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RIOTS

Paris ‘not worried’ riots will affect 2024 Olympics

The city government in Paris said on Monday it was "not worried" about knock-on effects from almost a week of riots on next year's Olympic Games.

Paris 'not worried' riots will affect 2024 Olympics
Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo (C) delivers a speech on July 3, 2023 in Paris. (Photo by Christophe ARCHAMBAULT / AFP)

France has witnesssed several nights of violence in Paris suburbs and across the country since a policeman shot dead a teenager during a traffic stop last week.

READ MORE: OPINION: Riots could become France’s most dangerous crisis in decades

Although he acknowledged being “concerned about the situation” in France, Emmanuel Gregoire, deputy to Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo, said he had “no concerns about the impact” on the Olympics.

“We’re still a year away from the Games. We shouldn’t get our calendars mixed up,” Gregoire told AFP.

The Olympic “flame is an extraordinary opportunity to bring hope” in “a country showing extremely concerning signs,” mayor Hidalgo said at a Monday event outlining the torch route through the capital.

When the Olympic flame was brought through Paris in 2008 ahead of the Beijing Games, the route had to be completed by bus because of demonstrations by pro-Tibet protesters.

“We all have in mind the things that didn’t necessarily go well, we’re working for this to bring joy and enthusiasm,” Hidalgo said.

“We will live up to the security” needs of the Games, her sports chief Pierre Rabadan said — while adding that there would “no doubt” be disturbances.

Sports Minister Amelie Oudea-Castera said Monday that the government had “taken measures in recent days to again step up security of infrastructure” linked to next year’s Olympics.

“The nation is damaged by all of this. What’s going on obviously isn’t good for France’s image” abroad, Oudea-Castera added.

Nevertheless, “there were events like this about a year ahead of the London Games, with very violent demonstrations following police violence. London’s Games were very positive,” she said.

France’s ability to host major events like the upcoming Rugby World Cup and the Olympics had already been called into question over major failures in crowd management at the 2022 Champions League final at the Stade de France.

The venue, set to form the centrepiece of the Games, lies in one of the Paris suburbs shaken by violence since the fatal shooting of 17-year-old Nahel M. on Tuesday by a policeman.

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PARIS 2024 OLYMPICS

Two computers stolen from French Olympics’ organiser in Lille

Two computers belonging to "a manager responsible for the planning of the Lille Olympic site" were stolen from a car parked in the city, the prosecutor's office said on Tuesday.

Two computers stolen from French Olympics' organiser in Lille

However, the spokesperson did not specify the nature of the data linked to the Olympic Games that they contained.

“The complaint from a manager responsible for the planning of the Lille Olympic site was received on the evening of April 29 regarding the theft of two laptops and a badge which were in the organiser’s vehicle, which was parked in front of their home,” said Lille prosecutor Carole Etienne.

“Investigations are underway” to identify the suspect and determine “the exact nature of the data that these computers contained in connection with the 2024 Olympics,” she added.

According to a police source, one of the stolen computers was likely to contain “security plans” for the infrastructure of the Olympic village of Villeneuve-d’Ascq in Lille.

The theft occurred Monday at around 6:30 pm, according to this source, who said that access to files hosted on the network and the cloud was blocked by the Paris 2024 IT department.

“In accordance with Paris 2024 procedures, all data recorded on Paris 2024 computer equipment is encrypted and protected by passwords, and as soon as the theft was reported, the computer was locked remotely,”  a spokesperson from the Olympics’ Organising Committee (Cojo) said.

“The security of computer equipment is one of the priorities of Paris 2024, which has taken all risks into account in order to deal with any incident,” the Committee said.

The stolen badge was “an identification badge which does not allow any door to be opened” and “the computer was turned off”, a second police source told AFP.

At the end of February, a bag belonging to an engineer from the City of Paris and containing a computer and two USB sticks where notes relating to the Paris Olympic Games were stored was stolen from a train at Gare du Nord.

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