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Paris School Faces Bedbug Infestation: Officials Take Action

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France’s government is taking steps to address a nationwide panic surrounding bedbugs, which has escalated as a Paris school reported an infestation. Senior officials from various ministries, including health, economy, and transport, convened to coordinate an action plan and consider the creation of a national bedbug observatory to gain an accurate understanding of the issue.

Health experts and entomologists warn that while there has been a noticeable increase in bedbug sightings, many are false alarms, potentially fueling unwarranted hysteria. The government is concerned about the negative impact on Paris’s image and tourism, particularly during the upcoming Olympics.

However, they aim to balance public reassurance with raising awareness and prompt action to control the problem. The use of social media has amplified public anxiety about bedbugs, often featuring images that do not depict actual infestations. In one verified case, a high school in Paris temporarily closed due to bedbug infestations in several areas.

The government is considering various measures, including regulating eradication costs and clarifying financial responsibilities between property owners and renters. Public education about bedbugs has improved, which is crucial for addressing future surges.

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Paris Reintroduces Swimming in the Seine River After a Century

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With one year left until the Olympics, Paris is in the final stages of an unprecedented cleanup effort, paving the way for swimmers and divers to return to the River Seine. Swimming in the Seine had been prohibited for a century due to its polluted waters, but a successful €1.4bn regeneration project has changed the landscape. The upcoming Games will feature three Olympic and Paralympic events taking place in the Seine, and by 2025, three open-air swimming areas will be accessible from the quayside.

The city’s river quality had deteriorated over the years due to industrial sewage and a growing population, leading to a decline in aquatic life. One of the main challenges was the outdated drainage system, which combined used water from kitchens and bathrooms with sewage from toilets. However, improvements in the last two decades have already significantly reduced the presence of harmful bacteria in the river.

To address the remaining issue, a vast underground reservoir has been constructed to store runoff during heavy rains, preventing it from directly entering the Seine. This will enable the river to be officially classified as clean and safe for public bathing.

In addition to fish returning to the Seine, including some reintroduced by angling associations, the river’s ecosystem has seen a positive transformation with the resurgence of molluscs, aquatic insects, sponges, and crayfish. Although some concerns remain about rats in the city, studies have shown that the amount of leptospirosis bacteria is not abnormally high.

With the successful cleanup efforts, Mayor Anne Hidalgo has revealed three spots along the Seine that will be open for public bathing from summer 2025, allowing both fish and humans to reclaim their place in the revitalized river.

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Sports

Olympic boxing’s IBA is out, but matches are still scheduled for the Paris Games

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International Boxing Association’s participation in Olympic competitions is no longer recognized by the International Olympic Committee.

The International Boxing Association (IBA) has been expelled from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for failing to finish changes including governance, finances, and ethical issues.

On Thursday, 69 members of the IOC voted in support of banishing the IBA, with only one member voting against it. Ten members didn’t participate in the voting.

The executive board, which is led by IOC President Thomas Bach, advocated the IOC’s decision two weeks ago, thus it seemed inevitable that it would be adopted.

However, boxing will continue to be an Olympic event at the 2024 Paris Games.

“We place a great priority on the boxing sport. Because of their administration, we have a very significant issue with IBA,” Bach informed the IOC members during their online meeting.

The IOC had issues with the IBA’s management, which included Russian and Uzbek presidents, as well as its financial support from the Russian government’s energy company, Gazprom, as well as the fairness of the competition and the judging.

“The boxers fully deserve to be governed by an international federation with integrity and transparency,” the IOC president declared.

National boxing federations chose Gafur Rakhimov as their head in 2018, defying IOC warnings. The Uzbek businessman was reportedly connected to heroin trafficking and organized crime. The choice of Umar Kremlev to succeed Rakhimov in 2020 came after yet another series of election-related IOC cautions that went unheeded.

Under Kremlev, the IBA’s debts of close to $20 million were paid off, and the IOC took issue with the boxing federation’s reliance on Gazprom, a Russian energy company.

The IBA was no longer backed by Gazprom, Kremlev said last month during the men’s world championships, and his language towards Olympic authorities became increasingly combative.

As it did for the Tokyo Games in 2021, the IOC is already in charge of organizing boxing competitions at the Paris Olympics without consulting the IBA.

It was unclear if boxers competing for national federations who continue to be IBA members would be considered eligible for the Paris competition.

Boxing’s inclusion in the Olympic program for the 2028 Summer Games in Los Angeles, which the IOC and Bach withheld as leverage against the IBA, may now be confirmed as a result of the action. Members were assured on Thursday that boxing is “guaranteed” to take place in Los Angeles.

The IOC may now cooperate with World Boxing, a rival organization founded this year with backing from authorities in the United States, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom, as the connection with the IBA has now come to an end.

The IBA may appeal the judgment to the Court of Arbitration for Sport after labelling it a “tremendous error” on Thursday.

The Lausanne-based IBA said in a statement that the expulsion was “catastrophic for global boxing” and “blatantly contradicts the IOC’s claims of acting in the best interests of boxing and athletes.”

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Paris 2024 Olympics: French police raid organisers’ headquarters

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The headquarters of the organizers of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games are being searched by the French police as part of two preliminary corruption investigations.

The authorities are investigating allegations of favoritism and the misuse of public funds in the awarding of construction contracts. The Paris 2024 organizing committee is fully cooperating with the investigators. Anti-corruption investigators arrived unexpectedly at the committee’s headquarters in Saint-Denis, as well as at the offices of Solideo, the public body responsible for the games’ construction projects.

The searches are being conducted at multiple locations involving both organizations. These developments are the latest in a series of incidents affecting France’s Olympic movement and sports in recent months, including the resignation of the National Olympic Committee President, Brigitte Henriques, and the stepping down of the heads of the country’s football and rugby federations due to notable scandals.

The Paris 2024 Olympics are scheduled to take place from July 26 to August 11, followed by the Paralympics in September.

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