Ahead of the Paris Olympics, police clear a migrant camp near City Hall

PARIS (AP) — French police evicted migrants from a makeshift tent-camp next to Paris City Hall early on Tuesday, the latest clear-out of people without homes that aid groups allege is a campaign to beautify the French capital ahead of the Summer Olympics.

In an operation that began before dawn, police woke around 100 teenage boys and young men from West Africa, telling them to pack their tents and belongings.

Paris police said the operation was carried out for security reasons, notably because the camp was near schools.

Paris-region officials told the men — many of them minors and in the process of seeking residency papers — that they could be housed temporarily for three weeks in the Loire-region town of Angers if they wished. A bus was waiting in a nearby street to take them first to a Paris-region transit center.

Only two or three men boarded the bus. Most of the others walked away, carrying their belongings. Some said they feared being left isolated and abandoned in Angers, 250 kilometers (150 miles) southwest of the French capital, once the three weeks of temporary accommodation run out.

Those evicted from camps and squats are liable to set up makeshift settlements elsewhere in the French capital and be cleared out again, says a campaign group that has been sounding the alarm about the Olympics' impact on marginalized people.

“It’s a never-ending cycle,” said Antoine de Clerck, a spokesman for the Revers de la Médaille group, which translates as "the other side of the medal."

“We call it ‘nettoyage social,’ or social cleansing, as there’s no proper solution(s) that are proposed to the people,” he added. He alleged that people are being swept aside to make "room for the beautiful Paris postcard.”

In a written order that announced Tuesday’s clear-out in advance, Paris police chief Laurent Nunez said the makeshift camp was made up of more than 80 tents and was blocking pavements. The order also noted that the camp was near public buildings, including a church and City Hall, where security has been increased because France is on heightened alert against possible terrorism threats.

Migrant camps are commonly dismantled every spring in France with the end of an annual winter-time “truce” that limits evictions and evacuations when the weather is cold. Paris City Hall says the number of people living rough on the streets has swelled to 3,500, 500 more than at the same time last year.

Aid groups working with migrants and other vulnerable people say clear-outs are intensifying ahead of the July 26-Aug. 11 Olympics. They say that people are being sent far from the capital instead of being offered shelter in the Paris region, where many asylum-seekers have upcoming court dates and meetings with officials about their residency requests.

AP Olympics coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games

AP journalists Oleg Cetinic and John Leicester contributed.

Miigrants pack their belongings while being evicted from a makeshift camp, Tuesday, April 30, 2024 in Paris. Similar operations are carried out by the police authorities on a daily basis in the months leading to the Olympics. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)

Miigrants pack their belongings while being evicted from a makeshift camp, Tuesday, April 30, 2024 in Paris. Similar operations are carried out by the police authorities on a daily basis in the months leading to the Olympics. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)

Miigrants pack their belongings while being evicted from a makeshift camp, Tuesday, April 30, 2024 in Paris. Similar operations are carried out by the police authorities on a daily basis in the months leading to the Olympics. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)

Miigrants pack their belongings while being evicted from a makeshift camp, Tuesday, April 30, 2024 in Paris. Similar operations are carried out by the police authorities on a daily basis in the months leading to the Olympics. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)

Miigrants are being evicted from a makeshift camp, Tuesday, April 30, 2024 in Paris. Similar operations are carried out by the police authorities on a daily basis in the months leading to the Olympics. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)

Miigrants are being evicted from a makeshift camp, Tuesday, April 30, 2024 in Paris. Similar operations are carried out by the police authorities on a daily basis in the months leading to the Olympics. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)

Police officers stand by a makeshift camp during an evacuation operation Tuesday, April 30, 2024 in Paris. Similar operations are carried out by the police authorities on a daily basis in the months leading to the Olympics. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Bo Bichette had three doubles among his four hits, José Berríos pitched six solid innings to snap a four-start winless streak, and the Toronto Blue Jays won consecutive games for the first time in more than three weeks by beating the struggling Chicago White Sox 9-3 on Monday.

Daulton Varsho and Danny Jansen each hit a two-run home run and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. reached base three times and drove in a run as Toronto won back-to-back games for the first time since home wins over the Dodgers and Kansas City on April 28 and 29.

Bichette began the day in an 0-for-12 slump but broke out in style. He doubled and scored in the second inning, singled in the third, drove in Guerrero with an RBI double in the sixth, then added another double in the seventh.

Berríos (5-3) allowed three runs and eight hits to win for the first time since a road victory over San Diego on April 20. He struck out six and walked two.

