Russia increases budget spending, impact of Israel-Hamas war on economy, controversial amnesty deal in Spain. Paris rushing to clean up Seine for Olympics, including infrastructure projects and opening the river for swimming. Efforts to clean up Seine River for Olympic legacy, creating swimming spots by 2025 to benefit the community.
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Quick takeaways
Russia has added $37 billion to its budget, mainly due to the expensive war in Ukraine and potentially to boost President Putin's popularity.
Paris is implementing infrastructure projects to clean up the Seine River for Olympic athletes, aiming to have 20 swimming spots by 2025.
Deep dives
Russia increases budget spending
Russia has added $37 billion to its budget, representing a 12% increase from the original budget. The additional funding is attributed to the expensive war in Ukraine and is speculated to boost President Putin's popularity ahead of his expected announcement to run for a sixth term.
Israel's economy impacted by war
Israel's economy is being significantly impacted by the ongoing conflict with Hamas. One in three businesses have closed or are operating at reduced capacity, particularly in the southern region closest to Gaza. Construction, heavily reliant on Palestinian workers, has experienced a slowdown due to security measures. The government's aid package faced criticism for not sufficiently compensating big companies.
Paris endeavors to clean up the Seine River
Paris is scrambling to clean up the Seine River to make it suitable for Olympic athletes to swim in next summer. The river, historically significant and a tourist attraction, suffers from pollution due to the city's sewer system overflowing during heavy rain. Infrastructure projects costing 1.4 billion euros are underway to build water treatment plants and a massive storage tank to prevent pollution. The goal is to have 20 swimming spots along the Seine by 2025.
Russia has added at least Rbs3.4tn ($37bn) to its budget for this year, the war between Israel and Hamas is starting to bite into Israel's economy, and Spain’s ruling Socialist party has sealed a contentious amnesty deal with Catalan separatists. Plus, Paris is rushing to make the river Seine clean enough for Olympic athletes to swim next summer.
The FT News Briefing is produced by Fiona Symon, Sonja Hutson, Kasia Broussalian and Marc Filippino. Additional help by Joanna Kao, Sam Giovinco, Peter Barber, Michael Lello, David da Silva and Gavin Kallmann. Our engineer is Monica Lopez. Topher Forhecz is the FT’s executive producer. The FT’s global head of audio is Cheryl Brumley. The show’s theme song is by Metaphor Music.