Police fired teargas and used a water cannon to disperse some 8,000 protesters gathered in Paris Saturday for a second weekend of “yellow vest” protests, as public anger over rising diesel fuel prices shows no sign of dying down, reports FRANCE 24.
Protesters converged on the famous Champs-Elysées avenue, where they faced off against police deployed to prevent them from reaching the nearby Elysée presidential palace.
Some protesters sang the national anthem while others carried signs calling for French President Emmanuel Macron to resign.
For more than a week, protesters clad in the fluorescent yellow jackets that all motorists in France must have in their cars have blocked highways across the countr
They are opposed to taxes Macron’s government has imposed on diesel – by far the most commonly used fuel in France – as part of stepped up efforts to fight against climate change.
Alongside the tax, the government has offered incentives to buy green or electric vehicles.y with burning barricades and convoys of slow-moving trucks, obstructing access to fuel depots, shopping centres and some factories.