France's interior minister says the protest violence in Paris is "under control" despite scattered tensions, but is calling it "totally unacceptable."

Interior Minister Christophe Castaner says 135 people were injured in the protests Saturday, including 17 police officers. He says "exceptional" security measures led to police putting nearly 1,000 people in custody.

Casataner estimated there were 10,000 yellow vest protesters in Paris on Saturday, among some 125,000 protesters around the country.

Protesters smashed store windows and set fires around Paris and clashed with police, who fired tear gas throughout the day in the French capital.​

Police were searching people throughout zones of central Paris and confiscating goggles and gas masks from journalists who use them to protect against tear gas while covering demonstrations.

Police barred some provincial "yellow vest" protesters from boarding trains to Paris in an effort to prevent a repeat of last week's rioting.

Eiffel Tower closed amid more Paris protests:

The Eiffel Tower and the Louvre museum will be among the dozens of popular tourist attractions shuttered in Paris as French authorities tighten security to prevent another outbreak of violence following three weeks of anti-government protests. 1:47

A group of four protesters who came to Paris from Normandy on Saturday said they saw people wearing yellow vests turned away at train stations all along their route. They said fellow protesters trying to reach Paris from Toulouse in southern France reported the same problems.

A national police spokesperson said officers stationed at train stations around the country are under orders to verify all passengers and turn away any carrying equipment that could be used to "cause damage to people or property."

Three Associated Press journalists had gas masks and protective goggles confiscated by police despite carrying government-issued press cards. The equipment allows journalists to cover violence between police and protesters when tear gas is fired.

Protesters face off with police on the Champs-Elysées on Saturday. (Christian Hartmann/Reuters)

Last weekend, more than 130 people were injured and over 400 were arrested in the worst street violence seen in Paris in decades.

Since the unrest began on Nov. 17 in reaction to a sharp increase in diesel taxes, four people have been killed in violence related to the protests.

The ongoing protests have led Global Affairs to issue a travel advisory to Canadians travelling to France. It's telling them to avoid areas where the demonstrations are taking place because "acts of vandalism and violence are very likely."

Saturday's 'yellow vest' protests:</s>Police fired tear gas canisters and pepper spray at 'yellow vest' protesters in central Paris and other parts of France on Saturday during demonstrations against the high cost of living.

Interior Minister Christophe Castaner added that 125,000 "yellow vest" protesters had turned out to demonstrate around France on Saturday. Police detained 1,385 of them after they found weapons such as hammers, baseball bats and metal petanque balls on them. About 89,000 police officers were on duty on Saturday.

French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe called on Saturday evening for fresh dialogue with representatives of the "yellow vest" movement staging protests across France, promising the government would address concerns over rising living costs.

"The dialogue has begun and it must continue," Philippe said in a televised statement. "The president will speak, and will propose measures that will feed this dialogue."

Philippe on Friday evening met a delegation of self-described "moderate" yellow vest protesters who have urged people not to join the protests.

Some 8,000 police officers have been deployed in the capital city to avoid a repeat of last Saturday's mayhem, when rioters torched cars and looted shops off the Champs Elysees boulevard, and defaced the Arc de Triomphe monument with graffiti directed at President Emmanuel Macron.

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The Eiffel Tower and other tourist landmarks in Paris were shut on Saturday, shops were boarded up to avoid looting and street furniture removed to prevent metal bars from being used as projectiles.

Macron's government has warned that the protests will be hijacked by "radicalised and rebellious" crowds and become the most dangerous yet, after three weeks of demonstrations.

The president had announced earlier this week that the planned hikes in petrol and diesel taxes, which sparked the protests, would be cancelled outright.

But prominent protesters have said they will descend on Paris anyway, with a broader set of economic demands, including lower taxes, higher salaries, cheaper energy costs, better retirement provisions and even Macron's resignation.

Protesters, using social media, have billed the weekend as "Act IV" in a dramatic challenge to Macron and his government's policies.

Castaner said that he expected radical elements to be present in Paris and that "the past three weeks have given birth to a monster that has escaped its creators".

But protesters believe they are fighting for a fair cause.

"There is a rising of the people's rage and it's caused by a single reason - the government's policies that only look to take from the poor to keep for the rich," Taha Bouhafs, an activist in Paris, told Al Jazeera.

This grassroots movement made President Macron suspend a fuel tax increase. Here's what you need to know about France's "yellow vest" protests. pic.twitter.com/ut4u3dQLxz — AJ+ (@ajplus) December 7, 2018

Violence and anarchy

Authorities say the protests have been hijacked by far-right and anarchist elements bent on violence and stirring up social unrest, in a direct affront to Macron and the security forces.

An Elysee official has said intelligence suggested that some protesters would come to the capital "to vandalise and to kill".

The United States' embassy has issued an advisory to Americans in Paris to "keep a low profile and avoid crowds", while Belgium, Portugal and the Czech Republic advised citizens planning to visit the capital over the weekend to postpone their visit.

