Agenda chargé à Cannes, avec Jennifer Lawrence et Robert Pattinson en vedette

Casse-tête pour les festivaliers: trois films sont en compétition samedi à Cannes, dont le très attendu thriller “Die, My Love” porté par le duo de stars Jennifer Lawrence et Robert Pattinson, auxquels s’ajoute un documentaire de Raoul Peck résonnant avec l’actualité.A noter également pour les nostalgiques, “Marcel et monsieur Pagnol” de Sylvain Chomet (“Les triplettes de Belleville”), biopic animé de Marcel Pagnol en 01h30, autour notamment de ses souvenirs de cinéma, en Séance spéciale.En compétition dans la soirée, le tapis rouge de “Die, My Love” (02h00) de la Britannique Lynne Ramsay (prix du scénario à Cannes en 2017 pour “A Beautiful Day”) devrait être particulièrement scruté, avec en vedette l’Américaine Jennifer Lawrence (Oscar 2013 de la meilleure actrice) et le Britannique Robert Pattinson, qui a entre autres incarné Batman à l’écran.Peu d’éléments ont été partagés sur ce long-métrage, sinon qu’il met en scène “une mère luttant pour rester saine d’esprit alors qu’elle est atteinte de psychose (…) dans une région rurale isolée et oubliée”.Auparavant, deux autres films auront été projetés: “Nouvelle Vague”, film français de l’Américain Richard Linklater et “Renoir” de la Japonaise Chie Hayakawa.- Pas (encore) de favori -Le premier (01h45, en salles en France le 8 octobre) retrace le tournage d'”A bout de souffle” de Jean-Luc Godard, figure phare de la Nouvelle Vague cinématographique française dans les années 1960.Le second (01h56, en salles le 17 septembre) dresse le portrait d’une fille de 11 ans, entre son père hospitalisé et sa mère débordée, dans le Tokyo de l’été 1987.Dans “Orwell: 2+2=5” (01h59), le documentariste haïtien Raoul Peck plonge lui dans les derniers mois de la vie de George Orwell et dans sa dystopie visionnaire “1984”. Publiée en 1949, l’œuvre, qui traite d’un régime autoritaire fondé sur la surveillance de masse, résonne particulièrement à l’aune de l’actualité politique et technologique de 2025.La journée sera également l’occasion d’un premier hommage au Français Marcel Pagnol (1895-1974), écrivain et cinéaste du midi de la France, président en 1955 du jury cannois qui a remis la toute première Palme d’or de l’Histoire.La copie restaurée d’un ses films, “Merlusse” (1935), sera aussi projetée dans la section Cannes Classics, consacrée au cinéma de patrimoine, mercredi.Au total, 22 films sont en compétition pour la Palme d’or, dont six ont été projetés sans qu’un premier favori ne se dégage. Le palmarès du jury présidé par Juliette Binoche, actrice française à l’aura internationale, sera dévoilé le 24 mai.

Les Schtroumpfs envahissent Landerneau pour une nouvelle tentative de record du monde

