Latest news with #LaurentHottiaux
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First Post
26-05-2025
- First Post
2 power blackouts, 1 region, 0 arrests: Who is sabotaging France's electric grid?
In just 24 hours, two major blackouts hit southeastern France — first in Cannes during the film festival, then in Nice — crippling power for over 200,000 homes. Investigations point to arson and sabotage, with an anarchist group claiming responsibility read more Police direct traffic during an electricity outage in Cannes, southern France, May 24, 2025. File Image/AP France's Côte d'Azur (French Riviera in southeastern France) was rattled by two major power outages over the weekend, affecting tens of thousands of residents and disrupting life in cities including Cannes and Nice. Authorities suspect sabotage after multiple electrical facilities were damaged in a series of what officials are calling coordinated acts of arson. The blackouts — first in Cannes on Saturday and then in Nice on Sunday — have raised serious concerns about the security of the region's energy infrastructure. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD On Saturday morning, the first outage affected large parts of Cannes and surrounding areas, coinciding with the final day of the prestigious Cannes Film Festival. The following night, a second disruption struck the city of Nice and its neighbouring municipalities. In both cases, critical electrical infrastructure was either damaged or deliberately targeted, prompting inquiries into arson and malicious interference. Cannes outage: What happened? The first incident unfolded early Saturday in the Alpes-Maritimes department. A fire erupted overnight at an electrical substation located in Tanneron, west of Cannes. The blaze, which was brought under control by emergency services, led to a massive outage that impacted approximately 160,000 homes. According to France's national electricity grid operator RTE, the blackout initially started due to the substation fire, but a second disruption was triggered shortly after 10 am when technicians identified a dangerously unstable electricity pylon in Villeneuve-Louet, about 15 kilometres northeast of Cannes. The high-voltage structure, with three of its supporting pillars cut, posed an immediate collapse risk and necessitated a secondary shutdown of the power supply. Laurent Hottiaux, the prefect of the Alpes-Maritimes region, described the damage as 'major' and stated that 'all resources are being mobilised to identify, track down, arrest and bring to justice the perpetrators of these acts.' The Alpes-Maritimes public prosecutor's office added in a statement, 'The Prosecutor's Office of Alpes-Maritimes condemns in the strongest possible terms these acts against the integrity of our infrastructures.' Cannes Mayor David Lisnard told the public that officials suspected foul play and referred to the incident as being 'targeted in a criminal act.' STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD The Cannes Film Festival, an internationally recognised cultural event , was directly impacted by the outage. Several scheduled screenings were briefly disrupted, but organisers activated backup power sources to maintain programming. 'The Cannes Film Festival announced that it had 'switched to an alternative electricity power supply, which enables us to maintain the events and screenings planned for today in normal conditions, including the closing ceremony,'' according to the official festival statement. Despite the quick recovery, some events were delayed. A festival attendee watching Sound of Falling at the Agnes Varda theatre reported that the film abruptly stopped one and a half hours into the screening, reported The New York Times. Emergency lights illuminated the theater, and after a 20-minute delay, the screening resumed using a backup generator. Also Watch: The wider impact on the city was also significant. Traffic signals failed, prompting police officers to manually direct vehicles at intersections. Firefighters responded to numerous calls about people trapped in elevators. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD In the city's Old Quarter, the iconic clock tower froze just past 10 am. Several boutiques along the Croisette, Cannes' luxury promenade, were forced to close. Patrons at one restaurant reportedly applauded when power was restored just before 3 pm Second blackout in Nice: What happened? Just hours after Cannes regained power, a second blackout struck the city of Nice around 2:00 am Sunday. Approximately 45,000 homes were affected. The tram system came to a halt, and although the Nice Côte d'Azur Airport was closed during the incident, it also experienced a temporary power cut. By 5:30 am, energy provider Enedis reported that the electricity supply had been fully restored. However, the damage was already under investigation. The Nice public prosecutor confirmed the launch of a criminal probe for 'organised arson.' According to authorities, the affected facility had signs of deliberate tampering. While investigators have not officially connected the Nice blackout to the Cannes incident, both occurred in close succession and targeted vital infrastructure in the same region. Mayor of Nice Christian Estrosi reacted strongly. 'I strongly denounce these malicious acts targeting our country,' he said on X (formerly Twitter). Speaking to the press, he added, 'These actions can have serious consequences, particularly on hospitals.' Estrosi announced that a formal complaint had been filed and ordered increased security around key infrastructure sites. 'As long as the perpetrators haven't been caught, we will remain on high alert,' he said. