelago on the southernmost tip of South America.

So Davis began researching his choices. He discovered the UAE, then an adolescent nation, is a friend of the United States and predicted the two countries would remain peaceful. "I was careful to pick a location that we were not going to be at war with in 10 years," he says. "And I just love that name. It was a perfect fit." Davis is keen to emphasise that his choice is in no way a reflection on the UAE. "I don't think of it as a place of banishment." Instead, he says, Abu Dhabi, with its lyrical name, holds a metaphorical position in Garfield's life. "Nermal represents all Garfield's insecurities. He's young, very cute and rather slender compared to Garfield.

"Nermal is the exact opposite of Garfield. When he sends Nermal to Abu Dhabi it's like any of us when we're in denial about our own state in life - we'll pack up all those insecurities and send them far away." Perhaps surprisingly, Davis has never visited Abu Dhabi or the UAE. "Nermal goes there often. He may have developed some friendships there. But I have no desire to go." Since becoming a grandfather, Davis, like Garfield, has become a homebody and he doesn't travel much any more (in 2002, he sold his paw-print-covered private jet). He has two sons and a daughter and three grandchildren. His son James recently returned from a tour in Afghanistan.

Born on July 28 1945 in Marion, Indiana, Davis now works an hour's drive away in Albany. Growing up, he was surrounded by 25 cats on his family's farm. He credits his childhood asthma, which kept him indoors and away from farm chores, for developing his artistic abilities and his family for his sense of humour. After university, he began working as an assistant for Tom K Ryan, the creator of the Tumbleweeds comic. His own first comic strip, about a bug named Gnorm Gnat, struggled to impress newspapers and ended its unsuccessful run when a giant foot crushed the main character. He then turned to the comic pages for inspiration and noticed there weren't any cats. Cats, he says, are allowed to get away with anything and so Garfield can take "our guilt away for being essentially lazy slobs".

At his office there are two cats: a fat tiger cat and another originally called Charlie Brown, now renamed Nermal. Garfield the cartoon is a composite of the imagined personalities of the cats on Davis's parents' farm and his grandfather, the original Garfield, who died in 1951. "My grandfather was a big man with a grumpy, crusty wit but a heart of gold," he told a newspaper in 2006. "He seemed gruff, but his eyes gave him away. He had the world's largest laugh."

On June 19 1978, Garfield made his first appearance in 41 newspapers. Thirty years later, the wisecracking layabout, who maintains a strict regime of sleep, eat, watch TV and repeat, is the most widely syndicated cartoon in the world, according to Guinness World Records. An estimated 263 million people follow his exploits in newspapers and he has starred on TV and in film. Davis has estimated Garfield, whose face has been slapped on everything from bumper stickers to underwear, earns Dh2,755,500 million annually. A new edition to the Garfield brand could be a UAE-based Garfield theme park. Davis says he has been following the country's development with interest but as it stands, there is "nothing we can announce yet and nothing concrete".

Until there is a plan, Garfield will continue shipping Nermal to the UAE "for as long as he can. Absolutely. I think in these changing times some of the constants are reassuring. I see no reason not to send Nermal to Abu Dhabi for the next 100 years." In fact, a permanent move to Abu Dhabi for Nermal might suit both characters. Garfield, who describes Nermal as a "wide-eyed mindless little piece of fluff", "the Shirley Temple of the feline set", and "so cute it's disgusting", would rid himself of one of many annoyances. And Nermal, who revels in rubbing his cuteness in the face of others, would find a land filled with thousands of cats, both cute and otherwise.

Results:

Men's wheelchair 800m T34: 1. Walid Ktila (TUN) 1.44.79; 2. Mohammed Al Hammadi (UAE) 1.45.88; 3. Isaac Towers (GBR) 1.46.46.

MATCH INFO:

Second Test

Pakistan v Australia, Tuesday-Saturday, 10am​​ daily​​​​​ at Zayed Cricket Stadium, Abu Dhabi

Entrance is free

Champions parade (UAE timings)

7pm Gates open

8pm Deansgate stage showing starts

9pm Parade starts at Manchester Cathedral

9.45pm Parade ends at Peter Street

10pm City players on stage

11pm event ends

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.

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
Company profile

Date started: 2015

Founder: John Tsioris and Ioanna Angelidaki

Based: Dubai

Sector: Online grocery delivery

Staff: 200

Funding: Undisclosed, but investors include the Jabbar Internet Group and Venture Friends

The squad traveling to Brazil:

Faisal Al Ketbi, Ibrahim Al Hosani, Khalfan Humaid Balhol, Khalifa Saeed Al Suwaidi, Mubarak Basharhil, Obaid Salem Al Nuaimi, Saeed Juma Al Mazrouei, Saoud Abdulla Al Hammadi, Taleb Al Kirbi, Yahia Mansour Al Hammadi, Zayed Al Kaabi, Zayed Saif Al Mansoori, Saaid Haj Hamdou, Hamad Saeed Al Nuaimi. Coaches Roberto Lima and Alex Paz.

Turning%20waste%20into%20fuel
%3Cp%3EAverage%20amount%20of%20biofuel%20produced%20at%20DIC%20factory%20every%20month%3A%20%3Cstrong%3EApproximately%20106%2C000%20litres%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EAmount%20of%20biofuel%20produced%20from%201%20litre%20of%20used%20cooking%20oil%3A%20%3Cstrong%3E920ml%20(92%25)%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3ETime%20required%20for%20one%20full%20cycle%20of%20production%20from%20used%20cooking%20oil%20to%20biofuel%3A%20%3Cstrong%3EOne%20day%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EEnergy%20requirements%20for%20one%20cycle%20of%20production%20from%201%2C000%20litres%20of%20used%20cooking%20oil%3A%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3E%E2%96%AA%20Electricity%20-%201.1904%20units%3Cbr%3E%E2%96%AA%20Water-%2031%20litres%3Cbr%3E%E2%96%AA%20Diesel%20%E2%80%93%2026.275%20litres%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
A MINECRAFT MOVIE

Director: Jared Hess

Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa

Rating: 3/5

Labour dispute

The insured employee may still file an ILOE claim even if a labour dispute is ongoing post termination, but the insurer may suspend or reject payment, until the courts resolve the dispute, especially if the reason for termination is contested. The outcome of the labour court proceedings can directly affect eligibility.


- Abdullah Ishnaneh, Partner, BSA Law 

Hotel Silence
Auður Ava Ólafsdóttir
Pushkin Press

Sole survivors
  • Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
  • George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
  • Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
  • Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
 
Started: 2021
 
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
 
Based: Tunisia 
 
Sector: Water technology 
 
Number of staff: 22 
 
Investment raised: $4 million