Security measures put lockdown on Paris ahead of planned protests
The government is scrambling to stave off another Saturday of burned cars and running street battles with police by "yellow vest" protesters furious over rising costs of living they blame on high taxes. An interior ministry official told reporters that authorities were bracing for "significant violence" on Saturday, based on indications that protesters on both the far right and far left are planning to converge on the capital.
- World
- AP & AFP
- Published Date: 12:00 | 07 December 2018
- Modified Date: 02:33 | 07 December 2018
He also reiterated his appeal for calm, saying in a prime-time TV interview that the government was ready to consider "any measure which would allow us to boost spending power".
Across the country some 89,000 police will be mobilized, up from 65,000 last weekend, when more than 130 people were injured and over 400 were arrested in the worst street violence seen in the country in decades.
But so far the "yellow vest" movement shows no signs of losing steam, despite the government's rollback of planned fuel tax hikes for January, one of the protesters' core demands.