France (AP) — Truck driver Jeremy Donf understands French farmers are struggling and he wants to support local food producers buying French produced food isn’t always an option Farmer protests across Europe this week have highlighted how farmers and households are both hurting these days because of multiple factors high interest rates and volatile energy prices “We understand their anger because we value farmers What are we going to do if they are not here But as he weighed Spanish-grown lemons in his suburban Paris supermarket Donf noted that most of the produce around him was imported Moroccan clementines and Polish mushrooms cost about half the price of their French counterparts The farmer protests drew widespread public support in France even from truckers like Donf whose livelihood was threatened by the highway blockades that were part of the protests Donf lives in the Paris suburb of Boussy-Saint-Antoine but comes from the French Indian Ocean island of Reunion where farming is important and many people buy directly from local farmers Spain and Greece agreed in recent days to pump hundreds of millions of euros into the farming sector to calm the protesters The EU also granted concessions to farmers sensitive to voter concerns ahead of European Parliament elections in June several shoppers specifically chose more expensive French meat and vegetables over cheaper imports “I am well aware that it’s not easy for some people to spend more money on food I decided to favor high-quality (French) products,” said Patrick Jobard corn and other grain — except rice — are lower than they were before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine drove global food commodity costs to record highs in 2022 which worsened hunger worldwide but helped farmers’ bottom lines aren’t seeing big benefits from lower prices for wheat and other food commodities traded on global markets because the price surge that’s been seen at the grocery store is tied to other costs after food leaves the farm senior research fellow at the International Food Policy Research Institute Things like energy costs and higher wages for labor have been “affecting every step of food processing all the way to the retail shelves,” he said farmers are getting less for what they grow than they used to and are facing uncertainty from volatile energy prices That’s especially hard for farmers in Europe because of the loss of inexpensive Russian natural gas and trade disruption as Yemen’s Houthi rebels attack ships in the Red Sea The Red Sea is a critical trade route between Asia and Europe Ukraine and Russia are facing the fallout from shipping companies diverting vessels on longer journeys around the tip of southern Africa “Those costs get passed back to producers,” said Glauber making it more expensive to borrow to buy farm equipment and other necessities European farmers also face climate regulations that can drive up costs that aren’t being borne by competitors in the U.S farmers in major economies like Europe and the U.S while “a bulk of agriculture around the world is unsubsidized And they’re competing in this environment,” Glauber said but “people still think back two years ago and say this this meat is still very expensive relative to what I was paying two years ago,’” he said Cheaper imports are a big concern for farmers around Europe a big focus of the farmers’ anger was the massive Rungis trading center It provides food to many Paris restaurants and supermarkets but is also seen as a symbol of globalized food chains A group of farmers from the rural southwest camped out with their tractors outside its gates this week and later pushed past armored vehicles guarding the site a grain and orchard farmer who drove there in his tractor from the Lot-et-Garonne region of southern France he joked with them in his distinctive southern accent that he wouldn’t object to being taken to a police station “I already traveled 600 kilometers (360 miles) anyway.” Associated Press writer Courtney Bonnell in London contributed to this report Stay secure and make sure you have the best reading experience possible by upgrading your browser Last weekend, French police found a car parked, with hazards flashing and no plates, near Notre Dame cathedral in Paris. Inside, police found seven gas canisters, one of them empty on the front seat. Police did not find any detonation device, but did uncover some papers with writing in Arabic, reports The Guardian. French officials now say three “radicalized, fanaticized” women linked to that vehicle were close to carrying out an attack on the Gare de Lyon Authorities have arrested those three women — a 19-year-old named Ines Madani whose father owned the car; a 23-year-old; and a 39-year-old French interior minister Bernard Cazeneuve called it a “race against time” to stop these women, who reportedly plotted to attack Thursday Police moved Thursday night to arrest the women in Boussy-Saint-Antoine One of the women police tried to detain stabbed a cop in the shoulder with a knife; officers fired back and wounded the woman in the leg Police knew the 19-year-old Madani had terrorist sympathies after she reportedly tried to flee to Syria last year to join up with ISIS who was also on authorities’ radars for past extremist ties told police Sunday that his daughter had taken the car The identities of the other women have not been released Things you buy through our links may earn Vox Media a commission Password must be at least 8 characters and contain: you’ll receive occasional updates and offers from New York You don't have permission to access the page you requested What is this page?The website you are visiting is protected.For security reasons this page cannot be displayed Interior minister says there had been a ‘race against time’ to catch the women after car packed with gas cylinders found near cathedral Three radicalised young women who French authorities say were probably preparing “new and imminent violent action” have been arrested at a railway station south east of Paris after they were linked to the discovery of a car packed with gas cylinders left near Notre Dame cathedral last weekend, the government has said. Read moreThe interior minister, Bernard Cazeneuve, said there had been a “race against time” to catch the three women, aged 19, 23 and 39, who he described as “radicalised and fanaticised”. The women were stopped near the station in Boussy-Saint-Antoine, a small town in Essonne 30km south-east of Paris One of the women stabbed a police officer with a knife