The French government is to hold crisis talks on Wednesday to address the surging number of bedbug sightings across Paris.
The bloodsucking insects have been seen on the Eurostar, the Metro and cinemas, raising questions about health and safety across the country.
The apparent mass infestation has spread beyond the capital, with schools in Marseille and near Lyon closed for several days to be cleaned out, according to French media.
On Wednesday, Transport Minister Clement Beaune will host transport and passenger organisations, to “quantify the situation and strengthen the measures”.
“We want to inform on the actions undertaken and act in the service of travellers to reassure and protect,” the ministry said.
An interministerial meeting is scheduled to take place on Friday, to “rapidly bring answers for the French”, government spokesman Olivier Veran told a French TV channel.
France 24 reported that a cross-party bill will also be put forward in December to combat the “scourge”.
The small insects often live on furniture or bedding and can be difficult to eradicate. While their bites can be itchy, they do not usually cause other health problems.
Videos showing the insects crawling over seats on the Paris Metro and in a high-speed train have gone viral on social media in the last few weeks. Some Metro passengers have posted videos on TikTok vowing to stay standing when in carriages.
Public transport operator RATP, which runs Paris’s metro, trams and buses said it had investigated, but “no cases of bedbugs have been confirmed to date”.
In early September, cinema chain UGC said it was deploying dogs to detect bedbugs after “questions” from customers at its Bercy theatre.
The reports have become a political issue in France, which is currently hosting the Rugby World Cup and will stage the Paris Olympics next June.
Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne said the government is working to find long-term solutions for detecting infestations and supporting those affected. The Health Ministry recommended that travellers inspect hotel beds and that people should be careful when purchasing used furniture or mattresses.
Paris Deputy Mayor Emmanuel Grégoire called on President Emmanuel Macron to set up a task force to help with infestations in the capital, saying “no one is safe” from the “scourge” of bedbugs in a letter to Ms Borne.
He said the government should declare the problem a “public health issue” ahead of the Paris Olympics.
Mathilde Panot, president of the left-wing France Unbowed group in the National Assembly, raised the issue in government questions on Tuesday. “Do we need to wait for Matignon to be infested for you to react?” she asked, referring to the prime minister’s office.
There are also reports that the infestation is spreading internationally.
Port authorities in Tangier, Morocco said they had detected bedbugs on a passenger ship from Marseille, according to media reports. Channel Tunnel express-train operator Eurostar said it plans to introduce “preventive treatment” across its entire network.
One Eurostar passenger, Niagale Bagayoko, posted several photos of what appears to be one of the bugs on her clothing to her X social media account, with the caption “Monday, September 25, in Eurostar, London-Paris train, 6am.”
A Eurostar representative said it “will also disinfect a train on request or as soon as there is the slightest doubt” about the presence of bedbugs.
Between 2017 and 2022, the French Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health and Safety reported that more than one in 10 homes in France was infested with bedbugs, at a total cost of €1.4 billion ($1.47 billion).
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RESULT
Aston Villa 1
Samatta (41')
Manchester City 2
Aguero (20')
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Tom Fletcher on 'soft power'
Who's who in Yemen conflict
Houthis: Iran-backed rebels who occupy Sanaa and run unrecognised government
Yemeni government: Exiled government in Aden led by eight-member Presidential Leadership Council
Southern Transitional Council: Faction in Yemeni government that seeks autonomy for the south
Habrish 'rebels': Tribal-backed forces feuding with STC over control of oil in government territory
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Engine: 5.0-litre supercharged V8
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Tonight's Chat on The National
Tonight's Chat is a series of online conversations on The National. The series features a diverse range of celebrities, politicians and business leaders from around the Arab world.
Tonight’s Chat host Ricardo Karam is a renowned author and broadcaster who has previously interviewed Bill Gates, Carlos Ghosn, Andre Agassi and the late Zaha Hadid, among others.
Intellectually curious and thought-provoking, Tonight’s Chat moves the conversation forward.
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Company Profile
Name: Thndr
Started: 2019
Co-founders: Ahmad Hammouda and Seif Amr
Sector: FinTech
Headquarters: Egypt
UAE base: Hub71, Abu Dhabi
Current number of staff: More than 150
Funds raised: $22 million
Labour dispute
The insured employee may still file an ILOE claim even if a labour dispute is ongoing post termination, but the insurer may suspend or reject payment, until the courts resolve the dispute, especially if the reason for termination is contested. The outcome of the labour court proceedings can directly affect eligibility.
- Abdullah Ishnaneh, Partner, BSA Law
Our legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The President's Cake
Director: Hasan Hadi
Starring: Baneen Ahmad Nayyef, Waheed Thabet Khreibat, Sajad Mohamad Qasem
Rating: 4/5
What it means to be a conservationist
Who is Enric Sala?
Enric Sala is an expert on marine conservation and is currently the National Geographic Society's Explorer-in-Residence. His love of the sea started with his childhood in Spain, inspired by the example of the legendary diver Jacques Cousteau. He has been a university professor of Oceanography in the US, as well as working at the Spanish National Council for Scientific Research and is a member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Future Council on Biodiversity and the Bio-Economy. He has dedicated his life to protecting life in the oceans. Enric describes himself as a flexitarian who only eats meat occasionally.
What is biodiversity?
According to the United Nations Environment Programme, all life on earth – including in its forests and oceans – forms a “rich tapestry of interconnecting and interdependent forces”. Biodiversity on earth today is the product of four billion years of evolution and consists of many millions of distinct biological species. The term ‘biodiversity’ is relatively new, popularised since the 1980s and coinciding with an understanding of the growing threats to the natural world including habitat loss, pollution and climate change. The loss of biodiversity itself is dangerous because it contributes to clean, consistent water flows, food security, protection from floods and storms and a stable climate. The natural world can be an ally in combating global climate change but to do so it must be protected. Nations are working to achieve this, including setting targets to be reached by 2020 for the protection of the natural state of 17 per cent of the land and 10 per cent of the oceans. However, these are well short of what is needed, according to experts, with half the land needed to be in a natural state to help avert disaster.
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
