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CANNES FILM FESTIVAL

SECURITY

Cannes: Will the guns and guards overshadow the glitz?

Cannes Film Festival will be held amid maximum security given the ongoing terror threat, but will all the bomb checks and bag searches ruin the party atmosphere?

Cannes: Will the guns and guards overshadow the glitz?
Armed police stage a mock terror attack at the Cannes Film Festival. All photos: AFP

Bomb experts will carry out daily sweeps at the Cannes film festival, opening this week under maximum security as France faces its highest ever terror threat, Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said Monday.

The glitterati, set to descend on the resort town as the festival opens on Wednesday, will also have to tip open expensive handbags for inspection after climbing the red carpet into the main venue, the Palais des Festivals, which is to be secured by some 400 private security agents.

Hundreds more police officers and specialised units will be on duty in the city, whose lure for the rich and famous makes it equally attractive to jewellery thieves and robbers.

The 69th Cannes film festival comes six months after Islamic State jihadists launched co-ordinated attacks in Paris that left 130 people dead, and France remains under a state of emergency.

“We must keep in mind as we prepare to open this festival, that we are faced with a risk which has never been as high, and faced with an enemy determined to strike us at any moment,” said Cazeneuve.

“We must demonstrate extreme vigilance at all times.”

(Police stage a mock terror attack at Cannes. Photo: AFP)

Cazeneuve, who visited the city two days before it becomes the world movie capital for the two week cinematic extravaganza, said the stakes were high for security forces.

He said the city had to take into account “the global nature of the event, its visibility, the high number of celebrities who must be protected, the concentration of crowds in public spaces, without forgetting the need to preserve the atmosphere of conviviality which is crucial to the success of the festival.”

Just along the coast from Nice on the French Riviera, Cannes is home to 500 CCTV cameras, making it the most closely monitored town in France, said mayor David Lisnard.

He dismissed concerns that the tight security will throw a wet blanket over the parties, glitter and glamour of the event.

“Do you think an attack brings merriment? We have succeeded in preserving the festival atmosphere. The public will be at the foot of the (red-carpeted) steps. All the parties will be authorised, but, security must be taken care of,” he told AFP.

“Cannes must be protected not because of the cocktail parties, but because it is a professional event of a high level which brings honour to France.”

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SECURITY

Swedish Huawei ban is legal, court rules

A Swedish ban on Chinese telecoms company Huawei was confirmed in court on Tuesday, citing the country's security as a just reason for banning its equipment in a 5G rollout.

Swedish Huawei ban is legal, court rules
Photo: AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein

The administrative court in Stockholm ruled that the decision of the Swedish telecoms authority, PTS, to ban the use of equipment from Chinese companies Huawei and ZTE in a new Swedish 5G telecom network last October — a move that irked Beijing — was legal.

Equipment already installed must also be removed by January 1st, 2025.

“Sweden’s security is an important reason and the administrative court has considered that it’s only the security police and the military that together have a full picture when it comes to the security situation and threats against Sweden,” judge Ulrika Melin said in a statement.

Huawei denounced the ruling, but did not say whether it would appeal.

“We are of course noting that there has been no evidence of any wrongdoings by Huawei which is being used as basis for this verdict, it is purely based on assumption,” Kenneth Fredriksen, the company’s vice-president for Central, Eastern Europe and the Nordic region, told AFP.

Huawei will now evaluate the decision and the “see what kind of actions we will take to protect our rights,” Fredriksen added.

After the UK in the summer of 2020, Sweden became the second country in Europe and the first in the EU to explicitly ban Huawei from almost all of the network infrastructure needed to run its 5G network.

Beijing had warned that PTS’ decision could have “consequences” for the Scandinavian country’s companies in China, prompting Swedish telecom giant and Huawei competitor Ericsson to worry about retaliation.

“We will continue to be available to have constructive dialogues with Swedish authorities to see if we can find pragmatic ways of taking care of security and at the same time keeping an open and fair market like Sweden has always been,” Fredriksen said.

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