Latest news with #Wikileaks
The Age
10-06-2025
- Politics
- The Age
‘Sucker for a good cause': Melbourne legal legends sign up for Palestinian student activists
The University of Melbourne's new-ish vice chancellor, Emma Johnston, made a little history when she officially punted two pro-Palestine protesters from the august institution after the students and about 16 of their mates stormed and occupied the office of Jewish academic Steven Prawer last year. But as they say in the classics, this ain't over yet. The two unnamed students – another two were suspended over their October 2024 stunt – were given 30 days to appeal Johnston's decision and have already attracted some legal heavyweights. But there's just one teensy-tiny issue. Legal eagle Greg Barns, no stranger to these matters, having acted as an adviser to Wikileaks ex-con Julian Assange, and in a lengthy list of right-on causes, has teamed-up with Victorian criminal law legend and former magistrate Rob Stary to add some heft to the students' legal crusade. Stary's list of former clients is, well, quite something. We've got 'Jihad' Jack Thomas, who was the first Australian to be convicted under the post-9/11 terrorism laws, Assange – him again – and even Melbourne gangland figures Tony Mokbel and the late Carl Williams. The high-profile legal pair are joined by fellow bar-table veteran Leonard Hartnett, who celebrates 50 years in the wig-and-gown game this year, and pro-Palestine legal sister act Bernadette and Ran Zaydan, who established their Watermelon Defence Fund, which, well, the name says it all. (The melon's colours match those of the Palestinian flag.) Stary said he became involved after the other lawyers contacted him, but he told CBD he was approaching his task with some gusto. 'Always a sucker for a good cause,' he said. And that teensy-tiny issue? Uni rules state that the students have no right of representation in the appeals process, so their near-basketball squad of legal advisers is, at this stage anyway, just that.
CBS News
06-06-2025
- Politics
- CBS News
Men found guilty of supplying bomb that killed investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia in Malta
Two men have been convicted in Malta of supplying the explosives that killed journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia in the Mediterranean island state in 2017. Following a six-week trial, Robert Agius, 41, and Jamie Vella, 42, were both found guilty late Thursday of complicity in the assassination of the 53-year-old investigative reporter by supplying the military-grade explosive used in the car bombing near her home. They're expected to be sentenced early next week, with prosecutors having asked for them to be given life in prison. The three hitmen who carried out the murder — brothers George and Alfred Degiorgio together with Vince Muscat — have already been convicted. Flowers and a candle lie in front of a portrait of slain investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia during a vigil outside the law courts in Valletta, Malta, Tuesday, Oct. 16, 2018. Jonathan Borg / AP Agius and Vella were arrested four years after the murder, after Muscat agreed to testify against them in return for a reduced sentence in that case, and a pardon for a separate murder. Muscat was also the prosecution's key witness in the latest, in which more than 150 people testified before the jury, including relatives of Caruana Galizia, members of the FBI and a former government minister. The murder of Caruana Galizia, who had written about cronyism and sleaze within Malta's political and business elite, drew international outrage. There were also large protests in Malta against prime minister Joseph Muscat over his perceived efforts to protect friends and allies from the investigation. He announced his resignation in December 2019. A public inquiry published in 2021 found no evidence of state involvement in Caruana Galizia's assassination, but found the government created a "climate of impunity" for those who wanted to silence her. In a statement, the Caruana Galizia family said the latest convictions brought them "a step closer to justice." "Yet, eight years after Daphne's brutal assassination, the institutional failures that enabled her murder remain unaddressed and unreformed," they said. Caruana Galizia, who was called a "one-woman Wikileaks," had reported on allegations of money laundering, bribery and corruption in Malta for 30 years. She relentlessly pursued politicians in her home country on her blog, Running Commentary. "She knew that the powerful people that she was writing about were closing in on her," Galizia's son Paul told 60 Minutes after her death. "They were using every possible means to shut her down. She knew that, and that frightened her deeply." The Degiorgio brothers are serving 40 years each in prison for the murder, while Muscat received a reduced sentence of 15 years. Police and forensic experts inspect the wreckage of a car bomb that killed journalist and blogger Daphne Caruana Galizia close to her home in Bidnija, Malta, on October 16, 2017. STR/AFP via Getty Images Businessman Yorgen Fenech, who had close ties with Joseph Muscat's government, is still awaiting trial on charges that he masterminded the murder. He was arrested in November 2019 aboard his yacht as he tried to sail out of Malta. He was granted bail in January 2025, with no date yet set for his trial.
