Latest news with #ValeryHACHE
The Star
14 hours ago
- Science
- The Star
UN Ocean Conference sets sail in France on World Oceans Day
A protester takes part in the Blue March (Marche Bleue) on the Promenade des Anglais ahead of the United Nations Ocean Conference (Unoc 3), in the French riviera city of Nice, south-eastern France on June 7, 2025. The third edition of the United Nations Ocean Conference (Unoc 3) opens on June 9, 2025, in Nice, where many hope to see money and other concrete actions to protect marine life in polluted, overheated and overfished oceans. -- Photo by Valery HACHE / AFP NICE, France (AP): A fleet of 30 research and exploration vessels from around the world will set sail just off the French coastal city of Nice on Sunday to kick off the third United Nations Ocean Conference and pay tribute to World Oceans Day. The event themed "Ocean Wonders' will see the vessels sail across Nice's Baie des Anges, or Bay of Angels, and is designed to spotlight the beauty and importance of the ocean while urging world leaders not to lose sight of its value as they make decisions about the planet's future. Thousands of delegates, including heads of state, scientists, and environmental advocates, are expected in Nice this week to confront growing threats to the ocean and the need to transform pledges into protection. The UN has called the threats a global emergency facing the world's oceans as they confront rising temperatures, plastic pollution choking marine life, and relentless overexploitation of fish and other resources. Just 2.7% of the global ocean is effectively protected from destructive activities like industrial fishing and deep-sea mining - far below the global goal of 30% by 2030. Participating boats include the Energy Observer, a solar-panel covered catamaran that was the first vessel to circumnavigate the globe using renewable energy alone. It produces hydrogen fuel on board via seawater electrolysis, offering a vision of zero-emissions maritime travel. Other standout vessels include France's Alfred Merlin, dedicated to underwater archaeology; the OceanXplorer, a high-tech billionaire-owned research yacht; and the WWF's Blue Panda, which is working to map and protect the last remaining seagrass meadows in the Mediterranean Sea. At the heart of the conference is the push to ratify the High Seas Treaty, adopted in 2023. If it enters into force, the treaty would for the first time allow countries to establish marine protected areas in international waters, which cover nearly two-thirds of the ocean and remain largely ungoverned. "The High Seas Treaty is critical to ensuring we can protect biodiversity in the ocean,' said Rebecca Hubbard, director of the High Seas Alliance. "We're in the middle of a biodiversity and climate crisis. We absolutely have to protect the ocean to address those crises.' But even in waters already designated as protected, enforcement often falls short. Many countries, France included, face criticism from environmental groups over weak regulation and continued industrial activity within their marine protected areas. "The ambition is not there, the speed is not there, and the scale has not been there,' said Sílvia Tavares, project manager at Oceano Azul Foundation. "Moments like UNOC are key to changing that.' Several countries are expected to announce new marine protected areas during the conference, along with bans on bottom trawling and other destructive activities within their existing MPA networks. After Sunday's parade sail, the "Ocean Wonders' fleet will remain docked in Nice and open to the public until the conference concludes on June 13. - AP
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Last Champions League place, relegation to be decided in Ligue 1 finale
Nice hope to be celebrating Champions League qualification on Saturday but are one of four teams still in with a chance of finishing fourth in Ligue 1 on the last night of the season (Valery HACHE) Title-winners Paris Saint-Germain still have the Champions League final to look forward to later this month but the Ligue 1 season reaches its climax on Saturday with European places still up for grabs and a quartet of clubs scrapping to avoid relegation. PSG secured a fourth consecutive domestic title more than a month ago and will collect their trophy following Saturday's match at home to Auxerre. Advertisement Luis Enrique's side will then turn their thoughts to the French Cup final against Reims on May 24 and the Champions League final against Inter Milan in Munich a week later. Behind them, Marseille and Monaco clinched podium places, and guaranteed access to next season's Champions League, with victories last weekend combined with favourable results elsewhere. That leaves one spot in Europe's elite club competition to be decided, with four teams -- Nice, Lille, Strasbourg and Lyon -- still in contention for a place in the third qualifying round of the Champions League. Nice, who fell short in the Champions League play-offs in 2017, are best-placed to take the remaining spot as they come into their final match at home to Brest in fourth place and with the best goal difference. Advertisement A 1-0 win for the Ineos-owned outfit would leave Lille needing to win by six goals, or Strasbourg requiring an eight-goal margin of victory for them to go above Nice. "I prefer to be slightly above the others in the table than slightly below them," admitted Nice coach Franck Haise, who took Lens into the Champions League two years ago. "To get fourth place, which would not be trivial, first of all we need to win. We know that." A slip-up would give a real chance to Lille, who finished fourth last season and then came through the qualifying rounds of the Champions League before going on to reach the last 16. Advertisement Strasbourg also retain hope of a first campaign in Europe's elite competition since 1979/80, despite the frustration of seeing a 12-game unbeaten run ended in a 2-1 loss at Angers last weekend. - Saint-Etienne to survive? - Lille and Strasbourg are both at home to relegation-threatened opponents, in the shape of Reims and Le Havre respectively. Lyon, meanwhile, know their chances of taking fourth are extremely slim. They must win at home to Angers and hope the three teams above them all lose, with the consequences of missing out on the huge prize money on offer in the Champions League likely very serious for them. Advertisement "First of all, we need to focus