The first thing you notice when you walk up to Manu Jeswani’s imposing four-storey home in Dubai’s Emirates Hills is its name: Sapna. Meaning dream in Hindi, it’s not only the name of Manu’s wife of 38 years, but also a symbolic realisation of all the things they set out to achieve as a couple.
"When we got married, we had nothing, so this home is like a dream come true for us," says Manu, a shareholder in the Landmark Group and one of the group directors of the conglomerate with headquarters in Dubai. He is seated on a Roberto Cavalli-branded sofa in the lounge area on the property's ground floor. A Fendi carpet lies underfoot and above hangs a massive chandelier, one of four that were custom-made by Italian company Vetrart, which is famed for its handcrafted glass designs.
Spread across 28,500 square feet, the five-bedroom Jeswani residence is expansive, considering its only permanent residents are the couple, their son Manish, 34, and a few members of staff. Their daughter Anjali, who is married but lives elsewhere in Dubai, still has a bedroom in the house and visits at least once a week.
The ground floor is divided into three main open-plan areas: a lounge and bar area, a formal seating area and a formal dining area. Next to the formal dining space is a large kitchen and an additional dining room, which the family uses daily. Two guest bedrooms, complete with walk-in closets, are located close to the foyer on the same floor.
On the first floor is the master bedroom, which overlooks the golf course, a luxurious cinema and Manish and Anjali’s bedrooms. One floor up, you are greeted by a puja room, dedicated to the Hindu deity Ganesha, a fully loaded gym on one side, and a lounge and entertainment space on the other, which also emerges on to an outdoor rooftop area.
The property's piece de resistance, however, sits in the basement, and is unsurprisingly Manish's favourite part of the house. Much of the space is occupied by a full-fledged club, which can host more than 100 people and easily rivals any top nightspot in the UAE. It comes with a decked-up DJ station, and light and sound system with giant multimedia screens. A pool table room and cards room are tucked in a corner. Outside, there's a spa room, salon, cellar and parking space for six cars.
An elevator serves each of the floors, while the entire property is monitored through a smart -home system, which can be controlled using a phone. This extends to the lights, including those on the chandeliers, which can be manipulated according to one's mood.
“This is like a resort for us. We don’t have to go anywhere,” Sapna says. “Each space has been utilised perfectly, and I wouldn’t change anything about it.”
Notably, this is not the first "dream home" that the Jeswanis have built. The first one, constructed on the same piece of land, was razed three years ago because, as Sapna puts it, “we wanted a basement. We tried to refurbish the old house, but as we kept modifying, the designer suggested that our money would be better spent just building a new house."
I never imagined I could afford a house like this. Sometimes things turn out better than you plan, and this house is what that is
The Jeswanis bought the 34,000-square-foot plot in Emirates Hills for Dh3.2 million in 2003 and built their first home, then spread across 12,500 square feet, at the cost of Dh10 million. Manu estimates that the new house, which was completed in April this year, would be worth Dh70 million. “But we’re not selling,” he quickly adds. “We put our heart and soul into this."
"And we have no interest in giving it away, for now,” Sapna adds.
The couple, who used to travel frequently before coronavirus restrictions, said they worked closely with interior designer Badal Bavaria to finalise the mood of the house. Bavaria accompanied them on many of their travels to source choice items. When it comes to furniture, Sapna is partial to brands in Italy, where she attended two design fairs along with the interior designer. “You get the latest there and more options,” she says. “We wanted the overall look to be chic and modern, but with subtle colours.”
Furnishing the house cost a little more than Dh30 million, including the chandeliers, according to Manu, which cost 25 per cent more than he budgeted for. Nothing from the old house made it to the new one. “Things kept changing as we started decorating and filling up the house. And because we wanted the best, we didn’t want to cut any corners,” he says.
While Manish’s favourite part of the house is the basement, Sapna’s is the puja room. “It’s so peaceful, and I pray there every day. Having that room was very important to me,” she says. Anjali, a fashion designer, says she loves the lounge. “It’s a chilled-out area and I love watching matches here,” she says.
For Manu, it’s the entire house. “The speciality of this house is the height. If you are somewhere with low ceilings, you feel very tired. With the whole house, we wanted to make sure it’s open, with lots of breathing space and very high ceilings,” he says. “Also, the house is large, but it’s cosy. We wanted it to look like a home, not a hotel.”
Before coronavirus-imposed social restrictions, the Jeswanis would entertain at least three times a week. They hope to be able to do that again soon. “You could call us socialites,” Manu laughs.
But beyond that, he says he’s content that the home he now lives in is one that has surpassed anything he once dreamt of.
“When Sapna joined me in Bahrain in 1982, we lived in a rented one-bedroom apartment. Both my children were born in that apartment,” recalls Manu, who began working with the Landmark Group in 1978 as a store manager in Shoemart. “We bought a second-hand car and we didn’t have any help. We didn’t have much, but we were happy.”
The family moved to Dubai in 1990, and Manu has been with the company for more than 40 years. “I never imagined I could afford a house like this. I just wanted to be successful, but how successful, we didn’t have any idea,” he says. “Sometimes things turn out better than you plan, and this house is what that is.”
