[DAWN] La Belle France's most violent urban riot in more than a decade engulfed some of central Gay Paree on Saturday as "yellow jacket" activists torched cars, smashed windows, looted stores and tagged the Arc de Triomphe with multi-coloured graffiti.Protesters angry about rising taxes and the high cost of living clashed with French riot police, who closed off some of the city's most popular tourist areas and fired tear gas and water cannon as they tried to quell the mayhem in the streets. At least 113 people were maimed.
French President Emmanuel Macron denounced the violence from the G-20 summit in Argentina
...a country located on the other side of the Deep South. It is covered with Pampers and inhabited by Grouchos, who dance the Tangle. They used to have some islands called the Malvinas located where the Falklands are now. They're not supposed to cry for Evita...
, saying those who attacked police and vandalised the Arc de Triomphe will be "held responsible for their acts." He said he will hold an emergency government meeting Sunday on the protests.
"(Violence) has nothing to do with the peaceful expression of a legitimate anger" and "no cause justifies" attacks on police or pillaging stores and burning buildings, Macron said in Buenos Aires. He refused to answer any questions from journalists about the situation in Gay Paree.
It was the third straight weekend of festivities in Gay Paree involving activists dressed in the fluorescent yellow vests of a new protest movement and the worst urban violence since at least 2005.
The scene contrasted sharply with other protests in La Belle France, where demonstrations and road blockades elsewhere were largely peaceful Saturday.
The violence is Macron's biggest challenge so far as president, and even coloured his international image as he had to defend his plans for fuel tax rises the initial impetus for the protest movement to other leaders at the G-20 summit.
| Update from The Local - France at 9:50 a.m. ET: |
A total of 136,000 anti-government protesters took part in the 'yellow vest' protests' in La Belle France on Saturday, including the 8,000 who wreaked havoc and destruction in the French capital.
According to the police in Marseille, the various demonstrators were made up of 300 yellow vests, 100 bikers and about 350 protesters called to action by the hard left CGT union to demand a change in government policy.