Eiffel Tower plagued by crime and grime ahead of Olympics

Israel launched a strike on Iranian soil on April 19, sources said, in the latest of the tit-for-tat exchanges between the regional arch-foes whose long-running shadow war has broken into the open.

- 

In the shadow of the 330m monument, workers are already building the temporary stadium that will host the beach volleyball event during the Games, which start on July 26.

The opening ceremony along the River Seine will finish in front of the attraction, while judo and wrestling will take place in a semi-permanent exhibition space at the far end of its park.

Although the sport will look spectacular in TV coverage, the behind-the-scenes area has become a lightning rod for complaints about the management of public spaces in the capital and the pressures of mass tourism.

"It is very dirty, and it is getting worse and worse," local resident Frederic Mabilon, 78, said as she walked her dog in the Champ-deMars park beneath the iron monument known as the Iron Lady.

Ms Mabilon remembers visiting the area as a child, enjoying the merry-go-round and play areas that have been closed ahead of the Olympics much to the anger of the operators.

"Look there," she said, pointing to a man urinating on the fence of one of the homes that line the park. "It happens all the time. There aren't enough toilets."