Varsho gave the Blue Jays a 2-1 lead with a two-out homer off White Sox right-hander Erick Fedde in the second, his team-leading eighth.

Fedde (4-1) allowed five runs and seven hits in six innings for his first loss of the season. He walked one and struck out two.

PADRES 6, BRAVES 5, 1ST GAME

BRAVES 3, PADRES 0, 2ND GAME

ATLANTA (AP) — Chris Sale allowed only five hits in seven innings to continue his strong run and Atlanta snapped their season-worst, four-game losing streak by beating San Diego to split a doubleheader.

The Padres won the first three games of the series. Manny Machado’s two-run double in the eighth gave San Diego the lead and the Padres rallied from a five-run deficit to win the twinbill opener.

In the nightcap, Sale (7-1) recorded nine strikeouts without a walk while winning his sixth straight start. He has allowed no runs in three consecutive starts, a streak covering 20 innings. He has 28 strikeouts and one walk in the dominant stretch.

Pierce Johnson and Raisel Iglesias completed the seven-hitter. Iglesias pitched a perfect ninth for his 11th save.

GUARDIANS 3, METS 1

CLEVELAND (AP) — Ben Lively had another solid start, David Fry drove in two early runs and Cleveland won their fourth straight over the New York Mets to ruin Francisco Lindor’s homecoming.

Lindor, who spent six seasons with Cleveland, went 0 for 4 in his first game at Progressive Field since being traded to New York in 2021.

The four-time All-Star shortstop struck out, grounded out twice and flied out, dropping his average to .193.

Lively (3-2) allowed just one run — a homer — and six hits in 5 2/3 innings before first-year manager Stephen Vogt turned things over to his bullish bullpen.

Nick Sandlin took over a two-on, two-out situation in the sixth and gave up a walk before striking out Brett Baty with the bases loaded. Scott Barlow pitched a 1-2-3 seventh and rookie Cade Smith struck out two in the eighth.

Cleveland closer Emmanuel Clase finished up the combined six-hitter in the ninth for his 14th save. The right-hander has given up just one earned run in 24 1/3 innings this season.

RED SOX 5, RAYS 0

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Rafael Devers set a team record by homering in his sixth consecutive game, Tanner Houck allowed two hits over seven innings, and Boston beat Tampa Bay.

Devers had shared the Boston mark of a five-game homer streak with six others, including Hall of Famers Ted Williams and Jimmie Foxx.

Houck (4-5) allowed a third-inning single to Yandy Díaz and an infield hit to Josh Lowe in the seventh. He struck out five and was charged with one walk — which occurred when Devers was ruled to have violated defensive shift rules for an automatic ball on Jonathan Aranda’s groundout in the second on a 3-2 pitch.

Ceddanne Rafaela also homered for the Red Sox, who returned to .500 at 24-24.

Justin Slaten completed a three-hitter as Boston improved to 6-22 at Tampa Bay since the start of the 2021 season.

NATIONALS 12, TWINS 3

WASHINGTON (AP) — Luis García Jr. homered and drove in three runs, Eddie Rosario also had three RBIs and Washington snapped a five-game slide with a victory over Minnesota.

Jesse Winker hit a solo shot and Jacob Young delivered a two-run single during a four-run fifth inning off Twins starter Pablo López (4-4) to help Washington pound out 14 hits and hand Minnesota its seventh straight defeat.

Mitchell Parker (3-2) allowed three runs in six innings in the series opener, his longest outing since the rookie threw seven in a 2-0 win over Houston on April 21.

Minnesota’s Carlos Correa hit a two-run homer in the sixth. But Parker escaped further trouble when he struck out Kyle Farmer to strand two and end his outing.

MARLINS 3, BREWERS 2, 10 INNINGS

MIAMI (AP) — Josh Bell singled with the bases loaded in the 10th inning to give Miami a victory over the Milwaukee.

Christian Bethancourt’s sacrifice bunt against reliever Mitch White (1-1) advanced automatic runner Vidal Brujan to third. Jazz Chisholm Jr. was intentionally walked and stole second. Bryan De La Cruz drew an intentional walk before Bell hit a grounder to right field that scored Brujan.

Tanner Scott (4-4) allowed a leadoff walk to Christian Yelich in the top of the 10th. Joey Ortiz’s sacrifice bunt advanced courtesy runner Brice Turang and Yelich before Scott struck out Willy Adames and retired Gary Sánchez on a flyout to medium center.

The NL Central-leading Brewers used seven relievers after starter Joe Ross left after the first inning because of a low back strain.

