The Buzz: Britain’s message for UAE visit: Nice, not naughty

Britain wants to make sure its citizens are more nice than naughty while soaking up the Persian Gulf sun this holiday season. A social media campaign by British Embassy staff in the United Arab Emirates running this week is a play on the classic poem “’Twas the Night Before Christmas,” and includes travel advice aimed at keeping unwitting Britons out of trouble. The rhyme is meant for visitors to the Emirates, an oil-rich seven-state federation of former British protectorates on the Arabian Peninsula. It highlights potential cultural pitfalls through the eyes of a fictional traveler, Stu Nicholas. “No holding of hands or Christmas kisses; under the mistletoe, despite amorous wishes,” goes a festive nugget. Another says: “So time to go home after several spirits neat; but it’s a crime for Stu to be drunk on the street.”