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AFP
Paris
French “yellow vests” are gearing up for a sixth Saturday of nation-wide demonstrations, but numbers on the streets are falling fast as the police clear protest camps in the run-up to the Christmas holidays.
The protesters appeared split Friday on whether to stage another large rally in Paris, or in the nearby town of Versailles, once home to king Louis XVI who lost his head to the revolutionary guillotine.
Fearing possible unrest, authorities said they were closing the Palace of Versailles and its gardens, a top tourist venue, on Saturday. They have also urged shopkeepers in Paris, many of whom remained shuttered over the past two weekends to guard against looting and violence, to exercise caution.
On Friday, just hours after the lower house of parliament adopted a raft of measures to help the working poor and pensioners, Prime Minister Edouard Philippe visited the Haute-Vienne region of central France to discuss grievances of disgruntled rural-dwellers with local mayors.
Philippe was greeted by demonstrators shouting “Macron resign”, a reference to the president. Elsewhere, some “gilets jaunes” sought to keep pressure on the government to further boost spending power and give citizens more of a say in lawmaking by staging sporadic protests. In Pfastatt, eastern France, 14 demonstrators trying to block access to a factory supplying parts to PSA Peugeot Citroen, Europe’s second-biggest carmaker, were arrested by police.
In the southwestern city of Toulouse, some 30 protesters held a rally lampooning President Emmanuel Macron on his 41st birthday. “We haven’t brought him any presents because he hasn’t given us any,” said one protester.
Paris
French “yellow vests” are gearing up for a sixth Saturday of nation-wide demonstrations, but numbers on the streets are falling fast as the police clear protest camps in the run-up to the Christmas holidays.
The protesters appeared split Friday on whether to stage another large rally in Paris, or in the nearby town of Versailles, once home to king Louis XVI who lost his head to the revolutionary guillotine.
Fearing possible unrest, authorities said they were closing the Palace of Versailles and its gardens, a top tourist venue, on Saturday. They have also urged shopkeepers in Paris, many of whom remained shuttered over the past two weekends to guard against looting and violence, to exercise caution.
On Friday, just hours after the lower house of parliament adopted a raft of measures to help the working poor and pensioners, Prime Minister Edouard Philippe visited the Haute-Vienne region of central France to discuss grievances of disgruntled rural-dwellers with local mayors.
Philippe was greeted by demonstrators shouting “Macron resign”, a reference to the president. Elsewhere, some “gilets jaunes” sought to keep pressure on the government to further boost spending power and give citizens more of a say in lawmaking by staging sporadic protests. In Pfastatt, eastern France, 14 demonstrators trying to block access to a factory supplying parts to PSA Peugeot Citroen, Europe’s second-biggest carmaker, were arrested by police.
In the southwestern city of Toulouse, some 30 protesters held a rally lampooning President Emmanuel Macron on his 41st birthday. “We haven’t brought him any presents because he hasn’t given us any,” said one protester.
