Rioters set fire to a bank and ransacked stores on Paris's Champs Elysees avenue, in a new flare-up of violence as France's yellow vest protests against President Emmanuel Macron and his pro-business reforms entered a fourth month. Rioters torched a luxury handbag store and vandalised an upscale restaurant on the famed Champs-Élysées avenue. Police used water cannon and tear gas to disperse the protesters. More than 120 people were arrested. The protests began over fuel tax rises but have since developed into a broader revolt against perceived elitism. Police say about 10,000 people took part in Saturday's protest in the French capital, a marked increase compared with similar demonstrations in recent weeks. Some 32,300 in total took to the streets throughout France, according to the Interior Ministry.
However, police said 36,000 people took part peacefully in a separate march against climate change in another part of Paris. Protesters threw cobblestones at police at the Arc de Triomphe war memorial. As well as a surge in numbers on Saturday, there was a return to the levels of violence that characterised the early protests. French riot police forces stand behind a burning barricade on the Champs-Elysees in Paris on March 16, 2019, during the 18th consecutive Saturday of demonstrations called by the "Yellow Vest" (gilets jaunes) movement.
Interior Minister Christophe Castaner said that more than 1,400 police officers had been mobilised. Mr Castaner said he had given police an order to respond to the "unacceptable attacks with the greatest firmness". Writing on Twitter, he said: "Let there be no doubt: they are looking for violence and are there to sow chaos in Paris." By mid-afternoon, 129 people were arrested, AFP reports.
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