There are signs that the free trade agreement between the European Union and the Latin American trade bloc Mercosur, which has been a saga for years, is finally coming to an end.

According to a report in the Financial Times (FT), the EU and the Mercosur group of five South American countries are aiming to conclude negotiations on the long-delayed trade deal before the end of the year after making progress in resolving contentious issues.

Officials on both sides told the FT there was new momentum to conclude the deal, which has been two decades in the making despite French objections. “This is a geopolitical and economic necessity,” said one EU diplomat.

Another diplomat involved in the talks said: “We still have some important issues. It is not easy, but we have made a lot of progress”.

Mercosur, which includes Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay and Bolivia, is important for EU exporters.

According to the European Commission, the agreement creates a market of 780 million people and saves European companies more than €4 billion a year in customs duties. EU companies have investments worth €330 billion in the five South American countries.

France stands alone in opposing the deal

Talks were dealt a blow in January after French President Emmanuel Macron stepped up his opposition to the deal, saying it would harm the environment and expose farmers to unfair competition.

According to the FT, only Austria backed France, which is not enough to block the deal, which needs the approval of a majority of the bloc’s 27 governments.

EU officials say they are prepared to confront French opposition and insist the deal includes a commitment to implement the Paris Agreement, which pledges to keep global warming below 1.5 degrees Celsius.

Germany, Spain and many other member states have been pushing for the agreement, which was signed in principle in 2019 but has been in limbo since. Supporters believe it will strengthen economic and trade ties between the two blocs at a time of heightened global tensions.

Ursula von der Leyen, who was elected to a second term as commission president last month, had previously pledged to finalise the deal.

Mercosur accuses EU of ‘protectionism’

Mercosur members complain that European environmental concerns mask protectionist tendencies. Brazil was angered by a supplementary letter from Brussels last year seeking to add binding commitments on climate change and deforestation.

Other irritants include a separate EU anti-deforestation law, due to come into force next year, which bans imports of products such as timber, beef and coffee produced on deforested land. One official said Mercosur wanted guarantees that the legislation would not wipe out the benefits of the trade deal for its exporters.

Another bone of contention is Brussels’ pressure on Argentina to restrict the use of protected food names such as Parmesan cheese. The large Italian immigrant community has a long history of producing these delicacies. Brazil, meanwhile, is keen on measures to protect its car industry.

Farmers’ opposition continues in Europe

In Europe, the deal faces opposition from farmers, who have organised mass protests this year over rising costs, falling profits and new regulations as Brussels seeks to cut carbon emissions and improve biodiversity.

Farmers say cheaper products imported from South America are produced to lower standards than those in the EU. They also fear they will be unable to compete as cheap agricultural and livestock products flood the European market.

Technical talks continue

Paraguayan President Santiago Peña told the FT last week that he saw “little appetite for progress from European countries”, but acknowledged that Leyen and Macron were preoccupied with the recent EU and French general elections.

For his part, Argentine President Javier Milei expressed disdain for Mercosur during last year’s election campaign, although he and Foreign Minister Diana Mondino have since said they support the deal.

The Commission said negotiating teams from both sides “remain in contact at technical level to make progress on outstanding issues”.

Brussels is focused on “ensuring that the agreement meets its sustainability objectives while respecting the EU’s sensitivities in the agricultural sector,” it added.

Nationalists took to the streets and riots broke out in towns and cities across Britain after online rumours that a Muslim immigrant was the suspect in last Monday’s knife attack on a Taylor Swift themed children’s dance class in Southport, which left three young girls dead.

On Tuesday, rioters descended on Southport, attacking a mosque and clashing with and injuring police officers.

The suspected killer is accused of killing Alice Dasilva Aguiar, 9, Bebe King, 6, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, 7, with a kitchen knife after entering the classroom in Hart Street, Southport. Eight other children suffered stab wounds and two adults were seriously injured.

Attacker is a Welsh-born 17-year-old of Rwandan origin

Authorities have confirmed that the suspect in the Southport stabbing, 17-year-old Axel Rudakubana, was born in the UK.

Contrary to earlier reports on social media, Rudakubana is not an asylum seeker or someone who recently crossed the Channel illegally on a raft.

The 17-year-old was born in Cardiff, Wales. His parents are originally from Rwanda and have lived in Southport for some time. The prosecution told the court that Rudakubana had been ‘diagnosed with autism’ and had ‘for some time been unwilling to leave the house or communicate with his family’.

Neighbours of the Rudakubana family told the Mirror that the teenager was shy and introverted and could often be heard singing at the family home in Lancashire.

