Thousands of people yesterday blocked roads across France in a “yellow vest” movement against high fuel prices that has mushroomed into a widespread protest against stagnant spending power under French President Emmanuel Macron.
About 50,000 people were taking part in more than 1,000 protests at roundabouts and motorway exits, French Minister of the Interior Christophe Castaner said.
Most protests were relatively calm despite the anger expressed by many in interviews and on social media.
Photo: AFP
However, one woman was killed when a mother trying to bring her daughter to the doctor panicked when protesters surrounded their car and began banging on the roof, Castaner said.
The mother panicked and ploughed into the crowd in Pont-de-Beauvoisin, hitting a woman in her 50s.
Castaner said a handful of other injuries had been reported in other areas, including a police officer in Grasse by drivers trying to force a way through blockades.
“We’re on maximum alert,” he said, reiterating that police would ensure that no roads were completely blocked to ensure safety.
In Paris, a group of about 50 protesters were yelling “Macron resign” on the Champs Elysee, although police were stopping them from heading toward the nearby Elysee Palace.
The “yellow vests” movement, named for the high-visibility jackets worn by supporters, erupted on social media last month with calls for mass blockades of roads and highways.
Anger over fuel costs, blamed on taxes imposed by Macron to fight pollution, has been simmering for months, particularly in smaller towns and rural areas where public transport is patchy.
Critics accuse Macron of neglecting the needs of the poor and the provinces in favor of tax cuts for the wealthy and other policies that mainly help urbanites.
A poll by the ELABE institute this week found that 73 percent of respondents backed the “yellow vests,” while 70 percent wanted the government to rescind the fuel tax hikes, which are slated to continue through 2022.
“Even 54 percent of people who voted for Macron support this movement,” ELABE senior research director Vincent Thibault said.
Motorway operators appealed for anyone not having to drive to stay at home.
Macron this week said in a TV interview that he had “not succeeded in reconciling the French with their leaders.”
Other officials have stoked ire by calling the drivers’ protest “irrational,” while government spokesman Benjamin Griveaux dismissed “people who smoke and drive diesel cars” as “not the France of the 21st century.”
The government has said it would not tolerate road shutdowns, and about 30,000 additional police officers were to be on call.
Macron does have some on his side: Several cycling groups have called for counter-protests in support of the higher fuel taxes.
As the sun sets on another scorching Yangon day, the hot and bothered descend on the Myanmar city’s parks, the coolest place to spend an evening during yet another power blackout. A wave of exceptionally hot weather has blasted Southeast Asia this week, sending the mercury to 45°C and prompting thousands of schools to suspend in-person classes. Even before the chaos and conflict unleashed by the military’s 2021 coup, Myanmar’s creaky and outdated electricity grid struggled to keep fans whirling and air conditioners humming during the hot season. Now, infrastructure attacks and dwindling offshore gas reserves mean those who cannot afford expensive diesel
Does Argentine President Javier Milei communicate with a ghost dog whose death he refuses to accept? Forced to respond to questions about his mental health, the president’s office has lashed out at “disrespectful” speculation. Twice this week, presidential spokesman Manuel Adorni was asked about Milei’s English Mastiff, Conan, said to have died seven years ago. Milei, 53, had Conan cloned, and today is believed to own four copies he refers to as “four-legged children.” Or is it five? In an interview with CNN this month, Milei referred to his five dogs, whose faces and names he had engraved on the presidential baton. Conan,
French singer Kendji Girac, who was seriously injured by a gunshot this week, wanted to “fake” his suicide to scare his partner who was threatening to leave him, prosecutors said on Thursday. The 27-year-old former winner of France’s version of The Voice was found wounded after police were called to a traveler camp in Biscarrosse on France’s southwestern coast. Girac told first responders he had accidentally shot himself while tinkering with a Colt .45 automatic pistol he had bought at a junk shop, a source said. On Thursday, regional prosecutor Olivier Janson said, citing the singer, that he wanted to “fake” his suicide
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi reaffirmed his pledge to replace India’s religion-based marriage and inheritance laws with a uniform civil code if he returns to office for a third term, a move that some minority groups have opposed. In an interview with the Times of India listing his agenda, Modi said his government would push for making the code a reality. “It is clear that separate laws for communities are detrimental to the health of society,” he said in the interview published yesterday. “We cannot be a nation where one community is progressing with the support of the Constitution while the other