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Suspected arson causes second major power outage in south of France

Suspected arson causes second major power outage in south of France

Police have not yet established a link between the blackout that affected parts of Nice as well as nearby cities of Cagnes-sur-Mer and Saint-Laurent-du-Var on Sunday, and a power outage on Saturday that disrupted the city of Cannes during the closing day of its renowned film festival.
The Nice blackout started around 2am and left some 45,000 households without electricity.
The city's trams stopped and power was briefly cut to the Nice Cote d'Azur airport during its overnight closure hours.
Power was fully restored by 5.30am, according to the energy provider company Enedis.
The Nice public prosecutor said a criminal investigation has been opened for 'organised arson'.
On Saturday, two other installations in the Alpes Maritime department were damaged in what officials also suspected to be arson, temporarily cutting power to 160,000 homes, including events at the Cannes Film Festival.
Nice mayor Christian Estrosi condemned Sunday's attack and said the city had filed a complaint.
'I strongly denounce these malicious acts targeting our country,' he said on X.
He ordered all sensitive electrical infrastructure in the city to be placed under police protection.
'These actions can have serious consequences, particularly on hospitals,' Mr Estrosi said at a press briefing on Sunday.
'As long as the perpetrators haven't been caught, we will remain on high alert.'

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Disgraced Norwegian royal accused of sexual assaulting multiple women partied it up at Cannes Film Festival
Disgraced Norwegian royal accused of sexual assaulting multiple women partied it up at Cannes Film Festival

Daily Mail​

time3 days ago

  • Daily Mail​

Disgraced Norwegian royal accused of sexual assaulting multiple women partied it up at Cannes Film Festival

A disgraced Norwegian royal who has been accused of crimes against multiple women - including rape and assault - partied the week away at the Cannes Film Festival last month, it has been revealed. Marius Borg Høiby, 28, was first arrested on August 4 2024 following a domestic incident with his ex girlfriend, Rebecca Helberg Arntsen, whom he admitted to assaulting in a grovelling statement. He has since been charged with a string of sexual offences, which he denies. In February, a fifth woman came forward and filed a police report saying that Borg Høiby allegedly raped her four months prior at a hotel in Oslo, sources told TV2, bringing forward a new case of 'rape without intercourse'. And last week, a sixth woman was called in for questioning after cops found videos of her on Borg Høiby's phone that were said to have been both serious and degrading, according to Norwegian news outlet Se og Hør . 'He never informed me of this. 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Borg Høiby partied with businessman Rehan Syed, who lives a lavish lifestyle full of attractive women, cigars, fast boats and cars, as seen on his Instagram account. He even travelled to star-studded Monaco to attend the famous Formula 1 Grand Prix on May 25, attended every year by the Monegasque royals, before quietly returning to Norway. Borg Høiby has mostly continued his life as normal since the charges were brought to light in August last year and has since been jetting off with friends to Hemsedal, Copenhagen and Italy. He spent one week in custody in November after he was arrested due to the risk of tampering with evidence, NRK reported at the time. The Oslo police force says the investigation is ongoing and that they have not set an end date. Last week, police attorney Andreas Kruszewski told Se og Hør: 'We can confirm that the investigation into the case complex is still ongoing. 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She has now hit out at Borg Høiby's 'disrespect' in a new podcast 'Puppen og Lillemor' with friend and co-host Mia Gundersen, 63. As reported by Se og hor, Linni became emotional as she slammed the royal for 'running away and going to party' while 'victims' wait for justice. 'He has no respect for himself or his family. Not even for us victims. It's hurtful. What happened afterwards is almost worse for me,' she said tearfully in an episode. 'Instead of doing the right thing, he runs away and goes to a party. I am appalled by how things are being handled by the defendant. And why isn't more happening? It p***es me off! 'If we are going to have a monarchy, we have to be able to trust it. He is not even in a place where he takes care of his health. He travels from country to country to party!' Linni also admitted her heartbreak at the situation, considering she had felt Borg Høiby was a friend. 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If so, I can only conclude that the bottom has not yet been reached.' The assault is reported to have taken place in 2018 at a 'party among friends' in the basement of Skaugum Castle in 2018, when Borg Høiby was 21. He dubbed these 'Skaugum Festivals' and reportedly criminal friends including members of motorcycle gangs. After one of these parties, the home was burgled, when a motorcycle gang reportedly stole private items from the Norwegian Royal Family. Items, including silverware, are alleged to have been taken and then attempted to be sold via an auction house. The event is said to have gotten 'completely out of hand' and continued in the castle basement while Borg Høiby's stepfather, Crown Prince Haakon, slept upstairs. Borg Høiby is the stepson of the future king of Norway. He was four when his mother married the future King Crown Prince Haakon of Norway. His half-sister is the future Queen of Norway. It was during the party that Borg Høiby allegedly raped Linni while she was unconscious, local media reported. Police became aware of the alleged crime after discovering three videos and more than 10 photos of the incident on Borg Høiby's laptop, it was reported. Linni was informed about the alleged assault at the Oslo Police Station, where she was shown the reportedly incriminating evidence. Borg Høiby was accused of rape by a fifth woman, which is alleged to have taken place after he was released from police custody for assaulting his girlfriend. It was in March reported that another person had become 'involved in the case' and is said to have been questioned by police 'several times,' according to local outlet Aftenposten. This brought forward a new case of 'rape without intercourse', which allegedly took place late last year - when Borg Høiby was already facing a series of assault charges. 'I can confirm that I have been appointed as a legal aid lawyer for a woman in her 20s,' lawyer John Christian Elden said. 'Beyond that, I have no comment on the case.' That same week, the royal was spotted stepping out in Copenhagen looking unrecognisable, dying his hair dark from white blonde and growing it out. The son of Crown Princess Mette-Marit has also spent time at rehab centres in London since his arrest.

