International students will be allowed to work 24 hours a week starting in September
Immigration Minister Marc Miller says international students will be able to work off-campus for up to 24 hours per week starting in September.
French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday said the opening ceremony for the Paris Olympics planned on the River Seine could be shifted instead to the country's national stadium if the security threat is deemed too high.
France is on high security alert ahead of the Paris Olympics and Paralympics, which are expected to draw millions of visitors to the country.
Security concerns are notably high for the exceptional opening ceremony, which involves boats carrying athletes along the Seine on a 6-kilometre (3.7-mile) parade and huge crowds watching from the embankments.
Speaking to French media BFM-TV and RMC, Macron said France’s law enforcement forces will be mobilized at an exceptional level for the security of the open-air event.
“But if we think there are risks, depending on our analysis of the context, we have fall-back scenarios," Macron said. “There are plan Bs and plan Cs.”
The July 26 event is set to be the first Olympic opening ceremony held outside a stadium setting. About 10,500 athletes will parade through the heart of the French capital on boats on the Seine along the route ending in front of the Trocadéro.
To limit security risks, Macron said organizers could decide to shorten the itinerary of the parade on the Seine, and even to “repatriate the ceremony to the Stade de France” just outside Paris for a more conventional opening event. Macron did not give more details about the alternative plans.
Organizers had originally planned a grandiose opening ceremony for as many as 600,000 people, most watching free of charge from riverbanks. But security and logistical concerns have led the government to progressively scale back its ambitions. Earlier this year, the overall number of spectators was reduced to around 300,000.
The French government also decided that tourists won’t be given free access to watch the opening ceremony because of security concerns. Free access will be invitation-only instead.
Asked about the possibility of the opening ceremony being held in the stadium, Nicole Deal, the chief of security at the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee, said: “From my point of view, I want the best experience for the athletes. Security is an underpinning and a foundation. We’re not the main show, so I want the best experience for Team USA athletes.”
Macron insisted that, for now, plans for the opening ceremony remain the same.
“It’s a world first. We can do it and we will do it,” the French President said.
France has repeatedly been hit by deadly Islamic State attacks, including the Bataclan theatre massacre in 2015 in which extremists opened fire on concert-goers and held hostages for hours. French troops have also fought against Islamic extremists in the Middle East and Africa.
Last month, the French government increased its security alert posture to the highest level after the deadly attack at a Russian concert hall and the Islamic State’s claim of responsibility.
Macron said that security perimeters will be installed “days, even weeks” before the opening ceremony. He added that road traffic in the high-security zone will be brought to a standstill, and that French authorities will use "drone systems, coding, cyber protection,” in their safeguarding efforts.
Answering to a viewer who expressed concerns about her son attending the opening ceremony, Macron said “If there’s one place where your son will be safe, it’s here."
“There are always risks in life,” he said. "And we see it every day, unfortunately. But we’ve given ourselves the means to do it.”
During the hour-long interview, Macron also said he wants "to do everything possible to have an Olympic truce” for the Paris Games, amid a risk of an escalating conflict in the Middle East, Russia’s war in Ukraine, now in its third year, and Sudan, hurtling towards a large-scale calamity of starvation and mass death after a year-long war.
The Seine River is seen Thursday, March 28, 2024 in Paris. (AP Photo/Aurelien Morissard)
The Olympic Truce is a modern revival of the ancient Greek tradition to ensure warring city states allowed safe passage for athletes to the games. Every two years, the host country of the upcoming Olympics introduces a UN resolution that other member states can co-sponsor.
“We want to work towards an Olympic truce and I think it is an occasion for me to engage with a lot of our partners,” Macron said, adding that he would ask Chinese leader Xi Jinping to weigh in and use his influence.
“The Chinese president is coming to Paris in a few weeks, and I’m going to ask him to help me,” Macron said. “This is a diplomatic moment of peace.”
Macron also backed the decision to allow Russian athletes to compete in the Olympics despite the Ukraine invasion, but under a neutral flag. Additionally, he defended the participation of Israeli athletes under their country’s flag despite its offensive in Gaza in which 33,000 Palestinians have been killed and hundreds of thousands have been displaced.
“We cannot say that Israel is attacking,” Macron said. “Israel was a victim of a terrorist attack to which it is now responding to in Gaza.”
___
Associated Press reporter Barbara Surk in Nice and National Sports Writer Eddie Pells in New York contributed to this report.
Immigration Minister Marc Miller says international students will be able to work off-campus for up to 24 hours per week starting in September.
Toronto police say 12 people are facing a combined 102 charges in connection with an investigation into a major credit fraud scheme.
B.C. Premier David Eby has joined other politicians denouncing remarks at a demonstration in Vancouver where protesters chanted “long live Oct. 7,” praising that day's attacks by Hamas on Israel.
Members of Parliament are questioning why Canadian security officials did not inform them that they had been the target of Beijing-linked hackers, after learning from the FBI that the international parliamentary alliance they are a part of was in the crosshairs of the Chinese cyberattack in 2021.
Norovirus is spreading at a 'higher frequency' than expected in Canada, specifically, in Ontario and Alberta, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada.
Moderate drinking was once thought to have benefits for the heart, but better research methods have thrown cold water on that.
Tobacco manufacturers have until Tuesday to ensure every king-size cigarette produced for sale in Canada has a health warning printed directly on it.
The clock is ticking ahead of the deadline to file a 2023 income tax return. A personal finance expert explains why you should get them done -- even if you owe more than you can pay.
Anne Hathaway first shared she lost interest in drinking after a bad hangover in 2018. She’s now five years sober.
Since 1932, Montreal's Henri Henri has been filled to the brim with every possible kind of hat, from newsboy caps to feathered fedoras.
Police in Oak Bay, B.C., had to close a stretch of road Sunday to help an elephant seal named Emerson get safely back into the water.
Out of more than 9,000 entries from over 2,000 breweries in 50 countries, a handful of B.C. brews landed on the podium at the World Beer Cup this week.
Raneem, 10, lives with a neurological condition and liver disease and needs Cholbam, a medication, for a longer and healthier life.
The lawyer for a residential school survivor leading a proposed class-action defamation lawsuit against the Catholic Church over residential schools says the court action is a last resort.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
A property tax bill is perplexing a small townhouse community in Fergus, Ont.
When identical twin sisters Kim and Michelle Krezonoski were invited to compete against some of the world’s most elite female runners at last week’s Boston Marathon, they were in disbelief.
The giant stone statues guarding the Lions Gate Bridge have been dressed in custom Vancouver Canucks jerseys as the NHL playoffs get underway.