The Print
04-06-2025
- Politics
- The Print
What copyright, plagiarism mean for art and artists
While the Ponniyin Selvan: II case is sub-judice, we can shine the torch on the details of Aziz-Dube case. Copyright is a right that protects your valuable intellectual property. When it is not honoured, it results in a loss of equity for the creator and can attract costly consequences for the infringer—especially at a time when awareness of intellectual property rights (IPR) has grown and legal enforcement has become stronger. In April, Justice Pratibha M Singh of the Delhi High Court passed an interim order on allegations of copyright infringement in the song Veera Raja Veera from the film Ponniyin Selvan: II . The same week, poet Aamir Aziz challenged the unauthorised use of his poem, Sab Yaad Rakha Jayega , by artist Anita Dube. During the 2019 anti-CAA protests, Aziz's Sab yaad rakha jayega (Everything will be remembered) echoed on the streets. In May that year, he also released the song Ballad of Pehlu Khan on the mob lynching of the 55-year-old dairy farmer from Haryana. Sab yaad rakha jayega was recited, in English, by Pink Floyd guitarist Roger Waters in a 2020 protest in London against the arrest of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange. Aziz had found his voice, his oeuvre, and a place in the hearts of many, including artist and first woman curator of the Kochi-Muziris Biennale, Anita Dube. In 2023, Dube came up with a set of four works carrying excerpts from Aziz's poem. They were on exhibition and available for sale from 15 March to 19 April 2025 at the Vadehra Art Gallery in New Delhi. As there were no wall captions, no credit was given to Aziz. Dube had used another poem by Aziz in an earlier work, Intifada, which was exhibited in Delhi and Mumbai. When Aziz got to know that his work was borrowed without his 'knowledge, consent, credit or compensation', he posted on Instagram, calling it 'theft'. 'This is my poem, written in velvet cloth, hung inside a commercial white cube space, renamed, rebranded, and resold at an enormous price without ever telling me,' the poet wrote. He added that it was not 'conceptual borrowing', but 'the entitled section of the art world doing what it does best, extracting, consuming, profiting while pretending it's radical.' For Aziz, it was ironic that while his poem raged against injustice, Dube, by commodifying it, extended the injustice. In her defence, Dube claimed that she used Aziz's lines with clean intent, as an act of celebrating them. She added that she has also quoted Martin Luther King and bell hooks in the past 'in the same spirit'. Moral rights and plagiarism Using someone's work as inspiration as against structure are two different things. In response to the famous copyright dispute in the US involving a portrait of American singer Prince, Columbia Law School professor Timothy Wu said, 'If the underlying art is recognisable in the new art, then you have got a problem.' Dube's act, by this measure, is problematic. In academic writing, to lift even an idea without adequately crediting the source is considered plagiarism. Here, stanzas were taken in an unauthorised manner. Copyright is possible only for original work and automatically belongs to the author. For using such copyrighted work, you need a licence, you need to give credit to the creator, and share remuneration. And when the intentions are clean, none of this can happen post facto. Dube clarified that she had credited Aziz, in an accompanying sheet available at the gallery, but admitted that no permission had been taken. Here, the moral rights of the creator come into play. Moral rights, also called the right of attribution, require that the name of the author must always be displayed with the work. The author has this right even if they choose to remain anonymous or use a pseudonym. These rights are inherent and cannot be sold or assigned, but can be acknowledged via permission and credit, and used as pre-determined terms. All this has to be ensured before the derivative work goes public. They can also be waived in whole or in part as per the protocol of exceptions. However, Aziz's work was not in the space of exceptions, although he has created a special exception for this particular poem—a political protest anywhere can have placards saying Sab yaad rakha jayega. Behind Dube's use of Aziz's poem is possibly the tradition of borrowing, including replications and repurposing elements from previous works or styles. According to art consultant and author Anupa Mehta, 'In postmodernist art, artists draw from eclectic sources. Sometimes these 'borrowings' are in part and used within an art work, as part of its conceptual axis. Usually, source is acknowledged. If the poet's poem is used in full without permission and sans royalty, it's clearly a breach'. Mehta suggested that the issue of copyright in the art world needs to be looked at on a case by case basis, creating space for a more nuanced reading. It begs several questions. 