Skip to content Skip to Search
Skip navigation

Lifestyle

Lifestyle and entertainment news from the Middle East. All the important stories, exclusive interviews, plus authoritative opinion and analysis

Palm Jebel Ali will add 91km to Dubai's coastline and provide homes for about 35,000 families

Dubai developer releases first Palm Jebel Ali villas

The first villas available to buy on Dubai’s billion-dollar Palm Jebel Ali man-made island project have been released by developer Nakheel. The 13.4 sq km mega-project – twice the size of Palm Jumeirah – will add 91km of coastline to the emirate and provide homes for about 35,000 families. The inaugural properties for purchase are […]

Neom has appointed JLS Yachts to manage Sindalah, the development’s first superyacht destination on the Red Sea

Neom appoints manager for superyacht destination

Saudi’s $500 billion giga project Neom has appointed a company to head its superyacht destination on the Red Sea. JLS Yachts, a Middle East-based yacht agency and concierge service provider, will manage Sindalah, which will be home to more than 5,000 berths. Set to open in 2024, Sindalah is one of the 41 Neom islands […]

Gissah is a 'rising star' in the GCC's perfume sector with 80 stores in 25 cities

Jadwa acquires stake in Gissah Perfumes 

Jadwa Investment, a Riyadh-based investment management and advisory firm, has acquired a 35 percent equity stake in Kuwait’s Gissah Perfumes Company, with plans for a listing on the Saudi Arabian bourse. The stake was purchased through Jadwa Retail Opportunities Fund, the companies said in a joint statement. Founded in 2018, Gissah has 80 stores in […]

Dubai scores highly on connectivity, with the UAE home to the fastest mobile internet speeds in the world

Dubai named top city for ‘executive nomads’

Dubai has risen to the top of a new index that ranks the world’s most desirable destinations for executive nomads. New entry Abu Dhabi is also emerging as a hotspot for senior professional remote workers, placing fourth. Malaga and Miami took second and third places. According to the latest Savills Executive Nomad Index, Dubai has […]

Women jog in a public park in Riyadh. Increasing the Saudi population's fitness is one of the Vision 2030 goals

PIF sets up company to help Saudi women get fitter

Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund has launched a company aimed at improving the health and wellbeing of women in the kingdom. The business, Kayanee, will focus on fitness, apparel, personal care and treatments, nutrition and diagnostics, healthy eating and learning. The Public Investment Fund-backed company will be chaired by Princess Reema bint Bandar Al Saud, […]

GCC new schools Gulf education

GCC needs 1,127 new schools by 2027 as enrolment rises

The Gulf will need over a thousand new schools by 2027, according to a new report published on Wednesday. The prediction is based on the total number of students in the GCC growing by 1.6 percent annually to reach 14.2 million by 2027. Growth in student enrolment numbers at K-12 (kindergarten to 12th grade, or […]

Jane Fonda strike

Hollywood strikes a blow to Mena film industry

When it came to creating the epic sunset scenes for the upcoming Dune movie sequel, director Denis Villeneuve chose the sand dunes of Jordan and Abu Dhabi to stand in for the futuristic desert planet of Arrakis.  Local fans sitting down to watch the movie this November should relish the occasion, as it may be […]

Valentino operates 211 stores globally and generated revenues of €1.4bn in 2022

Valentino’s Qatari owner to sell 30% stake for $1.9bn

The Qatari owner of Italian fashion brand Valentino is to sell a 30 percent stake to the French luxury group behind rival brands such as Gucci, Balenciaga and Alexander McQueen, it was announced on Thursday. Paris-based Kering announced it will pay Mayhoola Lux Sàrl (Mayhoola), a Qatari investment company controlled by the mother of the […]

Video length: 2:58

Private vaults fill the gap as banks abandon deposit boxes

Private vaults in Dubai are emerging to take the place of the safety deposit boxes once provided by traditional banks. Costs, concerns over legal liability and the rise of online banking have made providing safety deposit boxes less appealing for banking giants. Capital One, HSBC, Barclays and JPMorgan Chase have all withdrawn from the market. […]

personal security opening car door for client

Personal security grows as wealthy expats flock to GCC

As more and more high net worth individuals choose to call the states of the GCC home, the private personal security sector has become big business, and some providers are reporting surging demand for their services. Last year 5,200 more HNWIs relocated to the UAE than left. The Gulf state had the highest net inflow […]

Women GCC leadership Video length: 03:22

Only 7% of GCC board seats are held by women

Only 7 percent of board seats in the GCC are held by women compared to 20 percent globally, a report by Bain & Company says. “There is an issue in retaining, mentoring and supporting women to make it all the way to CEO positions and the board,” said Karen Khalaf, partner at Bain & Company […]

Bahrain souq visitors

Bahrain named best country in Middle East for expats

Bahrain is ranked among the top 10 countries in the world and number one in the Middle East for expatriates to live and work, according to the latest Expat Insider Survey by InterNations. The survey ranked countries in 56 categories including quality of life, ease of settling in, working abroad, personal finance and expat essentials. […]

Dubai creative culture jobs Video length: 6.42

Dubai plans to grow creative economy by 25%

Dubai’s creative economy is expected to experience steady growth over the next few years, with the sector reaching 140,000 jobs by 2026, up from 90,000 in 2020. The GDP contribution target for the industry is set at 5 percent. This is up from the current 4 percent for creative industries including the arts, culture, music, films, […]

Saudi fashion

Saudi fashion has designs on the international stage

Saudi Arabia has long been a major draw for the world’s fashion houses. Princesses devoted to haute couture, fashionistas with expensive tastes, and plenty of young people make for a winning combination.  The value of luxury fashion purchases in the GCC hit $9.6 billion in 2021, and Saudi Arabia accounted for more than $7 billion […]

Turkish cinema

Animated film helps revive Turkish cinema

An animated film about children who help aliens stranded on Earth return to their home planet has helped revive the Turkish cinema industry after it slumped during the Covid lockdown. Rafadan Tayfa: Galaktik Tayfa, the third in a series of films spun off from a popular Turkish children’s TV show, has earned $6.7 million so […]