With an 80% market share in the house-swap space, and explosive growth, HomeExchange, bought and reinvented by two Frenchmen, has become the undisputed champion of house swapping. Will it undercut the American giant’s hold on the market.
Source: LES ECHOS
France’s top business daily, Les Echos covers domestic and international economic, financial and markets news. Founded in 1908, the newspaper has been the property of French luxury good conglomerate LVMH (Moet Hennessy – Louis Vuitton) since 2007.
How can we avoid a Trumpification of the debate in France? This is one of the big-picture questions after far-right leader Marine Le Pen was barred from running for public office, after her conviction in an embezzlement trial may mean she will not be able to stand for president in the 2027 elections
The car industry is in shock, with the announcement from Washington of 25% tariffs on auto imports to the United States. Here’s what every car owner and business needs to know about how this crucial industry will be affected around the world.
Since the 1980s, the American tradition of team building has found its way into French companies. Consider it a bonafide clash of cultures, and attitudes.
Europeans may see seizing Russian assets as a financial and moral boost, they should resist the idea to avoid a triple boomerang effect.
Will Trump be the American Gorbachev? It’s now or never for Europe to catch up with the United States’ economy, if the European Central Bank is willing to show the way, says economist Nicolas Goetzmann.
Following U.S. President Donald Trump’s flurry of tariffs on Canadian, Mexican and Chinese products, Europe is expecting similar announcements. France, whose wines and spirits are a traditional target in trade conflicts with the EU, is particularly at risk. Its cognac is already being targeted by China.
From restoring the fire-ravaged Notre-Dame Cathedral to the Olympic Games, from industrial chimneys to nuclear power plants, rope access technicians are in demand everywhere. Meet the professionals in the thick of it.
Unthinkable just a few months ago, the return of Russian gas to supply European countries is now being advocated by some on the continent. But the move faces both political and technical barriers, and its medium-term benefits are not clear.
French business analysts note that for companies, like nations, the current context is decidedly VUCA: volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous, to use a U.S. military strategy acronym. To succeed in Trump’s cut-throat commercial world, companies will need to acquire skills more common in matters of war and peace, than in traditional business operations..
Determined to assert its sovereignty over regions still under Serbia’s illegal control, Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti is pushing hard to enforce the euro as its official currency — risking a dangerous escalation in a region already scarred by war and ethnic conflict.
The 75,000 wholesalers in the export manufacturing hub of Yiwu say they have been moderately affected by the tariffs imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump, which he has just announced he will double. Many had already pivoted to developing countries to sell their goods.
It’s as if, before our very eyes, the president of the United States were reading a script written by the Kremlin. French political analyst Dominique Moïsi, says the reversal on Ukraine is an ally’s betrayal of historical proportions.
It’s a miraculous story: 35 years ago, Yves Saint Laurent dressed a statue of Mary nestled in a small chapel between Neuilly and Paris. An unlikely stunning outfit of the 1980s, the haute couture icon was forgotten until the Metropolitan Museum of Art rediscovered it.
Breaking through where no one expected it, the UAE is becoming a major power in AI. MGX, Abu Dhabi’s dedicated fund, has just joined Donald Trump’s gigantic Stargate project. It’s a new golden age for the Gulf.
This week, U.S. President Donald Trump doubled down on his accusations against Ukraine. It looks as though Kyiv may have to rely solely on European military aid. But France’s president, along with the British prime minister, have made urgent plans to visit Trump.
Vladimir Putin says he is “ready” to talk with Volodymyr Zelensky. But it’s a feigned openness to dupe Trump, since he continues to question the legitimacy of the Ukrainian president and does not alter one iota his demands for a kind of capitulation by Kyiv and a reversal of Baltic entry into the Atlantic Alliance.
Europe’s back is against the wall — Putin’s wall. The meeting in Paris of European leaders who are ready to defend Ukraine in the face of U.S. withdrawal was an opportunity for Europe to rebuild itself to preserve its interests and its honor.
In the span of just a few hours last week, Donald Trump turned Putin’s Russia from a pariah state to a partner. For French political analyst Dominique Moïsi, the “useful idiot” role that Trump is playing does however raise a fundamental question for Europe about its own global autonomy in the future.
in 2017, Jean-Jacques Hublin discovered Homo sapiens fossils that pushed back our species’ origins by 100,000 years. Now, in a new book, The Tyranny of the Brain, the French paleoanthropologist traces the evolution of our brains since the emergence of Homo sapiens 300,000 years ago.