'Was it a creative collaboration? Were terms clarified prior? Artists often work with artisans, craftspeople, and younger artists. Should drawing upon another creative person's skills be considered a contribution to the artwork? For instance, artist Bharti Kher employs women to fill in bindis in her paintings. These women are paid a per diem, while Kher's works sell for high prices. Similarly, artist Binoy Varghese hires young artists to fill in paint on his canvases. Should those strokes be protected by copyright? 'It's not all as straightforward as it should be,' said Mehta. Art curator Alka Pande found the allegation of 'theft' against Dube too strong. 'Even the best writers are inspired by the work done before them. These are opaque, porous borders,' she said. Pande described Dube's work as part of a creative process where activism, propaganda, and politics coalesce. However, she added that due credit must be given and the collaborative process should be acknowledged. 'If there is a financial aspect to the work, then the financials should be clear with the collaborating parties.' That, precisely, is the problem in Aziz's case. Also read: In the Mood for Love in Delhi—artist reimagines Wong Kar-wai's film in his paintings 'Borrowing' work We know that post-colonial 'borrowings' of cultural and material expression were, in effect, a continued resistance to colonial and neo-colonial hegemony, and that resistance must be relentless. While the past undoubtedly continues to shape the present, dominant meta-narratives are being resisted, and the local prioritised. Aziz's work represents this evolving idea of decolonising. Dube may well have intended her work as part of that arc, but it has ended up reading as contrarian. Even if we use the relatively neutral term 'borrowing', the nature of such borrowings must be examined in today's context. In borrowing Aziz's poem, which calls for fighting injustice, we see how injustice itself can be perpetuated. In a twisted way, it echoes Homi K Bhabha's theory of mimicry, where the adoption of the coloniser's language simultaneously subverted colonial power and the self. Borrowings may show the mirror to the world, but today, ethical lines are more clearly drawn. Ethical protocols now distinguish borrowing from appropriation. In a neo-capitalist context, the sharp power imbalance between a hounded protest poet and an established artist selling work based on his angst-ridden poetry—without acknowledgement—can nullify even the best of intentions. The concept of borrowings, especially in this globalised, nationalist moment, must be revisited. The silver lining in this misadventure is that it opens space for reflection, self-criticism, and a deeper dive into copyright, plagiarism, and the exceptions that govern them. Also read: 24, Jor Bagh gets its last hurrah—the art space that became a metaphor for Delhi Copyright vs plagiarism When ideas are copied without attribution and no direct financial gain is sought, it qualifies as plagiarism. This often occurs in academia. Direct quotations from earlier work must be properly cited using established norms. Even paraphrased ideas require credit. An insufficient citation is also plagiarism. Notably, plagiarism can be identified not just by the original author but by a third party. Copyright, by contrast, protects original work—written, musical, dramatic, or visual. Once created, a work is protected by default, though formal registration offers added protection. Copyright grants creators exclusive rights to control how their work is used, copied, translated, distributed, adapted, incorporated into other works, or monetised. Some exceptions exist: fair use, Creative Commons, and copyleft. Fair use is a high-ethics space. It allows work to be used strictly for purposes like teaching, journalism, and public analysis. It's a balancing act between the author's rights and public interest—never a free-for-all. Creative Commons licenses allow authors to waive some rights (often monetary) in exchange for credit and acknowledgement. Wikimedia Commons is a well-known example. Copyleft is a more altruistic approach. It allows anyone to use, improve, or build on a work—so long as the derivative is shared on the same terms. This model is widely used in software. None of these exemptions apply in the case of Aziz and Dube. As things stand, Dube has apologised, withdrawn those works from all platforms of exhibition, distribution, and sale 'in the future and in perpetuity'. She has offered the artwork Intifada to the poet 'with full ownership rights as compensation and as a gesture of reconciliation'. All attempts at financial settlement have so far reached a dead end. In fact, a unilateral post facto financial offer can be a double whammy. Only the original author—or an authority the author designates—can agree to a post-facto settlement. In searching for resolution, intent matters. And two principles must anchor this process: that no solution can be one-sided, and that the final word belongs to the wronged party—unless ruled otherwise by a court. Arshiya Sethi is a two-time Fulbright Fellow, dance scholar, researcher and 'artivist', supporting management of arts institutions in creating inclusive and safe practices. Views are personal. (Edited by Aamaan Alam Khan)
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First Post
02-06-2025
- Politics
- First Post
Mad with power and vengeance, Yunus risks taking Bangladesh down with him