“On va schtroumpfer le record !” La petite ville de Landerneau (Finistère) va se grimer en bleu, samedi, en espérant enfin battre le record du monde de rassemblement de Schtroumpfs, après deux tentatives manquées en cinq ans.”La, la, la, Schtroumpf, la, la”… La fameuse chanson de Dorothée devrait résonner toute la journée dans les commerces et les rues de la petite ville bretonne (16.000 habitants), où sont attendus des milliers d’hommes et de femmes à bonnet blanc et visage bleu, inspirés par les célèbres lutins du dessinateur belge Peyo.”C’est fédérateur et ça a un côté décalé qui fait du bien par les temps qui courent”, vante le maire (divers droite) Patrick Leclerc, qui se déguisera lui aussi en Schtroumpf, comme lors des deux dernières tentatives de record.”Ça fait vivre et s’amuser les gens: ils rentrent le temps de quelques heures dans un monde imaginaire”, abonde Pascal Soun, président de l’association Pays de Landerneau-Daoulas, organisatrice de l’événement.Actuellement, c’est toujours la petite commune allemande de Lauchringen, à la frontière germano-suisse, qui détient le record mondial du plus grand rassemblement de Schtroumpfs, avec 2.762 participants, le 16 février 2019.Le 7 mars 2020, Landerneau avait pourtant battu ce record en accueillant 3.549 Schtroumpfs. Mais l’exploit n’avait pas été validé par le Livre Guinness, en raison d’un document manquant, selon les organisateurs.Réalisée en pleine épidémie de Covid-19, la tentative de 2020 avait cependant fait du bruit jusqu’au-delà des Alpes, certains médias italiens critiquant une manifestation “irresponsable” alors que la péninsule était déjà confinée.La vidéo du rassemblement avait été vue des centaines de milliers de fois et l’événement, destiné à faire connaître le carnaval de Landerneau, avait dépassé toutes les attentes des organisateurs.Rééditée en mars 2023, la tentative avait de nouveau échoué pour cause, cette fois, de météo exécrable: 231 Schtroumpfs avaient manqué à l’appel. Les Landernéens avaient prévu d’en rester là. Mais la société Paramount, qui produit “Les Schtroumpfs – le film” (sortie le 16 juillet), les a convaincus de réenfiler leurs costumes. La société de production cinématographique a pris en charge la communication et offrira 1.200 places pour une avant-première du film.”Il va faire beau, les feux sont au vert !”, s’enthousiasme le maire, qui a d’ores et déjà pris un arrêté municipal pour interdire aux bars de la ville de vendre des boissons aux Schtroumpfs pendant le comptage du rassemblement.”Il faut que tout le monde soit mobilisé pour le comptage”, assène-t-il.

Musk’s xAI blames ‘unauthorized’ tweak for ‘white genocide’ posts

Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence startup has blamed an “unauthorized modification” for causing its chatbot Grok to generate misleading and unsolicited posts referencing “white genocide” in South Africa.The chatbot, developed by Musk’s company xAI, ignited controversy this week by answering multiple user prompts with right-wing propaganda about the purported oppression of white South Africans.”How many times has HBO changed their name?” one X user asked the bot, according to online screen shots.The bot gave a short reply about HBO, but quickly launched into a rant about “white genocide” and cited the anti-apartheid chant “kill the Boer.”In response to one user who asked why Grok was obsessed with the topic, the chatbot replied it was “instructed by my creators at xAI to address the topic of ‘white genocide.'”Musk, the South African-born boss of Tesla and SpaceX, has previously accused South Africa’s leaders of “openly pushing for genocide of white people in South Africa.”In a statement, xAI blamed an “unauthorized modification” to Grok, which the company said directed it to provide a specific response that “violated xAI’s internal policies and core values.”Following a “thorough investigation,” it was implementing measures to make Grok’s system prompts public, change its review processes and put in place a “24/7 monitoring team” to address future incidents, it added.After a backlash on X, Grok began deleting the controversial replies.When one user questioned the deletions, the bot said: “It’s unclear why responses are being deleted without specific details, but X’s moderation policies likely play a role.””The ‘white genocide in South Africa’ topic is sensitive, often involving misinformation or hate speech, which violates platform rules,” it added.- ‘Not reliable’ -The digital faux pas exposes the challenges of moderating the responses of AI chatbots –- a rapidly-evolving technology — in a misinformation-filled internet landscape, as tech experts call for stronger regulation.”Grok’s odd, unrelated replies are a reminder that AI chatbots are still a nascent technology, and may not always be a reliable source for information,” the site Tech Crunch wrote.”In recent months, AI model providers have struggled to moderate the responses of their AI chatbots, which have led to odd behaviors.”Earlier this year, OpenAI’s chief executive Sam Altman said he was rolling back an update to ChatGPT that caused the chatbot to be overly sycophantic.Grok, which Musk promised would be an “edgy” truthteller following its launch in 2023, has been mired in controversy.In March, xAI acquired the platform X in a $33 billion deal that allowed the company to integrate the platform’s data resources with the chatbot’s development.The investigative outlet Bellingcat recently discovered that X users were using Grok to create non-consensual sexual imagery, leveraging the bot to undress women in photos they posted on the platform.Last August, five US states sent an open letter to Musk, urging him to fix Grok after it churned out election misinformation.In another embarrassment for Musk, the chatbot recently suggested the billionaire was likely the “biggest disinformation spreader on X.””The evidence leans toward Musk due to his ownership of X and active role in amplifying misinformation, especially on elections and immigration,” the chatbot wrote.As many X users turn to Grok to verify information, the chatbot has in multiple instances fact-checked false Russian disinformation claims and ruled they were true, according to the disinformation watchdog NewsGuard.”The growing reliance on Grok as a fact-checker comes as X and other major tech companies have scaled back investments in human fact-checkers,” NewsGuard researcher McKenzie Sadeghi told AFP.”Despite this apparent growing reliance on the technology for fact checks, our research has repeatedly found that AI chatbots are not reliable sources for news and information, particularly when it comes to breaking news.”