during the arrest Other police officers opened fire and the woman was injured “France is confronted with a terrorist threat of unprecedented scale,” Cazeneuve said The changing threat took different forms and was very hard to detect as he called for the “vigilance of all citizens” The women were arrested in connection with the discovery on Saturday night of a Peugeot 607 car loaded with seven gas cylinders – six of them full – which was parked in a street near Notre Dame cathedral in central Paris Police sources said no detonator device was found in the car but the presence of diesel-filled canisters caused fears that there had been a plan to explode the vehicle The discovery of the car triggered an inquiry by counter-terrorism experts Documents with writing in Arabic were found in the car which had no registration plates and was left with its hazard lights flashing The car owner – who officials said was on an intelligence services watchlist of people suspected of religious radicalisation – was arrested but later released because he had gone to police on Sunday to report that his daughter had disappeared with his car was known to police for wanting to leave for Syria where scores of radicalised people of French and other nationalities have joined the ranks of the Islamic State militant group which is taking part in bombing the militant group’s bases in Iraq and Syria remains on maximum alert after calls for attacks on the country More than 200 people have died in terrorist attacks over the past year and a half in France Several people had previously been arrested and questioned in the investigation into the car Officials said a 27-year-old man and a 26-year-old woman were detained on Wednesday south of Paris and a second couple, a 34-year-old man and a 29-year-old woman, was detained in the same case on Tuesday. said earlier this week that the Notre Dame car incident highlighted the need to increase security in the French capital “Police and army staffing must be stepped up,” she told the news TV channel BFM She said the vehicle was left in a zone where parking is strictly prohibited and it had remained there for about two hours before it came to the attention of police Thousands of extra police and soldiers have been deployed to patrol sensitive sites across France since last year’s terrorist attacks on Charlie Hebdo and a Paris kosher supermarket followed by November’s attacks which resulted in 130 people being killed by Islamist gunmen and suicide bombers in coordinated attacks in Paris A state of emergency declared at that time remains in place and gives police extra search and arrest powers, but there has been a political debate about security levels following a further attack on 14 July in which a lorry driver ploughed into crowds in the city of Nice A “radicalized” woman was shot in the head near Paris late Thursday in a police raid linked to the discovery of a car filled with gas canisters near the Notre Dame cathedral French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said police raided a building in Boussy-Saint-Antoine All were said to be “fanatical and radicalized” and were known to police one of the women was shot in the head and had to be rushed to hospital A police officer was also injured when one of the women attacked her with a knife The woman who had been shot, a daughter of owner of the car, had sworn allegiance to the Islamic State group, according to a source close to the investigation, the AFP reported The women were “preparing violent and imminent action,” Cazeneuve said According to police sources quoted by Le Monde two couples were also arrested in separate operations in north-central and southern France a man and a woman known for having ties to a radical Islamic movement may have been linked to the car found last weekend by Notre Dame which is frequently cited as a target for terrorism A bar owner alerted police late Sunday when he saw a car abandoned next to the cathedral with its doors open its headlights on and a gas canister on a passenger seat Police found five full gas canisters in the car but no detonation mechanism Documents in Arabic were also discovered on the front seat of the car Investigators were able to identify two suspects thanks to forensic evidence found in the vehicle head of the DGSI internal security service told a parliamentary defense committee in May that terrorists were preparing to “raise the level” on their attacks and would start to use remotely detonated bombs to wreak havoc and avoid losing operatives all recent attacks in France have involved armed terrorists using knives Kalashninov rifles or explosives in operations that led to suicide or being killed by police This article has been updated with new information Also On POLITICO Police discover gas cylinder-filled car in central Paris By Hortense Goulard Estonian Commission official Henrik Hololei faces disciplinary measures after opening of internal probe into claims of wrongdoing. Hannah Neumann was targeted in a cyber-espionage operation by an infamous Iranian hacking group earlier this year, she said. In exclusive comments to POLITICO, the European Commission president touted the EU as a safe haven in an unpredictable world. The European Commission will enforce its digital rulebook without fear, said Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. The plotters were reportedly caught after French intelligence agents laid a trap Link copiedShareShare articleFrench authorities say they have foiled a possible terror attack after detaining seven people including some who had fought with the Islamic State (IS) group in Syria Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said the seven people of French Moroccan and Afghan origin were taken into custody on Sunday following an eight-month operation that ended with the DGSI internal intelligence agency laying a trap a terrorist act on our soil that was being prepared for a long time was foiled thanks to the work of the DGSI," Mr Cazeneuve told reporters French officials are worried IS will call on its followers and jihadists returning from the region to increase attacks in the West More than 230 people have been killed in attacks on French soil since January 2015, including 130 in coordinated gun and suicide bomb strikes in Paris in November last year. A second source said some of those arrested had spent time in Syria and Iraq, and one of them had been identified after a tip-off from the Portuguese Government. A year on from the Paris attacks, locals seem equal parts excited and