French author and philosopher Gaspard Koenig recently updated his Word software only to discover that the Copilot generative AI chatbot wants to do his writing for him. A real “existential threat…”?
Researchers have identified a possible link between climate change and the frequency of earthquakes — and the quakes may also start a vicious circle of accelerating climate change.
Following U.S. President Donald Trump’s flurry of tariffs on Canadian, Mexican and Chinese products, Europe is expecting similar announcements. France, whose wines and spirits are a traditional target in trade conflicts with the EU, is particularly at risk. Its cognac is already being targeted by China.
Luxembourg is Europe’s luxury car capital, boasting one high-end ride for every 13 residents. Luxembourgers’ love for high-powered engines remains strong, even as the crackdown on carbon emissions intensifies. Take a ride through roads where roaring engines still rule.
In a world of growing tensions, the European machine seems increasingly inadequate. In the face of unpredictable adversaries and allies alike, the ability to know how to play what you’re dealt may be the key to protecting the interests of the Old Continent.
The American president had promised tariffs of at least 60% on all Chinese products. For now, it will be only 10%. Washington has other issues to negotiate with Beijing. Hitting old allies harder is part of a much different approach.
The photos of athletes swimming in the Seine during the Paris 2024 Olympics seem to have convinced some that the river could become a swimming pool for Parisians. But as the Mayor of Paris’ office considers protecting the “rights of the Seine,” French chemist and academic Bernard Meunier argues that the Seine is above all a navigable waterway.
A Chinese startup is shaking the U.S. supremacy in generative artificial intelligence. Are we heading towards a collapse of barriers to entry accelerating the deployment of this technology? Could Europe offer a third way to the future?
Life has resumed its course in the large industrial city in central China, where the virus first appeared at the end of 2019. Five years after confinement, the 14 million people of Wuhan are drowning in economic difficulties. Meanwhile, China has erased this period from its history.
The precious metal is the asset of choice for cushioning market shocks and navigating uncertain geopolitical times. But that’s not the only reason analysts are forecasting an ounce at $3,000 within the next year or two.
None of the major heads of state on the Asian continent has a direct link with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, who regularly calls on America’s Far Eastern allies to “pay more” for their defense. Philippe Le Corre, professor of geopolitics, explains that military risk is a major concern in a region with many hotbeds of tension.
After the Cannes Palme d’Or winner “Anora”, Luca Guadagnino’s “Challengers” and Haline Reijn’s “Babygirl”, sexual themes and scenes are making a comeback in the movies after years of veritable chastity. An L.A.-based French writer deciphers this unexpected phenomenon.
Dafen has long been the world capital of oil painting copies. After years of reproducing masterpieces on an assembly line, these painters would now like to be considered true artists and make a living from their creations. But in this ancient village in southern China, copies pay more than originals.
Will America become revisionist, unilateralist and expansionist under Donald Trump’s second term? In the early 1970s, French philosopher Raymond Aron spoke of the United States as an “imperial republic,” Now, in 2025, there is potentially much less “republic,” and much more “imperialism.”
A new French research laboratory was recently opened on the University of Rennes campus. The experimental facility, equipped with boreholes that reach 300 feet deep, focuses on studying soils and the microbiology of the underground.
Fresh rose, citrus wood… Some companies have started diffusing tailored-made scents in their office premises to improve their employees’ well-being. But it’s not an easy task to please everyone — and to avoid making some feel nauseous.
The emerging geopolitical paradigm is one of a kind of “armed peace” led by states equipped with nuclear weapons as the ultimate guarantee of security. The battlefield now spans the range of hybrid threats and technological breakthroughs, introducing the potential for “strategic surprises.”
Once a hub of commerce and industry in the Middle East, Syria’s means of production have been destroyed by years of conflict. The country’s new leaders are making economic recovery a priority. First, though, it must begin by lifting international sanctions.
The previous world order, based on the domination of a few superpowers, has been turned upside down in 2024. Will this be the year of explosions, or the year of reactions? French political theorist Jacques Attali explains the theory of order through noise.
The vineyards around Bordeaux are known for preserving the region’s traditions. But they are also on the cutting-edge among French winemakers, leading the way in using new technologies, such as electric robots and AI monitoring, which allow them to reduce CO2 emissions and solve labor shortages.