When the world gets closer.

We help you see farther.

Sign up to our expressly international daily newsletter.

Already a subscriber? Log in .

You've reached your limit of one free article.

Get unlimited access to Worldcrunch

You can cancel anytime .

SUBSCRIBERS BENEFITS

Exclusive International news coverage

Ad-free experience NEW

Weekly digital Magazine NEW

9 daily & weekly Newsletters

Access to Worldcrunch archives

Free trial

30-days free access, then $2.90
per month.

Annual Access BEST VALUE

$19.90 per year, save $14.90 compared to monthly billing.save $14.90.

Subscribe to Worldcrunch
Sources

Paris Officials Say Seine Is Too Dirty For A Swim

A pool on Paris' banks of the Seine: the closest you'll get to taking a swim in the river?
A pool on Paris' banks of the Seine: the closest you'll get to taking a swim in the river?
Martine Valo

PARIS - The event was supposed to start on September 2 at 7 a.m. at the Josephine Baker swimming pool in Paris, on the banks of the Seine River. More than 3000 participants had signed up to take part in the swim that would take them up the Seine to the André-Citroën Park, west of the city.

But a few days before the race, Paris’ Prefecture of Police suddenly cancelled the event. “There is something quite brutal about this decision, and its reasons are unclear,” laments Laurent Neuville from Paris Swim, the race’s organizer. “Our idea was to reinstate an event that was very popular at the beginning of the 20th century; we had been working on it since December 2011. There are thousands of similar races in London, Amsterdam, New York… Swimming down a river like the Seine, which has many access points leading to its banks, is safer than swimming across the Bosphorus, isn’t it?”

The Police Prefecture claims to have held several “inter-service meetings” before making its decision. The navigation on the Seine River -- which would have been affected during four days -- was one of the main issues. The Prefecture then turned towards the Regional Health Agency (ARS). The agency judged the event too risky for the health of the participants, stating that the quality of the water was still too low for swimming, despite recent improvements. If the Prefecture let the Paris triathlon take place in July, it was only because it had not received the ARS notice in time.

The event organizers tested the water underneath Bir Hakeim Bridge on August 9 and showed the Prefecture their results -- which were in line with sanitary standards -- but the Prefecture wouldn’t budge. Will we ever be able to take a swim in the Seine River? The Prefecture’s answer is “no” and says their refusal is a “a principled position” that will apply to all similar requests.

This shows how polluted the water must be. How bad is it by the way? Don’t expect the ARS to tell you: while taking a swim in the river is forbidden in Paris, the Seine River’s water quality is not as closely monitored as France’s most touristic rivers, like the Dordogne or the Lot in southwestern France. And since the Seine’s water is never tested … swimming is very likely to remain forbidden.

You've reached your limit of free articles.

To read the full story, start your free trial today.

Get unlimited access. Cancel anytime.

Exclusive coverage from the world's top sources, in English for the first time.

Insights from the widest range of perspectives, languages and countries.

FOCUS: Israel-Palestine War

After Abbas: Here Are The Three Frontrunners To Be The Next Palestinian Leader

Israel and the West have often asked: Where is the Palestinian Mandela? The divided regimes between Gaza and the West Bank continues to make it difficult to imagine the future Palestinian leader. Still, these three names are worth considering.

Photo of Mahmoud Abbas speaking into microphone

Abbas is 88, and has been the leading Palestinian political figure since 2005

Thaer Ganaim/APA Images via ZUMA
Elias Kassem

Updated Dec. 5, 2023 at 12:05 a.m.

Israel has set two goals for its Gaza war: destroying Hamas and releasing hostages.

But it has no answer to, nor is even asking the question: What comes next?

The government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected the return of the current Palestinian Authority to govern post-war Gaza. That stance seems opposed to the U.S. Administration’s call to revitalize the Palestinian Authority (PA) to assume power in the coastal enclave.

For the latest news & views from every corner of the world, Worldcrunch Today is the only truly international newsletter. Sign up here.

But neither Israel nor the U.S. put a detailed plan for a governing body in post-war Gaza, let alone offering a vision for a bonafide Palestinian state that would also encompass the West Bank.

The Palestinian Authority, which administers much of the occupied West Bank, was created in1994 as part of the Oslo Accords peace agreement. It’s now led by President Mahmoud Abbas, who succeeded Yasser Arafat in 2005. Over the past few years, the question of who would succeed Abbas, now 88 years old, has largely dominated internal Palestinian politics.

But that question has gained new urgency — and was fundamentally altered — with the war in Gaza.

Keep reading...Show less

The latest