If a staycation set in the rugged desert landscapes of Mleiha is on your to-do list this winter, you’re in luck: luxury resort Mysk Moon Retreat in Sharjah is now open and welcoming guests.
The new eco-friendly resort offers a luxury glamping experience. It has 10 domes with private pools, four family tents with private pools and two single-bed tents. Each unit is self-sufficient and fitted with all the amenities, which includes a private barbecue area, lobby and common area.
The property, developed by Sharjah Investment and Development Authority (Shurooq), will also feature a restaurant and cafe, and give visitors a chance to enjoy a range of outdoor experiences such as trekking and dune bashing. Prices start at Dh1,770 ($482) in November.
The Mysk Moon Retreat is part of Shurooq’s Sharjah Collection brand, managed by Mysk Hotels by Shaza, which includes the Mysk Kingfisher Retreat in Kalba, Mysk Al Faya Retreat in Sharjah and Mysk Al Badayer Retreat in the heart of the Al Badayer desert.
Meanwhile, there’s plenty to look forward to in the emirate as Shurooq has also unveiled four new luxury hospitality projects, coming up in Sharjah’s central and eastern regions:
Al Jabal Resort
The property is located between Khor Fakkan Beach and Luluya Beach, overlooking the waters of Soueifa Beach. It will comprise 45 eco-friendly units with the choice of one, two and three bedrooms, as well as a private royal suite with a swimming pool. It will also feature a restaurant, gym, kids' play zone, reception and lobby. The resort is scheduled to be completed by March 2022.
Al Bridi Resort and Petting Zoo
Marwan bin Jassim Al Sarkal, executive chairman of Shurooq, said this project is expected to start at the end of the year. It is being developed in partnership with the Environment & Protected Areas Authority, as part of the Sharjah Safari project, the largest safari in the world outside Africa. Shurooq has also started developing Al Dhaid Farm, the city’s first petting zoo experience, near the Flag Square in Al Dhaid, which will feature a wide range of entertainment activities and experiences for families and children.
Five-star luxury hotel and water park in Khor Fakkan
A new hospitality project is also in the works in Khor Fakkan, opposite the Khor Fakkan Port. The project will feature 75 luxurious units, UAE’s first water park in the east coast, a shopping complex, restaurant, gym, spa, marina and residential units.
Five-star hotel in the city of Kalba
A 12,500-square-metre hotel will open in Kalba, in the vicinity of the region’s renowned diving locations. It will have 80 rooms, and two restaurants including a cafe in the lobby, a gym, spa, swimming pool and meeting halls.
Expansion of Mysk Kingfisher Retreat and Mysk Al Badayer Retreat
Finally, Shurooq has announced expansion operations for both Mysk Kingfisher Retreat and Mysk Al Badayer Retreat, in response to the growing demand.
Mysk Kingfisher Retreat will house 20 new luxury tents, varying between four-bedroom and two-bedroom units, and Mysk Al Badayer Retreat will house 15 new tents in addition to an outdoor swimming pool.
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World’s first Warner Bros hotel opening in Abu Dhabi next month
No Shame
Lily Allen
(Parlophone)
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Lexus LX700h specs
Engine: 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 plus supplementary electric motor
Power: 464hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 790Nm from 2,000-3,600rpm
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 11.7L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh590,000
Miss Granny
Director: Joyce Bernal
Starring: Sarah Geronimo, James Reid, Xian Lim, Nova Villa
3/5
(Tagalog with Eng/Ar subtitles)
Fighting with My Family
Director: Stephen Merchant
Stars: Dwayne Johnson, Nick Frost, Lena Headey, Florence Pugh, Thomas Whilley, Tori Ellen Ross, Jack Lowden, Olivia Bernstone, Elroy Powell
Four stars
Results:
5pm: Abu Dhabi Fillies Classic (PA) Prestige Dh 110,000 1.400m | Winner: AF Mouthirah, Tadhg O’Shea (jockey), Ernst Oertel (trainer)
5.30pm: Abu Dhabi Colts Classic (PA) Prestige Dh 110,000 1,400m | Winner: AF Saab, Antonio Fresu, Ernst Oertel
6pm: Maiden (PA) Dh 80,000 1,600m | Winner: Majd Al Gharbia, Saif Al Balushi, Ridha ben Attia
6.30pm: Abu Dhabi Championship (PA) Listed Dh 180,000 1,600m | Winner: RB Money To Burn, Pat Cosgrave, Eric Lemartinel
7pm: Wathba Stallions Cup (PA) Handicap Dh 70,000 2,200m | Winner: AF Kafu, Tadhg O’Shea, Ernst Oertel
7.30pm: Handicap (PA) Dh 100,000 2,400m | Winner: Brass Ring, Fabrice Veron, Ismail Mohammed
Our legal columnist
Name: Yousef Al Bahar
Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994
Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers
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'Falling%20for%20Christmas'
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Meydan card
6.30pm: Al Maktoum Challenge Round-1 (PA) Group 1 US$65,000 (Dirt) 1,600m
7.05pm: Conditions (TB) $100,000 (Turf) 1,400m
7.40pm: UAE 2000 Guineas Trial (TB) $100,000 (D) 1,600m
8.15pm: Handicap (TB) $175,000 (T) 1,200m
8.50pm: Al Maktoum Challenge Round-1 (TB) Group 2 $350,000 (D) 1,600m
9.25pm: Handicap (TB) $175,000 (D) 1,900m
10pm: Handicap (TB) $135,000 (T) 1,600m
HIV on the rise in the region
A 2019 United Nations special analysis on Aids reveals 37 per cent of new HIV infections in the Mena region are from people injecting drugs.
New HIV infections have also risen by 29 per cent in western Europe and Asia, and by 7 per cent in Latin America, but declined elsewhere.
Egypt has shown the highest increase in recorded cases of HIV since 2010, up by 196 per cent.
Access to HIV testing, treatment and care in the region is well below the global average.
Few statistics have been published on the number of cases in the UAE, although a UNAIDS report said 1.5 per cent of the prison population has the virus.
Captain Marvel
Director: Anna Boden, Ryan Fleck
Starring: Brie Larson, Samuel L Jackson, Jude Law, Ben Mendelsohn
4/5 stars
Evacuations to France hit by controversy
- Over 500 Gazans have been evacuated to France since November 2023
- Evacuations were paused after a student already in France posted anti-Semitic content and was subsequently expelled to Qatar
- The Foreign Ministry launched a review to determine how authorities failed to detect the posts before her entry
- Artists and researchers fall under a programme called Pause that began in 2017
- It has benefited more than 700 people from 44 countries, including Syria, Turkey, Iran, and Sudan
- Since the start of the Gaza war, it has also included 45 Gazan beneficiaries
- Unlike students, they are allowed to bring their families to France