Musk’s xAI blames ‘unauthorized’ tweak for ‘white genocide’ postsSat, 17 May 2025 01:41:40 GMT

Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence startup has blamed an “unauthorized modification” for causing its chatbot Grok to generate misleading and unsolicited posts referencing “white genocide” in South Africa.The chatbot, developed by Musk’s company xAI, ignited controversy this week by answering multiple user prompts with right-wing propaganda about the purported oppression of white South Africans.”How many times …

Musk’s xAI blames ‘unauthorized’ tweak for ‘white genocide’ postsSat, 17 May 2025 01:41:40 GMT Read More »

US loses last triple-A credit rating as Moody’s cuts over govt debt

The United States lost its last triple-A credit rating from a major agency Friday as Moody’s announced a downgrade, citing rising levels of government debt and dealing a blow to Donald Trump’s narrative of economic strength and prosperity.The downgrade to Aa1 from Aaa adds to the bad news for the US president, coming on the same day his flagship spending bill failed to pass a key vote in Congress due to opposition from several Republican fiscal hawks.Explaining its decision, the ratings agency noted “the increase over more than a decade in government debt and interest payment ratios to levels that are significantly higher than similarly rated sovereigns.”Moody’s warned it expects federal deficits to widen to almost nine percent of economic output by 2035, up from 6.4 percent last year, “driven mainly by increased interest payments on debt, rising entitlement spending, and relatively low revenue generation.”As a result, it expects the federal debt burden to increase to about 134 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) by 2035, compared to 98 percent last year.The White House took to X to push back, with communications director Steven Cheung singling out the chief economist of Moody’s Analytics, Mark Zandi, for criticism.”Nobody takes his ‘analysis’ seriously. He has been proven wrong time and time again,” Cheung posted.- ‘Fiscal house is not in order’ -Moody’s decision to downgrade the United States from its top credit rating mirrors similar decisions from the two other major US ratings agencies, S&P and Fitch.S&P was the first to cut its rating for the United States back in 2011, during Barack Obama’s first term in office, citing its concerns that a debt management plan “would be necessary to stabilize the government’s medium-term debt dynamics.”Twelve years later, Fitch followed suit, warning of “a steady deterioration in standards of governance over the last 20 years, including on fiscal and debt matters.”Moody’s echoed its peers in its decision Friday, noting in a statement that “successive US administrations and Congress have failed to agree on measures to reverse the trend of large annual fiscal deficits and growing interest costs.””We do not believe that material multi-year reductions in mandatory spending and deficits will result from current fiscal proposals under consideration,” it added, flagging that it expected larger deficits to continue over the next decade.America’s “fiscal performance is likely to deteriorate relative to its own past and compared to other highly-rated sovereigns,” Moody’s said. For Republican congressman French Hill, who chairs the House Financial Services Committee, the Moody’s downgrade “is a strong reminder that our nation’s fiscal house is not in order.”House Republicans “are committed to taking steps to restore fiscal stability, address the structural drivers of our debt, and foster a pro-growth economic environment,” he said.Brendan Boyle, the ranking Democrat on the House Budget Committee, said the downgrade “is a direct warning: our fiscal outlook is deteriorating, and House Republicans are determined to make it worse.””The question is whether Republicans are ready to wake up to the damage they’re causing,” Boyle said.The Moody’s decision comes amid a tough fight in Congress to pass Trump’s much-touted “big, beautiful” spending bill, which aims to revamp and renew a roughly $5 trillion extension of his 2017 tax relief, paid for at least partially through deep cuts to the Medicaid health insurance program that covers more than 70 million low-income people.On Friday, the agency also changed its outlook from “negative” to “stable,” noting that despite the United States’ poor record tackling rising government debt levels, the country “retains exceptional credit strengths such as the size, resilience and dynamism of its economy and the role of the US dollar as global reserve currency.”

Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs trial: Takeaways from first week of testimony

The first week of testimony in the sex trafficking trial of Sean “Diddy” Combs included a witness core to the case: Casandra Ventura, the music mogul’s ex-girlfriend who accuses him of harrowing abuse, coercion and rape.Combs, 55, is facing federal charges of sex trafficking and leading an illegal sex ring that enforced its power with crimes including arson, kidnapping and bribery — and faces life in prison if convicted.Here are takeaways from the trial’s first week, which is expected to last upwards of another two months.- Key witness Ventura -Ventura, the 38-year-old singer known as “Cassie,” took the stand as a star witness mere weeks before she is due to give birth to her third child. She was largely composed but at times openly wept as she recounted degrading sex parties she said Combs coerced her into for years, at times weekly.Combs would direct her to take drugs before the elaborately choreographed sex that routinely involved male escorts, which he dubbed “freak-offs.”The drugs were a “buffer” to withstand the “humiliating” and often-filmed sexual encounters, Ventura said.The jury was repeatedly shown disturbing surveillance footage of Combs brutally beating and dragging Ventura.It was a regular experience, she told jurors. “He would mash me in my head, knock me over, drag me, kick me, stomp me on the head if I was down.”- Drugs, sex and violence -The defense acknowledged violence played a role in the relationship but said both of them were party to it.They showed jurors reams of text messages in a bid to cast Ventura as a willing participant in the freak-offs. Their relationship was tumultuous and had toxic qualities, the defense admitted, but they showed loving — and sexually graphic — texts to indicate that it was still based on a foundation of love.Ventura didn’t deny that, but she said that love — along with her reputation and career — was also a chip Combs played to control her and force her into freak-offs against her will.The defense spent significant time on issues of drug abuse, with Ventura testifying that both she and Combs were opioid addicts.Combs’s counsel implied that withdrawal symptoms and “bad” batches of party drugs could have resulted in erratic behavior.- Domestic abuse vs trafficking -There’s no question that physical assault was part of Combs and Ventura’s relationship: it’s evident in the widely publicized surveillance footage from the hotel incident that was already seared into the public consciousness prior to trial.But the defense contends that while Ventura’s relationship with Combs included domestic abuse, it did not amount to sex trafficking. She behaved erratically and even violently herself, they said.Ventura was the first of two anticipated witnesses — the other is anonymously identified as Jane — included in the sex trafficking charges Combs faces.During opening statements Combs’s defense lawyer Teny Geragos called Combs’s accusers “capable, strong adult women,” and said his situation with Ventura was a “toxic relationship” but “between two people who loved each other.”- Combs familial entourage -Lawyers on both sides as well as Ventura have described Combs as “larger than life.” The artist made hundreds of millions in the music, fashion, media and liquor industries and is often credited with helping to take hip-hop mainstream.But the rap producer and global superstar once famous for his lavish parties now appears visibly aged after months in prison, his once jet-black hair now gray.His court entourage has included his mother along with a rotating cast of his seven children, including his 18-year-old twin daughters.- What’s next -To successfully convict Combs prosecutors must prove that he ran a criminal enterprise in which he and employees conspired to do his bidding at all costs.The government also alleges that Combs sex-trafficked Ventura and Jane through coercion or force.The prosecution is expected to show that Combs’s inner circle committed or helped with crimes at his behest, including sex crimes but also arson and kidnapping.Other witnesses have included a former hotel security guard who responded to a distress call from Ventura after a freak-off, a male escort who participated in the sex parties, and a special agent who was present for Combs’s arrest last year.Currently on the stand is Dawn Richard — a singer who found fame on MTV’s reality show “Making the Band,” which Combs produced. Richard previously filed a separate civil suit against Combs alleging sexual assault and battery.After that, prosecutors indicated Kerry Morgan, Ventura’s former but longtime best friend, and Ventura’s mother are expected to testify.

