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FRANCE

Lyon-Turin rail line opponents arrested

Italian police on Thursday placed under house arrest nine militants opposed to a high-speed rail link between Turin and Lyon ahead of planned protests against the project next week, Italian media said.

Two of the activists are accused of taking part in an attack on a group of journalists covering a protest earlier this year and the seven others are being investigated for breaking into the offices of a company working on the project.

Four more anti-rail link activists have been banned from living in Turin.

The long-delayed project has been agreed by the Italian and French governments and is scheduled for completion in 2023. It has become a major flashpoint for the anti-government protest movement in Italy in recent years.

Opponents of the project plan to protest during a Franco-Italian summit next week in Lyon, where French President François Hollande and Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti are expected to discuss the issue.

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POLITICS

France vows to block EU-South America trade deal in current form

France has vowed to prevent a trade deal between the European Union and the South American Mercosur bloc from being signed with its current terms, as the country is rocked by farmer protests.

France vows to block EU-South America trade deal in current form

The trade deal, which would include agricultural powers Argentina and Brazil, is among a litany of complaints by farmers in France and elsewhere in Europe who have been blocking roads to demand better conditions for their sector.

They fear it would further depress their produce prices amid increased competition from exporting nations that are not bound by strict and costly EU environmental laws.

READ ALSO Should I cancel my trip to France because of farmers’ protests?

“This Mercosur deal, as it stands, is not good for our farmers. It cannot be signed as is, it won’t be signed as is,” Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire told broadcasters CNews and Europe 1.

The European Commission acknowledged on Tuesday that the conditions to conclude the deal with Mercosur, which also includes Paraguay and Uruguay, “are not quite there yet”.

The talks, however, are continuing, the commission said.

READ ALSO 5 minutes to understand French farmer protests

President Emmanuel Macron said Tuesday that France opposes the deal because it “doesn’t make Mercosur farmers and companies abide by the same rules as ours”.

The EU and the South American nations have been negotiating since 2000.

The contours of a deal were agreed in 2019, but a final version still needs to be ratified.

The accord aims to cut import tariffs on – mostly European – industrial and pharmaceutical goods, and on agricultural products.

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