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You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2018/dec/08/paris-on-lockdown-amid-ongoing-gilet-jaunes-protests-live-updates
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Paris on lockdown for gilets jaunes protests - live updates | Paris on lockdown for gilets jaunes protests - live updates |
(35 minutes later) | |
Several people, including two photographers from Le Parisien have been wounded by flash balls - a kind of rubber bullet - fired by police, the paper said. | |
One photographer, hit in the neck, was hospitalised after losing consciousness. A policeman apologised, saying he was “aiming at someone else”. | |
Plusieurs blessés (parmi eux deux photojournalistes du Parisien) ont été touchés par des tirs de flash-ball dans les manifestations de ce samedi --> https://t.co/LkZIS7Ty1z pic.twitter.com/OjrgHNECQ3 | |
Kim has been in court this week, watching some of the protesters arrested last week being tried: | |
It was a depressing performance in which the main actors seemed to be missing, leaving a cast of extras to take centre stage in France’s latest national political drama. | |
The accused were mostly young men in their 30s, some a little younger, a few older, neatly dressed in smart but sombre clothes. | |
Well-spoken, tidy, clipped beards and short hair, these gilets jaunes (yellow vests) seemed hardly the stone-throwing, shop-smashing rabble those packed into the public benches had come to watch. | |
Few earned more than €1,200-€1,500 a month and they admitted it was a struggle to make ends meet. They were largely unknown to the police until now and had just spent their first nights in jail. | |
... | |
They were not there because they had been demonstrating; that was a fundamental right, the judges declared, but because they were accused of being casseurs – vandals, looters, rioters, breakers. The proof was in their pockets and bags: stones, gloves, sticks, slingshots, even fireworks. | |
You can read Kim’s full piece here. | |
The Guardian’s Kim Willsher is on the Place de la République in central Paris, where all appears relatively calm: | |
Place de la République. Not as quiet as this morning but calm. Loads of police around but watching. pic.twitter.com/TDjk3HOUVF | |
By mid-afternoon, several cars have been set ablaze, mainly in the wealthy 16th and 17th arrondissements, and police continue to play a game of cat-and-mouse with small groups of violent protesters in the 3rd, not far from the Pompidou Centre. | |
The general level of damage in central Paris is so far significantly less than last Saturday, French media report. According to the police, 615 people have been stopped and questioned in Paris since Saturday morning, and 508 arrested. | |
Several people have been injured in Toulouse, Le Monde reports, and tensions are mounting in Lyon: | Several people have been injured in Toulouse, Le Monde reports, and tensions are mounting in Lyon: |
Carrefours bloqués de part et d'autre du pont de la Guillotiere, groupes mobiles et désordonné, lacrymogène sur la berge gauche du Rhône, la tension monte à Lyon. pic.twitter.com/Q8CyTe1uX2 | Carrefours bloqués de part et d'autre du pont de la Guillotiere, groupes mobiles et désordonné, lacrymogène sur la berge gauche du Rhône, la tension monte à Lyon. pic.twitter.com/Q8CyTe1uX2 |
And Angelique Chrisafis speaks to an elderly Marais resident who is relieved not to be among the “bad ones”: | And Angelique Chrisafis speaks to an elderly Marais resident who is relieved not to be among the “bad ones”: |
Gilets jaunes marching through the Marais singing the national anthem & chanting" "If you're gilet jaune and pacifist clap your hands". An elderly lady peered out of the door of a church jumble sale, "It's ok, they're not the bad ones," she said. pic.twitter.com/Mh6twE5C9T | Gilets jaunes marching through the Marais singing the national anthem & chanting" "If you're gilet jaune and pacifist clap your hands". An elderly lady peered out of the door of a church jumble sale, "It's ok, they're not the bad ones," she said. pic.twitter.com/Mh6twE5C9T |
Veteran Paris reporter and occasional Guardian opinion writer John Lichfield is out and about as things degenerate on the avenue Marceau. He notices a change from last week’s demonstrations: | Veteran Paris reporter and occasional Guardian opinion writer John Lichfield is out and about as things degenerate on the avenue Marceau. He notices a change from last week’s demonstrations: |
Pitched battle now on swanky Avenue Marceau, as large group of urban guerrilla types try to march up to arc de Triomphe. Once again they don't look to me like the amateur provincial Gilets Jaunes guerrillas who wreaked destruction last week. | Pitched battle now on swanky Avenue Marceau, as large group of urban guerrilla types try to march up to arc de Triomphe. Once again they don't look to me like the amateur provincial Gilets Jaunes guerrillas who wreaked destruction last week. |
Paris police have reported that 30 people have been wounded in the gilets jaunes protests so far on Saturday, including three police officers. | Paris police have reported that 30 people have been wounded in the gilets jaunes protests so far on Saturday, including three police officers. |
The statement did not say how severe the injuries were. | The statement did not say how severe the injuries were. |
Tensions remain high on the central Grands Boulevards and rue Réaumur, reports Le Parisien. | Tensions remain high on the central Grands Boulevards and rue Réaumur, reports Le Parisien. |
In the capital’s third arrondissement, police have carried out a cavalry charge to disperse a small group of violent rioters, according to BFMTV. | In the capital’s third arrondissement, police have carried out a cavalry charge to disperse a small group of violent rioters, according to BFMTV. |
La tension monte d'un cran dans les rues de Paris, avec plusieurs enseignes dégradés au niveau des Grands Boulevards et de la rue Réaumur --> https://t.co/MPbpzCVWC0 pic.twitter.com/vgOgTjHD6b | La tension monte d'un cran dans les rues de Paris, avec plusieurs enseignes dégradés au niveau des Grands Boulevards et de la rue Réaumur --> https://t.co/MPbpzCVWC0 pic.twitter.com/vgOgTjHD6b |
The French interior ministry denies a rumour that police officers are disguising themselves as protesters, and urges people to watch out for fake news. | The French interior ministry denies a rumour that police officers are disguising themselves as protesters, and urges people to watch out for fake news. |
The gilets jaunes movement is being partly fuelled by conspiracy theories and fake news on social media, including widely spread claims that the president, Emmanuel Macron, has scrapped France’s constitution or is “selling France” to the United Nations, World Bank or other international organisations planning to let millions of migrants take over France. | The gilets jaunes movement is being partly fuelled by conspiracy theories and fake news on social media, including widely spread claims that the president, Emmanuel Macron, has scrapped France’s constitution or is “selling France” to the United Nations, World Bank or other international organisations planning to let millions of migrants take over France. |
The reports have been viewed several million times. | The reports have been viewed several million times. |
#8Décembre Non les forces de l'ordre ne se font pas passer pour des manifestants. Il peuvent intervenir en tenue civile ! Méfiez-vous de ce que vous lisez et des images qui circulent. Nos conseils pour décrypter les fausses informations ⬇️ #ChampsElysees https://t.co/t29QOE4uJl | #8Décembre Non les forces de l'ordre ne se font pas passer pour des manifestants. Il peuvent intervenir en tenue civile ! Méfiez-vous de ce que vous lisez et des images qui circulent. Nos conseils pour décrypter les fausses informations ⬇️ #ChampsElysees https://t.co/t29QOE4uJl |