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FUELLED by a glass of Moet from the 24-hour champagne bar, I sleepily made my way to the resort’s palm-lined beach club, nibbling on a golden chocolate-covered strawberry as I plodded.  

So far, so Dubai . . .  except I am actually in Turkey at the Cullinan Belek hotel. 

Which means, after a short four-hour flight from the UK, I was swept into the kind of luxury you would expect from one of the 5H properties on The Palm Jumeirah — only without the seven-hour journey, or the jet lag.  

Plus, it meant I was feeling fresh enough to go from the plane to the party in minutes. 

Cullinan Belek’s Galapagos beach bar was pumping as masked dancers beckoned in revellers with their flaming torches and a live DJ played Balearic-style beats. 

Its troupe put on two original shows a night – one more family-friendly piece in the main auditorium and a more progressive, late-night number for the adults, like tonight’s, which took its inspiration from Moroccan belly dancers.  

SHOW OFF

The best family-friendly Christmas show? The great British Panto, of course

RIDE ON

I went to the European theme park named the best in the world with 100 attractions

A waiter served me a freshly-shaken, personalised cocktail from his cart, and before long, I was dancing barefoot on the beach.  

Cullinan Belek won the Luxury All-Inclusive Resort gong at the World Travel Awards in 2024, but if I needed further proof of its prestige, I found it back at our Superior Duplex room. 

There’s a pillow menu, top-of-the-range tech to control lights, curtains and air, plus divine Bvlgari toiletries in the two bathrooms.  

But the real treat is the swim-up infinity pool which lapped my second-floor terrace, overlooking the main resort.  

A quick plunge shook off last night’s cocktails and a trip to the hotel’s C’Espace spa beckoned. 

Somehow the hotel’s gym even managed to make sweating feel refined as it is among the best I’ve ever used — yes, it even beats those in Dubai. 

As well as the usual equipment there is a Pilates reformer stand, yoga room, decent set-up for weight-lifters, plus even an indoor and outdoor Hyrox zone for those seeking an on-trend workout.  

And if you’re after something more relaxed, I’m told the Cullinan’s golf course is the best in Belek, which has become known as the heartland for the sport with the hotel offering special packages for enthusiasts.

There are 14 sections to browse for breakfast, ranging from your standard pastries and fry-ups to Indian cuisine, Mexican breakfast burritos and a juice bar.  

Instead, I signed up to play sport-of-the-moment padel — as made popular by the Princess of Wales — and was immediately hooked, as it had all the fun of tennis without as much running.  

That felt like more than enough activity for one day, but it turns out another challenge lay ahead.  

The Mare main restaurant is an epic buffet set-up, larger than any I’ve seen before — yes, even larger than those in Dubai.  

There are 14 sections to browse for breakfast, ranging from your standard pastries and fry-ups to Indian cuisine, Mexican breakfast burritos and a juice bar.  

Variety might be the spice of life, but at that hour of the day, the choice was sometimes overwhelming and the crowds and queues tricky to navigate.  

Away from the throng of the buffet, though, is where the Cullinan Belek really excelled. 

The resort has two Italian restaurants as well Greek, Asian, teppanyaki and a steakhouse plus a number of snack bistros, a patisserie and an in-house chocolatier. So I got to work.  

In the evening, some of these carry an additional charge on top of the all-inclusive package but each time it felt worth it. 

Great value 

I particularly enjoyed the beef in hot sauce from Nori Asian, which, for an extra €25 per person, allows you to dine to the sounds of live music as you sit among the petal design of the Azure pool.  

Meanwhile The Beef Grill puts its succulent steaks at the centre of the action, with the cuts displayed in a huge chiller spanning the length of the restaurant, and an open kitchen grill.  

The real jewel in the hotel’s crown, however, is the huge water park which offers an oasis for families, alongside a football pitch, splash pool and tons of beach games…

The €55-per-person surcharge felt great value when the signature starters of Meat Sushi and Onion Blossom were prepared at our table by an intrepid server with a blow torch.  

The real jewel in the hotel’s crown, however, is the huge water park which offers an oasis for families, alongside a football pitch, splash pool and tons of beach games as well as indoor bowling alley and games consoles. 

The offering for children is impressive — but all the more so because these facilities somehow nestle unobtrusively alongside the chic, laidback aspects, just like at the super hotels in Dubai. 

Which was ideal for me, lazing by the adults-only pool as I awaited my next cocktail from the roller-skating waitress. 