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Who is behind it? In a post published on the activist platform a group described as anarchists claimed responsibility for the attacks. 'We are two bands of anarchists,' the post stated. 'We claim responsibility for the attack on electrical installations on the Côte d'Azur.' Authorities have not verified the legitimacy of the claim, and law enforcement has not commented publicly on the post. Investigations remain ongoing in both Cannes and Nice, with no suspects named or arrested as of yet. How is this mirroring a broader trend in Europe? The twin outages in southeastern France come on the heels of similar incidents elsewhere in Europe. On April 28, 2025, a massive blackout swept across mainland Spain and Portugal . The power disruption lasted about 10 hours in most areas and caused widespread chaos in sectors ranging from emergency services to telecommunications. At least eight fatalities were reported — seven in Spain and one in Portugal — due to complications arising from the loss of electricity, including fires caused by candles and carbon monoxide poisoning from improperly used generators. The outage was initially suspected to be a cyberattack. Spain's National Cybersecurity Institute began an investigation, and speculation arose about foreign involvement. The Wall Street Journal noted that the outage bore 'the hallmarks of a sophisticated cyberattack.' However, Spanish electricity grid operator REE later ruled out a cyberattack and attributed the blackout to a grid disconnection in southwestern Spain. A view shows Santa Llogaia electrical sub-station connected to the interconnection grid between France and Spain that tripped after a sudden, large drop in power supply and caused the major blackout in the Iberian Peninsula, in the village of Santa Llogaia d'Alguema, near Figueres, Spain, April 29, 2025. File Image/Reuters 'Citizens must know that the government will get to the bottom of this. Measures will be taken, and all private operators will be held accountable,' Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said, announcing an official commission of inquiry under the Ministry for Ecological Transition. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD European officials have also voiced concern over rising acts of sabotage allegedly carried out by groups linked to foreign governments. Incidents ranging from cyberattacks to arson at supermarkets, graffiti and assaults have been reported across the continent. Although many of these claims remain unproven, they have contributed to an atmosphere of heightened vigilance. France is no stranger to such threats. During the opening day of the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, arson attacks on the country's rail infrastructure caused widespread travel delays. Even the busy Heathrow international airport in London, United Kingdom was closed to all flights on March 21 earlier this year after a fire at a nearby electricity substation caused an 'unprecedented' loss of power. With inputs from agencies
Sky News
25-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Sky News
More than 200,000 homes and Cannes Film Festival hit with power cut as arson 'suspected' in double outage
More than 200,000 households were temporarily left without electricity in southern France after power cuts, which threatened to disrupt the Cannes Film Festival. Around 160,000 households in the Alpes-Maritimes area lost power from around 10am on Saturday, officials said. Supplies were restored to all homes at around 3pm local time, on Saturday, hours before the festival's closing ceremony - which was unaffected. Arson is suspected after the outage, which followed an overnight fire at an electrical substation near the city, leading to a high-voltage power line falling. Laurent Hottiaux, the prefect for the area, pointed to "serious acts of damage to electrical infrastructures". He promised to use all means available to "identify, track down, arrest and bring to justice the perpetrators". A prefect is a high-ranking government official who represents the state in a French region. Authorities' suspicions were apparently confirmed on Sunday, when anarchists claimed responsibility for the outage in an anonymous statement reported by local outlet BFM, quoting public prosecutors in Grasse and Draguignan. In the statement posted by two anarchist groups, they said: "On the eve of the Cannes Film Festival awards ceremony and gala evening, we sabotaged the main electrical substation supplying the Cannes metropolitan area and cut down the 225 kV line coming from Nice." Events early on Saturday were affected, Cannes Film Festival organisers said, but the Palais des Festivals - the Croisette's main venue - coped by switching to an independent power supply. Organisers said in a statement: "All scheduled events and screenings, including the closing ceremony, will proceed as planned and under normal conditions." Train services were disrupted, along with some traffic lights, leading to jams and confusion, while screenings at the Cineum, one of the festival's satellite venues, were briefly suspended, organisers said. Some 45,000 homes were temporarily without electricity in nearby Nice and the neighbouring towns of Saint-Laurent-du-Var and Cagnes-sur-Mer, energy supplier Enedis said, after the weekend's second power outage overnight on Saturday. Power was restored on Sunday morning, but the city's mayor, Christian Estrosi, put it down to "malicious acts". Mr Estrosi said power was "restored very quickly", at 6am, Franceinfo said on its website. He ordered all sensitive electrical infrastructure in the city to be placed under police protection. Nice's deputy mayor, Gaël Nofri, said "according to information provided by the firefighters, an access door to the transformer was forced".
