Eiffel Tower Loses Sparkle for Parisians ahead of Olympics

The Eiffel Tower is set for a starring role during the Paris Olympics this year, but the landmark and its park have become symbols of the capital's struggles with cleanliness and crime.
In the shadow of the 330-meter (1,082-foot) monument, workers are already building the temporary stadium that will host the beach volleyball during the Games, which start on July 26, AFP said.
The opening ceremony along the river Seine will also finish in front of the attraction, while judo and wrestling will take place in a semi-permanent exhibition space at the far end of its park.
Although the sport will look spectacular in the TV coverage, behind the scenes the area has become a lightning rod for complaints about the management of public space in the capital and the pressures of mass tourism.
"It's very dirty and it's getting worse and worse," local resident Frederic Mabilon, 78, told AFP as she walked her dog in the Champ-de-Mars park beneath the iron monument known as the "Iron Lady".
Mabilon remembers visiting the area as a child, enjoying the merry-go-rounds and play areas that have been closed ahead of the Olympics -- much to the anger of their operators.
"Look there," she said, pointing to a man urinating on the fence of one of the homes that line the park. "It happens all the time. There aren't enough toilets."
Mikael Dalle, a 53-year-old local out with his son, said he was bothered by the illegal hawkers who shout out to passers-by, offering unlicensed food and drinks, trinkets and berets.
"It's definitely got worse and we've lived around here for the last eight years," he said.
- Street crime -
Around seven million people ascend the Eiffel Tower each year and many more pose for photos, eat picnics, or play ball games in the Champ-de-Mars.
With so many visitors, the park's lawns are often rubbed bare, while at night they are left strewn with rubbish by revelers.
"You should see it at 6 o'clock in the morning. It's catastrophic," complained another local dog walker, Louis, 53, who preferred not to give his surname.
Left-over food and overflowing bins are a delight for the flourishing local rat population.
And while low-level street crime such as pick-pocketing and scams have long been a feature of Paris's tourist hotspots, two alleged rapes took place on the Champ-de-Mars at night last year, shocking locals.
"I've told my eldest daughter not to walk through here in the dark," Louis explained.
The right-wing opponents of Socialist mayor Anne Hidalgo blame her for the problems, with local senator Agnes Evren claiming the area has turned into "the far-west".
Even the tower's workers are unhappy, launching a five-day strike in February to protest against its state of disrepair and demanding the city spend more on painting and anti-rust protection.
- 'Paris will shine' -
Hidalgo, an eco-minded left-winger re-elected for a second term in 2020, is admired by many for her policies to restrict cars and promote cycling.
But she has also been dogged by complaints about cleanliness, with a survey in 2021 suggesting eight out of ten Parisians found their city "dirty".
An online campaign in 2021 called #saccageParis (#TrashedParis), in which residents shared pictures of filth or ugliness, struck a chord in a city that prides itself on its elegance.
To tackle the security problems, police announced a major operation for the Eiffel Tower area last June, leading to several dozen police officers on the ground per day.
"We've had excellent results in this area as well as other tourist zones in Paris," Paris police chief Laurent Nunez told AFP last week.
"But we need to continue. The Olympics are coming," he added.
The number of reported physical assaults fell by 58 percent to 21 incidents in the first quarter of the year compared with the same period of 2023, while property crimes were down 18 percent, he said.
Much of the Champ-de-Mars now stands behind steel fencing, its protected lawns growing back, its gardeners busy preparing it for hundreds of thousands of foreign sports fans.
"Paris will shine, Paris will be beautiful, Paris will be ready to welcome the world," deputy mayor Emmanuel Gregoire promised last week.

A French woman from the Caribbean island of Guadeloupe has been identified as the only known carrier of a new blood type, dubbed "Gwada negative," France's blood supply agency has announced.

The announcement was made 15 years after researchers received a blood sample from a patient who was undergoing routine tests ahead of surgery, the French Blood Establishment (EFS) said on Friday.

"The EFS has just discovered the 48th blood group system in the world!" the agency said in a statement on social network LinkedIn.

"This discovery was officially recognized in early June in Milan by the International Society of Blood Transfusion (ISBT)."

The scientific association had until now recognized 47 blood group systems.

Thierry Peyrard, a medical biologist at the EFS involved in the discovery, told AFP that a "very unusual" antibody was first found in the patient in 2011.

However, resources at the time did not allow for further research, he added.

Scientists were finally able to unravel the mystery in 2019 thanks to "high-throughput DNA sequencing", which highlighted a genetic mutation, Peyrard said.

The patient, who was 54 at the time and lived in Paris, was undergoing routine tests before surgery when the unknown antibody was detected, Peyrard said.

This woman "is undoubtedly the only known case in the world," said the expert.

"She is the only person in the world who is compatible with herself," he said.

Peyrard said the woman inherited the blood type from her father and mother, who each had the mutated gene.

The name "Gwada negative", which refers to the patient's origins and "sounds good in all languages", has been popular with the experts, said Peyrard.

The ABO blood group system was first discovered in the early 1900s. Thanks to DNA sequencing, the discovery of new blood groups has accelerated in recent years.

Peyrard and colleagues are now hoping to find other people with the same blood group.

"Discovering new blood groups means offering patients with rare blood types a better level of care," the EFS said.

Eiffel Tower Loses Sparkle for Parisians ahead of Olympics