Snorkelling at Soneva Fushi in the Maldives. Antonina Gern
Snorkelling at Soneva Fushi in the Maldives. Antonina Gern

Plus: It’s set to be a Gloria summer in Dubai; Jamaica welcomes new Melia resort; Explore the Golden Triangle in luxury.

Ashley Lane

06 April, 2016

Soneva Fushi has a special offer for GCC residents visiting the Maldives, available from now until May 20. The Dream Family Getaway package includes a three-, five- or seven-night stay in a one- or two-bedroom, beachfront villa with a pool. While there, visitors can book a spa treatment at the Six Senses Spa, try snorkelling or diving, or take a picnic on the island's own private sandbank. The package costs from US$5,950 (Dh21,854) for two adults and two children, and includes half-board accommodation, airport transfers, and taxes. For more information, visit www.soneva.com and quote the booking code "MEPSF".

It’s set to be a Gloria summer in Dubai

Summer is arriving early at the Gloria Hotel and Yassat Gloria Hotel & Apartments with the 72-Hour Summer Madness package. Visitors who book a stay at either location any time between April 18 to 21 will receive one night's accommodation at a discounted price. Also included is breakfast, Wi-Fi, drinks on arrival and a shuttle service between the hotel and several Dubai landmarks. The package costs Dh299 per night, for a stays until September 30, including taxes. For more information, visit www.gloria-hotels.com.

Jamaica welcomes new Melia resort

Book a Caribbean holiday at the newly opened Meliá Braco Village in Jamaica. The property, situated in Rio Bueno, on the northern coast of the island, boasts 232 guests rooms, including 52 suites, and five restaurants. The restaurant choices include The Market Place, an international buffet, open-kitchen concept; the beachside Jamaican restaurant O'Grille; and the à la carte Italian restaurant Rasta Pasta. Also available are two beachfront pools and sporting facilities, a 24-hour fitness centre and a spa. Rooms cost from Dh735 per night, including taxes. For more information, visit www.melia.com.

Explore the Golden Triangle in luxury

Visit New Delhi, Agra and Jaipur with Taj Hotels' Incredible Golden Triangle package. Included in the deal is accommodation for two at the Taj Palace Hotel in New Delhi, The Gateway Hotel Fatehabad Road in Agra and Jai Mahal Palace in Jaipur. Also included is breakfast, Wi-Fi, 15 per cent discount on other food and soft drinks, and 15 per cent discount on spa treatments. The package costs from 65,000 rupees (Dh3,607) for a minimum of five nights, including taxes. The offer is available from April 16 to September 30. For more information, visit www.tajgetaways.com.

alane@thenational.ae

SPECS

Engine: 1.5-litre turbo

Power: 181hp

Torque: 230Nm

Transmission: 6-speed automatic

Starting price: Dh79,000

On sale: Now

Gran Gala del Calcio 2019 winners

Best Player: Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus)
Best Coach: Gian Piero Gasperini (Atalanta)
Best Referee: Gianluca Rocchi
Best Goal: Fabio Quagliarella (Sampdoria vs Napoli)
Best Team: Atalanta​​​​​​​
Best XI: Samir Handanovic (Inter); Aleksandar Kolarov (Roma), Giorgio Chiellini (Juventus), Kalidou Koulibaly (Napoli), Joao Cancelo (Juventus*); Miralem Pjanic (Juventus), Josip Ilicic (Atalanta), Nicolo Barella (Cagliari*); Fabio Quagliarella (Sampdoria), Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus), Duvan Zapata (Atalanta)
Serie B Best Young Player: Sandro Tonali (Brescia)
Best Women’s Goal: Thaisa (Milan vs Juventus)
Best Women’s Player: Manuela Giugliano (Milan)
Best Women’s XI: Laura Giuliani (Milan); Alia Guagni (Fiorentina), Sara Gama (Juventus), Cecilia Salvai (Juventus), Elisa Bartoli (Roma); Aurora Galli (Juventus), Manuela Giugliano (Roma), Valentina Cernoia (Juventus); Valentina Giacinti (Milan), Ilaria Mauro (Fiorentina), Barbara Bonansea (Juventus)

