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Daily Mirror
9 hours ago
- Daily Mirror
Ajaccio train crash UPDATES: Dozens of Corsica tourists injured after accident
Dozens of people are believed to have been injured following a tourist train overturning in the French commune of Corsica. There has been a significant response from emergency services with around 30 to 40 people reported to have been injured in Ajaccio. The incident occured on the Sanguinaires Road, near the popular Barbicaghja Beach. One of the carriages on the train is reported to have overturned, follwoing the incident at around 12pm today. Four people are believed to be in a serious condition. 12:02Benjamin Lynch Four people are believed to be in a serious condition Four people are believed to be in a serious condition, according to reporting by FranceInfo. 11:55Benjamin Lynch Dozens injured Between 30 to 40 people are reported to have been injured, according to local reports. 11:55Benjamin Lynch Emrgency services at the scene Significant were deployed to the scene.
Local France
a day ago
- Business
- Local France
Why Normandy is the French region hardest hit by US tariffs
The USA and EU appear to have reached an agreement on tariffs on European goods - albeit one that seems to be vague and somewhat contradictory. While tariffs on imports are paid by consumers in the US, they also affect European companies exporting across the Atlantic, since their goods become less attractive to the US market. Meanwhile the continued uncertainty over tariffs that has characterised Trump's second term in office makes it hard for businesses to plan ahead. READ ALSO : 'A dark day': What we know so far about the EU-US trade deal Overall, France is not one of the worst-affected EU countries - Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands and Belgium are expected to be the worst hit - but there are some areas that are hit especially hard. In 2024 French exports to the US were driven by aeronautics (€9.1 billion, or 18.8 percent of total exports), beverages such as wine and Cognac (€4.1 billion, 8.4 percent) and pharmaceuticals (€3.8 billion, 7.9 percent). Chemicals, ship-building and luxury goods such as perfume, designer clothes and handbags all have a strong market in the US. Advertisement These include specific sectors like wine - Bordeaux winemakers export 20 percent of their product , worth €400 million, to the US - and Cognac, which sells more in the US than it does in France. But when it comes to geographical areas, the northern region of Normandy is the worst affected - the US is the region's largest overseas market, buying €1 billion worth of goods each year. It's calculated that exports to the US represent €2,000 per employee per year for the Normandy region. Some of the exports to the US will be unsurprising to anyone who knows the area - Normandy cider exports to the US while the region's most famous cheeses, including camembert and pont l'evêque are popular too. But other sectors are perhaps a little more unexpected, with items manufactured in Normandy factories and by small businesses selling well in the US. On the industrial side, Normandy is a big exporter of chemicals, especially products for the oil industry. Small businesses and artisans export to the US too - for example office furniture manufacturer Axoes, based in Fleury-sur-Orne in the Calvados département of Normandy, whose products sell well in the US. CEO Mickael Huron told France Info that he had just invested €500,000 to expand his sales in America. He said: "We're keeping our fingers crossed that our customers will accept this tax increase. If I had been able to predict the future, I think I would have postponed my project." The tableware manufacturer Degrenne, based in Vire-Normandie, south of Caen, exports 20 percent of its products to the US, where its stainless steel cutlery is especially popular. Advertisement Employee Sylie Desfeux told France Info : "If we lose these markets, they are big customers. So they are quite important sources of income for us, for the company. So afterwards, it could also affect us as employees." However CEO Hugo van Houtte struck a more bullish note, saying: "Yes, it's bad news. We're going to deal with it, we're not going to take it lying down, we're not going to complain, we're going to take action. Even if we have to reduce our margins a little, so be it, we'll get on with it."
NBC Sports
22-07-2025
- Sport
- NBC Sports
Leon Marchand narrows his World Swimming Championships focus with world record in sight
Since the Paris Olympics, Léon Marchand has surfed in Australia and been asked for a picture while dining in Greece. Back in France, he estimated his fame is 10 times greater than anywhere else he's been. Marchand, who won four swimming gold medals last summer, returned to his training base of Austin, Texas, in late March to prepare for the World Championships. The meet begins this weekend in Singapore (live daily on Peacock). The 23-year-old from Toulouse initially entered the same four events he won in Paris: the 200m and 400m individual medleys, the 200m breaststroke and the 200m butterfly. On Monday, French media reported that Marchand dropped the 200m breast and 200m fly, his two closest races in Paris (the two Olympic finals were about 1 hour, 45 minutes apart). Nick Zaccardi, 'It's a choice we made because we are in a post-Olympic year, and he has never had the opportunity to present a 200m medley without having a race before or after the same day,' Marchand's France-based coach Nicolas Castel said in comments reported by France Info that Castel reposted on social media, according to a translation. 'He wanted to test this isolated 200m medley and see what he was capable of.' The 200m fly final is the day before the 200m IM final. The 200m breast semis are in the same session as the 200m IM final. Dropping them would mean Marchand has no individual races before the 200m IM. He could be capable of breaking the world record: 1:54.00, set by Ryan Lochte at the 2011 World Championships. In Paris, Marchand swam 1:54.06, missing the record by six hundredths of a second. If he can take it down, Marchand will become the second man to own both individual medley world records in the last 30 years. The other: Michael Phelps, whose 400m IM record Marchand broke in 2023 after Phelps held it for 21 years. 'I have a lot of things to improve,' Marchand said in the spring, reflecting on the Paris Olympics as a whole. 'It's not over. I also did a lot of mistakes, so I can do better for sure.' Marchand has said the four years of work leading into Paris were the hard part. Swimming at his home Games, despite the pressure, was like spending the money he banked over thousands of training hours, to take a metaphor that his Austin-based coach, Bob Bowman, adopted in his years guiding Phelps. So, how much has Marchand deposited since Paris that he can withdraw in Singapore? Bowman said he's been swimming near his top level in practice. 'I'm very happy with how he's been since he's come back,' Bowman said. 'He's been perfectly normal. He's tried hard. He's made the improvements.' Marchand took six weeks of vacation after the Olympics, according to L'Equipe. Then on Nov. 1, he broke Lochte's 200m IM world record for 25-meter short course pools, which are used less frequently than the 50-meter pools at most major meets like the Olympics. He swam and surfed in Australia over three months early this year (during which he cracked a rib, missing a week) before settling back down in Austin. Marchand has yet to swim at a high-stakes meet in 2025, unlike Americans who had to qualify through trials. So there is little race data to gauge how close he is to summer 2024 form. 'I think that his year has unfolded — other than the injuries — it's kind of been what he wanted,' Bowman said. 'I think he needed a mental break. I think he needed to go away to Australia to get out of France for a while. And then when he was ready to come back, he's done very well in Texas.'
