14 Aug 2025

The Seine in Paris is open for swimming. Tourists and residents embrace it as temperatures soar

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By SYLVIE CORBET, Associated Press

PARIS (AP) — Swimming in the Seine is an increasingly popular tourist attraction in the French capital — and a must-do for Parisians themselves. Thousands of people have enjoyed a dip in the river since three public bathing sites opened last month, the first in over a century.

The swimming areas are expected to get even more crowded as a heatwave arrived in the region on Tuesday. Paris has been placed under “high vigilance” by national weather service Meteo France, with temperatures up to 100 Fahrenheit expected.

At the Grenelle site in the west of Paris, visitors swim and sunbathe with a unique view of the Eiffel Tower, with small fishes darting near the surface.

People swim in the Seine river, Monday, Aug. 11, 2025 in Paris. (AP Photo/Aurelien Morissard)

Water quality is tested daily to conform with European regulations. Swimming in the Seine had been illegal since 1923, with a few exceptions, due to pollution and risks posed by river navigation. The new bathing sites are possible following a 1.4 billion euro ($1.6 billion) cleanup that made it suitable for Olympic competitions last year.

“Imagine that,” said Constanze Martens, a tourist from Mexico. “Swimming with view of the Eiffel Tower and in pure natural water, clean, safe, and with all this lovely people too, you have every age here.”

On Monday, the water temperature in the Seine was 71 Fahrenheit.

“It’s quite warm, warmer than the sea, which was quite surprising, and is very pleasant,” said Elisabeth Lorin, from the Paris eastern suburb of Montreuil.

Women take a selfie after a swim in the Seine river, Monday, Aug. 11, 2025 in Paris. (AP Photo/Aurelien Morissard)

Until the end of August, bathing sites are open for free at scheduled times to anyone 10 or older or 14 or older, depending on the location. Details are in the Paris city hall website, in English as well. Each swimmer must be equipped with a yellow buoy, attached to their waist, for safety reasons. There are changing rooms with lockers.

The site welcomes between 800 and 1,200 visitors per day, with a limit of 200 at any one time, said the manager of the Grenelle site, Yann Forêt.

Paris Deputy Mayor Pierre Rabadan last week said over 40,000 people had swum at the sites since they opened on July 5. That’s despite almost two weeks of closures largely due to rainy weather, which increases water pollution upstream.

“Right now, the water quality is excellent and we have optimal conditions with warm weather,” Rabadan told The Associated Press on Monday. He said the daily decision to open the sites depends on weather conditions and factors including water flow rate and any known pollution.

People swim in the Seine river, Monday, Aug. 11, 2025 in Paris. (AP Photo/Aurelien Morissard)

Several lifeguards monitor the sites, occasionally using their whistles to remind swimmers not to jump or leave the perimeter. No major incident has been reported, Rabadan said.

Marina Gicquel, a 22-year-old lifeguard at Grenelle, said the main difference from a swimming pool is the river current, along with the murky water.

“You can only see people’s heads sticking out. That’s why buoys are useful,” Gicquel said. “And it’s also quite deep. It’s three to five meters (10 to 16 feet) deep, so people find no foothold.”

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Some visitors, like Australian Thurkka Jeyakumar, had been skeptical about swimming in the Seine, citing the river’s murky color and bacteria issues.

Unsafe levels of E. coli or other bacteria appear during prolonged periods of rain that overwhelm pipes, leading untreated wastewater to flow into the river instead of a treatment plant. Last year, some Olympic competitions were postponed for that reason.

In the end, Jeyakumar gave it a try because she lost a bet.

“For the moment, I have to say that it was much nicer and cleaner than I thought it would be,” she said. “So the bet worked out for the better!”

AP journalist Nicolas Garriga contributed to this report.

14 Aug 2025

Texas GOP Say Flood Relief is Priority. Here’s the Climate Policy They Won’t Pass.

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Governor Greg Abbott’s first special session is coming to an abrupt end after House Democrats’ fled the state to protest the Texas GOP’s cynical exploitation of the deadly Fourth of July Hill Country floods to enact redistricting that would, at President Donald Trump’s orders, rig the maps to deliver Republicans up to five new seats in Texas. Upon adjournment Friday, Abbott said he will immediately call another special session with the same agenda. 

Before decamping to Illinois and other blue states, Democrats argued Governor Abbott’s emergency powers already grant him the ability to unilaterally enact flood relief for the tragedy-stricken Hill Country. In a July 21 letter, House Democrats called on House Speaker Dustin Burrows to prioritize flood response before any other business, arguing the GOP is deliberately holding flood relief hostage to Trump’s redistricting plan by putting the maps first on the agenda. Republicans have in turn attacked Democrats for abandoning their posts—and Hill Country flood victims. 

In fact, the Texas GOP has had years to prioritize such critical disaster-response legislation but has instead refused to engage with hundreds of such proposed bills to better prepare for disasters and ensure more resilience to climate change. Such bills are once again going ignored as part of a longer pattern of climate-reactive discussions at the Legislature in which Republicans pull their collective fingers out of their ears only to offer piecemeal relief in the aftermath of deadly disaster. 