Brad Pitt Did Not Testify In Diddy's Trial, But His Name Came Up In Court – Here's Why
Brad Pitt Did Not Testify In Diddy's Trial, But His Name Came Up In Court – Here's Why

Graziadaily

time4 days ago

  • Graziadaily

Brad Pitt Did Not Testify In Diddy's Trial, But His Name Came Up In Court – Here's Why

Sean 'Diddy' Combs faces charges of sex trafficking, racketeering and transportation to engage in prostitution. His trial is expected to last eight weeks. Combs has pleaded not guilty and denies all allegations. In a bizarre twist in the high-profile criminal trial of Sean 'Diddy' Combs, one of the biggest sources of misinformation is coming from daily viral YouTube videos about fake testimonies. The latest involves Brad Pitt. One video, titled '1 MINUTE AGO: Brad Pitt Testifies In Court on Day 14 Of Diddy Trial' has received thousands of views in a single day – enough to send people down a rabbit hole looking for more information about Pitt's involvement in the trial. However, if you scroll to the bottom of the video's description it reads: 'The stories presented on this channel are entirely fictional and crafted solely for entertainment. Any resemblance to real events, individuals, or situations is purely coincidental and unintentional. These narratives are not intended to depict, reference, or represent any actual occurrences, persons or entities.' Here's everything we know about Pitt's involvement. No, as stated above, Pitt has not testified in Diddy's trial. Nor is he accused of any wrongdoing or implicated in the allegations in any way. The video claims Pitt told the court, 'He made me disappear without anyone noticing' and goes into an elaborate fan fiction story about the rapper and actor's relationship. While Pitt and Diddy were likely to have run in the same circles and attended the same parties over the years, little is known about whether the pair shared a close friendship. Aside from Diddy attending the Cannes premiere of Pitt's film Killing Them Softly in 2012, there is not much information online about their relationship. Despite not testifying, Pitt's name did come up when Diddy's former assistant who is testifying as 'Mia' took the stand. She told the court she once saw Diddy assault his ex-girlfriend of 10 years, Cassie Ventura, at the premiere of Killing them Softly at the Cannes Film Festival in 2012. Mia said Cassie and Diddy were in the cinema talking when Diddy gritted his teeth and started 'digging his nails into her arms'. She added that while 'no one ever leaves in the middle of a premiere event', Diddy insisted that Cassie leave, which she did. Before Diddy's trial began, the judge joked that the list of names and places read like 'an appendix of Lord of the Rings'. While several names have falsely been brought into the trial, such as Rihanna, Justin Bieber and Mila Kunis, celebrities who have been testified or been mentioned in court include Cassie, Kid Cudi, Jay Z, Chris Brown and Lauren London. However, none of those people have been accused of any wrongdoing.