on ourselves," said Lyon coach Paulo Fonseca. "We know it's going to be very difficult for all the other teams to lose, but we must go out looking to win our match without thinking about the rest." The team finishing fifth will go into the Europa League with sixth entering the Conference League, although seventh place will be enough to qualify for Europe provided PSG win the French Cup. At the bottom, Saint-Etienne gave themselves a lifeline last weekend in their bid to avoid an immediate return to the second tier. A win at home to Toulouse will see them grab the lifeline of a two-legged play-off against either Dunkerque or Metz to stay in the top flight -- provided Le Havre do not win. Advertisement Reims and Nantes are also not yet safe from the danger of finishing in the bottom three. Key stats 4 - Four teams go into the last night of the season with a chance of taking France's fourth and final qualifying spot for the Champions League 21 - PSG's Ousmane Dembele has 21 goals and is on course to end the season as Ligue 1's leading scorer, although Marseille's Mason Greenwood is just two behind on 19 9- The number of PSG players named in the Ligue 1 team of the season -- Lille goalkeeper Lucas Chevalier and Lyon forward Rayan Cherki were the only two from elsewhere to make the select XI Advertisement Fixtures on Saturday (kick-offs 1900 GMT) Lens v Monaco, Lille v Reims, Lyon v Angers, Marseille v Rennes, Nantes v Montpellier, Nice v Brest, Paris Saint-Germain v Auxerre, Saint-Etienne v Toulouse, Strasbourg v Le Havre as/ea
Yahoo
15-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
French Ligue 1 clubs vote to break TV deal with DAZN
Ligue 1's domestic broadcast deal with DAZN only started this season and is due to run until 2029 (Valery HACHE) French Ligue 1 clubs on Tuesday voted in favour of breaking their domestic television deal with DAZN at the end of this season, leaving them facing an uncertain future. The broadcaster rejected a proposal from the league, whose clubs voted for the large part in favour of ending the deal after the breakdown in relations between the two parties. Advertisement The decision by the clubs plunges the league deeper into a crisis which has been ongoing for several years, since Spanish company Mediapro pulled out of a record broadcast deal in 2020, just months after it came into effect. The DAZN deal was only agreed last July, a couple of weeks ahead of this season starting, with the British streaming platform replacing previous rights holders Canal Plus and Amazon. DAZN has been showing eight out of nine Ligue 1 matches per week, with Qatar's beIN Sports broadcasting the other game, for the total combined price of 500 million euros ($564m) annually. That represented a significant reduction from the previous deal, worth 624 million euros a year. Advertisement DAZN is due to pay 400 million euros per year, with the contract in place until 2029, but the agreement allows either party to back out at the end of next season. The French league (LFP) said in a statement that it expected its broadcast partner "to continue to carry out all of its obligations" for the time being. It said that mediation between the parties, which started last month, had not enabled them to find a solution to their differences. DAZN was late in paying an instalment of 35 million euros at the beginning of this year and is due to pay two more instalments worth a total of 140 million euros, at the end of this month and in June. Advertisement - Compensation - The league voted in favour of breaking the contract and proposing a financial compensation package to DAZN, of 140 million euros at the end of the season and between 110-125 million euros for next season, sources with knowledge of the discussions told AFP. That proposal was turned down by DAZN, which is seeking some 573 million euros from the LFP for what it sees as not fulfilling the obligations of their contract. DAZN is understood to only have around 500,000 paying subscribers to its Ligue 1 coverage and blames the league for not doing more to block illegal streaming sites. It also says certain clubs have not cooperated in helping them make their product more attractive, for example by blocking requests for access. Advertisement The situation leaves the clubs, already in a fragile position financially, facing up to a difficult future. They are dependent on income from television, but have no clear idea what that income will be for the foreseeable future. Fans, meanwhile, do not know for certain how they will be able to watch matches after the end of this season. The French league's domestic broadcast deal is worth considerably less than its major European rivals, most notably the English Premier League. Certain clubs have pushed for the league to set up its own streaming service, although one source close to the discussions acknowledged that would offer very little guaranteed income initially. ali-bap/pga/cpb/as/mw
Yahoo
09-04-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Onana 'one of worst goalkeepers in Man Utd's history': Matic
Lyon's Nemanja Matic had spells at Chelsea and Manchester United (Valery HACHE) Former Manchester United midfielder Nemanja Matic has labelled Andre Onana "one of the worst goalkeepers" in the club's history, reacting angrily to the shotstopper's claim that the Premier League side are "way better" than Lyon. Advertisement Ruben Amorim's struggling United travel to face the French side on Thursday in the first leg of their Europa League quarter-final. United are 13th in the Premier League after a miserable season but remain unbeaten in Europe. Onana said after the Manchester derby on Sunday, which finished 0-0, that overcoming Lyon, fifth in Ligue 1, was "not going to be easy, but I think we are way better than them". That bullish remark was put to the normally understated Matic on the eve of the first leg in France. "You know, I respect everyone but to say that then you need to give the answer," said the Serbia international, who also had a spell with Chelsea in the Premier League. Advertisement "If you are one of the worst goalkeepers in Man United's history, you need to take care of what you are talking (about). "If David de Gea or Peter Schmeichel or (Edwin) van der Sar said that, then I would question myself. "But if you're one of the statistically worst goalkeepers in Man United's modern history, then he needs to show that before he says (anything). We will see." bur-jw/bsp
