High security and fanfare welcome OIympic flame to port city of Marseille
The 19th century French sailing ship "Belem" on Wednesday sailed into the southern port of Marseille carrying the Olympic flame – after its 12-day, 12,000-kilometre voyage from Greece. Some 6,000 police were deployed for the ship's arrival, with a highly choreographed ceremony marking the first major security test for organisers ahead of the Paris Olympics.
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The police presence in Marseille is bigger than it was for Pope Francis’s visit to the city last September.
An elite tactical unit, bomb disposal teams, nautical police and an anti-drone team are in place as well as local police and firefighters.
Before entering Marseille's Vieux-Port at 7pm, the Belem sailing boat will parade along the coast, accompanied by 1,024 boats.
Around 150,000 people are expected to come and watch the entertainment on land and at sea throughout the day, which will culminate in the lighting of the Olympic cauldron.
Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said there was no "specific threat" to the torch event, but that law enforcement was prepared for different scenarios.
Heightened alert
France is on a heightened Olympics security alert ahead of the Paris Olympics and Paralympics, which begin on 26 July.
In April, a 16-year-old boy was formally charged after he allegedly said on social media he wanted to make an explosive belt and die a martyr at the Paris Games.
Investigators said the youth had been looking at "jihadist propaganda" online.
Authorities had also feared action by police after unions threatened to disrupt the torch relay around the country, accusing the government of blocking promised bonuses.
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Meanwhile, as over 20 maintenance workers polished the 36,000m2 of surface area around the Old Port using hydro-scrapers, the scene was a little bit different a few streets away.
A hundred tonnes of rubbish have already piled up as a result of a strike by around 50 of the 2,000 garbage collectors in the Aix-Marseille metropolitan area.
While these streets will not host the festivities for the arrival of the flame, some of them will be close to where the Olympic torch passes for the start of the relay on Thursday morning from Notre-Dame de la Garde Basilica.
The strike, which has been going on since 30 April, could tarnish the city's image as it enters the global spotlight.
"A handful of agents, members of the CGT union, a minority union within the institution, decided to block access to several household waste transfer centres," Marseille's administration said.
"This irresponsible behaviour prevents the proper conduct of collection."
Labour disputes in crucial infrastructure sectors are among the main headaches for organisers of this year's Games.
France's hardline CGT union earlier this year said public sector workers, including hospital staff, have flagged possible strikes during the Games.
Cybersecurity threats
Elsewhere, the Paris 2024 team is gearing up to face an "unprecedented" cybersecurity threat during the Games.
Organisers have been working hand in hand with the French national agency for information security (ANSSI), and cybersecurity companies Cisco and Eviden to limit the impact.
"We can't prevent all the attacks ... but we have to limit their impacts on the Olympics," ANSSI boss Vincent Strubel told reporters earlier this week.
"There are 500 sites, competition venues and local collectives, and we've tested them all."
Strubel is confident that Paris 2024, who will operate from a cybersecurity operation centre in a secret location, will be ready.
"The Games are facing an unprecedented level of threat, but we've also done an unprecedented amount of preparation work so I think we're a step ahead of the attackers," he said.
AI to the rescue
Games organisers have employed "ethical hackers" to stress test their systems and are using AI to help them triage the threats.
"AI helps us make the difference between a nuisance and a catastrophe," said Franz Regul, managing director for IT at Paris 2024 – adding they were expecting 10 times more cybersecurity events than there were at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.
In 2018, a computer virus dubbed "Olympic Destroyer" was used in an attack on the Opening Ceremony of the Pyeongchang Winter Games.
While Moscow denied any involvement, the US Justice Department in 2020 said it had indicted six Russian intelligence agency hackers for a four-year hacking spree that included attacks against the Pyeongchang Games.
Last month, French President Emmanuel Macron said he had no doubt Russia would malevolently target the Paris Olympics.
(with newswires)
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