Sabotage causes power cut in Nice after Cannes

Euronews

25-05-2025

Following the Cannes festivities, the city of Nice experienced a power outage on Saturday night, leaving nearly 45,000 homes temporarily without electricity.
According to the public prosecutor's office, a fire broke out at an electrical transformer in the Moulins district, in the west of Nice.
Nice Mayor Christian Estrosi said the fire had been deliberately started and that he "strongly condemned these malicious acts that affect our country" in a post on X.
He added that the city would be strengthening its security around electrical sites in the coming days and that a formal complaint would be filed following the incident.
Power was restored around 6 a.m. on Sunday. The neighboring towns of Saint-Laurent-du-Var and Cagnes-sur-Mer were also affected by the blackout.
The incident follows a blackout that struck Cannes and the surrounding region the previous day, affecting nearly 160,000 homes. Authorities say the outage was caused by deliberate acts of sabotage.
A high-voltage substation was set on fire in the Var department, and a power pylon was sawn down in the Alpes-Maritimes. Despite the disruption, the Cannes Film Festival proceeded as planned on its final day, thanks to its independent power supply. Electricity was restored to the region by late afternoon.
At this stage, there is no indication that the two incidents are connected.
Bulgarians turned out en masse on Saturday to honour the legacy of Saint Cyril and Methodius, the founders of the Cyrillic alphabet, during one of their most important cultural and national holidays in the Balkan country.
People gathered to lay flowers at the base of a statue of the two Orthodox Church saints in central Sofia.
The two were born in today's Greece in the 9th century and are credited with creating Glagolic, an alphabet that was later adapted by multiple scholars across the Balkans and evolved into the Cyrillic alphabet.
"The biggest and most significant gift that the holy brothers Cyril and Methodius left to Bulgaria was writing," Bulgarian Prime Minister Rosen Jelyazkov said during the formal ceremony in Sofia.
The mayor of Sofia, who spoke at the ceremony, also reminded the crowd of the influence language holds.
'Let us remember not only what we say but how we say it – words have power. They can unite, they can heal, they can inspire,' Mayor Vasil Teziev said.
St Cyril and Methodius left a legacy that goes beyond the development of the Cyrillic and Glagolitic alphabets.
In the Slavic world and Bulgaria alike, their work represents a watershed moment for the Orthodox Church and Balkan cultural heritage.
Sometimes referred to in Bulgaria as "Spiritual Easter," 11 May and 24 May are now recognised as the "Days of Bulgarian Education and Culture and of the Slavic Alphabet."
Today, the Cyrillic alphabet is used by Slavic, Turkic, Uralic, Caucasian and other nations, including Mongolia, which adopted it in 1941.