Sreesanth's India bowling career

Tests 27, Wickets 87, Average 37.59, Best 5-40

ODIs 53, Wickets 75, Average 33.44, Best 6-55

T20Is 10, Wickets 7, Average 41.14, Best 2-12

John Wick: Chapter 4

Director: Chad Stahelski

Stars: Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, George Georgiou

Rating: 4/5

Company Profile

Name: HyveGeo
Started: 2023
Founders: Abdulaziz bin Redha, Dr Samsurin Welch, Eva Morales and Dr Harjit Singh
Based: Cambridge and Dubai
Number of employees: 8
Industry: Sustainability & Environment
Funding: $200,000 plus undisclosed grant
Investors: Venture capital and government

While you're here
The biog:

From: Wimbledon, London, UK

Education: Medical doctor

Hobbies: Travelling, meeting new people and cultures 

Favourite animals: All of them 

Richard Jewell

Director: Clint Eastwood

Stars: Paul Walter Hauser, Sam Rockwell, Brandon Stanley

Two-and-a-half out of five stars 

Indika

Developer: 11 Bit Studios
Publisher: Odd Meter
Console: PlayStation 5, PC and Xbox series X/S
Rating: 4/5

Company Profile

Company name: Cargoz
Date started: January 2022
Founders: Premlal Pullisserry and Lijo Antony
Based: Dubai
Number of staff: 30
Investment stage: Seed

England squad

Joe Root (captain), Alastair Cook, Keaton Jennings, Gary Ballance, Jonny Bairstow (wicketkeeper), Ben Stokes (vice-captain), Moeen Ali, Liam Dawson, Toby Roland-Jones, Stuart Broad, Mark Wood, James Anderson.

Match statistics

Abu Dhabi Harlequins 36 Bahrain 32

Harlequins

Tries: Penalty 2, Stevenson, Teasdale, Semple

Cons: Stevenson 2

Pens: Stevenson

Bahrain

Tries: Wallace 2, Heath, Evans, Behan

Cons: Radley 2

Pen: Radley

Man of the match: Craig Nutt (Harlequins)

Infobox

Western Region Asia Cup Qualifier, Al Amerat, Oman

The two finalists advance to the next stage of qualifying, in Malaysia in August

Results

UAE beat Iran by 10 wickets

Kuwait beat Saudi Arabia by eight wickets

Oman beat Bahrain by nine wickets

Qatar beat Maldives by 106 runs

Monday fixtures

UAE v Kuwait, Iran v Saudi Arabia, Oman v Qatar, Maldives v Bahrain

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Company Profile:

Name: The Protein Bakeshop

Date of start: 2013

Founders: Rashi Chowdhary and Saad Umerani

Based: Dubai

Size, number of employees: 12

Funding/investors: $400,000 (2018)

SPEC SHEET: APPLE IPHONE 15 PRO MAX

Display: 6.7" Super Retina XDR OLED, 2796 x 1290, 460ppi, 120Hz, 2000 nits max, HDR, True Tone, P3, always-on

Processor: A17 Pro, 6-core CPU, 6-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine

Memory: 8GB

Capacity: 256/512GB / 1TB

Platform: iOS 17

Main camera: Triple: 48MP main (f/1.78) + 12MP ultra-wide (f/2.2) + 12MP 5x telephoto (f/2.8); 5x optical zoom in, 2x optical zoom out; 10x optical zoom range, digital zoom up to 25x; Photonic Engine, Deep Fusion, Smart HDR 4, Portrait Lighting

Main camera video: 4K @ 24/25/30/60fps, full-HD @ 25/30/60fps, HD @ 30fps, slo-mo @ 120/240fps, ProRes (4K) @ 60fps; night, time lapse, cinematic, action modes; Dolby Vision, 4K HDR

Front camera: 12MP TrueDepth (f/1.9), Photonic Engine, Deep Fusion, Smart HDR 4, Portrait Lighting; Animoji, Memoji

