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This is the world in brief from The Economist.

Our top stories.

After 25 years of negotiations, a qualified majority of EU countries back-to-trade deal with Mercosur,

a South American bloc to create a common market

of over 700 million people. The European Commission is now expected to ratify the agreement

in Paraguay as early as next week. France opposed the deal, along with Austria, Hungary,

Ireland and Poland, who fear that food imports

from Latin America will undercut their farmers. Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Harmoné

said his regime would not back down as huge anti-establishment protests gathered momentum across the country.

The authorities cut off the internet after unrest gripped several cities, including Tehran,

the capital. Rights groups estimate that Iran's regime has killed at least three dozen people

since protests began on December 28th.

Meeting oil executives at the White House, Donald Trump said that he expects the firms to spend

at least $100 billion in Venezuela. Darren Woods, the boss of ExxonMobil, cautioned the president

that the country was currently, quote,

"'uninvestable.'"

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