PARIS (NEWSnet/AP) — The 2024 Olympics are getting off to a rough start in Paris, with suspected acts of sabotage targeting France’s high-speed rail network and cloudy skies and forecast rains ahead of its opening ceremony.

Here’s the latest from Paris:

Arson attacks cause travel chaos before start of Olympics in Paris

Arsonists attacked the French high-speed rail network early Friday, crippling travel to Paris from across the rest of France and Europe for some 800,000 people, including Olympic athletes heading to the grand opening ceremony of the Games in the evening.

French officials condemned the attacks as “criminal actions,” though they said there was no sign of a direct link to the Games. Prosecutors in Paris opened a national investigation saying the crimes could carry sentences of 10 to 20 years.

As Paris authorities geared up for a spectacular parade on and along the Seine River, three fires were reported before dawn near the tracks on the high-speed lines of Atlantique, Nord and Est, causing disruptions that affected hundreds of thousands of travelers.

Among them were Olympic athletes themselves.

Two out of four trains carrying Olympic athletes to Paris on the western Atlantique high-speed line were stopped hours before the opening ceremony scheduled for 7:30 p.m. local time (1730 GMT), affected by the coordinated sabotage on the tracks, an official from the French railway operator SNCF said Friday.

There were no known reports of injuries from the attacks.

French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal said France’s intelligence services have been mobilized to find the perpetrators of the “acts of sabotage” which he described as “prepared and coordinated.”

Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo said the massive attacks on France’s high-speed railway arteries to Paris would have “no impact on the opening ceremony” of the Games, though cloudy skies and forecast rain also were dampening the mood as the long-awaited Games were about to start.

‘Flooding rains’ threaten to dampen opening ceremony

The Paris Olympics look likely to get off to a soggy start.

Meteo-France, the French weather service, is predicting “flooding rains” Friday evening when the opening ceremony is set to unroll along the Seine River.

The show is set to go on as planned, starting at 1:30 p.m. EDT/7:30 p.m. CEST and should last more than three hours.

In the late afternoon, skies were gray with intermittent drizzle. There was a silver lining with temperatures expected to stay relatively warm throughout the evening.

Instead of a traditional march into a stadium, about 6,800 athletes will parade on more than 90 boats on the Seine River for 6 kilometers. Though 10,700 athletes are expected to compete at these Olympics, hundreds athletes have yet to arrive for their events in the second week, organizers said Thursday.

Hundreds of thousands of people, including 320,000 paying and invited ticket-holders, are expected to line the Seine’s banks as athletes are paraded along the river on boats.

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