Front camera video: 4K @ 24/25/30/60fps, full-HD @ 25/30/60fps, slo-mo @ 120/240fps, ProRes (4K) @ 30fps; night, time lapse, cinematic, action modes; Dolby Vision, 4K HDR

Battery: 4441mAh, up to 29h video, 25h streaming video, 95h audio; fast charge to 50% in 30min (with at least 20W adaptor); MagSafe, Qi wireless charging

Connectivity: Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.3, NFC (Apple Pay), second-generation Ultra Wideband chip

Biometrics: Face ID

I/O: USB-C

Durability: IP68, water-resistant up to 6m up to 30min; dust/splash-resistant

Cards: Dual eSIM / eSIM + eSIM (US models use eSIMs only)

Colours: Black titanium, blue titanium, natural titanium, white titanium

In the box: iPhone 15 Pro Max, USB-C-to-USB-C woven cable, one Apple sticker

Price: Dh5,099 / Dh5,949 / Dh6,799

While you're here
TUESDAY'S ORDER OF PLAY

Centre Court

Starting at 2pm:

Malin Cilic (CRO) v Benoit Paire (FRA) [8]

Not before 4pm:

Dan Evans (GBR) v Fabio Fogini (ITA) [4]

Not before 7pm:

Pablo Carreno Busta (SPA) v Stefanos Tsitsipas (GRE) [2]

Roberto Bautista Agut (SPA) [5] v Jan-Lennard Struff (GER)

Court One

Starting at 2pm

Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND) v Dennis Novak (AUT) 

Joao Sousa (POR) v Filip Krajinovic (SRB)

Not before 5pm:

Rajeev Ram (USA) and Joe Salisbury (GBR) [1] v Marin Cilic v Novak Djokovic (SRB)

Nikoloz Basilashvili v Ricardas Berankis (LTU)

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While you're here
The more serious side of specialty coffee

While the taste of beans and freshness of roast is paramount to the specialty coffee scene, so is sustainability and workers’ rights.

The bulk of genuine specialty coffee companies aim to improve on these elements in every stage of production via direct relationships with farmers. For instance, Mokha 1450 on Al Wasl Road strives to work predominantly with women-owned and -operated coffee organisations, including female farmers in the Sabree mountains of Yemen.

Because, as the boutique’s owner, Garfield Kerr, points out: “women represent over 90 per cent of the coffee value chain, but are woefully underrepresented in less than 10 per cent of ownership and management throughout the global coffee industry.”

One of the UAE’s largest suppliers of green (meaning not-yet-roasted) beans, Raw Coffee, is a founding member of the Partnership of Gender Equity, which aims to empower female coffee farmers and harvesters.

Also, globally, many companies have found the perfect way to recycle old coffee grounds: they create the perfect fertile soil in which to grow mushrooms. 

Kill

Director: Nikhil Nagesh Bhat

Starring: Lakshya, Tanya Maniktala, Ashish Vidyarthi, Harsh Chhaya, Raghav Juyal

Rating: 4.5/5

TWISTERS

Director:+Lee+Isaac+Chung

Starring:+Glen+Powell,+Daisy+Edgar-Jones,+Anthony+Ramos

Rating:+2.5/5

Tips for entertaining with ease

·         Set the table the night before. It’s a small job but it will make you feel more organised once done.

·         As the host, your mood sets the tone. If people arrive to find you red-faced and harried, they’re not going to relax until you do. Take a deep breath and try to exude calm energy.

·         Guests tend to turn up thirsty. Fill a big jug with iced water and lemon or lime slices and encourage people to help themselves.

·         Have some background music on to help create a bit of ambience and fill any initial lulls in conversations.

·         The meal certainly doesn’t need to be ready the moment your guests step through the door, but if there’s a nibble or two that can be passed around it will ward off hunger pangs and buy you a bit more time in the kitchen.

·         You absolutely don’t have to make every element of the brunch from scratch. Take inspiration from our ideas for ready-made extras and by all means pick up a store-bought dessert.