Support the fact-based journalism you rely on with a donation to Marketplace today. Give Now!

Paris 2024: The AI-powered Olympics

Jul 26, 2024
The 2024 Paris Olympic Games officially begins today — and this year's tournament will use artificial intelligence more than any other.
The International Olympic Committee is creating a sort of chatbot for competing athletes to have their questions answered.
Chesnot/Getty Images

What's Paris doing to combat its bedbug infestation?

Jan 29, 2024
An outbreak of bedbugs sparked anxiety around Paris Fashion Week in October and could pose a major — and expensive — problem ahead of the Summer Olympics.
Above, a spray used to eradicate bedbugs at a pest control shop in Paris in October 2023.
Miguel Medina/AFP via Getty Images

France cracks down on "dark store" meal delivery services

Dec 27, 2022
In some of Paris' neighborhoods, residents have had enough of so-called "dark stores" that offer home grocery and meal deliveries.
Scooters that make deliveries for a “dark store” in Paris are parked in a residential neighborhood. Some residents say these delivery services are noisy and have had a negative impact on their quality of life in the city.
John Laurenson

Paris will charge for motorcycle parking, stirring protest from the biker community

Aug 29, 2022
The cost of street parking for a motorcycle will be about $40 a day. Officials would like to see greater use of public transportation.
Opinion polls show Parisians like the city's efforts to reduce car driving, and many support the new fees for motorbikes.
Christophe Archambault/AFP via Getty Images

Paris experiments with driverless shuttle service

May 10, 2021
The transport authority uses an autonomous vehicle to bring people to a park. The free weekend service offers a glimpse of the future.
The Paris transit authority tests a driverless vehicle in 2016. An autonomous shuttle has been taking people to the Bois de Vincennes on weekends since January.
Eric Feferberg/AFP via Getty Images

Some Parisians consider leaving the city permanently in the wake of COVID-19

Jul 21, 2020
Realtors see an increase in demand for homes outside the city.
The the deserted Place de l'Etoile and the Arc de Triomphe  along the Avenue des Champs-Elysees in Paris.
Christophe Archambault/AFP via Getty Images

Paris takes steps to become a more pedestrian-friendly city

Oct 2, 2017
As Paris becomes more pedestrian-friendly, suburban commuters who depend on their cars and some businesses raise concerns.
A pedestrian zone in central Paris. The city is taking steps to become more pedestrian friendly.
John Laurenson/ for Marketplace

For public good, not for profit.

Paris begins construction of urban refugee camp

Aug 23, 2016
The camp will provide shelter for more than 1,000 people.
Sami Achakzai, an Afghan refugee recently arrived in Paris, has been sleeping under a metro bridge. The city has a shortage of housing for refugees and migrants.
Emma Jacobs/Marketplace

Paris hopes to lure British talent after Brexit

Jul 29, 2016
France has some things to overcome – including a reputation for high taxes.
Outside NUMA, a shared work space and startup accelerator, located in central Paris.
Emma Jacobs

EgyptAir flight MS804 from Paris to Cairo crashed

May 19, 2016
French President Francois Hollande confirms a Paris-Cairo EgyptAir flight that went missing over the Mediterranean, with 66 people on board, crashed.
An EgyptAir Airbus A320 sits on the tarmac of Larnaca airport after it was hijacked and diverted to Cyprus back in March. On Thursday, an EgyptAir Airbus A320 from Paris to Cairo disappeared from radar.
STR/AFP/Getty Images