Paris burns as ‘yellow vests’ riot in the streets

FRENCH riot police fought running battles with “yellow vest” protesters in the streets of Paris in a third weekend of nationwide unrest against high living costs that poses one of the gravest challenges of Emmanuel Macron’s presidency.

Paris police said they had arrested more than 200 people, while almost 100 were injured as protesters hurled projectiles at riot officers, burned cars and smashed shop fronts.

Police fired stun grenades, tear gas and water cannon from positions at the top of the Champs-Elysees and multiple sites across the city including Opera and Place de la Bastille. More than a dozen metro stations were closed.

The popular rebellion erupted on Nov 17 and has been coordinated via social media, with protesters blocking roads across France and impeding access to shopping malls, factories and fuel depots.

Yesterday, some targeted the Arc de Triomphe and other monuments. Others smashed the windows of shops including Chanel, Dior and Apple.

The skirmishes in Paris broke out early yesterday, amid concern that violent far-Right and far-Left groups were infiltrating the gilets jaunes (yellow vests), who enjoy widespread public support and take their name from the high-visibility jackets all motorists in France must carry in their vehicles.

Several hundred yellow vests, who have no leader, sat down under the Arc de Triomphe singing La Marseillaise, the national anthem, and chanting “Macron resign!”

On the facade of the towering 19thcentury arch, protesters scrawled in big black letters: “The yellow vests will triumph.”

President Macron, who is at the G20 leaders summit in Argentina, insisted he would not be bounced into changing policy by “thugs”.

A ‘yellow vest’ protester holds a French flag among a barricade of Christmas trees during a protest against rising petrol taxes and living costs in Paris yesterday. Édouard Philippe, the French prime minister, said that 36,000 people were protesting across France, including 5,500 in the capital, where police made more than 200 arrests.

Fire burns and tear gas fills the air in the shadows of the Arc de Triomphe, while in the foreground, a supporter of the yellow vest protests arms himself with a brick. More than 100 people were injured during violence yesterday