Yunus has thrown up too many balls in the air, and it remains to be seen if he is a wizard to pull it off, or n usurper who risks taking Bangladesh down with him read more As India grapples with the aftermath of Operation Sindoor, a sordid drama is playing out next door. An unelected regime, backstopped by the military, Islamists, war criminals and revisionist 'student revolutionaries', wants to turn Bangladesh into another Pakistan – a jihadi hellhole, an economic basket case and a rentier state that dreams of breaking India and plans to suck on Chinese and American teats. This radical shift is being driven by Muhammad Yunus, the Nobel laureate heading an 'interim government' as the chief adviser. Yunus, a crafty, vengeful man, thinks he is playing 128D chess. He is writing blank cheques he cannot encash. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD It has been nine months that this illegitimate regime has been in power, nine turbulent months following Sheikh Hasina's orchestrated ouster during which Yunus has overseen Bangladesh's rapid economic descent, freeing of 1971 war criminals, a surge in Islamist radicalism, unhinged vendetta politics, hounding of Hindu minorities and sweeping foreign policy changes without the requisite democratic mandate. When he flew in from the United States to assume power in August last year, Yunus had promised to 'restore Bangladesh's democracy' through 'free and fair elections'. He is 'restoring democracy' by banning Awami League, Bangladesh's largest political party, one that is synonymous to the country's independence, and by delaying elections. Not surprisingly, Yunus has run into a collision course with the BNP, the only major party left in Bangladesh's political scene that fancies a return to power. The 'chief adviser', though, has other plans. For the head of a military-backed regime, Yunus has even made an enemy of the army chief because General Waker-Uz-Zaman has called for early elections and come out swinging against Yunus's moves to take key decisions keeping the military in the dark, such as constructing a 'humanitarian corridor' linking Chittagong to the restive Rakhine province in Myanmar where the military junta is fighting a civil war. Bangladesh is witnessing an intriguing power tussle and attempts at palace coup and counter coup. Yunus is evidently keen to control all the levers of power and enjoy unchallenged writ. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD His hunger for power shouldn't have come as a surprise to Bangladesh watchers. US diplomatic cables leaked by Wikileaks reveal that the Americans knew at least since 2007 that Yunus possesses 'a strong desire to jump into the maelstrom of Bangladeshi politics.' One cable, dated 13 February, mentions that 'Yunus is considering entering Bangladesh politics' and that 'he was reviewing his options'. The cable discloses that Americans felt Yunus is 'a person of great moral stature and strong organizational skills,' and his 'candidacy could offer a possible out from the present Sheikh Hasina-Khaleda Zia zero-sum game that cripples Bangladesh's democratic process.' The Americans have always considered Yunus as 'their man', something India had a very good idea about. Another leaked cable marked 'confidential' and dated December 2006, reveals what the South Block was thinking about the 2007 elections when the Americans wanted 'neither Hasina, nor Zia to win' and were 'actively supporting Yunus', for whom the Americans had 'fixed' the Nobel Prize. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD This dynamic between Yunus, whose status as America's pet poodle has always been known, and the US, is key to understanding the great game unfolding in India's neighbourhood. In his brief tenure, Yunus has already savaged Bangladesh's close strategic, diplomatic and commercial ties with India, warmed up to Pakistan, hitched Dhaka's boat to Beijing and kowtowed to the US. Much against the wishes of Bangladesh's mainstream political class and even the military, Yunus is positioning Bangladesh as a mule for America's proxy war against China in war-torn Myanmar – jettisoning the careful balance of power strategy that former prime minister Hasina used as a foundation to script Bangladesh's rise. The worst part is Yunus's authoritarian impulses and reckless steps are destabilising a region strategically sensitive for India, apart from making life difficult for ordinary Bangladeshis. In his effort to cling on to power, the scheming Yunus alternates between habitual India-bashing and divisive agendas to keep rivals off tack. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD In causing diplomatic friction with India, authoring wholesale pivot to China, and calling for a more robust American involvement in the region, Yunus is redrawing the strategic underpinnings of Bangladesh's foreign policy, initiating transformative changes without Parliamentary backing or democratic buy-in when as the head of a caretaker government all he needs to do is ensure political, social and economic stability to ensure free, fair and inclusive elections. This fundamental mismatch between Yunus's self-image as a 'saviour' of Bangladesh, his vaulting ambition, strong desire to wield power (refer to the US diplomatic cables) and the military and the BNP's assumption of the chief adviser's limited role, lies at the heart of Bangladesh's 'war like' situation that Yunus blames India for. This turmoil couldn't have come at a worse time. Bangladesh is struggling. Growth has stuttered to 3.97%, the slowest in 34 years. The economy is battered with industry shutdowns, high inflation, unemployment, falling wages and steep price rise, potentially putting millions at risk of falling into extreme poverty. Foreign investors are staying away. