France: Police arrest 85 Yellow Vest protesters

UPDATES WITH TOTAL NUMBER OF ARRESTS</p> <p>By Yusuf Ozcan and Hasan Esen</p> <p>PARIS (AA) – French police on Saturday arrested 85 Yellow Vest protesters in the capital Paris, according to local media reports.</p> <p>Yellow Vest protests, which started as a reaction to fuel tax hikes and evolved into an uprising against French President Emmanuel Macron, continues on Saturday despite the government’s call to halt it.</p> <p>Earlier, local state broadcaster France info reported that at least 25 people were arrested in Paris on Saturday ahead of the planned protests.</p> <p>The number of people arrested last week during same hours was over 500.</p> <p>On Thursday, Maxime Nicolle, one of the prominent figures of the Yellow Vest movement, said they will hold protests despite the government's calls to stop after Strasbourg shooting.</p> <p>The protesters gathered on the Champs-Elysees and the Opera Square once again in the fifth weekends of the demonstrations.</p> <p>Sometimes tension escalates between the police and protesters, who are less in number compared to past weeks. </p> <p>The French police use pepper gas to disperse the crowd, who are spread to streets near Champs-Elysees.</p> <p>Stores and restaurants on the iconic street are closed, many metro lines are out of service due to the protests.</p> <p>Police said that around 16,000 people have attended protests across the country so far, and streets and roads were blocked 199 times.</p> <p>A total of 89,000 police officers are on duty in the country, 8,000 of which are in Paris together with 14 armored vehicles.</p> <p>Since Nov. 17, thousands of protesters wearing bright yellow vests — dubbed the Yellow Vests — have been gathering in major French cities, including the capital Paris, to protest Macron's controversial fuel tax hikes and the deteriorating economic situation.</p> <p>The demonstrators, who generally live in rural areas due to high rents in the cities, have called on Macron to cut fuel taxes and ease their economic difficulties.</p> <p>During demonstrations, at least four people have been killed and more than a thousand others wounded.</p> <p>President Macron said that taxes on overtime pay would be abolished as of next year and announced social security tax cuts for pensioners earning less than €2,000.</p> <p>However, the protesters have found President Macron's statement &quot;insufficient.&quot;<br>