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ENVIRONMENT

French ‘Spider-Man” celebrates 60th birthday by scaling 48-storey Paris skyscraper

French free climber Alain Robert, commonly known as France's 'Spider-Man', marked his 60th birthday by climbing a 48-storey building in Paris without any safety equipment on Saturday.

Published: 18 September 2022 08:57 CEST
French solo free climber Alain Robert is pictured mid-climb as he scales the TotalEnergies tower in Paris' La Defense
French solo free climber Alain Robert is pictured mid-climb as he scales the TotalEnergies tower in Paris' La Defense in January 2020. On Saturday 17th September 2022, he did it again. Photo: Thomas SAMSON / AFP

He scaled the 187-metre Tour TotalEnergies in the La Defense business district in Paris.

“I want to send people the message that being 60 years’ old is nothing. You can still do sport, be active, do fabulous things,” he told Reuters news agency.

“I promised myself several years ago that when I reached 60, I would climb that tower again because 60 symbolises retirement age in France and I thought that was a nice touch,” he added.

But once he reached the top of the tower, he was reportedly arrested, according to local French news site Defense-92.

Robert is pictured as he’s in the process of climbing the tower in the below tweet from Defense-92.

He also wanted to raise awareness of the need for climate change action by making the climb, Reuters reported.

Since he began climbing in 1975, Robert has become well known for his daring feats, climbing over 150 tall buildings around the world – including the world’s tallest, Dubai’s Burj Khalifa.

He never uses a harness and relies solely on a small bag of chalk, his climbing shoes and his impressive rock-climbing skills.

But because he doesn’t always request permission before starting a climb, he’s also been arrested numerous times.

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WINE

Italy to overtake France as world’s largest wine producer

Italy is due to regain its spot as the world's largest wine producer in 2024 as France's vineyards are hit by unfavourable weather, according to figures from each country's agricultural authorities.

Published: 18 September 2024 16:24 CEST
Italy to overtake France as world's largest wine producer

After a disastrous 2023 harvest, Italy’s production will recover eight percent to between 41 million and 42 million hectolitres, the country’s main agricultural association Coldiretti said on Wednesday.

The French agriculture ministry had estimated earlier this month that French production will fall 18 percent to 39.3 million hectolitres.

Coldiretti noted that this year’s output in Italy still remains well under the average of recent years, as different parts of the country cope with either heavy rains or drought.

Since 2007, Italy has been the world’s top producer each year apart from 2011, 2014 and 2023, when it was pipped by France, according to the International Organisation of Vine and Wine (OIV).

Coldiretti said Italy is “divided in two” with the north hit by “intense rain and hail in spring and early summer”, while large parts of the south and Sicily have faced drought.

Heat and lack of rain led to particularly early harvests in some parts of the country.

In France, the steepest fall is expected in the eastern Jura mountain range where frosts and mildew are expected to result in a 71 percent drop in output.

In terms of volume, the biggest drop will be in the western Charente region where production will fall 35 percent.

Output is expected to fall by 30 percent in the Loire Valley and by a quarter in the Burgundy-Beaujolais area, which was hit by severe hail.

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