France mulls ‘state of emergency’

1 dead after accident at ‘yellow vest’ roadblock

PARIS, Dec 2, (Agencies): President Emmanuel Macron rushed to the Arc de Triomphe on Sunday after one of France’s most revered monuments was vandalised by rioters, with the government considering a state of emergency after the worst bout of unrest for years.

Masked, black-clad groups ran amok across central Paris on Saturday, torching dozens of cars and buildings, looting shops, smashing windows and fighting police in the worst unrest the capital has seen since 1968, posing the most formidable challenge Emmanuel Macron has faced in his 18-month-old presidency.

Macron and key ministers were to meet later on Sunday to consider declaring an emergency to prevent a recurrence of the riots. The government is open to dialogue but will not change course, spokesman Benjamin Griveaux said.

A popular revolt over fuel tax hikes and high living costs erupted suddenly on Nov 17 and has spread quickly via social media. Protesters have blocked roads across France and impeded access to shopping malls, factories and some fuel depots.

On his return from the G20 summit in Argentina, Macron paid an immediate visit to the Arc de Triomphe, the 19thcentury arch that towers over the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, and avenues nearby where cars had been torched and luxury shops pillaged.

TV footage showed the interior of the Arc ransacked, a statue of Marianne, symbol of the French republic, smashed, and graffiti scrawled on the exterior ranging from anti-capitalist slogans to social demands and calls for Macron’s resignation.

Under heavy security, the French leader spoke with police and firefighters on one of the avenues near the Champs

next year’s general election.

Former governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama was voted out of office and later jailed for two years for blasphemy following the 2016 protests, in a case seen as an example of rising religious intolerance in Muslim-majority Indonesia.

Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim-majority country, has seen its reputation for pluralism eroded by a surge in attacks on minorities. Elysees boulevard, with some bystanders cheering but more jeering him, including yellow-jacketed protesters chanting, “Macron, resign!”

Meanwhile, workmen in the uppercrust district of central Paris set about cleaning the defaced Arc, removing charred hulks of cars and replacing the shattered windows of banks, restaurants and luxury boutiques.

The protests began as a backlash against Macron’s fuel tax hikes, but have mined a vein of deep dissatisfaction felt towards his liberal economic reforms, which many voters feel favour the wealthy and big business.

Macron says higher diesel taxes are needed to fight climate change by spurring motorists to drive cleaner cars.

Escalation

Authorities were caught off guard by Saturday’s escalation in violence overshadowing the spontaneous protest movement, dubbed the “yellow vests” because many participants are wearing the fluorescent safety jackets kept in all cars in France.

In Paris, police said they had arrested more than 400 people while 133 were injured, including 23 members of the security forces. Police fired stun grenades, tear gas and water cannon at protesters at the top of the Champs-Elysees, at the Tuilleries Garden near the Louvre museum, and other sites.

Disturbances also rocked several cities and towns and across France - from Charleville Mezieres in the northeast to Nantes in the west and Marseille in the south.

A driver was killed overnight in an accident at a yellow vest blockade in southeastern France after a car collided with a heavy goods vehicle, the third death since the protest began, a gendarmerie official

Analysts say identity politics and rising intolerance are likely to feature prominently – along with the economy – in campaigning for next April’s general election across the sprawling Southeast Asian archipelago.

On Sunday, some 100,000 people joined the peaceful rally, with 23,000 officers securing the event, Jakarta police spokesman Argo Yuwono told AFP.

The demonstrators – many dressed in told Reuters.

Twenty cars, including three police vehicles, were also torched near Narbonne in the southwest, the official said.

Macron’s crisis session with his prime minister and interior minister will assess how to begin dialogue with the “gilets jaunes” (yellow vests), who lack real structure or leadership.

When asked about imposing a state of emergency, Griveaux said it would be among the options considered on Sunday.

“It is out of the question that each weekend becomes a meeting or ritual for violence.”

Griveaux urged the yellow vest movement to disassociate itself from radical groups that had instigated the violence, organise itself and come to the negotiating table. However, he ruled out a change in government policy.

Authorities said violent groups from the far right and far left as well as “thugs” from the suburbs had infiltrated the yellow vests movement in Paris on Saturday, though Interior Minister Christophe Castaner said most of those arrested were regular protesters who had been egged on by fringe groups.

The aftermath, capturing the moment on smartphones as the capital digested the chaos that now poses a serious challenge to Macron’s presidency.

“Macron has a problem on his hands. Everyone’s fed up. He’s got to listen more,” said Amaya Fuster, eyeing graffiti daubed on a Printemps department store window that read: “There’s enough money in the coffers of businessmen. Share the riches!”

Authorities said violent groups from the far right and far left as well as “thugs” from the suburbs had infiltrated the yellow vests movement in Paris on Saturday.

white and carrying Islamic flags – gathered at the National Monument, where former general and presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto spoke. Subianto supported the rally that led to Purnama’s ouster in December 2016, and analysts say Sunday’s rally may have been politically motivated to boost his chance of winning the presidential elections set for April.

He will face President Joko Widodo, who has chosen conservative cleric Ma’ruf Amin as his vice presidential candidate, a move analysts think will bolster the president’s Islamic credentials. (AFP)

No damage, no tsunami threat:

A magnitude 6.5 earthquake that struck off the coast of Indonesia’s Tanimbar Islands on Saturday caused no damage and created no threat of a tsunami, Indonesian authorities said.

“The quake was felt faintly for around two to three seconds,” Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, spokesman for Indonesia’s Disaster Mitigation Agency, said. “There was no panic in Tiakur and Saumlaki, areas close to the epicentre.” Conditions were “safe” near the epicentre and there were no victims or property damage, Nugroho said.

The US Geological Survey recorded the quake as centred at sea 279 km (173 miles) west of the town of Saumlaki in Indonesia’s remote Tanimbar Islands.

Indonesia’s Meteorolgy and Meteorological, Climatological and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) said there was no tsunami potential from the quake, which was recorded at 162 kilometres deep. (RTRS)