If Cullinan Belek is a Dubai dupe, then honestly, who needs the real thing? 

Frederick Green, a Bronx man who authorities said has four prior arrests, was charged Tuesday with attempted murder, assault and weapons possession in the shooting of New York Jets defensive back Kris Boyd on Nov. 16 outside a Midtown restaurant.

Green, 20, was hiding in his girlfriend’s apartment in upstate New York and identified through social media posts and a Crime Stoppers tip, police sources told the New York Daily News. U.S. marshals took him into custody Monday in Amherst, N.Y., a suburb of Buffalo.

Boyd, 29, was walking out of Asian fusion restaurant Sei Less with two teammates and another friend around 2 a.m. when he was shot in the abdomen and taken to Bellevue Hospital in critical condition. The bullet lodged near his right lung in the pulmonary artery, police said.

He posted on social media Nov. 19 that he was “starting to breathe on my own,” but two weeks ago was readmitted to the hospital because of health complications. However, Boyd had recovered enough that last week he made a surprise appearance at the Jets’ practice facility and attended a special teams meeting.

NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said at a news conference last month that the shooting occurred after a group of four to five men “chirped” at Boyd and his companions outside the restaurant, making fun of their fashionable attire.

The confrontation continued when Boyd, Jets teammates Irvin Charles and Jamien Sherwood and another friend left the restaurant minutes later after deciding not to dine there. As they left, the same group again began to “verbally insult them, and once again, questioning their clothing,” Kenny said.

A brawl ensued and one of the fighters — later allegedly identified as Green — fired two rounds from a gun, striking Boyd. Investigators released surveillance footage of the gunman and asked the public’s help identifying him.

In an email to The Times on Nov. 17, an NYPD spokesman said, “The sought individual is described as male, medium complexion. He was last seen wearing a black cap, black sweatshirt, black pants, multi-colored sneakers, and carrying a black bookbag.”

Green has four prior arrests, including one in 2024 for reckless endangerment and another in 2018 for robbery that was sealed because he was a juvenile, police told the Daily News.

Boyd’s teammates were delighted to see him at the practice facility Dec. 3.

“I’ve had friends that didn’t survive gunshot wounds, so to be able to see him walking around with a smile on his face, be able to [talk] with him, I mean, it’s always a blessing,” Jets edge rusher Jermaine Johnson told ESPN. “[Guns] aren’t toys and they’re very deadly, so the fact that he walked away from it is a blessing.”

Boyd is in his first year with the Jets after playing the last two seasons with the Houston Texans and from 2019-2022 with the Minnesota Vikings, who drafted him in the seventh round in 2019 out of Texas.

Congress has taken a new step toward blocking the Pentagon from axing the acquisition of new E-7 Wedgetail airborne early warning and control aircraft. The latest draft of the annual defense policy bill also includes language that would compel the U.S. Air Force to keep all 16 of its remaining E-3 Sentry Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) jets in service until a sufficient number of Wedgetails are delivered or other conditions are met. Earlier this year, the Pentagon had laid out a plan to purchase more of the Navy’s E-2D Hawkeyes instead of E-7s to fill interim capability gaps left by the retirement of the E-3 until the Air Force can push most, if not all, airborne target warning sensor layer tasks into space.

The House Armed Services Committee released a new draft of the defense policy bill, or National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), for the 2026 Fiscal Year late yesterday. The draft NDAA is described as a “compromise” bill that follows significant negotiations between the House and the Senate to bring their respective versions of the legislation into alignment.

“None of the funds authorized to be appropriated by this Act or otherwise made available for fiscal year 2026 for the Department of Defense may be obligated or expended— (1) to terminate the mid-tier acquisition rapid prototype contract for the E-7A aircraft; or (2) to terminate the operations of, or to prepare to terminate the operations of, a production line for the E-7A aircraft,” according to one provision within the draft legislation.

The draft NDAA also includes a separate provision that says “none of the funds authorized to be appropriated by this Act or otherwise made available for fiscal year 2026 for the Air Force may be obligated or expended to retire, prepare to retire, or place in storage or in backup aircraft inventory any E-3 aircraft if such actions would reduce the total aircraft inventory for such aircraft below 16.”

As noted, the Air Force only has 16 E-3s still in inventory in total, according to documents accompanying the service’s most recent budget request, which was released earlier in the year. This means the latest draft NDAA would effectively prohibit the retirement of any of the jets, at least through the end of the current fiscal year.

