This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/dec/15/gilets-jaunes-protesters-turn-out-in-paris-for-fifth-weekend
The article has changed 9 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
Version 1 | Version 2 |
---|---|
Gilets jaunes protesters turn out in Paris for fifth weekend | Gilets jaunes protesters turn out in Paris for fifth weekend |
(about 2 hours later) | |
Thousands of protesters have taken to the streets of French cities in the fifth weekend of nationwide demonstrations against Emmanuel Macron’s government, despite calls to hold off after a gun attack in Strasbourg earlier this week. | |
In Paris, police were out in force to contain possible outbursts of violence. But several major stores, such as the Galeries Lafayette, were open to Christmas shoppers. | |
Numbers of protesters were down compared to Saturday last week, a police source said. | |
If you want to understand the gilets jaunes, get out of Paris | Nora Bensaâdoune | |
Teargas was fired at small groups of protesters in brief clashes with riot police near the Champs-Élysées. | |
Close by, a handful of topless activists from the feminist protest group Femen faced security forces a few meters away from the Élysée Palace, the president’s residence. | |
The gilet jaunes (yellow vests) movement started in mid-November with protests at junctions and roundabouts against fuel tax increases, but quickly became a wider mobilisation against Macron’s economic policies. | |
Successive weekends of protests in Paris have led to vandalism and violent clashes with security forces. | |
The gilets jaunes have cowed Macron. But for them, that’s just the start | John Lichfield | The gilets jaunes have cowed Macron. But for them, that’s just the start | John Lichfield |
Loic Bollay, 44, marching on the Champs-Élysées in a yellow vest, said the protests were more subdued than in previous weeks but the movement would go on until the demonstrators’ grievances were addressed. | |
“Since the Strasbourg attack, it is calmer, but I think next Saturday and the following Saturdays ... it will come back.” | |
The interior minister said around 69,000 police were active on Saturday with a reinforced presence in the cities of Toulouse, Bordeaux and Saint-Étienne. | |
A police source told Reuters 16,000 protesters had been counted in France, excluding Paris, by 11am GMT, compared to 22,000 at the same time on 8 December. | |
In Paris, where groups of hundreds of protesters marched in splintered groups in several neighbourhoods, 85 had been arrested by around midday, according to a Paris police official. | |
On Friday, President Macron called for a return to calm in France after nearly a month of protests by the so-called “yellow vest” movement against his government’s policies. The demonstrations have hit growth and caused widespread disruption. | |
“France needs calm, order and a return to normal,” Macron said, after a meeting of European Union leaders in Brussels. | |
In a televised address to the nation on Monday, Macron announced wage rises for the poorest workers and tax cuts for pensioners in further concessions meant to end the movement but many said they would maintain pressure. | |
The government, as well as several unions and opposition politicians, called on protesters to stay off the streets on Saturday, after four people were killed in a gun attack at a Christmas market in the historic city of Strasbourg. | |
Paris police have been deployed in large numbers for the fifth consecutive weekend of demonstrations by gilets jaunes protesters, with authorities repeating calls for calm after previous rallies turned violent. | |
Paris | Paris |
Protest | Protest |
France | France |
Europe | Europe |
Emmanuel Macron | |
news | news |
Share on Facebook | Share on Facebook |
Share on Twitter | Share on Twitter |
Share via Email | Share via Email |
Share on LinkedIn | Share on LinkedIn |
Share on Pinterest | Share on Pinterest |
Share on Google+ | Share on Google+ |
Share on WhatsApp | Share on WhatsApp |
Share on Messenger | Share on Messenger |
Reuse this content | Reuse this content |