Why Cannes?
For a town of only 73,000 residents, Cannes manages to pack in 600 boutiques, 300 restaurants and bars and 130 hotels. The reason why, of course, is the annual film festival that draws the stars and hangers-on every May to this stretch of the Côte d’Azur. Cinema is in its soul, evident in festival motifs dotted all around. One of the more enchanting signs is the Murs Peints de Cannes, a series of film-inspired murals painted on otherwise dull façades all over town. You never know when you’ll turn a corner and come across a giant Charlie Chaplin staring wide-eyed from the side of a block of flats.
There’s much more to Cannes than the glitz of the Croisette Boulevard and the Palais des Festivals where the A-listers pose. The medieval old town, Suquet, is a delightful jumble of winding, hilly streets that climb towards the 12th-century Chapelle Sainte-Anne at the summit. There’s a pleasantly laid-back feel to the area around the covered market at Forville and the shopping streets north of the port, where unpretentious real life goes on after the festival circus has left town.
A comfortable bed
Tucked away in a quiet street but only seconds away from the Croisette, the five-star Five Seas Hotel (www.five-seas-hotel-cannes.com; 00 33 4 63 360 505) offers discreet luxury with some funky touches. Take in superb views from the rooftop pool and bar – if you can tear yourself away from the hotel’s patisserie, run by world pastry champion Jérôme de Oliveira. Doubles from €140 (Dh708).
In a prime spot on the western side of the old port and at the foot of the old town is the four-star Radisson Blu (www.radissonblu.com/hotel-cannes; 00 33 4 92 997 300). Airy, modern rooms face either the sea or terracotta rooftops of Suquet. Panoramic views come with meals at the aptly named Le 360 rooftop restaurant, and the hotel has direct access to the Thermes Marins spa.
The four-star Hotel Splendid (www.splendid-hotel-cannes.com; 00 33 4 97 062 222) is in an enviable location, with one side facing the shopping area that joins Rue d’Antibes and most of the rooms facing the port. Doubles start at €88 (Dh440), but sea view rooms start at €122 (Dh610).
Find your feet
Cannes is a compact town with all the sights within walking distance, so you won’t need a car. The steep streets of Suquet, the old town, rise up on the western side by the Vieux Port, one of the three marinas that hug the curving coast.
The Boulevard de la Croisette sweeps along the waterside past the decidedly unattractive Palais des Festivals and towards the grand hotels that face the Mediterranean. Most of the beaches are owned by the hotels, but you can find public beaches farther west beyond Suquet, namely Plage du Midi and Plage de la Bocca. The tourist office (www.cannes-destination.fr) is in the Palais des Festivals.
Meet the locals
The daily market at Forville on the edge of Suquet is surrounded by simple bars and bistros where Cannois meet for coffee after stocking up on the day’s fresh food. Grab a table and a paper at Bar de l’Horloge, one of the most popular.
Book a table
Head to the beach for a leisurely meal by the lapping waves of the Mediterranean. Rado Plage (www.rado-plage.com; 00 33 4 93 942 068) is one of the oldest and friendliest beach restaurants, with plates of giant garlicky prawns for €26 (Dh131).
Seafood lovers make a beeline for Cannes institution Astoux & Brun (www.astouxbrun.com; 00 33 4 93 392 187) for platters of fruits de mer from €22 (Dh111).
If you’re into the trend for gourmet burgers, go to the quieter end of Rue St-Antoine as it veers into Rue du Suquet.
At No 24 is the aptly if unimaginatively named Le XXIV (www.24-suquet.com; 00 33 4 89 025 770), which serves superb burgers in relaxed surroundings. Try Le Savoyard (beef and reblochon cheese) for €13 (Dh65).
Shopper’s paradise
It’s hard to resist a stroll along La Croisette where the top designer boutiques sit elegantly under the swaying palm trees. You’ll find the usual suspects: Chanel, Gucci, Louis Vuitton.
Those on less exalted budgets will enjoy a walk along the parallel Rue d’Antibes, where the top-end French and international brands offer plenty of choice. The next street up is the lively pedestrianised Rue Meynadier, with cheerfully cheap boutiques and souvenir stalls.
What to avoid
Coming in May during the film festival. No, really. It’s fine if you’re involved in the industry, but a nightmare for anyone who wants to get a true taste of Cannes. The crowds, soaring prices and frenetic pace won’t be to everyone’s taste.
Don’t miss
It’s a completely different – and very tranquil – world on the Iles de Lérins, a small archipelago that’s only a 20-minute boat ride from the harbour.
Explore the abbey and peaceful vineyards of St-Honorat, France’s only private island and home to a monastic community for the past 16 centuries.
Its larger neighbour, Ste-Marguerite, has forest trails, swimming lagoons, a 17th-century fort, a maritime museum and plenty of quiet spots for a picnic.
Go there
A return flight with Emirates (www.emirates.com) from Dubai to Nice, 30km away, takes six and a half hours and costs from Dh3,925, including taxes.
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Tuesday's fixtures
Kyrgyzstan v Qatar, 5.45pm
The specs
Engine: Four electric motors, one at each wheel
Power: 579hp
Torque: 859Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh825,900
On sale: Now
Results
2.15pm: Handicap Dh80,000 1,950m
Winner: Hello, Tadhg O’Shea (jockey), Ali Rashid Al Raihi (trainer).
2.45pm: Handicap Dh90,000 1,800m
Winner: Right Flank, Pat Dobbs, Doug Watson.
