Bathing to be allowed in the Seine by 2025

Good news stories from the past seven days

The Paris Seine
Swimming has been banned in the Seine since 1923, owing to high pollution levels
(Image credit: James O'Neil/Getty Images)

The waters of the Seine will be clean enough for Parisians to bathe in by 2025, the French government has confirmed. Swimming has been banned in the river since 1923, owing to high levels of pollution. But the water quality has been improving since Jacques Chirac pledged to clean up the Seine in 1990, and efforts have recently accelerated, as Paris prepares to host the 2024 Olympics. Swimming is expected to be permitted in 23 locations, some in the city centre.

Former wasteland declared national nature reserve

Retired engineer to take to the skies

A retired engineer from Hampshire has been given permission to take to the skies in the replica Spitfire he has spent the past 16 years building. Steve Markham, who qualified as a pilot in the 1970s, started assembling the aircraft in his barn, with the help of his wife Kay, when he realised that to buy an original wartime model would cost upwards of £2m. He said that he and Kay were hoping to fly the aircraft to Rome for a “nice Italian lunch” next year, but that their first flight would be to the Isle of Wight, for ice cream.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up