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD IANS quotes data from Bangladesh's central bank to report that Dhaka's flow of FDI fell to $104.33 million in the July-September quarter of 2024-25 fiscal, the lowest in six years, and the country received 71% less foreign investment year-on-year, down from $360.5 million in the July-September period of FY24. The flagship garment sector that plays a significant role in Bangladesh's economy, contributes handsomely to the GDP and employment is besieged with problems. According to a report published last December, in one year '140 factories across various sectors have ceased operations, including 76 in garments, 50 in knitwear, and 14 in textiles. This has led to the loss of approximately 94,000 jobs, with the Beximco Group alone laying off around 40,000 workers from its 15 garment factories. In total, closures have left 134,000 workers unemployed amid the shuttering of 155 factories.' Trump's punishing tariffs on Bangladesh resulting in a halt in orders from America and import restrictions from India have further hit the sector's profitability. Things are so bad that General Waker, during the recent high-level gathering of military commanders at Dhaka Cantonment that generated a lot of media heat, reportedly said, 'garment factories are shutting down one after another, and no one seems concerned. This silence is dangerous.' A clear barb at Yunus. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD The 'chief adviser' remains unfazed. He is focused more on ideological agendas such as freeing hardcore war criminals like Jamaat-e-Islami leader ATM Azharul Islam, a death row convict accused of killing 1,256 people, abducting 17, and raping 13 women during the 1971 Liberation War, apart from torturing civilians and setting fire to hundreds of houses. Islam was handed a death sentence in 2014. The Appellate Division of Bangladesh's top court upheld the death sentence five years later. Under the Yunus regime, the same Supreme Court on 27 May scrapped its earlier judgement – a first in history – that upheld the conviction and death sentence and ordered 'immediate release' of Islam, a pointer to how Jamaat is holding the Yunus regime to ransom. In a measure of the distance Bangladesh has travelled under a vindictive, unelected regime, the Bangladesh Supreme Court led by its chief justice on Sunday ordered the Election Commission to restore the registration of Jamaat, the right-wing jihadi outfit that was banned by the Hasina government under anti-terrorism law for its role in violent protests and historical opposition to Bangladesh's independence. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Jamaat, that played a key role in the genocide of Hindus and Bengali-speaking Muslims during the 1971 war alongside the Pakistani army, will now be able to contest in future elections whereas former prime minister Hasina has been charged with 'crimes against humanity', and 'the chief instigator behind the violent crackdown that unfolded during the July and August unrest.' It speaks volumes of Bangladesh's trajectory under Yunus that the banned Awami League will not be allowed to contest elections while Yunus's attack dogs, Jamaat and its student wing Islami Chhatra Shibir go about persecuting ethnic and religious minorities and altering the secular character of Bangladesh's Constitution. In the zero-sum game of Bangladesh's exclusionary politics, the pendulum will keep swinging from one extreme to the other. Yunus, who is crossing swords with the army chief and wants to replace him with a more pliant man, will soon figure out that he cannot run the country through palace intrigue, mob violence and revenge politics, and by seeking to decouple from India. Yunus is courting China on the one hand, giving it access to Lalmonirhat airfield, close to India's Siliguri Corridor (Chicken's Neck), giving Beijing opportunities to expand strategic influence through Teesta River management project in exchange for China's help in making Bangladesh a manufacturing hub, on the other hand he is embarking on a risky pirouette by giving the US a route to back the Arakan Army rebels in Myanmar's Rakhine state through the so-called 'humanitarian corridor' that Bangladesh's army chief went ballistic about. Since China is seen to be backing Myanmar's military junta, the US sees a chance to lodger proxy war against the Chinese in Myanmar, and Yunus risks making Bangladesh a pawn to the great power game. Yunus has thrown up too many balls in the air, and it remains to be seen if he is a wizard to pull it off, or n usurper who risks taking Bangladesh down with him.