One of the neighbours said: “It’s a big shock. He would come home from school and sing. She never went out, we never saw her, we never spoke to her for seven years except to say hello,” said one neighbour.

Neighbours also said the Rudakubana family was heavily involved in a local church, describing the teenager as a “quiet choir boy”.

Rudakubana was also part of a school drama group that once performed in a show at the Shaftesbury Theatre in the West End. He also trained in karate with his father.

Motivation for murder not yet clear

The 17-year-old suspect is being held in a juvenile detention centre pending a defence and trial preparation hearing on 25 October.

The motive for the suspect’s actions is not yet known as the police have not revealed it.

However, the allegations suggest that the murder weapon was a curved kitchen knife.

Until Thursday, the identity of the suspected killer, a 17-year-old teenager, was not known under British law. In Britain, the names of people under the age of 18 are generally not released by the police or courts. The only exceptions are for serious crimes and crimes of public interest.

But on Thursday, Judge Andrew Menary agreed to lift the restrictions on the defendant’s identity. “Continuing to prevent full reporting has the disadvantage of allowing others to spread false information in a vacuum. As he turns 18 in six days’ time, I am not making a section 45 order, although I recognise that there is an exceptional circumstance given his age,” Mr Justice Menary said.

The judge added that postponing the release of Rudakubana’s name until next week “could provide an additional pretext for renewed community unrest”.

False reports on social media trigger fascist uprising

Following the murders in Southport, misleading posts and false rumours spread online about the identity of the attacker.

Many of these contained anti-Muslim immigrant rhetoric.

In response to these reports, a group of 200-300 rioters descended on the town on Tuesday, attacking and looting some shops, while mosques were also attacked.

The violence then spread to other parts of the UK, with protests on Wednesday night in London and the northern cities of Hartlepool and Manchester.

In London, a demonstration outside Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s 10 Downing Street residence escalated tensions with scuffles, bottles thrown at police and chants of ‘shame’.

In Hartlepool, north-east England, protesters set fire to police cars and threw objects at officers; police said eight people were arrested.

Hartlepool police said officers had ‘missiles, glass bottles and eggs thrown at them and several suffered minor injuries’.

On Sunday, hundreds of anti-immigration protesters gathered near a hotel near Rotherham in northern England that the Home Secretary said was harbouring asylum seekers.

The protesters, many wearing masks or balaclavas, threw bricks at police and smashed several windows of the hotel before setting fire to a large rubbish bin near the hotel, an eyewitness told Reuters.

Local police said 10 officers were injured in clashes with the 700-strong crowd in Rotherham, with some throwing wooden planks and spraying officers with fire extinguishers before smashing hotel windows.

Racists searched vehicles for ‘non-white and non-British’ people

According to the Daily Mail, “Islamophobic slogans” were heard during the attempted pogrom, and in some parts of the country rioters were filmed stopping cars and questioning drivers about whether they were “white and British”.

“Get out of Britain” was written on walls, while some attackers were seen giving the “Roman salute”, identified with the Nazis.

Videos taken by people inside the Rotherham hotel show masked men shouting and threatening to slit the throats of asylum seekers before trying to set the building on fire.

“Throw them out, England” and “Burn them down” were chanted by people at the scene, many of whom had their faces covered.

Starmer’s ‘right-wing thuggery’

As protests continued on Thursday, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer met with police chiefs from across the country to discuss how to quell the violence that erupted in the nights after Monday’s killings.

At the meeting, he condemned the violence and praised the police and other emergency services for the way they dealt with it.

Speaking later at a press conference, Starmer said: “As far as the far right is concerned, this is a co-ordinated, deliberate action. This is not just a protest that got out of control. It’s definitely a group of individuals who are inclined to violence,” Starmer said.

Starmer also warned social media companies that they must comply with the law on disinformation. “It’s a criminal offence and it’s happening on your sites,” Starmer said of the spread of disinformation that helps fuel violence.

In a statement on Sunday, Starmer also condemned what he called “far-right thuggery” and said perpetrators would face the full force of the law after days of violent anti-immigrant protests culminated in the targeting of hotels.

In a statement on Sunday, Starmer also condemned what he called ‘far-right thuggery’ and said the perpetrators would face the full force of the law after days of violent anti-immigrant protests culminated in the targeting of hotels.

The National Police Chiefs’ Council said 147 people had been arrested since Saturday night and more would be arrested in the coming days.

The Home Office said extra security would be provided to mosques under new arrangements following threats to mosques, including one in Middlesbrough.

