New doubts over coral, safety at planned Olympic surf venue / Photo: Jerome Brouillet - AFP/File
-
Le Garrec welcomes Dupont help in training for Springboks showdown
-
Brussels wants high-speed rail linking EU capitals by 2040
-
Swiss business chiefs met Trump on tariffs: Bern
-
At least 9 dead after cargo plane crashes near Louisville airport
-
France moves to suspend Shein website as first store opens in Paris
-
Spain's exiled king recounts history, scandals in wistful memoir
-
Wall Street stocks steady after positive jobs data
-
Trump blasts Democrats as government shutdown becomes longest ever
-
Indian pilgrims find 'warm welcome' in Pakistan despite tensions
-
Inter and AC Milan complete purchase of San Siro
-
Swedish authorities inspect worksite conditions at steel startup Stegra
-
Keys withdraws from WTA Finals with illness
-
Prince Harry says proud to be British despite new life in US
-
BMW boosts profitability, welcomes Nexperia signals
-
EU strikes last-ditch deal on climate targets as COP30 looms
-
Stocks retreat as tech bubble fears grow
-
Shein opens first permanent store amid heavy police presence
-
West Indies edge New Zealand despite Santner brilliance
-
French pair released by Iran await return home
-
German factory orders up but outlook still muted
-
Death toll tops 100 as Philippines digs out after typhoon
-
Attack on key city in Sudan's Kordofan region kills 40: UN
-
'No one could stop it': Sudanese describe mass rapes while fleeing El-Fasher
-
Champagne and cheers across New York as Mamdani soars to victory
-
Medieval tower collapse adds to Italy's workplace toll
-
BMW boosts profitability despite China, tariff woes
-
South Africa's Wiese wary of 'hurt' France before re-match
-
Asian markets sink as tech bubble fears grow
-
Beyond limits: Croatian freediver's breathtaking record
-
Tottenham supporting Udogie after alleged gun threat in London
-
Thunder roll Clippers to stay unbeaten as SGA keeps streak alive
-
In appeal, Australian mushroom murderer alleges 'miscarriage of justice'
-
Toyota hikes profit forecasts 'despite US tariffs'
-
Typhoon death toll soars past 90 in the Philippines
-
Ex-France lock Willemse challenges Meafou to become 'the bully'
-
Ukrainians to honour sporting dead by building country they 'died for': minister
-
At least 7 dead after UPS cargo plane crashes near Louisville airport
-
US Supreme Court hears challenge to Trump tariff powers
-
US government shutdown becomes longest in history
-
India's Modi readies bellwether poll in poorest state
-
Green goals versus growth needs: India's climate scorecard
-
Where things stand on China-US trade after Trump and Xi talk
-
Sri Lanka targets big fish in anti-corruption push
-
NY elects leftist mayor on big election night for Democrats
-
Injured Jordie Barrett to miss rest of All Blacks tour
-
Asian markets tumble as tech bubble fears grow
-
Pay to protect: Brazil pitches new forest fund at COP30
-
Australia pick 'impressive' Weatherald in first Ashes Test squad
-
Iraq's social media mercenaries dying for Russia
-
Young leftist Trump foe elected New York mayor
NYSE - LSE
New doubts over coral, safety at planned Olympic surf venue
The president of French Polynesia has questioned whether 2024 Olympic surfing can go ahead at the planned site in Tahiti, saying he was concerned about safety and damage to coral from a planned judging tower.
A construction barge slated to install a new judging tower broke more of the beach's corals in a new test in the French Pacific territory on Friday, which was filmed by environmental groups.
That could leave an old wooden tower as the only space for the judges.
"Today we're breaking coral, and tomorrow we may be endangering people's lives if we use this old equipment," Moetai Brotherson told local broadcaster TNTV on Saturday.
"If there's no solution in the end... we must call into question the survival of the surf contests at Teahupoo," he added.
Brotherson cancelled tests he was supposed to observe as well as the start of construction work on Monday.
And he said that "there's no way we will be able to re-use the old foundations... or the old tower".
Brotherson told AFP that it would not be possible to move the competition to another beach in Tahiti, as Teahupoo was the site originally filed with Olympic authorities as part of France's candidacy.
And it would cost several million euros (dollars) to move the surfing events to a site in metropolitan France.
But Barbara Martins-Nio, the Tahiti Olympics site director, said she was "confident a technical solution exists".
"A new tower and new foundations are the only way," she added -- while acknowledging that "it's true that it's difficult to access the site".
"If we don't manage it, all of us together will have to ask ourselves what happens next," Martins-Nio said.
More than 168,000 people have signed an online petition against the planned aluminium judges' tower, supposed to reach a height of 14 metres (46 feet), while hundreds have protested at the Teahupoo site itself.
It "doesn't make any sense to need such a giant tower for a 2 days event," American surfing legend Kelly Slater posted online last week, calling to "give the money to local infrastructure" instead.
Vai ara o Teahupoo, the main association opposing the new tower, has stopped speaking to the media about the case.
C.Garcia--AMWN
