PARIS (Reuters) -French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday tried to soothe the anger of protesting farmers by calling on the European Union to regulate agricultural imports from Ukraine and loosen farming rules. Macron, speaking on a visit to Sweden as farmers parked tractors across highways in France and set ablaze bales of hay on the road to Toulouse airport, also rejected a draft trade deal with the Mercosur bloc of South American countries in its current form. The French protests follow si
France's highest administrative court ruled on Wednesday that police officers must clearly display their identification number badge, which advocates hope will improve investigations into police violence. The French government has come under increasing scrutiny for heavy-handed police tactics during protests, such as earlier this year after the police shooting of Nahel, a teenager of North African descent, and during the Yellow Vest movement. Police officers' number badge, known as a RIO, should be made bigger so it is readable, especially when officers intervene in large gatherings, the Conseil d'Etat decision said.
The French judiciary is working without pause to put hundreds of arrested protesters behind bars with quick-fire trials of teens, some, as young as 12 years of age.