French anarchists claim responsibility for blackouts which have left 160,000 people in darkness in south of nation overnight
French anarchists claim responsibility for blackouts which have left 160,000 people in darkness in south of nation overnight

Daily Mail​

time26-05-2025

  • Daily Mail​

French anarchists claim responsibility for blackouts which have left 160,000 people in darkness in south of nation overnight

Two French anarchist groups have claimed responsibility for a massive power cut that left more than 160,000 in Nice and the Cannes Film Festival in darkness over the weekend. For five hours on Saturday, power was cut across the south of France, leaving vital services like ATMs and traffic lights in a completely unusable state. A day after the outage, which local officials said was caused by a suspected arson attack on a nearby substation and the vandalism of an electricity pylon, two self-proclaimed 'bands of anarchists' said they were behind the attacks In an anonymous letter published on Sunday, the groups reportedly wrote: 'The aim of the action was not only to disrupt the festival, but also to deprive all industrial establishments of electricity. 'We're not on a film set, but 'cut!' seemed to sum up our desire to turn off this deadly system', they added. Damien Savarzeix, the public prosecutor in Grasse, said over the weekend that three of the four pillars of a pylon carrying a power line in Villeneuve-Loubet 'were sawn off' in a 'malicious act'. Electrical engineers were forced to cut power for the region for several hours, leaving 160,000 without electricity. A day later, a fire hit a nearby transformer in Nice, knocking out power for 45,000 homes. Christian Estrosi, the mayor of Nice, wrote on X: 'I vigorously condemn these criminal acts hitting our country. In the coming days, we are reinforcing the [security camera] network around the city's strategic electric sites.' Laurent Hottiaux, prefect of Alpes-Maritimes, added that he condemned 'these serious acts of damage' in 'the strongest terms,' the statement said. Europe's power infrastructure appears to have had its flaws exposed in recent weeks. Over the weekend, it was suggested that Spanish authorities were experimenting with how far they could push their reliance on renewable energy before the Iberian Peninsula was hit with a massive power outage last month. As people wait for more answers on what caused the power cut that disrupted tens of millions of lives across Spain and Portugal, several have questioned Spain's heavy reliance on renewable energy sources as it plans to phase out nuclear reactors. Spain's socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has rejected such criticism, asking for patience while the government investigates the causes of the historic blackout. Spain's electric grid operator Red Eléctrica de España pinned it on a significant and unprecedented drop in power generation. Now, it has been suggested that the Spanish government was carrying out an experiment before the country's grid system crashed, The Telegraph reports. Under said test, authorities had been trialling how far they could push their reliance on renewables as they prepared for Spain's phase-out of nuclear reactors from 2027. The Spanish Association of Electrical Energy Companies (Aelec), which has criticised the inquiry into the blackout's cause, has now said it was not the country's generators that failed to deliver power to the grid, but rather it was the grid that failed to manage it and then shut down automatically. The head of Spain's photovoltaic association, Jose Donoso, had made a similar suggestion earlier this month, telling newsoutlet 20Minutos: 'It's a matter of logic; the fact that the entire system goes down because of a photovoltaic plant makes no sense. 'We suffered the consequences of a grid disruption, but we didn't cause it.' Aelec said the authorities had essentially confined the trial to a 20-second span on April 28, and ignored a series of oscillations in tension that began days earlier and transcended 'emergency' levels across the peninsula for two hours leading up to the blackout. The association added that the authorities did not substantiate their claim that it all began with a sudden drop of 2.2 gigawatts in power supplied to the grid. It comes after the sweeping power outage last month raised questions about the electricity grid in a region not normally known for blackouts. Spain's top criminal court, the Audiencia Nacional, said it was investigating whether the blackout was 'an act of computer sabotage on critical infrastructure' that could be classified as 'a terrorism offence'. The government set up a commission to investigate what triggered the incident, and refused to rule out any hypothesis.

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