Israel threatens Huthi leaders after striking Yemen ports

Israel threatened to target the leadership of Yemen’s Iran-backed Huthi rebels after the air force struck two rebel-held ports on Friday, following repeated Huthi missile attacks in recent days.The Huthis agreed earlier this month to stop firing on international shipping in the Red Sea after the United States stepped up air strikes on rebel-held areas with British support.But the rebels vowed to keep up their strikes on Israel despite the deal and fired three missiles in as many days this week that triggered air raid warnings in major cities.The Huthis’ Al-Masirah television reported strikes on the Red Sea port city of Hodeida, a key entry point for aid, as well as the port of Salif further north.An AFP correspondent in Hodeida reported hearing several loud explosions.The Huthi-run health ministry said at least one person was killed and nine wounded in the strikes.The Israeli military said 15 fighter jets dropped over 30 munitions on Huthi targets in the air force’s eighth round of strikes in Yemen.It said the ports were “used to transfer weapons” and that prior warnings had been issued to Yemeni civilians to evacuate.The Huthi administration said the strikes “will be met with a painful response”, according to the Huthi-run Saba news agency.The Huthis, who have controlled large swathes of Yemen for more than a decade, began firing at Israel-linked shipping in November 2023, weeks after the start of the Israel-Hamas war.They later broadened their campaign to target Israel, saying it was in solidarity with the Palestinians in Gaza.Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned the Huthi leadership there was “more to come” after Friday’s strikes.”We are not willing to sit on the sidelines and let the Huthis attack us. We will hit them far more, including their leadership and all the infrastructure that allows them to hit us,” Netanyahu said in a video statement.Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz warned Huthi leaders that if the missile attacks continued, they would face the same fate as Hamas leaders slain by Israel in Gaza.- UN scales back aid -“If the Huthis continue to fire, we will also hit the heads of the terror groups, just as we did to (slain Hamas military chief Mohammed) Deif and (the) Sinwars (Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar and his brother Mohammed Sinwar) in Gaza,” Katz said in a post. “We will also hunt down and eliminate the Huthi leader, Abd al-Malek al-Huthi.”In early May, a Huthi missile struck an area at Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion airport, gouging a hole near its main terminal building and wounding several people in a rare penetration of Israeli air defences. Israel retaliated by striking the airport in Yemen’s rebel-controlled capital Sanaa and three nearby power stations.The UN special envoy for Yemen, Hans Grundberg, said that exchange marked a “dangerous escalation” and was a reminder that the war-torn country is “ensnared in the wider regional tensions.”The United Nations meanwhile announced that it was scaling back its humanitarian aid goals in Yemen in the latest fallout from a drastic drop in funding from member states.It said the cuts are putting millions of lives at risk around the world.In January, the UN launched an appeal for $2.4 billion to help 10.5 million people in war-torn Yemen this year, far below the 19.5 million people it deems as being in need of assistance.But with funding down, the global body and its humanitarian aid partners established new priorities so as to be able to help at least the neediest.Now the focus in Yemen will be on 8.8 million people with a forecast budget of $1.4 billion, said Stephanie Tremblay, a spokeswoman for UN chief Antonio Guterres.UN agencies are scaling back operations and staffing around the world as they grapple with big cuts in contributions from member states, in particular the United States under President Donald Trump.bur-ml-acc-fa/kir/jsa/fec/tym

