French authorities investigate power blackout blamed on sabotage
French authorities have launched an investigation into a power blackout blamed on sabotage that affected at least 45,000 people, just a day after a similar outage disrupted the final day of the Cannes film festival.
City authorities said an electrical transformer had been set on fire in the west of Nice in the early hours of Sunday, with power restored later in the day. A day earlier, a separate blaze, believed to have been started by arson, contributed to a power cut that hit Cannes.
The first power cut affected 160,000 households, knocking out traffic lights and cash machines throughout the French Riviera. Broadcaster BFMTV reported that the incident was made worse as three of the four pillars of an electricity pylon in the region had also been cut with a saw.
Writing on social media on Sunday, the mayor of Nice, Christian Estrosi, said he strongly denounced the 'malicious acts'. He said power had been quickly restored, with local and national police mobilised. He added that the city would make surveillance camera images available to investigators and would reinforce the camera network around the city's strategic electric sites.
Commenting on the power cuts that hit Cannes, before the latest fire, Laurent Hottiaux, the prefect of the Alpes-Maritimes region, told BFMTV there were certain elements that were 'not a coincidence' but would not comment further, as an investigation led by the national prosecutor's office was under way. He said authorities had taken additional security measures.
The power outage hit the Cannes film festival headquarters, interrupting several screenings, but the closing ceremony went ahead thanks to backup generators. The top prize was won by the dissident Iranian director Jafar Panahi for his drama It Was Just an Accident, inspired by his time spent imprisoned by the Iranian regime.
Iranian authorities met the 64-year-old director's victory with silence, for his film in which five people confront the man they believe tortured them in prison. After winning the Palme d'Or, Panahi, who has been jailed multiple times, made an appeal for national unity.
Authorities said they did not believe there was a specific threat against the Cannes film festival and have not commented on the possible perpetrators.
The rightwing French MEP Éric Ciotti, who represents the region in the national assembly, described the incidents as sabotage and terrorist acts. Ciotti, who was briefly leader of the mainstream rightwing Les Républicains party, said the damage was extremely serious and could endanger lives. 'These terrorist attacks must be fought relentlessly,' he wrote on X.
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European officials have said that criminal groups working for foreign powers, notably Russia, are behind a spate of acts of sabotage across the continent, such as fires in supermarkets and shopping centres, cyber-attacks, beatings and antisemitic graffiti.
As public awareness of sabotage has advanced, so purveyors of disinformation have sought to take advantage. Recent power outages in Spain were attributed to Russia in fake online articles. The causes of a recent blaze at an electricity substation in London that forced Heathrow airport to shut down, causing travel chaos, remains unknown, although suspicious activity has been ruled out.
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Telegraph
42 minutes ago
- Telegraph
The Last Journey: behind the scenes of the feel-good film of the summer
When Filip Hammar was growing up in Köping, a Swedish town less than two hours' drive from Stockholm, his father Lars's obsession with France was an acute source of embarrassment. 'It was a very working-class town – they manufacture Volvo cars there – and this guy is sitting round wearing a beret,' recalls 50-year-old Hammar, who, with his friend Fredrik Wikingsson, 51, is one half of Sweden's best-known double-act, presenters of TV documentaries, quiz shows and podcasts. 'Now, I look back and think, 'Wow, that took a lot of courage!'' Every summer throughout Filip's childhood, Lars, a school teacher, would drive the family in his orange Renault 4 to Beaulieu-sur-Mer, on the French Riviera, a journey of 1,450 miles. 'He was such a Francophile that when France did nuclear tests in Polynesia in the 1980s, the local newspaper called and asked if he was going to stop teaching French and drinking French wine.' In 2008, after 40 years of teaching, Lars retired, aged 66. He had been looking forward to this new phase of life: he and his wife, Tiina, could now travel to France as often as they wished; it would be his troisième âge. It didn't turn out that way. Without his job, Lars lost his spark; the school had been his stage, and the performance was over. Although medical tests found nothing wrong physically, he took to spending his days slumped in his armchair, as if waiting for the end to come. Something had to be done. So Filip came up with a plan, a road trip to reinvigorate his father, destination: Beaulieu-sur-Mer. He tracked down a vintage Renault, identical to the old family car, and roped in Fredrik – as well as a tiny film crew, so that the nostalgic journey could be documented. Lars, then aged 80 and armed with a French dictionary and a big fat book about Charles de Gaulle, was installed in the passenger seat, with Filip taking the wheel, and long-legged Fredrik crammed into the back seat, and off they went. 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The Sun
42 minutes ago
- The Sun
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Daily Mail
2 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Border Force officers left stunned with find in French teenager's suitcase at Aussie airport
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