The Guardian
25-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
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. Sign up to Headlines Europe A digest of the morning's main headlines from the Europe edition emailed direct to you every week day after newsletter promotion 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.
Daily Mail
25-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Cannes Film Festival is hit by blackout caused by 'sabotage' as police hunt perpetrators
The Cannes Film Festival was briefly brought to a halt due to a major power outage that struck south-eastern France on Saturday which police believe was caused by 'sabotage'. About 160,000 households in the Alpes-Maritimes department lost electricity after an electricity substation had been set on fire and a pylon at another location was damaged, electricity network operator RTE said on X. Disruption was also caused to traffic light systems, train services and retail outlets in the French Riviera city, as the film festival prepared for its glittering closing ceremony. Police have opened an investigation into possible arson at the substation. 'We are looking into the likelihood of a fire being started deliberately,' said a spokesperson for the French national gendarmerie. Laurent Hottiaux, the prefect of the Alpes-Maritimes department, condemned 'serious acts of damage to electrical infrastructures'. 'All resources are mobilized to identify, track down, arrest and bring to justice the perpetrators of these acts,' said Mr Hottiaux. Cannes Film Festival organisers confirmed the outage affected the early activities and said the Palais des Festivals, the Croisette's main venue, had switched to an independent power supply. 'All scheduled events and screenings, including the Closing Ceremony, will proceed as planned and under normal conditions,' the statement said. 'At this stage, the cause of the outage has not yet been identified. Restoration efforts are under way.' Screenings at the Cineum, one of the festival's satellite venues, were briefly suspended, while other festival activities when ahead as planned, the festival added. Traffic lights in parts of Cannes and the surrounding city of Antibes stopped working after 10am, leading to traffic jams and confusion in city centres. Most shops along the Croisette remained closed, and local food kiosks were only accepting cash. Train services in Cannes were also disrupted. Authorities said restoration efforts are ongoing and urged residents to remain cautious during travel. The closing ceremony went ahead and the festival winners announced, despite the unexpected setback. The interruption did little to dampen the festival's spirit, as the celebration managed to resume in time to honor cinematic excellence. French actor Laurent Lafitte hosted the closing ceremonies, with Jury president Juliette Binoche and Cate Blanchett presenting the Palme d'Or. Taking home the festival's highest honor, was acclaimed Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi for It Was Just an Accident. The searing revenge drama, inspired by Panahi's own experiences with political imprisonment, follows a group of former inmates as they confront the man responsible for their suffering. Winner: Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi took home the top prize for It Was Just An Accident While on stage, Panahi said what mattered most was the future of his country. He said: 'Let us join forces. No one should tell us what kind of clothes we should wear, or what we should or shouldn't do.' Meanwhile, the Grand Prix was awarded to Norwegian director Joachim Trier for Sentimental Value. A reflective and intimate portrayal of familial bonds and emotional reckoning, the film was praised for its delicate balance of melancholy and warmth. Brazilian director Kleber Mendonca Filho received the Best Director accolade for his gripping political thriller The Secret Agent. Set during the final years of Brazil's military dictatorship, the film explores themes of surveillance, resistance, and loyalty. The lead role, played by Wagner Moura, also earned the Best Actor award, marking a standout performance that captivated audiences and