Eight arrested over suspected far-left plot against Lyon-Turin line

Eight people have been charged with criminal conspiracy in Paris over a suspected far-left plot against the Lyon-Turin high-speed rail line, according to Le Monde. The arrests mark an escalation in the long-running opposition to the cross-border project, which has faced resistance from environmental and anarchist groups on both sides of the Alps for more than a decade.

The French daily reported that France and Italy exchanged intelligence on the 'ultra-left' in connection with the case. The Lyon-Turin line, which would cut through the Alpine border region, has been a flashpoint for activists who argue the tunnel threatens fragile mountain ecosystems and wastes public money.

For Valle d'Aosta, the arrests carry particular weight. The region sits at the western edge of the Italian Alps, close to the French border, and the Lyon-Turin project — though its Italian portal lies further south — has long shaped the political and environmental debate across the entire Alpine arc.