3.15pm: Handicap Dh115,000 1,000m
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3.45pm: Jebel Ali Mile Group 3 Dh575,000 1,600m
Winner: Chiefdom, Royston Ffrench, Salem bin Ghadayer.
4.15pm: Handicap Dh105,000 1,400m
Winner: Ode To Autumn, Patrick Cosgrave, Satish Seemar.
4.45pm: Shadwell Farm Conditions Dh125,000 1,200m
Winner: Last Surprise, James Doyle, Simon Crisford.
5.15pm: Handicap Dh85,000 1,200m
Winner: Daltrey, Sandro Paiva, Ali Rashid Al Raihi.
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
Dubai Bling season three
Cast: Loujain Adada, Zeina Khoury, Farhana Bodi, Ebraheem Al Samadi, Mona Kattan, and couples Safa & Fahad Siddiqui and DJ Bliss & Danya Mohammed
Rating: 1/5
Gothia Cup 2025
4,872 matches
1,942 teams
116 pitches
76 nations
26 UAE teams
15 Lebanese teams
2 Kuwaiti teams
THE CLOWN OF GAZA
Director: Abdulrahman Sabbah
Starring: Alaa Meqdad
Rating: 4/5
What's in the deal?
Agreement aims to boost trade by £25.5bn a year in the long run, compared with a total of £42.6bn in 2024
India will slash levies on medical devices, machinery, cosmetics, soft drinks and lamb.
India will also cut automotive tariffs to 10% under a quota from over 100% currently.
Indian employees in the UK will receive three years exemption from social security payments
India expects 99% of exports to benefit from zero duty, raising opportunities for textiles, marine products, footwear and jewellery
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Zayed Sustainability Prize
MATCH INFO
RB Leipzig 2 (Klostermann 24', Schick 68')
Hertha Berlin 2 (Grujic 9', Piatek 82' pen)
Man of the match Matheus Cunha (Hertha Berlin
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Jiu-jitsu calendar of events for 2017-2018:
August 5:
Round-1 of the President’s Cup in Al Ain.
August 11-13:
Asian Championship in Vietnam.
September 8-9:
Ajman International.
September 16-17
Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games, Ashgabat.
September 22-24:
IJJF Balkan Junior Open, Montenegro.
September 23-24:
Grand Slam Los Angeles.
September 29:
Round-1 Mother of The Nation Cup.
October 13-14:
Al Ain U18 International.
September 20-21:
Al Ain International.
November 3:
Round-2 Mother of The National Cup.
November 4:
Round-2 President’s Cup.
November 10-12:
Grand Slam Rio de Janeiro.
November 24-26:
World Championship, Columbia.
November 30:
World Beach Championship, Columbia.
December 8-9:
Dubai International.
December 23:
Round-3 President’s Cup, Sharjah.
January 12-13:
Grand Slam Abu Dhabi.
January 26-27:
Fujairah International.
February 3:
Round-4 President’s Cup, Al Dhafra.
February 16-17:
Ras Al Khaimah International.
February 23-24:
The Challenge Championship.
March 10-11:
Grand Slam London.
March 16:
Final Round – Mother of The Nation.
March 17:
Final Round – President’s Cup.
Why seagrass matters
- Carbon sink: Seagrass sequesters carbon up to 35X faster than tropical rainforests
- Marine nursery: Crucial habitat for juvenile fish, crustations, and invertebrates
- Biodiversity: Support species like sea turtles, dugongs, and seabirds
- Coastal protection: Reduce erosion and improve water quality
Blackpink World Tour [Born Pink] In Cinemas
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Directors: Min Geun, Oh Yoon-Dong
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Company Profile:
Name: The Protein Bakeshop
Date of start: 2013
Founders: Rashi Chowdhary and Saad Umerani
Based: Dubai
Size, number of employees: 12
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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.
Milestones on the road to union
1970
October 26: Bahrain withdraws from a proposal to create a federation of nine with the seven Trucial States and Qatar.
December: Ahmed Al Suwaidi visits New York to discuss potential UN membership.
1971
March 1: Alex Douglas Hume, Conservative foreign secretary confirms that Britain will leave the Gulf and “strongly supports” the creation of a Union of Arab Emirates.
July 12: Historic meeting at which Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid make a binding agreement to create what will become the UAE.
July 18: It is announced that the UAE will be formed from six emirates, with a proposed constitution signed. RAK is not yet part of the agreement.
August 6: The fifth anniversary of Sheikh Zayed becoming Ruler of Abu Dhabi, with official celebrations deferred until later in the year.
August 15: Bahrain becomes independent.
September 3: Qatar becomes independent.
November 23-25: Meeting with Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid and senior British officials to fix December 2 as date of creation of the UAE.
November 29: At 5.30pm Iranian forces seize the Greater and Lesser Tunbs by force.
November 30: Despite a power sharing agreement, Tehran takes full control of Abu Musa.
November 31: UK officials visit all six participating Emirates to formally end the Trucial States treaties
December 2: 11am, Dubai. New Supreme Council formally elects Sheikh Zayed as President. Treaty of Friendship signed with the UK. 11.30am. Flag raising ceremony at Union House and Al Manhal Palace in Abu Dhabi witnessed by Sheikh Khalifa, then Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi.
December 6: Arab League formally admits the UAE. The first British Ambassador presents his credentials to Sheikh Zayed.
December 9: UAE joins the United Nations.
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