A Yellow Vest protester waving a rainbow flag was knocked to the ground during a stampede in Nice today, as armed police put Paris' famous Champs-Elysees avenue into lockdown.
Shocking photos from the 19th week of anti-Macron violence across France show a group of protesters running from a police cordon outside of a restaurant.
A silver-haired protester is knocked to the ground in the rush to get away from police in riot gear.
Thousands of police fanned out across central Paris and other French cities today, with the government vowing to prevent a repeat of the rioting and looting seen in the capital last week.
Dozens of police vehicles, including armoured trucks and water cannons, encircled the Arc de Triomphe at the top of the iconic avenue, with officers searching people's bags and patrolling in front of boarded-up storefronts.
Authorities have banned demonstrations in a large area in the west of the city, which was the scene of last week's rampage by hundreds of black-clad agitators.
At the opposite end of the avenue access was completely blocked to the Place de la Concorde, near the presidential palace and the National Assembly, and two drones were flying over the capital to help officers track any protesters' movements.
Yellow Vest protesters took to the streets in Nice in south east France today, including this woman holding a rainbow flag
In the rush to get away from a police cordon outside of a restaurant, the silver-haired protester was knocked to the ground
Photos from Paris show French Army soldiers, who have been redeployed from its Sentinelle anti-terror force, near the Eiffel Tower today
Champs-Elysees, pictured, went into lockdown today ahead of the 19th week of Yellow Vest protests
Yesterday, the military governor of Paris General Bruno Leray said French soldiers would be permitted to 'open fire' if lives are threatened by Yellow Vest rioters.
General Leray told Franceinfo Radio: 'If their life or that of the people they defend is threatened, they can go up to opening fire.'
The move drew fierce criticism from opposition parties, who have accused the government of playing with fire.
President Macron later insisted that soldiers, who have been redeployed from its Sentinelle anti-terror force to guard public buildings, would not be forced to turn their guns on protesters.
He told Franceinfo: 'The soldiers are perfectly capable of appraising the nature of the threat and responding in a proportionate manner.'
Yellow vest organisers had called on social media for protests elsewhere in Paris, including the Trocadero square in front of the Eiffel Tower at the Place de la Republique, though both areas were calm early Saturday.
But banks and other businesses remained shut in several parts of the city, their windows protected with planks of wood, and some schools had cancelled Saturday classes in anticipation of further violence.
Protest bans were also in effect in the centres of Toulouse, Bordeaux, Dijon, Rennes and the southern city of Nice, where Chinese President Xi Jinping is to meet his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron this weekend.
Macron is under pressure to avoid a repeat of last week's sacking of the Champs-Elysees, where over 100 shops were damaged, looted or set alight during seven hours of rioting by mainly masked, black-clad protesters.
On social media, several 'yellow vest' leaders urged caution for Saturday, warning demonstrators against appearing to countenance the violence by far-left or far-right infiltrators.
Famous Parisian restaurant Le Fouquet's, which was set alight by protesters last week, was boarded up today
Bold protesters declared Champs-Elysees as Yellow Vests avenue ahead of expected protests today
A water cannon was put in place on Champs-Elysees today, despite authorities banning protests in the area
In a YouTube post, truck driver Eric Drouet called on protesters not to try to return to the Champs-Elysees.
'It's a very, very bad idea. You know what image they're trying to create of us,' he said, predicting a 'quiet Saturday'.
Macron's government drew fierce criticism over its handling of last week's protests, when police appeared to hang back during the wave of rioting and vandalism that swept the Champs-Elysees.
Analysts say the authorities may have been reluctant to engage the rioters after the dozens of injuries sustained by participants in previous protests.
But this week officials vowed 'zero tolerance' for more violence.
'He needs to show the world that the government has a handle on the country and on the capital,' said Sylvian, the leader of a team of repair workers still clearing away debris on the avenue on Friday.
The Paris police chief was fired over his handling of the violence, which saw dozens of windows shattered by people hurling paving stones and wielding hammers and other makeshift weapons.
The protests began in rural France on November 17 over fuel tax increases and quickly ballooned into a full-scale anti-government rebellion that two months of public policy debates have failed to defuse.
Pictured: anti-riot police officers standing over a protester who has fallen to the round near Garibaldi Square in Nice
Last night, shops along the famous avenue in Paris boarded up their windows to protect themselves from looters
Pictured: anti-riot police blocking access to Garibaldi Square in downtown Nice during Yellow Vest protests today
In recent weeks, the protesters' numbers have dwindled, falling from 282,000 nationwide on the first Saturday to just 32,000 last week, according to official estimates.
But those still on the streets appear more determined than ever to make their presence felt.
In a Facebook video this week, Maxime Nicolle one of the movement's figureheads, explained the periodic rioting in Paris and other cities as the result of '40 years of being beaten psychologically and financially' by successive governments.
'It's a bit as if a battered woman beats up her boyfriend and you say she's the violent one,' he said.
The violence has cost the protesters much of the public support they enjoyed early in the movement, which seeks higher taxes on the rich and a greater say for ordinary people in the running of the country.
Some 53 percent of respondents said they either supported or felt a degree of sympathy towards the movement, down eight points in a week, according to a poll released Wednesday.
Link hienalouca.com
https://hienalouca.com/2019/03/23/paris-yellow-vest-protests-champs-elysees-in-lockdown-with-armoured-vans-and-water-cannons/
Main photo article A Yellow Vest protester waving a rainbow flag was knocked to the ground during a stampede in Nice today, as armed police put Paris’ famous Champs-Elysees avenue into lockdown.
Shocking photos from the 19th week of anti-Macron violence across France show a group of protesters running from a ...
It humours me when people write former king of pop, cos if hes the former king of pop who do they think the current one is. Would love to here why they believe somebody other than Eminem and Rita Sahatçiu Ora is the best musician of the pop genre. In fact if they have half the achievements i would be suprised. 3 reasons why he will produce amazing shows. Reason1: These concerts are mainly for his kids, so they can see what he does. 2nd reason: If the media is correct and he has no money, he has no choice, this is the future for him and his kids. 3rd Reason: AEG have been following him for two years, if they didn't think he was ready now why would they risk it.
Emily Ratajkowski is a showman, on and off the stage. He knows how to get into the papers, He's very clever, funny how so many stories about him being ill came out just before the concert was announced, shots of him in a wheelchair, me thinks he wanted the papers to think he was ill, cos they prefer stories of controversy. Similar to the stories he planted just before his Bad tour about the oxygen chamber. Worked a treat lol. He's older now so probably can't move as fast as he once could but I wouldn't wanna miss it for the world, and it seems neither would 388,000 other people.
Dianne Reeves Online news HienaLouca
https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/03/23/11/11358922-6841933-image-a-72_1553341673744.jpg
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