Latest news with #Prosecutor'sOfficeof
DW
25-05-2025
- Entertainment
- DW
France: Suspected arson causes major power outage in Nice – DW – 05/25/2025
A day after an outage disrupted the nearby Cannes Film Festival, the power cut was reported in the neighboring southern French city of Nice. The authorities blame "malicious acts." A second major power outage in two days hit southeastern France Sunday, this time in the city of Nice, after an electrical facility was damaged by suspected arson. In a post on X, the mayor of the coastal city, Christian Estrosi, blamed "malicious acts." The Nice public prosecutor said a criminal investigation has been opened for "organized arson." The blackout in Nice started around 2:00 a.m. local time (0:00 a.m. GMT) and left approximately 45,000 households without electricity. The city's trams stopped, and power was briefly cut to Nice Côte d'Azur Airport during its overnight closure. According to the energy provider company Enedis, power was fully restored by 5:30 a.m. The police have not yet determined whether the blackout that affected parts of Nice and two nearby cities is linked to the power outage that disrupted the final day of Cannes' renowned film festival. Blackout hits Cannes during film festival On Saturday, the power cut hit the area around the French Riviera resort of Cannes just after 10:00 a.m. local time (8:00 a.m. GMT) due to a fire that broke out overnight in a substation in the nearby village of Tanneron. Cannes mayor David Lisnard had said officials believe it was "targeted in a criminal act." Police suspect sabotage behind Cannes electricity blackout To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Separately, in Villeneuve-Louet, about 15 kilometers (9 miles) northeast of Cannes, three pillars of an electricity pylon holding up a high-voltage power line were cut, prosecutors from the Alpes-Maritimes department said. "The Prosecutor's Office of Alpes-Maritimes condemns in the strongest possible terms these acts against the integrity of our infrastructures," a statement said. 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." Edited by: Jenipher Camino Gonzalez
DW
24-05-2025
- Entertainment
- DW
France: Power outage hits Cannes region during film fest
A major power outage hit the area around the French Riviera resort of Cannes on Saturday, the final day of the Cannes Film Festival. The power cut began just after 10:00 a.m. local time (8:00 a.m. GMT) due to a fire that broke out overnight in a substation in the nearby village of Tanneron. The fire has since been extinguished. Cannes mayor David Lisnard had said officials believe it was "targeted in a criminal act." In Villeneuve–Louet, about 15 kilometers (9 miles) northeast of Cannes, three pillars of an electricity pylon holding up a high-voltage power line were cut, prosecutors from the Alpes-Maritimes department said. "The Prosecutor's Office of Alpes-Maritimes condemns in the strongest possible terms these acts against the integrity of our infrastructures," a statement said. Power gradually returning It added that power supplies were being "progressively" restored. According to grid operator RTE, the power outage affected 160,000 homes in Cannes and the surrounding area. The outage caused traffic lights to fail and led to traffic jams in the glitzy holiday resort. Shops were closed on one of the main streets. Teams from RTE and supplier Enedis were working to restore the network. Festival is not affected by outage The Cannes Film Festival organizers said the closing ceremony would not be affected by the power outage. The festival announced 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." However, morning screenings at the festival's cinemas were briefly interrupted while the supply switched to generators. At the closing ceremony, scheduled to start at 16:40 GMT, French actress Juliette Binoche and her jury will announce the winners of the festival's top prizes. Twenty-two films are competing for the Palme d'Or this year.
Washington Post
07-03-2025
- Politics
- Washington Post
Bosnia's top court temporarily suspends separatist laws adopted by Bosnian Serbs
SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina — Bosnia's top court on Friday temporarily suspended a set of laws enacted by separatist Bosnian Serb authorities that barred the state judiciary and police from operating in the Serb-controlled part of the country. The contentious legislation has fueled tensions in the ethnically divided Balkan country. Bosnia's Constitutional Court said it had to act quickly because the newly adopted laws 'could harm the constitutional order of Bosnia-Herzegovina.' It is expected to declare the laws invalid after thorough deliberation. Bosnian presidency member Denis Becirovic and two other officials on Thursday lodged an appeal against the set of laws passed earlier this month by Bosnian Serb lawmakers, saying they violate Bosnia's constitution and a peace agreement that ended Bosnia's 1992-95 war. Bosnian Serbs passed the legislation after a Bosnian court convicted Milorad Dodik , the pro-Russia president of the Serb-run entity in Bosnia called Republika Srpska. Dodik was sentenced last month in absentia to a year in prison and a six-year ban from public office for his separatist moves. Dodik, who is not in imminent danger of arrest, has said he plans to ignore the verdict, which becomes official after an appeals process. In his first comments on the court's temporary ruling Friday, Dodik said that he doesn't recognize Bosnia's judiciary. 'I know exactly what I am doing, while what they are doing is another matter,' he said on X. 'If we allow them to bring us down now, Republika Srpska will never recover. I am fully aware of my actions, and that is my responsibility.' 'I am available to everyone — except the illegitimate Prosecutor's Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which is politically motivated and aims to create a scandal,' Dodik said in an English language post. Bosnia's officials say that the set of laws represent a coup and a major step in the disintegration of the country advocated by the Bosnian Serb separatist leader. The European Union said the laws 'undermine the constitutional and legal order' of Bosnia. The U.S. Embassy in Bosnia issued a statement saying it is deeply concerned about the Bosnian Serb decree. Bosnia consists of two entities, one dominated by Bosnia's Serbs and the other run by the Bosniaks, who are mostly Muslim, and Croats. The Dayton peace accords that ended Bosnia's war, which killed more than 100,000 people, also envisaged that the entities are bound by joint state institutions, including the army, top judiciary and tax administration. Dodik was convicted for disobeying the decisions of High Representative Christian Schmidt, the top international official in the country, that sought to curb a Bosnian Serb pro-independence drive. Dodik has repeatedly called for the separation of the Serb-run half of Bosnia to join with neighboring Serbia, which prompted the former U.S. administration to impose sanctions against him and his close allies . Dodik, a supporter of U.S. President Donald Trump, has had Russia's backing of his policies. In a statement on Friday, Russian President Vladimir Putin 'expressed solidarity' with Dodik. Passing of the new laws has spurred fears of armed incidents between rival Serb and central Bosnian police forces. The war in Bosnia erupted when the country's Serbs rebelled against independence from the former Yugoslavia and moved to form a mini-state of their own with the aim of uniting it with Serbia.
