France deployed more than 2,000 members of the security forces to the Maurienne Alpine valley in the country’s east on Saturday as hundreds of activists prepared to defy a ban to protest against plans for a high-speed train linking the French city of Lyon with Turin, Italy. The activists aim to protest against the environmental impacts of the train link.
Authorities expect some 5,000 people to take part in the protest, and AFP on Friday reported that hundreds had already poured into the small commune of La Chapelle, setting up makeshift camps in the fields and meadows in a zone bordering the area of the banned demonstration.
