Cannes film festival impacted after major power cut hits southern France

Cannes film festival impacted after major power cut hits southern France

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 itsannual 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 apost 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. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account atCNN.com

byKonstantin Pynzar

in

May 24, 2025

Cannes film festival impacted after major power cut hits southern France

Cannes film festival impacted after major power cut hits southern France A major power cut across southern France left around 160,000 homes ...

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Jussie Smollett to make charitable donations to settle Chicago's hoax attack lawsuit

Jussie Smollett to make charitable donations to settle Chicago's hoax attack lawsuit

Weeks after the city of Chicago andJussie Smollettannounceda settlementto resolve their yearslong legal battle over the actor's 2019 claim that he was the victim of a hate crime, Smollett took to social media to disclose the terms of the agreement. Smollett said Friday he would donate $50,000 to the Building Brighter Futures Center for the Arts charity as part of a deal to secure the case's dismissal. Smollett said would be making an additional $10,000 donation to the Chicago Torture Justice Center. NBC News reached out to Building Brighter Futures Center for the Arts and the city of Chicago to confirm Smollett's donations and details of the settlement, but did not immediately receive a response to a request for comment. Chicago Torture Justice Center confirmed Smollett's donation in anInstagram postFriday. The actor said his decision to settle the civil suit was "not the most difficult" to make and allowed him to support the communities "too often neglected by those in power." Smollett, who is Black and gay,first reporteda hate crime committed against him in January 2019, alleging that two men confronted him with racial and homophobic slurs, wrapped a rope around his neck and poured bleach on him. However, police and city officials later said he orchestrated thehoax hate crime against himself. The city's suit accused Smollett of submitting a false police report on Jan. 29, 2019, saying he knew his attackers and planned the attack, and it sought $130,000 in expenses spent on the police investigation. Smollett countersued, denying that he orchestrated the attack. BrothersOlabingo and Abimbola Osundairo,who worked on the "Empire" set, said they were paid by Smollett to stage the hate crime and testified against the actor during his trial. Smollett wasfound guilty on five countsof felony disorderly conduct in December 2021, andsentenced to 150 days in jailand 30 months' probation in March 2022, but the Illinois Supreme Courtoverturned the convictionin November 2024 over prosecutorial issues. The state high court ruled that Smollett should have never been charged in the first place after entering a nonprosecution agreement with the Cook County State's Attorney's Office. Smollett has maintained his innocence over the years. He ended his post thanking his supporters.

byKonstantin Pynzar

in

May 24, 2025

Jussie Smollett to make charitable donations to settle Chicago's hoax attack lawsuit

Jussie Smollett to make charitable donations to settle Chicago's hoax attack lawsuit Weeks after the city of Chicago andJussie Smolletta...

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Jennifer Lopez talks American Music Awards: 'A big part of my musical history'

Jennifer Lopez talks American Music Awards: 'A big part of my musical history'

Jennifer Lopez'shistory with the American Music Awards goes far beyond her nine performances as a solo star and first hosting stint in 2015. The long-agoFly Girldebuted on the show in 1991as a backup dancerfor New Kids on the Block. She was just 21 and a decade away from superstardom when she rocked jeans and a leather jacket to unleash some very '90s dance moves during "Games," and she remembers it – and all of her performances – with a fond laugh. The AMA show "has been such a big part of my music journey and history," she tells USA TODAY during a break from rehearsing ahead of Monday's awards. More:Post Malone fires up first stadium tour with trusty accomplice Jelly Roll: Review Lopez, 55, will pull double dutyas host and performerof this year's AMAs, a music industry institution since the late Dick Clark began producing it in 1974. During her show opening performance, she says, "We're going to celebrate the year in music." And yes, there will be dancing. "I don't think there's ever been a performance where I don't dance!" she says with a knowing laugh. The awards air livefrom the Fontainebleau Las Vegas May 26 at 5 p.m. PT/8 p.m. ET on CBS and streaming on Paramount+. Benson Boone, Blake Shelton,Gloria Estefan, Gwen Stefani, Lainey Wilson and Reneé Rapp are among the artists performing, along with Icon Award winnerJanet Jacksonand Lifetime Achievement Award recipientRod Stewart. The top nomineesfor the fan-voted show areKendrick Lamar(10),Post Malone(8),Billie Eilish,Chappell Roanand Shaboozey (all with 7), and all-time AMA leaderTaylor Swift,who adds six nominations this year to her overall win tally of 40. More:Kendrick Lamar: Not like anyone else Lopez says she doesn't usually agree to hosting gigs because, "believe it or not, I'm quite shy. I'm a performer, so if I have a script or a song, I can do that and I love doing that. But hosting is a different thing, a different skill set. I wouldn't say it's my favorite thing to do." But she agreed to the task of shuttling the show along because of the current musical landscape. "I feel music is really exciting right now with Spanish music being so global. I love that Gloria (Estefan) is being honored as a pioneer crossover artist and I love all of the new artists because there isn't a certain sound to them," she says. Lopez just wrapped filming the romantic comedy "Office Romance" with Brett Goldstein and will star in musical thriller"Kiss of the Spider Woman,"due out Oct. 10. As for music, she says, "I have a few things up my sleeve." But first, she'll be supporting her peers from the wings when not standing in the spotlight. "I hope that (people) are entertained and have a good time," she says. "And that they get to feel their impact in choosing and cheering on their favorite artists." This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Jennifer Lopez talks hosting, performing on American Music Awards

