PROTEST OVER ACCESS TO WATER

French gendarmes stand next to gendarmes’ cars burning on the sideline of a demonstration called by the collective ‘Bassines non merci’, the environmental movement ‘Les Soulevements de la Terre’ and the French trade union ‘Confederation paysanne’ to protest against the construction of a new water reserve for agricultural irrigation, in Sainte-Soline, central-western France. More than 3,000 police officers and gendarmes have been mobilised and 1,500 activists are expected to take part in the demonstration, around Sainte-Soline. The new protest against the ‘bassines’, a symbol of tensions over access to water, is taking place under tight surveillance in the Deux-Sevres department. — AFP