Meanwhile, Mr Starmer will hold an emergency meeting with police chiefs today (5 August) following days of violent anti-immigrant protests in which buildings and vehicles were set alight and hotels used by asylum seekers were targeted.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said the rioters, who threw bricks at police officers, looted shops and attacked mosques and Asian-owned businesses, were ’emboldened by this moment to stir up racial hatred’.

Cooper made clear that the crackdown would include those spreading misinformation online.

English Defence League at centre of suspicion

Police blamed ‘online disinformation amplified by high-profile individuals’ for fuelling the violence.

One of the most prominent, Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, leader of the “anti-Islam” English Defence League (EDL), has been accused by the media of spreading misinformation to his 875,000 followers on X.

Yaxley-Lennon, who goes by the pseudonym Tommy Robinson, said: “They are lying to all of you. They are trying to turn the nation against me. I need you, you are my voice,” he wrote.

Mr Robinson posted a video of a clash in Stoke in which he claimed two protesters had been stabbed “by Muslims”. The post was viewed two million times on X.

Two hours later, Staffordshire Police said the information was incorrect and that the men had been injured when they were ‘hit by something thrown from their own side’.

In May 2014, the EDL took to the streets of Rotherham again, with speeches claiming that Rotherham was a ‘Muslim centre’ and that the council was run by ‘snotty lefties’.

Yaxley-Lennon had previously been sentenced to 18 months in prison for offences including assault and mortgage fraud.

Civil war is inevitable, says Elon Musk

“Civil war is inevitable,” X owner Elon Musk said in response to a post on the social media network blaming mass migration and open borders for riots in Britain.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper told broadcasters that tensions had escalated and flared online and that the government would take up the issue with social media companies.

“I think what you’re seeing is networks of different individuals and groups trying to fan the flames,” she told Sky News, refusing to answer questions about whether foreign governments were involved.

She said people had views and concerns about issues such as immigration, but blamed extremist, racist and violent groups for the violence.

“Reasonable people with all those views and concerns don’t pick up bricks and throw them at the police,” the minister said.

Clashes between anti-fascists and right-wing groups: Racists burn library

Anti-racist groups also mobilised and organised counter-demonstrations in several cities.

In Liverpool, police intervened on Saturday to prevent clashes between far-right rioters and anti-fascists.

Merseyside Police said racists set fire to a library later in the day, burning books and trying to prevent firefighters from reaching the blaze. Police arrested 23 people.

Speaking to Sky News, Debbie Stokes, who works at Spellow Library and Community Centre, said the chaos in Liverpool on Saturday night was “disgusting”.

“I am disgusted to see what has happened to the library. The Nazis burned books; these people have gone one step further and burned a library,” Stokes said.

As falling sales in China hit Volkswagen and BMW’s second-quarter profits, German carmakers warned of a looming trade war between the EU and the world’s biggest car market.

BMW chief executive Oliver Zipse said on Thursday that the EU’s imposition of tariffs on Chinese-made electric vehicles last month had hit the bloc’s own carmakers, including the Munich-based group, which makes vehicles in China for the European market, the Financial Times (FT) reported.

Zipse warned that “countermeasures” were expected, adding that Europe’s green transformation “relies heavily on raw materials and technology from China”.

Beijing is open to compromise, says Volkswagen boss

The tariffs on Chinese-made cars were imposed after a Brussels investigation found evidence that China’s booming electric vehicle (EV) sector was being heavily subsidised by Beijing. The measure is temporary, pending a vote by EU member states in November.

VW chief executive Oliver Blume said that although China’s commerce ministry had called the move “illegal” after the EU announced its decision in June, when he met Chinese ministers two weeks ago they were open to discussing tariffs and “seeking a fair solution”.

Blume said she was personally “deeply interested” in the issue, adding that she was “in contact with different countries in the EU” ahead of the vote. In opposing EU tariffs, Blume acknowledged that China currently imposes a 15% tariff on European electric vehicles and said she expected “the same deal” from China in return.

Sales of German cars falling

VW employs around 90,000 people in China and has invested more than €10 billion in the past four years. China has long been the most important market for German carmakers, but increasing competition from domestic electric vehicle brands such as BYD has put traditional carmakers under pressure and led to a price war.

VW’s deliveries to Chinese customers fell to 651,500 in the second quarter, down more than 19 per cent on the same period last year. Combined with unexpected costs related to a major restructuring programme, pre-tax profit at Europe’s biggest carmaker fell 8.4 per cent to just under 5 billion euros.

BMW, which is outpacing its German rivals in electric vehicle sales, saw deliveries in China fall by almost 5% to just over 188,500 vehicles in the same period, while the Munich-based company reported a net profit drop of almost 9% to 2.7 billion euros.