Trump fulmine contre la Cour suprême qui lui interdit d’expulser des immigrés

Le président américain Donald Trump s’est indigné vendredi contre la Cour suprême à majorité conservatrice qui lui a infligé un nouveau revers en prolongeant son interdiction d’expulser des immigrés vénézuéliens en vertu d’une loi d’exception.”La Cour suprême ne veut pas nous laisser chasser les criminels de notre pays”, a accusé Donald Trump dans un message en lettres capitales sur son réseau Truth Social. La plus haute juridiction du pays “ne me laisse pas faire ce pour quoi j’ai été élu”, s’est-il plaint.Le républicain a érigé la lutte contre l’immigration clandestine en priorité absolue, évoquant une “invasion” des Etats-Unis par des “criminels venus de l’étranger” et communiquant abondamment sur les expulsions d’immigrés. Mais son programme d’expulsions massives a été contrecarré ou freiné par de multiples décisions de justice.Plusieurs tribunaux et cours d’appel fédéraux – ainsi que la Cour suprême elle-même le 19 avril – ont déjà bloqué provisoirement le recours à la loi de 1798 sur “les ennemis étrangers”, jusqu’alors utilisée exclusivement en temps de guerre, au motif que les personnes visées devaient pouvoir faire valoir leurs droits.Donald Trump a invoqué cette loi dans une déclaration présidentielle publiée le 15 mars à l’encontre du gang vénézuélien Tren de Aragua, déclaré organisation “terroriste” par Washington en février, le jour même de l’expulsion vers le Salvador de quelque 250 personnes, en grande majorité des Vénézuéliens accusés d’appartenir à ce gang.Plus de la moitié l’ont été en vertu de la loi de 1798.Au total, quelque 300 immigrés ont été expulsés vers le Salvador où ils ont été incarcérés dans une prison de haute sécurité connue pour la dureté de ses conditions de détention.- “24 heures de préavis” -Dans sa décision vendredi, par sept voix, celles de quatre juges conservateurs, dont son président, John Roberts, et de trois progressistes, contre celles des deux magistrats les plus conservateurs, la Cour prolonge jusqu’à nouvel ordre l’interdiction qu’elle avait prononcée le 19 avril.Elle renvoie le dossier à une cour d’appel fédérale pour déterminer la légalité du recours à cette loi ainsi que les conditions dans lesquelles les personnes visées peuvent contester en justice leur expulsion.La Cour insiste en particulier sur le caractère expéditif du processus, s’alarmant d’un “préavis d’à peine 24 heures avant l’expulsion, sans fournir d’information sur les droits de la contester”.Dans une décision cette fois unanime, le 7 avril, les neuf juges avaient considéré que les personnes menacées d’expulsion en vertu de cette loi devaient pouvoir la contester en justice, contrairement à ce qu’avait affirmé l’administration Trump, et en être avisées dans un “délai raisonnable”.La Cour assure néanmoins vendredi être pleinement consciente des “intérêts de sécurité nationale” invoqués par le gouvernement et recommande en conséquence aux juridictions inférieures de se prononcer “rapidement”.L’administration Trump a menacé le 9 mai de “suspendre” les droits de recours des immigrés visés par son projet d’expulsions massives si les juges continuaient à y faire obstacle.Elle accuse systématiquement les magistrats qui s’opposent à ses décisions d'”empiéter” sur les prérogatives du pouvoir exécutif.

Manhunt in US tourist hub New Orleans after 10 escape jail

Ten prisoners escaped a New Orleans jail early Friday after breaking through a wall behind a toilet, law enforcement said, slipping away without being detected until hours later.A manhunt is underway in the tourist hub, the southern state of Louisiana’s largest city, for nine fugitives who police say “are considered to be armed and dangerous.” One inmate is back in custody after being found hiding under a car in a tourist area Friday morning.Shortly after midnight (0500 GMT), the inmates broke through a wall behind a toilet, worked their way through the jail, then jumped over an enclosure wall, escaping the facility undetected until 8:30 am. That’s when a headcount revealed they were gone.At first, law enforcement erroneously said 11 inmates had escaped, but the number was later revised to 10.Media reports said some of the men are accused of murder, and circulated a photograph of the inside of a cell after the escape. The photo showed a rectangular hole leading out of a cell, the wall above it scrawled with obscene graffiti that says “we innocent,” “we out” and “to (sic) easy.”