MARINERS 5, YANKEES 4

NEW YORK (AP) — Ty France hit a go-ahead RBI single in Seattle’s four-run ninth inning against reliever Clay Holmes, and Mariners rallied to beat the New York Yankees.

The Mariners ended New York’s seven-game winning streak with the big inning against Holmes (1-1), who blew his second save in 15 chances.

Luke Raley, who had two of Seattle’s three hits off starter Marcus Stroman, hit an infield single to Gleyber Torres and Julio Rodriguez scored on the second baseman’s error. Mitch Haniger followed with an RBI single and Dominic Canzone lifted a tying sacrifice fly. France followed by grounding a 2-0 sinker to right field for a 5-4 lead.

Eduardo Bazardo (1-0) allowed an RBI single to Jon Berti in the bottom of the eighth that pushed New York’s lead to 4-1 before the comeback gave Seattle its second win in 23 games when trailing through eight.

Andrés Muñoz got the last three outs, stranding Juan Soto at first for his ninth save.

ROYALS 8, TIGERS 3

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Michael Massey and Salvador Perez homered as Kansas City beat Detroit for their fourth straight win.

Massey opened the scoring in the second inning with a leadoff homer, the first long ball given up this season by Tigers starter Reese Olson after 48 1/3 innings, snapping the majors’ longest homerless streak.

In his next at-bat, Massey stunned Olson with a liner off his right hip while Vinnie Pasquantino scored on catcher Jake Rogers’ throwing error for a 2-0 Royals lead.

After tossing a few warmup pitches, Olson (0-5) exited with a right hip contusion. He threw 2 2/3 innings, allowing the two runs and five hits with one walk and two strikeouts.

Perez led off the sixth with his ninth homer as the Royals greeted reliever Joey Wentz with five consecutive hits. Seven straight batters reached safely while Kansas City scored six runs to build an 8-1 lead.

Michael Wacha (4-4) allowed two runs and six hits in seven innings while walking one with three strikeouts to win his third straight start.

CARDINALS 6, ORIOLES 3

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Michael Siani hit his first career home run and drove in four runs, and St. Louis beat Baltimore.

Siani’s three-run homer into the right field bullpen capped a four-run fourth inning that gave the Cardinals a 5-0 lead. It was the first homer in 91 career plate appearances for Siani, who spent parts of the 2022 and 2023 seasons with the Cincinnati Reds before being selected off waivers by the Cardinals last September.

Sonny Gray gave up three runs, just one earned, in 5 2/3 innings as the Cardinals won for the sixth time in their last eight games. Gray (6-2) allowed three hits, walked two and struck out six.

Gray took a no-hitter into the sixth only to have it unceremoniously ended by a three-run homer by Gunnar Henderson to cut the Cardinals’ lead to 5-3.

ANGELS 9, ASTROS 7

HOUSTON (AP) — Nolan Schanuel and Logan O’Hoppe both hit three-run homers and Jo Adell added a solo shot as the Los Angeles Angels jumped on Framber Valdez for seven runs in the fifth inning to power them to a win over Houston.

Zach Neto homered in the sixth inning to give the Angels a season-high four home runs as they won for the fourth time in five games.

They trailed by five with two on and one out in the fifth when Schanuel homered to right field to cut the lead to 6-4. There were two on again with two outs when O’Hoppe connected to put Los Angeles up 7-6.

Adell sent the next pitch by Valdez (3-2) into the seats in right field to push it to 8-6.

Valdez was tagged for a season-high 10 hits and tied a career high by giving up eight runs in five innings.

Houston led 6-1 early after a three-run homer by Jose Altuve and a two-run shot from Mauricio Dubón before the big inning by Los Angeles.

DODGERS 6, DIAMONDBACKS 4

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Freddie Freeman’s grand slam keyed a six-run third inning, Yoshinobu Yamamoto had a strong start and the Los Angeles Dodgers extended their winning streak to four with a victory over Arizona.

Freeman’s blast off Slade Cecconi (1-4) was part of an onslaught where the first six Dodgers got aboard and scored in the third.

Kiké Hernández and Will Smith also went deep in the inning as Los Angeles improved to 33-17. It is the ninth time in franchise history the Dodgers have at least 33 wins after 50 games.

Arizona’s Ketel Marte extended his hitting streak to 19 games with a single in the first inning. It is the longest run in the majors this season and tied for fifth-longest in franchise history.

Toronto Blue Jays' Vladimir Guerrero Jr. dives into home to score on a double by teammate Bo Bichette during sixth-inning baseball game action in Toronto, Monday, May 20, 2024. (Chris Young/The Canadian Press via AP)