However, “if the Secretary of the Air Force submits to the congressional defense committees a plan for maintaining readiness and ensuring there is no lapse in mission capabilities the prohibition … shall not apply to actions taken to reduce the total aircraft inventory for E–3 aircraft to below 16, beginning 30 days after the date on which the plan is so submitted,” per this same section of the proposed legislation. In addition, “if the Secretary of the Air Force procures enough E–7 Wedgetail aircraft to accomplish the required mission load, the prohibition … shall not apply to actions taken to reduce the total aircraft inventory for E–3 aircraft to below 16 after the date on which such E–7 Wedgetail aircraft are delivered.”

Along with these two provisions, the new draft NDAA includes the approval of $647 million in additional funding for “continued development and procurement” of the E-7. This is in addition to nearly $200 million for Wedgetail that Congress already included in a bill that was passed last month to reopen the federal government following a protracted shutdown. Additional funding from the 2025 Fiscal Year originally intended for the procurement of aircraft was previously reallocated to ongoing research, development, test, and evaluation activities, as well.

The Air Force had formally decided to buy E-7s as replacements for at least a portion of its E-3 fleet in 2022, and had moved first to acquire two production representative prototypes. Those aircraft were to be used for test and evaluation purposes, and as a lead-in to the production of Wedgetails in a service-specific production configuration. The goal had been for production E-7s for the Air Force to begin entering service in 2027.

However, delays and cost growth had marred the Air Force’s E-7 program, factors the Pentagon cited in announcing its intention to cancel the program earlier this year. Concerns about the survivability of the Boeing 737 airliner-based aircraft, especially in future high-end fights, such as one against China in the Pacific, were also raised. It is worth noting here that versions of the Wedgetail are currently in service in Australia, South Korea, and Turkey. The United Kingdom is also working to acquire E-7s now. In November, NATO canceled its plans to purchase Wedgetails to replace a fleet of E-3s that the alliance operates collectively after the U.S. military separately withdrew from that effort.

As mentioned, the Air Force’s longer-term vision has been and remains to eventually have space-based assets provide the bulk of its airborne target warning sensor layer. From the outset, the service had described the E-7 acquisition effort as a ‘bridge’ to future capabilities in orbit.

For months now, members of Congress and other advocates of the Wedgetail program have been openly questioning the viability of using E-2s as an interim substitute, as well as the timeline for a realignment around space-based capabilities. Though the U.S. Navy and other E-2 operators have employed those aircraft from bases on land, the Hawkeye was designed around the unique requirements and constraints of carrier-based operations. Compared to the E-7, the E-2 is a lower and slower flying aircraft that would have to operate even closer to threat areas in order to provide similar surveillance capacity. The E-7 is also larger and more adaptable to expanded operations, especially when it comes to critical battle management and networking node capabilities, than the Hawkeye, as well. Previously stated survivability concerns would apply to any crewed airborne early warning aircraft in a future near-peer conflict.

The Air Force has also said it does not expect to have an operational ability to persistently track air or ground targets from orbit until the early 2030s at the earliest. Even then, the service expects traditional airborne early warning and control aircraft to remain part of the equation for years afterward.

In the meantime, the aging E-3s are already increasingly struggling to meet existing operational requirements, and the fleet would only be strained even more if a major sustained conflict were to erupt.

“I have been concerned. We have E-3 capability up north, of course, but we were all counting on the E-7 Wedgetail coming our way. We’re kind of limping along up north right now, which is unfortunate. And the budget proposes terminating the program,” Sen. Lisa Murkowski, a Republican from Alaska, had said at a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing in June, where the E-7 cancellation plans first emerged publicly. “Again, the E-3 fleet [is] barely operational now, and I understand the intent to shift towards the space-based – you call it the ‘air moving target indicators’ – but my concern is that you’ve got a situation where you’re not going to be able to use more duct tape to hold things together until you put this system in place. And, so, how we maintain that level of operational readiness and coverage, I’m not sure how you make it.”

The House and the Senate do still have to pass a final version of the NDAA for the 2026 Fiscal Year, and President Donald Trump then has to sign it, before any of its provisions can become law. What timeline the Air Force might now be looking at for actually fielding operational E-7s remains to be seen.

Regardless, Congress looks increasingly set to halt the Pentagon’s plans to cancel the E-7 program, at least for another year or so.

Contact the author: joe@twz.com