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre V8 twin-turbocharged and three electric motors
Power: Combined output 920hp
Torque: 730Nm at 4,000-7,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch automatic
Fuel consumption: 11.2L/100km
On sale: Now, deliveries expected later in 2025
Price: expected to start at Dh1,432,000
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
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The Bio
Favourite Emirati dish: I have so many because it has a lot of herbs and vegetables. Harees (oats with chicken) is one of them
Favourite place to go to: Dubai Mall because it has lots of sports shops.
Her motivation: My performance because I know that whatever I do, if I put the effort in, I’ll get results
During her free time: I like to drink coffee - a latte no sugar and no flavours. I do not like cold drinks
Pet peeve: That with every meal they give you a fries and Pepsi. That is so unhealthy
Advice to anyone who wants to be an ironman: Go for the goal. If you are consistent, you will get there. With the first one, it might not be what they want but they should start and just do it
HIJRA
Starring: Lamar Faden, Khairiah Nathmy, Nawaf Al-Dhufairy
Director: Shahad Ameen
Rating: 3/5
Key findings of Jenkins report
- Founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, Hassan al Banna, "accepted the political utility of violence"
- Views of key Muslim Brotherhood ideologue, Sayyid Qutb, have “consistently been understood” as permitting “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” and “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
- Muslim Brotherhood at all levels has repeatedly defended Hamas attacks against Israel, including the use of suicide bombers and the killing of civilians.
- Laying out the report in the House of Commons, David Cameron told MPs: "The main findings of the review support the conclusion that membership of, association with, or influence by the Muslim Brotherhood should be considered as a possible indicator of extremism."
Other workplace saving schemes
- The UAE government announced a retirement savings plan for private and free zone sector employees in 2023.
- Dubai’s savings retirement scheme for foreign employees working in the emirate’s government and public sector came into effect in 2022.
- National Bonds unveiled a Golden Pension Scheme in 2022 to help private-sector foreign employees with their financial planning.
- In April 2021, Hayah Insurance unveiled a workplace savings plan to help UAE employees save for their retirement.
- Lunate, an Abu Dhabi-based investment manager, has launched a fund that will allow UAE private companies to offer employees investment returns on end-of-service benefits.
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
2025 Fifa Club World Cup groups
Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.
Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.
Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.
Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, Leon.
Group E: River Plate, Urawa, Monterrey, Inter Milan.
Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.
Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.
Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.
AI traffic lights to ease congestion at seven points to Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Street
The seven points are:
Shakhbout bin Sultan Street
Dhafeer Street
Hadbat Al Ghubainah Street (outbound)
Salama bint Butti Street
Al Dhafra Street
Rabdan Street
Umm Yifina Street exit (inbound)
'Texas Chainsaw Massacre'
Rating: 1 out of 4
Running time: 81 minutes
Director: David Blue Garcia
Starring: Sarah Yarkin, Elsie Fisher, Mark Burnham
Honeymoonish
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How to register as a donor
1) Organ donors can register on the Hayat app, run by the Ministry of Health and Prevention
2) There are about 11,000 patients in the country in need of organ transplants
3) People must be over 21. Emiratis and residents can register.
4) The campaign uses the hashtag #donate_hope
Earth under attack: Cosmic impacts throughout history
- 4.5 billion years ago: Mars-sized object smashes into the newly-formed Earth, creating debris that coalesces to form the Moon
- 66 million years ago: 10km-wide asteroid crashes into the Gulf of Mexico, wiping out over 70 per cent of living species – including the dinosaurs.
- 50,000 years ago: 50m-wide iron meteor crashes in Arizona with the violence of 10 megatonne hydrogen bomb, creating the famous 1.2km-wide Barringer Crater
- 1490: Meteor storm over Shansi Province, north-east China when large stones “fell like rain”, reportedly leading to thousands of deaths.
- 1908: 100-metre meteor from the Taurid Complex explodes near the Tunguska river in Siberia with the force of 1,000 Hiroshima-type bombs, devastating 2,000 square kilometres of forest.
- 1998: Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 breaks apart and crashes into Jupiter in series of impacts that would have annihilated life on Earth.
-2013: 10,000-tonne meteor burns up over the southern Urals region of Russia, releasing a pressure blast and flash that left over 1600 people injured.
What sanctions would be reimposed?
Under ‘snapback’, measures imposed on Iran by the UN Security Council in six resolutions would be restored, including:
- An arms embargo
- A ban on uranium enrichment and reprocessing
- A ban on launches and other activities with ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons, as well as ballistic missile technology transfer and technical assistance
- A targeted global asset freeze and travel ban on Iranian individuals and entities
- Authorisation for countries to inspect Iran Air Cargo and Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines cargoes for banned goods
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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
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Masters%20of%20the%20Air
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The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Power: 420hp
Torque: 623Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)
On sale: Now
The Voice of Hind Rajab
Starring: Saja Kilani, Clara Khoury, Motaz Malhees
Director: Kaouther Ben Hania
Rating: 4/5
Palestine and Israel - live updates