Democratic state Representative Ron Reynolds, for instance, refiled a bill—one he’s carried for several years now—in the first special session aimed at creating a Climate Change Impact Assessment Council to study the impacts and cumulative costs of climate change on the state and measures that would mitigate flooding, erosion, drought, and wildfires. Democratic Representatives Erin Zwiener and Mary González likewise filed bills in the 89th regular session directing the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality and Texas State University to undertake similar climate impact studies.

“This effort of some of these bills goes back quite a ways, even back to when Eric Johnson was in the House,” said Public Citizen Texas Director Adrian Shelley, referring to the now-Republican mayor of Dallas who served as a Democrat in the Texas House until 2019. Johnson filed a similar bill as early as 2015 that would have mandated certain state agencies draw up strategic plans every two years to address climate vulnerabilities. 

It’s just one example in a long history of bills planning for extreme weather that have been effectively dead on arrival in the Capitol. “It’s been an open secret in the Legislature for a while that if your bill has the word ‘climate’ in the caption, it’s not getting a hearing,” Shelley told the Texas Observer. “That has been true for many sessions.”

The fate of regular session’s HB 2618, authored by state Representative Rafael Anchía, a Dallas Democrat, underscores Shelley’s point. That bill would have directed several agencies including TCEQ, the Department of Public Safety, the Public Utility Commission, and the Texas A&M Forest Service, among others, to draw up “severe weather” adaptation plans every other year. The word “climate” is absent from the text. Anchía got two Republicans to sign on as joint authors, and the bill passed the House with bipartisan support (though it ultimately died in the Senate).

The word “climate” has also been missing from important disaster-response hearings. The phrase “climate change” did not come up once during the House Investigative Committee on the Panhandle Wildfires hearings near Amarillo last year, nor did it appear in the committee’s final report, which nonetheless noted the especially hot, windy, and dry conditions that fueled the flames in February. 

But things may be starting to change—ever so slightly—this time around. The Texas State Climatologist John Nielsen-Gammon, who is tasked with studying state climate impacts, brought up climate change up during his recent testimony before the Senate and House Select Committees on Disaster Preparedness and Flooding in Kerrville in the context of his work with the Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) to map trends in extreme rainfall and estimate future risks. 

Nielsen-Gammon made several recommendations to the committee, including improving monitoring of air masses arriving from both the Gulf and Mexico, improving coordination among state agencies regarding longer-range forecasts, and partnering with the Texas Division of Emergency Management to develop a real-time weather app. He and other meteorologists from the TWDB hope to form a technical committee to develop the recommendations into legislation for the next regular session.

But other recommendations from the same state agency Nielsen-Gammon is partnering went ignored—until July 4. TWDB’s first-ever statewide flood plan, adopted in August 2024, outlined at least nine specific legislative proposals, including one to prioritize and expand “funding for implementing flood early warning systems on a regional scale, with emphasis on rural areas.”

That policy recommendation, along with those aimed at maintaining the Flood Infrastructure Fund and improving low-water crossing and dam and levee safety, are largely precautionary and were the product of an intensive outreach process.  

Still, as of now, the primary flood response bills in the special session currently address only one of those recommendations: the installation of early-warning systems. The joint committee is working to hone an interoperability and disaster-response bill that largely resembles House Bill 13 from the regular session—which died in the Senate—that would have created a similar interoperability council to administer a statewide disaster-response plan and grant program for counties to build new warning and communications systems.

Beyond that, at least one other bill filed in the first special looked to be directly modeled on the TWDB’s recommendation to authorize counties to collect drainage fees to fund flood mitigation and regulate land for flood management—an issue that has proved central to the July 4 catastrophe, with Camp Mystic being just one of at least 12 camps built in or near hazardous flood areas in unincorporated areas. 

A number of other climate mitigation and resilience bills—almost entirely authored by Democrats—went ignored in the regular session and surely would suffer a similar fate in any special session, too. Those included bills from state Representative Jon Rosenthal that would have eliminated routine flaring at fracked gas wells and directed the Texas Railroad Commission (RRC) to implement weatherization rules for fracked gas facilities. Another measure that would have required state agencies and higher educational institutions to lower energy consumption 5 percent over six years passed the House and died in the Senate.

Other bills took a proactive approach to disaster response, including measures from state Representative Christina Morales, a Houston Democrat, to create an alert system to notify nearby residents of toxic chemical releases from manufacturing facilities. At least four bills were filed with the aim of requiring backup generators at nursing homes and assisted living facilities.

While the GOP-dominated Legislature did approve measures to secure the state’s drought-stricken water supply during the regular session, lawmakers simultaneously passed laws that would supercharge climate impacts by delivering another $5 billion to the Texas Energy Fund to support the building of new fracked gas plants and fast-tracking the permitting process for liquified natural gas terminals. 

Climate justice advocates remain concerned that another bill to bar all political subdivisions from using taxpayer dollars to fund environmental projects—like pollution reduction, and clean air programs—reared its head again in the first special session. 

In fact, the only bill ever passed by the Texas Legislature that explicitly references climate change was a 2023 measure aimed at shutting down the adoption of climate policies by municipalities. 