byKonstantin Pynzar

in

May 24, 2025

Jennifer Lopez talks American Music Awards: 'A big part of my musical history'

Jennifer Lopez talks American Music Awards: 'A big part of my musical history' Jennifer Lopez'shistory with the American Music A...

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Texas is closer to putting the Ten Commandments in classrooms after a key vote

Texas is closer to putting the Ten Commandments in classrooms after a key vote

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Texas would require all public school classrooms todisplay the Ten Commandmentsunder a Republican proposal that cleared a major vote Saturday and would make the state the nation's largest to impose such a mandate. If passed as expected, the measure is likely to draw a legal challenge from critics who consider it a constitutional violation of theseparation of church and state. The Republican-controlled House gave its preliminary approval with a final vote expected in the next few days. That would send the bill to the desk of Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, who has indicated he will sign it into law. "The focus of this bill is to look at what is historically important to our nation educationally and judicially," said Republican state representative Candy Noble, a co-sponsor of the bill. Two other states, Louisiana and Arkansas, have similar laws, but Louisiana's is on hold after a federal judge found that it was "unconstitutional on its face." Those measures areamong efforts, mainly in conservative-led states, to insert religion into public schools. The vote in Texas came after the U.S. Supreme Court effectively ended apublicly funded Catholic charter schoolin Oklahoma on Thursday with a 4-4 tie following a string of high court decisions in recent years that have allowed public funds to flow to religious entities. Texas lawmakers also have passed and sent to Abbott a measure that allows school districts to provide students and staff a daily voluntary period of prayer or time to read a religious text during school hours. Abbott is expected to sign it. "We should be encouraging our students to read and study their Bible every day," Republican state Rep. Brent Money said. "Our kids in our public schools need prayer, need Bible reading, more now than they ever have." Supporters of requiring the Ten Commandments in classrooms say they are part of the foundation of the United States' judicial and educational systems and should be displayed. But critics, including some Christian and other faith leaders, say the Ten Commandments and prayer measures would infringe on the religious freedom of others. The Ten Commandments bill requires public schools to post in classrooms a 16-by-20-inch (41-by-51-centimeter) poster or framed copy of a specific English version of the commandments, even though translations and interpretations vary across denominations, faiths and languages and may differ in homes and houses of worship. Democratic lawmakers made several failed attempts Saturday to amend the bill to require schools display other religious texts or provide multiple translations of the commandments. A letter signed this year by dozens of Christian and Jewish faith leaders opposing the bill noted that Texas has thousands of students of other faiths who might have no connection to the Ten Commandments. Texas has nearly 6 million students in about 9,100 public schools. In 2005, Abbott, who was state attorney general at the time, successfully argued before the Supreme Court that Texas could keep a Ten Commandments monument on the grounds of its Capitol. ___ Lathan is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative.Report for Americais a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.

byKonstantin Pynzar

in

May 24, 2025

Texas is closer to putting the Ten Commandments in classrooms after a key vote

Texas is closer to putting the Ten Commandments in classrooms after a key vote AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Texas would require all public school cl...

