Farmers protesting in Toulouse, France, on January 16, 2024, with tractors bearing placards that read ‘Macron still an effort, soon all farmers will be dead’. Photo by Alain Pitton/NurPhoto via Reuters

Explainer: Why are French farmers protesting?

Many farmers feeling pinched by costs, imports, environmental regulations and disregarded by French society

French farmers are blocking roads across the country to demand government action to address numerous grievances, as protests in the European Union's agricultural sector spread. Here are some of the issues that have prompted the growing protest movement and how the government could respond.






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Sweden reports bird flu outbreak as disease spreads

The Philippines bans poultry imports from France, Belgium to protect poultry, workers, consumers

Sweden has reported an outbreak of the highly pathogenic H5N1 bird flu virus on a farm in the southern part of the country, the Paris-based World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) said on Tuesday, as the disease spreads in Europe. The Philippines, meanwhile, has banned imports of French and Belgian poultry as a virus containment measure.