The Latest: French protesters, police clash in Paris
PARIS (AP) — The Latest on French yellow vest protests (all times local):
10 p.m.
Thousands of yellow vest protesters have marched through Paris and other French cities for a ninth straight weekend to denounce President Emmanuel Macron’s economic policies.
Sporadic violence broke out during protests Saturday in Paris, Bourges, Bordeaux, Rouen, Marseille and Toulouse. The Interior Ministry said more than 100 people had been arrested.
Protesters walked peacefully through central Paris from the Finance Ministry in the east of the French capital to the Arc de Triomphe in the west. But scuffles between police and activists then broke out at the end of the march. Police used tear gas and water cannon to push back some protesters throwing rocks and other objects at them.
French armored vehicles blocked protesters from going onto nearby Champs-Elysees Avenue.
The movement for greater economic equality appears to be resurging, despite Macron’s promises of billions of euros in tax relief.
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4:50 p.m.
The French Interior Ministry says about 32,000 people have turned out in yellow vest demonstrations across France, including 8,000 in Paris, where scuffles broke out between protesters and police.
The ministry said more than 100 people have been arrested Saturday in Paris and other French cities, including 82 who were in police custody.
Thousands also marched Saturday in Bourges, in central France, where online groups of yellow vests had called for action on the ninth straight weekend of protests against economic disparities.
Some scuffles broke out when people threw projectiles at police and set fire to a rubbish bin in the small, picturesque streets of Bourges but most protesters walked peacefully on the town’s wide avenues.
In the French capital, tensions rose between protesters and police at the end of the march, near the Arc de Triomphe monument.
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3:40 p.m.
Repeated scuffles broke out between French anti-government protesters and police near the Arc de Triomphe monument in Paris.
Security forces used tear gas and a water cannon to push back some protesters who were throwing rocks and other objects at them.
Paris police say at least 53 people were arrested before and during the protest in the French capital. They have also arrested some protesters during scuffles near the Arc de Triomphe.
Police armored vehicles have been set up near the monument to help prevent protesters from getting to the nearby Champs-Elysees. A car ban was established on the famous avenue.
Saturday’s actions came on a ninth weekend of yellow vest demonstrations to denounce President Emmanuel Macron’s economic policies that protesters consider as favoring the rich.
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8 a.m.
The central French city of Bourges is shuttering shops to brace for possible violence between police and yellow vest protesters, as the nationwide movement seeks a new stage for its weekly demonstrations.
Paris, too, is hunkering down for a ninth weekend of anti-government protests Saturday. France’s government has deployed 80,000 security forces for the day, and Interior Minister Christophe Castaner threatened tough retaliation against violence.
Online groups mounted calls through the week for mass protests in Bourges, but Paris police said they wouldn’t let down their guard, notably around government buildings and the Champs-Elysees, scene of repeated rioting in past protests.
The protest movement waned over the holidays but appears to be resurging, despite concessions by President Emmanuel Macron. Protesters want deeper changes to France’s economy and politics.
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