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Neo-Nazi leader accused of inspiring school shooting, plotting NYC attack extradited to US

Neo-Nazi leader accused of inspiring school shooting, plotting NYC attack extradited to US

Federal officials extradited an international neo-Nazi group leader they sayinspired a teen to commit a school shootingin Tennessee earlier this year andplotted to commit a mass casualty attackin New York City targeting Jewish people. The terrorist group's leader, 21-year-old Michail Chkhikvishvili, orchestrated deadly attacks around the globe, prosecutors said. The citizen of the nation of Georgia was extradited from Moldova on May 22 after he was arrested in July. He was scheduled to be arraigned in Brooklyn on May 23, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. The DOJ said the man, who went by the name "Commander Butcher," was the leader of the Maniac Murder Cult, which goes by several other names including MKY. Chkhikvishvili has distributed a writing called the "Hater's Handbook," encouraging people to commit acts of mass violence and "ethnic cleansing," according to court filings. His "solicitations of violence" led to international attacks, including a 2024 stabbing outside a mosque in Turkey, prosecutors said. Chkhikvishvili targeted the U.S. as a site for more attacks because of the ease of accessing firearms, prosecutors said in court records. He told an undercover law enforcement employee, "I see USA as big potential because accessibility to firearms and other resources," in an electronic message sent Sept. 8, 2023, court filings show. It was not clear if Chkhikvishvili had an attorney who could speak on his behalf Chkhikvishvili has been indicted in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York on four counts including solicitation of violent felonies. The charges stemmed from Chkhikvishvili's communications with an undercover FBI employee in which he trained and encouraged the undercover agent to carry out a mass attack against Jewish people and minorities. Chkhikvishvili corresponded with the undercover agent between September 2023 and at least March 2024. The plot included having an individual wearing a Santa Claus costume hand out poisoned candies to Jewish kids in New York City on New Year's Eve. It later evolved into targeting Jewish people on a larger scale. Chkhikvishvili said he wanted the attack to be a "bigger action than Breivik," prosecutors said. Breivik refers toAnders Behring Breivik, who killed 77 people in a massacre in Norway in 2011 that targeted mostly teenagers at a camp. "His goal was to spread hatred, fear, and destruction by encouraging bombings, arson, and even poisoning children,"  U.S. Attorney Breon Peace said last year. The MKY group is based in Russia and Ukraine but has members around the world, including the U.S., according to afederal complaint. Members adhere to neo-Nazi ideology promoting violence against racial minorities. The man's arrest came before thedeadly attack at Antioch High School on Jan. 22, 2025. However, prosecutors in the New York federal court linked the Antioch shooting to Chkhikvishvili's solicitations of violence in a court filing on May 23, the Nashville Tennessean, part of the USA TODAY Network, reported. Prosecutors in the Eastern District of New York wrote to the judge requesting the man be incarcerated before trial. They pointed to several ways his actions have "directly resulted in real violence," including the shooting at Antioch High School. According to the prosecutors, the 17-year-old attacker claimed he was taking action on behalf of MKY and at least one other group in an audio recording posted online before the shooting. It is not clear if the shooter was a member of MKY or had contact with Chkhikvishvili or other members of the terrorist organization. Chkhikvishvili said the group asks for video of brutal beatings, arson, explosions or murders to join the group, adding that the victims should be "low race targets." Chkhikvishvili's name also appeared in the document the DOJ said was written by the Antioch shooter – a 300-page writing in which the shooter espoused misanthropic White supremacist and Nazi ideologies. The shooter also referred to the founder of MKY and said he would write the founder's name on his gun, according to prosecutors. Josselin Corea Escalante, 16,died after the 17-year-old shot her with a pistol in the cafeteria of Antioch High School. Another student was injured during the attack. The shooter, 17-year-old student Solomon Henderson, then shot and killed himself. Contributing: Michael Loria, USA TODAY This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean:Neo-Nazi leader who inspired school shooting extradited to US

byKonstantin Pynzar

in

May 24, 2025

Neo-Nazi leader accused of inspiring school shooting, plotting NYC attack extradited to US

Neo-Nazi leader accused of inspiring school shooting, plotting NYC attack extradited to US Federal officials extradited an international neo...

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