- Langers edge Tiger and son Charlie in PNC Championship playoff
- Explosive batsman Jacobs gets New Zealand call-up for Sri Lanka series
- Holders PSG edge through on penalties in French Cup
- Daniels throw five TDs as Commanders down Eagles
- Atalanta fight back to take top spot in Serie A, Roma hit five
- Mancini admits regrets over leaving Italy for Saudi Arabia
- Run machine Ayub shines as Pakistan sweep South Africa
- Slovak PM Fico on surprise visit to Kremlin
- 'Incredible' Liverpool must stay focused: Slot
- Maresca 'absolutely happy' as title-chasing Chelsea drop points in Everton draw
- Salah happy wherever career ends after inspiring Liverpool rout
- Three and easy as Dortmund move into Bundesliga top six
- Liverpool hit Spurs for six, Man Utd embarrassed by Bournemouth
- Netanyahu vows to act with 'force, determination' against Yemen's Huthis
- Ali hat-trick helps champions Ahly crush Belouizdad
- Salah stars as rampant Liverpool hit Spurs for six
- Syria's new leader says all weapons to come under 'state control'
- 'Sonic 3' zips to top of N.America box office
- Rome's Trevi Fountain reopens to limited crowds
- Mbappe strikes as Real Madrid down Sevilla
- Pope again condemns 'cruelty' of Israeli strikes on Gaza
- Lonely this Christmas: Vendee skippers in low-key celebrations on high seas
- Troubled Man Utd humiliated by Bournemouth
- 2 US pilots shot down over Red Sea in 'friendly fire' incident: military
- Man Utd embarrassed by Bournemouth, Chelsea held at Everton
- France awaits fourth government of the year
- Death toll in Brazil bus crash rises to 41
- Odermatt stays hot to break Swiss World Cup wins record
- Neville says Rashford's career at Man Utd nearing 'inevitable ending'
- Syria's new leader vows not to negatively interfere in Lebanon
- Germany pledges security inquest after Christmas market attack
- Putin vows 'destruction' on Ukraine after Kazan drone attack
- Understated Usyk seeks recognition among boxing legends
- France awaits appointment of new government
- Cyclone Chido death toll rises to 94 in Mozambique
- Stokes out of England's Champions Trophy squad
- Gaza rescuers say Israeli strikes kill 28
- Sweet smell of success for niche perfumes
- 'Finally, we made it!': Ho Chi Minh City celebrates first metro
- Angry questions in Germany after Christmas market attack
- China's Zheng pulls out of season-opening United Cup
- Minorities fear targeted attacks in post-revolution Bangladesh
- Tatum's 43-point triple-double propels Celtics over Bulls
- Tunisia women herb harvesters struggle with drought and heat
- Trump threatens to take back control of Panama Canal
- India's architecture fans guard Mumbai's Art Deco past
- Secretive game developer codes hit 'Balatro' in Canadian prairie province
- Large earthquake hits battered Vanuatu
- Beaten Fury says Usyk got 'Christmas gift' from judges
- First Singaporean golfer at Masters hopes 'not be in awe' of heroes
France readies 'exceptional' rescue of beluga astray in Seine
French officials are moving ahead with a delicate plan to transport a beluga whale back to the ocean after it swam far up the Seine river toward Paris, putting its life in danger, a marine expert said Tuesday.
The four-metre (13-foot) cetacean was discovered a week ago and appears sick and underweight but its condition is "satisfactory," Isabelle Brasseur of the Marineland sea animal park in southern France, Europe's biggest, told AFP.
"As of this morning we have an idea of something that could work, we're going to explain and refine it with the people who are going to help us," she said.
Belugas are a protected species that cannot survive long in fresh water.
This one is currently around 130 kilometres (80 miles) inland from the English Channel at Saint-Pierre-La-Garenne in Normandy.
"What's exceptional is that here the banks of the Seine are not accessible for vehicles... everything is going to have to be done by hand," Brasseur said.
It is stuck behind a lock and unable to move further inland -- it's now some 80 kilometres from the French capital -- but is not turning around, and officials warn that attempts to "nudge" the beluga back toward the sea are not viable.
The idea is to take the beluga by road to an undisclosed seawater basin where it can be treated before being released.
But the challenges are considerable and the journey is likely to further stress an animal weighing 800 kilogrammes (nearly 1,800 pounds).
The Sea Shepherd France NGO, which is assisting the operation, said in a statement Tuesday that tranquilisation was not an option, since belugas are so-called "voluntary breathers" that need to be awake to inhale air.
- Appeal for donations -
"In any case, we have to get it out of there... and try to figure out what is wrong," Brasseur said.
Veterinarians will keep constant surveillance during the move.
"There may be internal problems that we can't see," she said despite the fact that belugas are "extremely hardy" as a species.
Sea Shepherd has issued an appeal for donations of heavy-duty ropes, nets, mattresses and other equipment.
According to France's Pelagis Observatory, specialised in sea mammals, the nearest beluga population is off the Svalbard archipelago, north of Norway, 3,000 kilometres from the Seine.
P.Sousa--PC