anxious — life has returned to normal but not everything is the same, writes James Glenday. Four handguns and a submachine gun were recovered during house searches, the source told Reuters. Two were arrested in the Mediterranean port city of Marseille and four in Strasbourg in the east. Mr Cazeneuve did not say where the seventh was arrested. The minister gave no information on the target of the planned attack, but the mayor of Strasbourg said it appeared the plot had not concerned his city but rather the Paris region. The source said the plotters were caught after intelligence services leaked information to one of their coordinators — most likely in Syria — that there was a weapons cache in the Paris region. After several months of surveillance the suspects finally approached the cache, the source said. CNN and the BBC World Service which is copyright and cannot be reproduced AEST = Australian Eastern Standard Time which is 10 hours ahead of GMT (Greenwich Mean Time) among trio held after car packed with gas cylinders found Three women arrested near Paris on Thursday night had been planning an attack on the Gare de Lyon The women, aged 19, 23 and 39, were arrested in Boussy-Saint-Antoine, a small town 19 miles (30km) south-east of Paris, after they were linked to the discovery of a car packed with gas cylinders parked near Notre Dame cathedral last weekend said the women were “radicalised and fanaticised” and believed to have been preparing “new and imminent violent action” He said there had been a “race against time” to stop them involving a vast police and intelligence operation calling for the “vigilance of all citizens” an interior ministry official told Reuters: “An alert has been issued to all stations but they had planned to attack the Gare de Lyon on Thursday.” The Gare de Lyon, one of the busiest train stations in Paris The 19-year-old French woman arrested on Thursday night was named by Associated Press as Ines Madani who has been known to police in the past for radicalisation he told police that his daughter had disappeared with the vehicle Madani had been classed as dangerous by police. Newspaper Le Monde reported that she had been known to police since 2015 for wanting to leave for Syria where hundreds of people of French and other nationalities have gone to join Islamic State She had reportedly written a letter pledging allegiance to Isis TV footage showed an officer leaving the scene carrying a large knife The investigation into the discovery of the car continues Police sources said no detonator device was found in the vehicle but the diesel canisters raised concerns that the car was planned to explode Documents with Arabic writing were found in the Peugeot which had no number plates and was left with its hazard lights flashing A 27-year-old man and a 26-year-old woman were detained on Wednesday south of Paris and a second couple Investigators are trying to establish whether any of those arrested and questioned have links with Hayat Boumeddiene, the girlfriend of Amedy Coulibaly who killed a police officer and four hostages at a kosher supermarket in Paris in January 2015 Boumeddiene left France just before the attacks on the capital and is believed to have headed to Isis-held territory Police are also investigating any possible links between the people who have been arrested and Larossi Abballa, who murdered a police commander and his partner at their home outside Paris in July in the presence of their three-year-old son who had inspired people to launch attacks in the west said the discovery of the car highlighted the need to increase security in the French capital “Police and army staffing must be stepped up,” she told news channel BFMTV The vehicle was left in a zone where parking is strictly prohibited and had remained there for about two hours before it came to the attention of police after being reported by a waiter at a nearby restaurant Image: French policemen take part in a police raid in Boussy-Saint-Antoine near Paris BOUSSY-SAINT-ANTOINE/PARIS (Reuters) – Three women arrested on Thursday in connection with a car laden with gas cylinders found abandoned near Paris’s Notre Dame cathedral were likely planning an imminent attack The minister said one of the women had stabbed a police officer during the arrest before being shot and wounded A source close to the investigation said the attacker was the missing 19-year-old daughter of the car’s owner The discovery on Saturday night of the Peugeot 607 loaded with seven gas cylinders prompted a counter-terrorism investigation in a country where militants have killed more than 230 people in attacks since January Police sources said no detonator had been found though the vehicle also contained three jerry cans of diesel fuel adding to concerns that there had been a plan to explode the car were fanatics and were in all likelihood preparing an imminent violent act,” Cazeneuve said in a televised statement Seven people have now been detained since Tuesday in connection with the investigation The arrests took place in Boussy-Saint-Antoine A Reuters photographer later saw a hand-cuffed person being carried into a building in that town where house searches were being carried out Police investigators and bomb-disposal experts were on the ground The town’s mayor told BFM TV there had been no specific threat of an attack in the local area The Peugeot was found in the early hours of Sunday morning on a Seine riverside road metres from Notre Dame cathedral Documents with writing in Arabic were also found in the car The car owner was taken into custody earlier this week but later released He had gone to police on Sunday to report that his daughter had disappeared with his car is known to police for wanting to leave for Syria where scores of religiously radicalised people of French and other nationalities have joined the ranks of the Islamic State militant group which is taking part in bombing the militant group’s bases in Iraq and Syria Thousands of extra police and soldiers have been deployed to patrol sensitive sites since 130 people were killed by Islamist gunmen and suicide bombers in attacks on Paris last November A state of emergency declared at that time is still in place and gives police extra search and arrest powers but debate still rages over security after another attack in July in which a man drove a truck into crowds in the city of Nice (Additional reporting by Simon Carraud; Writing by Richard Lough; Editing by Ralph Boulton and Chris Reese) You must be logged in to post a comment.