Angry farmers block Brussels to protest EU policies, cheap Ukraine imports
Al Jazeera
Farmers threw beets, sprayed manure at police and set hay alight in Brussels as hundreds of tractors sealed off streets close to the European Union headquarters, where agriculture ministers sought to ease a crisis that has led to months of protests across the 27-member bloc.
The farmers on Tuesday protested against what they see as excessive red tape and unfair trading practices as well as increased environmental measures and cheap imports from Ukraine. “Let us make a living from our profession,” read one billboard on a tractor blocking a main thoroughfare littered with potatoes, eggs and manure.
As the protests turned violent, police used tear gas and water cannon to keep the farmers and some 250 tractors at bay, even as ministers met to push through measures meant to calm the crisis. Authorities asked commuters to stay out of Brussels and work from home as much as possible.
Several farmers, police and firefighters suffered injuries, but none was life-threatening. The government lambasted the farmers for failing to contain violent elements that threw e-bikes off a bridge and set the entry to a subway station aflame.
With protests taking place from Finland to Greece, Poland and Ireland, the farmers have already won concessions from EU and national authorities, from a loosening of controls on farms to a weakening of pesticide and environmental rules.
Global lender says it will release about $333m to crisis-hit nation as signs of economic recovery emerge.
At least four people have been killed in the attack on the Basta neighbourhood, according to the Health Ministry.
A series of unexplained incidents causing damage to pipelines and cables in the Baltic Sea has occurred in the past two years. Could this be a new form of underwater warfare?
The hedge fund manager will be responsible for implementing president-elect’s pledges to cut taxes and raise tariffs.
Cola Gaza offers its drinkers an ‘apartheid-free’ alternative as they boycott big-name brands.
These were the key developments on the 1,003rd day of the Russia-Ukraine war.
Defectors from Myanmar’s military and police are learning skills that could put them on a new path after years of war.
World Health Organization says 226 health workers, patients killed in Lebanon since start of Israel’s war on Hezbollah.
UN health agency says its decision is ‘based on the rising number and continuing geographic spread of cases.’