critics alike. The festival also recognized rising talent, with Nadia Melliti named Best Actress for her role in La Petite Derniere (The Little Sister). Her portrayal of a young woman navigating questions of identity, heritage, and independence in modern-day Paris was hailed as a breakout performance. The film also received the Queer Palm, further cementing its status as one of the year's most impactful entries. In a rare decision, the Jury Prize was shared between two films. Oliver Laxe's Sirat, a poignant account of a father's desperate search for his missing daughter in Morocco, shared the honor with The Sound Of Falling, a meditative German drama by Mascha Schilinski that explores grief and renewal with quiet power. Veteran auteurs Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne added to their long list of accolades with the Best Screenplay award for Young Mothers. Their script, marked by the Dardennes' signature realism and humanity, delves into the lives of teenage mothers facing societal and personal challenges. Cannes Film Festival 2025 winners Palme d'Or - Jafar Panahi, It Was Just an Accident Grand Prix - Joachim Trier, Sentimental Value Best Actress - Nadia Melliti, La Petite Dernière Best Director - Kleber Mendonça Filho, The Secret Agent Jury Prize - Tie: Oliver Laxe, Sirat dir. Mascha Schilinski, The Sound of Falling Best Screenplay - Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, Young Mothers Best Actor - Wagner Moura, The Secret Agent Special Prize - Bi Gan, Resurrection Camera d'Or - Hassan Hadi, The President's Cake Special Mention, Camera d'Or - Akinola Davies Jr, My Father's Shadow Short Film Palme d'Or - Tawfeek Barhom, I'm Glad You're Dead Now
Egypt Independent
25-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Egypt Independent
Cannes film festival impacted after major power cut hits southern France
CNN — A major power cut across southern France left around 160,000 homes without electricity on Saturday and impacted the town of Cannes, which is currently hosting its annual international film festival. The power outage in the French department of Alpes-Maritimes began at around 10 a.m. local time (4 a.m. ET), France's electricity transmission network RTE said in a post on X. By 4:30 p.m. local time (10:30 a.m. ET), power was restored to the region, RTE said in an update. Officials have suggested that the outage was caused deliberately. Sébastien Leroy, the mayor of Mandelieu-La Napoule, a commune just south-west of Cannes, said in a Facebook post that it appears the power cut was caused by a 'double act of sabotage.' A fire broke out at an electrical substation in the nearby commune of Tanneron around 4:30 a.m. local time Saturday (10:30 p.m. Friday ET), and later in the morning, an electricity pylon suffered 'major damage,' according to a statement released by the Alpes-Maritimes local government. Laurent Hottiaux, prefect of Alpes-Maritimes, condemned 'these serious acts of damage' in 'the strongest terms,' the statement said. France's national gendarmerie are 'looking into the likelihood of a fire being started deliberately,' a spokesperson told Reuters. No arrests have yet been made in relation to the power outage, the spokesperson said. Saturday is the last day of this year's Cannes Film Festival, which has been held in the town for 78 years, with the closing ceremony scheduled to take place in the evening. The festival used generators to ensure that screenings were still able to go ahead, French public broadcaster FranceInfo reported. The Palais des Festivals, where Cannes' main events take place, 'switched to an independent power supply, allowing all scheduled events and screenings, including the closing ceremony, to proceed as planned and under normal conditions,' the festival said in a statement, according to Reuters. Organizers of the festival told CNN affiliate BFMTV that there were 'no worries' that the power outage would affect the closing ceremony, which will see the winners of the festival's top prizes announced. The outage affected two screenings on Saturday morning for about five minutes, then they resumed, the organizers said, according to BFMTV. This story has been updated.
