Overnight, France’s high-speed rail network was struck by a series of coordinated arson attacks along lines connecting Paris with other major cities. The attacks have left hundreds of thousands of people stranded on the eve of the Opening Ceremony for the Summer Olympic Games in Paris. No group has yet claimed responsibility. (Reuters)
Our Take
The attacks and the security gap they exposed will only add tension to what is an already tense atmosphere heading into the Paris Olympics. That’s true not only for spectators and Paris residents, who remain concerned about security at the Games, but also for the organizers, who have a lot riding on these Games being a success, perhaps more so than any other recent Olympics.
Seven years ago, when Paris was chosen as a host city, the Games were meant to fit neatly into French President Emmanuel Macron’s soft power ambitions for the country, as Jakob Cansler wrote in April. After parliamentary elections earlier this month, though, Macron is now effectively a lame-duck president in a country on course for political paralysis, something the run-up to the Games has only spotlighted.