- England captain Stokes back from injury for second Pakistan Test
- Shanghai stocks gain after stimulus briefing as markets rally
- Shanghai stocks gain after stimulus briefing as Asian markets rally
- South Korea military says 'fully ready' as drone flights anger North
- Pakistan 'vigilantes' behind rise in online blasphemy cases
- Nearly 90, but opera legend Kabaivanska is still calling tune
- Smith experiment as Test opener over, Green out of India series
- With inflation down, ECB eyes faster tempo of rate cuts
- Is life possible on a Jupiter moon? NASA goes to investigate
- Dodgers crush Mets 9-0 in MLB playoff series opener
- South Korea military says 'fully ready' as drone tensions soar
- Cummins back, Marsh and Head out of Pakistan ODI series
- Shanghai stocks swing after stimulus briefing as most of Asia rises
- New Zealand's Latham promises 'no fear' as he takes charge for India Tests
- Kyrgios vows to 'shut up' doubters with December comeback
- Public hearings start into death of Brit by Russian nerve agent
- Ex-Stasi officer faces verdict over 1974 Berlin border killing
- Role of government, poverty research tipped for economics Nobel
- 'Stolen satire' feeds US election misinformation
- Rookie McCarty captures first PGA Tour title in Black Desert Championship
- Australia all-rounder Green ruled out of India Test series
- Seeing double in Nigeria's 'twins capital of the world'
- UK FM to attend EU foreign affairs talks for first time in 2 years
- Carter, Billups among 13 new Basketball Hall of Fame inductees
- Ravens rip Commanders as Lions lose NFL sacks leader in win
- Hezbollah drone strike kills four, wounds dozens at Israeli base
- China says launches military drills around Taiwan
- Stewart leads Liberty past Lynx to level WNBA Finals
- England return to winning ways in Nations League, Austria thrash Norway
- UN chief says attacks on UNIFIL 'may constitute a war crime'
- Ravens outlast Commanders while Bucs batter Saints in NFL
- Dozens hurt in Israel as Hezbollah claims drone strike
- England deserve 'world class' coach: Carsley
- Burkina Faso win to become first qualifiers for 2025 AFCON
- AC Milan's Pulisic among five out for USA match in Mexico
- France's Amandine Henry retires from international football
- Centre-left set to win pro-Ukraine Lithuania's vote
- India's World Cup hopes in Pakistan hands after Australia defeat
- Zelensky says NKorea sending troops to Russian army
- England beat Finland to get back on track
- King and Lewis propel West Indies to T20 triumph over Sri Lanka
- Pre-Halloween 'Terrifier' lands atop North America box office
- 'I still plan to compete and play next season,' says Djokovic
- Harris, Trump seek advantage in knife-edge election battle
- Chepngetich shatters women's marathon world record in Chicago
- Kamindu and Asalanka power Sri Lanka to 179 against West Indies
- Chepngetich shatters women's marathon world record as Korir wins in Chicago
- Spain send injured Yamal home 'to prioritise player's health'
- In milestone, SpaceX 'catches' megarocket booster after test flight
- Iraq walks fine line with pro-Iran factions to avoid war
Paris officials warn against metro price hikes during Olympics
The mayor's office in Paris has urged the regional transport authority to abandon its plan to near-double metro fares during the Olympics this summer.
Valerie Pecresse, who is head of the Ile-de-France region that includes Paris and is responsible for its transport system, announced the increase for single tickets and 10-ticket passes last month.
She insisted monthly and annual "Navigo" passes used mainly by residents would not be affected.
The measure "is an additional harsh blow to residents of Paris and the Paris region... during this period of inflation during which each euro counts," Emmanuel Gregoire and Pierre Rabadan, the Paris deputy mayors in charge of urban development and sport, said in a letter to Pecresse on Tuesday, seen by AFP.
Workers and volunteers needed to "make the Games a success don't necessarily have a Navigo card" and will be forced to pay the high price for a single or 10-trip ticket, Gregoire and Rabadan wrote.
It would be more difficult to recruit volunteers, and would affect visitors expected to be "mostly French, especially from the Paris region," they said.
The issue has exposed growing tensions ahead of the Olympics between the Ile-de-France region, run by Pecresse of the right-wing Republicans party and Paris city hall under Socialist mayor Anne Hidalgo.
Pecresse angrily criticised Hidalgo last month when the mayor said that public transport would not be ready for the Olympics.
Up to 43 percent of the 14 million French visitors expected during the Games would hail from the capital's region itself, the deputy mayors said, referring to estimates by the Paris tourism bureau.
They demanded a meeting to discuss "maintaining the same price" for metro tickets and ensuring public transport was free for all Parisian volunteers.
Paris initially said it would ensure free transport for spectators, but its Olympic and Paralympic organising committee dropped the plan when it revised its budget in 2022.
There has also been growing concern over the quality of service on the metro and suburban trains, as commuters suffer delays and breakdowns.
Pecresse on Tuesday said that Paris's metro and suburban train system were suffering "a worrying new deterioration" and only four of the capital's 16 metro lines showed "satisfactory" results for regular service.
O.M.Souza--AMWN