Gulf Today
26-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Gulf Today
Highlights from Cannes as film festival wraps up
As the Cannes film festival hands out its prizes, AFP looks back at some of the highlights of a politically charged fortnight of screenings and celebrity sightings. The festival began on May 13 with a flap about a new dress code which states that extravagantly large dresses are prohibited on the red carpet, as well as 'total nudity'. Oscar-winner Halle Berry was the first victim, with the 'Monster's Ball' star forced into a wardrobe change for the opening ceremony because her dress was too long. Although many people seemed to flout the guidelines, Indian model and influencer Snigdha Baruah was forced to remove a flowing train from her dress having been barred by security at the VIP entrance. Not content to let the dresses steal all the limelight, 'Succession' star and jury member Jeremy Strong has brought some eye-catching menswear in bold colours to the Riviera. US actress and member of the jury of the 78th cannes film festival Halle Berry arrives on stage during the closing ceremony at the 78th edition of the Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, southern France, on Saturday. AFP After years of scandals in the film industry and pressure to take a stand, the festival announced a new #MeToo policy by barring an actor in a prominent French film from the red carpet because of rape allegations. Theo Navarro-Mussy, who appears in 'Dossier 137', denies the allegations and an initial police investigation was closed last month. This year's gathering on the Riviera marked a step in the rehabilitation of scandal-plagued star Kevin Spacey, however, who accepted a lifetime achievement award at a charity gala. Australian legend Nicole Kidman meanwhile issued a plea for more women directors, saying their number was still 'incredibly low'. Only three women have ever won a Palme d'Or. A trio of actors made their highly anticipated directorial debuts, with differing fortunes. 'Babygirl' actor Harris Dickinson, 28, and 'Twilight' star Kristen Stewart, 35, left Cannes with praise ringing in their ears for their films, 'Urchin' and 'The Chronology of Water'. Reviews for Scarlett Johansson's first turn behind the camera, 'Eleanor the Great', would have made for more difficult reading, however. There was no escaping the war in Gaza this year. Hundreds of film figures signed an open letter on the eve of the festival calling on the movie industry to call out 'genocide'. Iranian film maker Sepideh Farsi's heart-wrenching documentary about slain Palestinian photojournalist Fatima Hassouna, killed in an Israeli air strike on her home in Gaza last month, left its audience in stunned silence when it premiered on May 15. Scarlett Johansson poses for a portrait at the 78th international film festival, Cannes, on Wednesday. AP Wikileaks founder Julian Assange walked the red carpet wearing a T-shirt bearing the names of killed Gaza children as he promoted a documentary about his own life. US President Donald Trump was also focusing minds, particularly in the Cannes film market where the deals are cut for new projects. Trump's pledge to implement 100-per cent tariffs on movies 'produced in foreign lands' provoked a mixture of horror, disbelief and mockery from industry insiders. 'I can't find myself taking it very seriously. It's just too surreal,' American director Wes Anderson told AFP. 'Taxi Driver' star Robert De Niro slammed 'America's philistine president' in his opening ceremony speech. Tom Cruise swept into Cannes on a steamroller of hype around 'Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning' which premiered to mixed reviews in the first week. Director Christopher McQuarrie revealed that Cruise — who does his own stunts — took his risk-taking a little far during a shoot in South Africa and could have died. Tom Cruise. 'He was laying on the wing of the plane. His arms were hanging over the front of the wing. We could not tell if he was conscious or not,' said the US filmmaker. Saturday's closing ceremony was the final act of a drama-filled day that saw Cannes suffer a more than five-hour power cut. Local authorities blamed suspected sabotage at a nearby electricity substation and a pylon. The reaction of French emergency services was also one of the biggest talking points among attendees this year after a man was knocked down by a falling palm tree in a freak accident during the first week. Agence France-Presse