Euractiv
12-07-2025
- Politics
- Euractiv
New Caledonia's leaders reach ‘historic' deal on French territory's future
Political leaders in the French overseas territory of New Caledonia reached an agreement about the archipelago's future on Saturday. This includes the creation of a State of New Caledonia, which will be written into the French Constitution. The agreement allows residents of the territory to hold both French and New Caledonian nationality. It also sets out financial understandings with Paris to benefit the islands, located in the Pacific Ocean to the East of Australia. French Prime Minister François Bayrou, who has made overseas territories a priority since taking office last year, described it as a "historic agreement". Negotiations began in early July to draw up a shared vision for New Caledonia's future that will bridge deep divisions between the Indigenous Kanak population, who want more independence from Paris, and descendants of French settlers. In a post on X, Bayrou hailed the State of New Caledonia and paid tribute to the negotiators and specifically Manuel Valls, the French overseas minister. A statement by the two parties quoted by FranceInfo described the agreement as the beginning of a "new era of stability by formally bringing New Caledonia into the French Republic". Voting rights will be granted "to a large number of Caledonians and their partners," the text adds. In May 2024, unrest erupted in New Caledonia after the French parliament proposed a constitutional revision of New Caledonia's electoral roll, which the archipelago's pro-independence groups saw as a move to undermine their political weight. The violence left 14 dead, including 11 Kanaks, and caused an estimated €2 billion in damage. Sonia Backes, the leader of the loyalists – descendants of French settlers – said that while the compromise "would not fully satisfy anyone" it provides a way out of "the spiral of violence, uncertainty and destruction". "New Caledonian nationality takes nothing away from our membership of the Republic or our French nationality," she added. The agreement still needs to be ratified by Caledonians with a local referendum.
Local France
10-07-2025
- Health
- Local France
'The risk is real': France sees rise in cases of chikungunya fever
So far this year, mainland France has recorded 25 ' cas autochtones ' - or locally-transmitted cases of the disease, found in people who have not travelled to an area where the infection is common, out of 761 total cases. Doctors in France have warned of the risks of the virus, which causes fever and joint point and can in rare cases lead to more serious complications. Deaths are rare in countries that have access to good healthcare facilities. Chikungunya is generally described as a tropical disease and is common in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean and the Pacific Islands. It can, however, be spread by the bite of tiger mosquito - an Asian import that is now commonly found throughout southern and central France, and as far north as Paris. READ ALSO : MAP: Tiger mosquitoes reach northern France✎ The French Indian Ocean island of La Réunion is currently in the grip of a chikungunya epidemic that has caused 200,000 cases of the virus and 20 deaths since the start of the year. Advertisement Experts at the public health body Santé Public France say that while most of the cases in mainland France are in people who have recently travelled to La Réunion - or other areas where chikungunya is common - a rising number of cases are being diagnosed in people who have not recently left France. Cases have been recorded in Corsica and the southern Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region before, but this year has also seen a case in the cooler, northern region of Grand Est. Anna-Bella Failloux, an entomologist at the Institut Pasteur, told France Info : "Such an early start to the mosquito's activity season and such a high number of cases had never been observed before. "We didn't expect to detect a locally transmitted case in the Grand Est." Eric d'Ortenzio, an epidemiologist at the Inserm institute, added: "The risk is real. "We need to monitor the situation and tell the population to protect themselves, by using mosquito repellents - the only means of preventing this disease." Since May 1st, Santé Publique France has been tracking cases of the virus, especially those that are the result of local transmission. "For the time being, the situation is not worrying, but we must remain vigilant," said Anna-Bella Failloux. What is chikungunya and how to protect against it? The virus is spread by the bites of infected mosquitoes, especially the tiger mosquito. Symptoms start four to eight days after the bite and include fever, joint and muscle pain, headache, nausea and fatigue. Most people will recover without treatment within a week, but complications can occur, especially in people who have ongoing health conditions. Advertisement There is no specific treatment for chikungunya. A vaccine does exist, but it has been linked with various side effects, and as a result French health authorities are no longer recommending it for the general population - anyone in a high-risk group should speak to their doctor. The best way to prevent it is to avoid mosquito bites by wearing mosquito repellent during the summer months - tiger mosquitoes (the smaller, black and white striped ones) are active throughout the day. They are found in almost all of France apart from the northern coast. READ ALSO : How to prevent the spread of tiger mosquitoes in France✎
