🇫🇷 French farmers threaten 'chaos' over EU trade deal with South America's Mercosur
French farmers launched new protests Tuesday against a proposed deal between the EU and the four South American countries of the Mercosur trade bloc. The French government is strongly opposed to the deal but protesters want French President Emmanuel Macron to do more to help amid rising discontent over foreign competition.
The French government is leading resistance against ratification of the trade agreement with the Mercosur bloc of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay that would create the world's largest free-trade zone.
The new wave of action comes after farmers across Europe, including France, mounted rolling protests last winter over a long list of burdens they say are squeezing revenue.
Dozens of farmers backed by Coordination Rurale (CR), a hard-line farming union, set up a roadblock on the A9 motorway at the southern town of Le Boulou, close to the border with Spain, blocking lorries but allowing cars through, an AFP journalist saw.
"We're going to block the A9, as well as fuel depots, ports and purchasing centres," said Serge Bousquet-Cassagne, a CR representative in the southwest.
"We want to cause chaos and food shortages," he said, adding that the blockade could last several days, pointing to "a river of fruit and vegetables arriving from Spain".
Farmers fear any agreement would open European Union markets to cheaper meat and produce from South American competitors, who are not forced to adhere to strict EU rules on pesticides, hormones, land use and environmental measures.
He said the agreement had been in the works for several decades and was "based on preconditions that are now obsolete".
📝: The EU has made agriculture very expensive with taxes on carbon emissions, on fuel, on diesel, it has encumbered farmers across the continent with strict rules on pesticides, hormones, GMOs, land use, waste management and more to ensure that groceries are of a high quality, nutritious and don't get people sick.
The adverse side effect of this is that groceries are very expensive compared to non-EU countries. When the EU liberalised trade with Ukraine, hundreds of thousand of farmers across the EU came out to protest unfair competition from Ukraine in the biggest mass unrest Europe has seen. If the Mercosur deal goes through, the farmers might just topple the EU as a whole.
At the same time, the EU must find a way to keep the prices of groceries low, while also doubling down on climate insanity and keep farmers and other unions calm.
The world’s fastest drone, the XLR V3, just went from 0 to 124 mph (200 km/h) in 1 second, faster than a Formula 1 car off the line.
Designed by Swiss engineers, the XLR V3 is a high performance FPV (First Person View) racing drone built with ultra light carbon fiber, high torque brushless motors, and cutting edge aerodynamics. It’s not just fast, it’s rewriting what’s possible in drone engineering.
This drone accelerates faster than:
✔️ An F1 car
✔️ A Tesla Plaid
✔️ Even a fighter jet on launch
Imagine what they're not showing us...
⚡️A Russian drone strike hit the car of Chief Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Wolf in Kherson, head of the United Jewish Community of Ukraine’s local chapter.
Yosef is well known for assisting SBU and Nationalists in tracking down pro Russian Ukrainians who supported Russian forces during the liberation and uses his synagogue, as a shield, to help assemble FPVs for Ukrainian forces.
1. Geopolitical & Military Tensions
Thailand–Cambodia conflict: Martial law has been declared, over 138,000 people have fled, and both sides have exchanged fire. Terrain challenges and border disputes intensify risks of prolonged conflict.
Middle East flashpoints: The Gaza conflict escalates as Israel prepares for a major offensive and new ceasefire efforts stall. Suwayda, Syria, sees Druze self-administration declared.
Russia–Ukraine talks: Zelensky confirms negotiations, but a Putin-Zelensky meeting is still seen as unlikely by the Kremlin.
ISIS strike: U.S. CENTCOM killed a senior ISIS leader and his sons in Syria.
2. Western Politics, Immigration, and Populism
UK Islamophobia sentiment: A new survey shows over 50% of Britons view Islam as incompatible with British values, potentially fueling anti-immigration politics.
Jeremy Corbyn’s new party: Gathers 200,000 members; promotes anti-austerity, pro-immigrant policies in contrast to rising nationalist sentiment.
Anti-migration protests: Spread ...
🇨🇦 Stefan Molyneux on X: Almost every government policy in the West is designed to prevent family formation for the native population.
📝 Roger Marques: "Could not agree more.
Housing is expensive.
Families taxed to the bone.
Prices are so high that both elements of the couple must work.
Women are incentivized to not care about having children in their prime.
Public schooling literally retards children.
The culture is profoundly anti-children.
What else?"