“I wish that we could just focus on what is important to Texans. Nobody asked for redistricting,” Public Citizen’s Shelley said. “One man asked for it.”

The post Texas GOP Say Flood Relief is Priority. Here’s the Climate Policy They Won’t Pass. appeared first on The Texas Observer.

14 Aug 2025

How to tell when your garden veggies are ripe for harvesting

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By JESSICA DAMIANO, Associated Press

It’s time — or getting to be time — for us gardeners to reap what we’ve sown.

Although it’s fairly evident when some edibles, like tomatoes, are ripe for the picking (uniform red, yellow or orange color), that isn’t the case with every crop.

This July 3, 2024, image provided by Jessica Damiano shows a zucchini maturing on the vine on Long Island, N.Y. Zucchini are at their most tender when they are 6-8 inches long. (Jessica Damiano via AP)

Popular crops’ telltale signs of deliciousness

Zucchini, for instance, doesn’t change color. Although it might be tempting to grow a 15-inch-long squash, it will likely be tough. For optimal tenderness, pick individual fruits when they’re 6-8 inches (15-20 centimeters) long.

All varieties of green beans should be harvested when they are about as thick as a pencil. Once the plant begins producing, check it every day or two and remove beans that are ready; the more you pick, the more the plant will make.

This undated image provided by Jessica Damiano shows a green bean ready for harvest on Long Island, N.Y. Beans should be picked when they are roughly the thickness of a pencil. (Jessica Damiano via AP)

Green peppers can be harvested at any size but are considered fully mature when they turn red. As a bonus, red peppers are sweeter and contain more nutrients.

There isn’t such a thing as an unripe cucumber — even small ones are crispy and juicy. The hazard here is allowing them to remain on the vine too long, which can result in an off-putting taste and texture. Cucumbers are considered mature when their bumpy skin smooths out.

You’ll know sweet corn is ready as soon as the silk at the top of its ear turns brown. If you still aren’t sure, peel back a small portion of husk and press your nail into a kernel; if it releases a milky fluid, it’s ripe.

Cantaloupe will practically harvest itself when the time is right: A light tug will release the melon from its stem. If any force is required, it’s not ready.

Honeydew melons are ripe when their bottoms begin to soften, and watermelons when their undersides turn a creamy white color.

This July 9, 2025, image provided by Jessica Damiano shows a patch of mature garlic plants on Long Island, N.Y. Garlic bulbs are ready to harvest when all but 5 leaves at the top of the plant have turned yellow or brown. (Jessica Damiano via AP)

When to unearth root crops

Determining when to dig up root crops can pose a bit more of a challenge, as they can’t be visually assessed without disturbing them. But there are some signs to watch for.

You’ll know garlic bulbs are mature when all but five leaves at the top of the plant have turned completely yellow or brown.

Onions are ready when their tops flop over and turn brown.

To assess beets, select one plant and push aside the soil at its base to expose the entire top of the root. Harvest when it measures between 1 ½ and 3 inches (3.8 and 5 centimeters) wide, depending on variety. If it’s too small, cover it back up, water and try again in a week. Avoid allowing beets to get too big, however, or they’ll lose sweetness and turn tough.

Standard potatoes are fully mature when their foliage dies back. But if it’s the so-called “new” potatoes you’re after, dig up the thin-skinned babies 2-3 weeks after the plant blooms. Early-maturing potato types will be ready sooner than the standard, so check tags for variety-specific details. (Note: Due to their delicate skin, new potatoes should be consumed immediately, as they do not store well.)

Carrots are ready when they poke up from underground but can be left in the soil, even into winter, until you need them.

Jessica Damiano writes weekly gardening columns for the AP and publishes the award-winning Weekly Dirt Newsletter. You can sign up here for weekly gardening tips and advice.

For more AP gardening stories, go to https://apnews.com/hub/gardening.

14 Aug 2025

US consumers face possibility of higher beef prices in 2026

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By Gerson Freitas Jr., Bloomberg News

American beef lovers may face even leaner plates and higher prices next year as US production shrinks to a decade low and tariffs limit imports, according to a US government projection.

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Total beef supply in the US is expected to drop 2.5% in 2026 to 31.1 billion pounds — the lowest since 2019 — the US Department of Agriculture said in a monthly report. The decline threatens to push record beef prices even higher, with tariffs limiting importers’ ability to soften the blow.

US beef supplies have been constrained by a shrinking herd. For years, ranchers have been culling cows due to a combination of persistent drought and high costs, reducing the domestic inventory to its lowest level in several decades.

Record prices for slaughter-weight animals have fueled expectations that ranchers will begin rebuilding the herd in 2026 — but that would tighten supplies even further in the short term, as ranchers would need to retain more females for breeding rather than sending them to processors.

Meanwhile, the Trump administration has slapped hefty tariffs on shipments from Brazil, making supplies from the world’s largest beef exporter more costly.

US beef production is expected to fall 1.8% to 25.5 billion pounds next year, the lowest since 2016, while imports are projected to decline 6.1% to 4.95 billion pounds, according to the USDA. Both forecasts were revised lower from last month.

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