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Eric Drouet, one of the initiators of the protests, called on people to protest on the roads and motorways surrounding Paris, "where there is nothing to break and nothing to destroy" but where they can "shout out" their anger.

Macron, who has not spoken in public since he condemned last Saturday's disturbances while at the G20 summit in Argentina, will address the nation early next week, his office said.

On Friday evening, he visited a group of police officers in their barracks outside Paris.

Navigating his biggest crisis since being elected 18 months ago, Macron has left it largely to Philippe to deal in public with the turmoil and offer concessions. But he is under pressure to speak more as his administration tries to regain the initiative following three weeks of unrest that are the worst since the 1968 student riots.

The French retail federation on Friday put the cost of the protests to its members at close to $1bn, according to the Financial Times.</s>PARIS (AP) - France's interior minister says the protest violence in Paris is "under control" despite scattered tensions but is calling it "totally unacceptable."

Interior Minister Christophe Castaner says 135 people were injured in the protests Saturday, including 17 police officers. He says "exceptional" security measures allowed nearly police to put nearly 1,000 people in custody.

Casataner estimated there were 10,000 yellow vest protesters in Paris on Saturday, among some 125,000 protesters around the country.

Protesters smashed store windows and set fires around Paris and clashed with police, who fired tear gas throughout the day in the French capital.</s>The Latest on anti-government protests in France and neighboring countries (all times local):

France's interior minister says the protest violence in Paris is "under control" despite scattered tensions but is calling it "totally unacceptable."

Interior Minister Christophe Castaner says 135 people were injured in the protests Saturday, including 17 police officers. He says "exceptional" security measures allowed nearly police to put nearly 1,000 people in custody.

Casataner estimated there were 10,000 yellow vest protesters in Paris on Saturday, among some 125,000 protesters around the country.

Protesters smashed store windows and set fires around Paris and clashed with police, who fired tear gas throughout the day in the French capital.

Dozens of French riot police backed by an armored vehicle are charging protesters on the Champs-Elysees in Paris, firing tear gas beneath the sparkling lights of one of the world's most elegant avenues.

Demonstrators in yellow vests carried a huge banner calling for President Emmanuel Macron to resign and for France to hold an emergency election.

Protesters appeared to throw flares as police responded with tear gas. The confrontation came after a day of tension across Paris on Saturday and unprecedented police efforts to prevent new violence.

The yellow vest movement started as a protest over a fuel tax rise but has expanded into an amorphous protest movement that French authorities are struggling to contain.

The police chief of Imperia, a northwestern Italian coastal town on the highway toward France, says yellow-vested French protesters have blocked the border with Italy near the town of Ventimiglia.

The Italian news agency ANSA quoted Police Chief Cesare Capocasa as saying the protest was causing a 6-kilometer (nearly 4-mile) backup of traffic in both directions on Saturday afternoon.

He was quoted as saying that "we're on the scene to try to manage the situation in a balanced way."

Yellow vest protesters are angry at France's high taxes and at French President Emmanuel Macron.

A march for the environment is unfolding peacefully in Paris and other cities in France, parallel to the violent "yellow vest" protests that have put much of the city in lockdown.

The "March for Climate" was a more diverse crowd, with far more women and older people and a handful of children. The "yellow vest" protests are overwhelmingly male, with just a few women for the hundreds of men pouring through the streets.

A handful of people in yellow vests had joined the quiet march by mid-afternoon. One sign read "No climate justice without fiscal and social justice."

Clashes have broken out between "yellow vest" protesters and police in the port neighborhood of Marseille, in the south of France.

An Associated Press journalist saw the fighting break out at midday at the port, one of the city's main tourist sites.

It was not immediately clear whether anyone was injured.

The "yellow vest" protests started as a revolt against a gas tax increase but have since grown to envelop an array of grievances against living standards and President Emmanuel Macron.

Belgian police are firing tear gas and water cannons at stone-throwing yellow-vested protesters near the country's government offices and parliament.

Protesters smashed street signs and traffic lights near a police barricade blocking access to the office of Prime Minister Charles Michel, as they chanted slogans calling on him to resign.

They threw paving stones, fireworks, flares and other objects at police.

Brussels police spokeswoman Ilse Van de Keere says around 400 protesters are gathered in the area.

About 100 have been detained, many for possessing dangerous objects like fireworks or wearing clothing that could be used as protection in clashes with police.

In the Netherlands, about 100 protesters gathered in a peaceful demonstration outside the Dutch parliament in The Hague. At least two protesters were detained by police in central Amsterdam.

Paris police are firing water cannons on yellow-vested protesters throwing flares and setting fires in one of the French capital's main shopping districts.

Scattered clashes are continuing around the city as the protesters seek to reach the presidential palace and demand President Emmanuel Macron's resignation. While the situation is tense, police appear to have it more under control than a week ago, when rioting and looting overwhelmed Paris security forces.

The latest flashpoint is not far from the flagship buildings of France's most famed department stores, Galeries Lafayette and Printemps, and near the Palais Garnier opera house. Protesters uprooted trees on one of the neighborhood's "grands boulevards" and set them on fire, while others hurled flares and other projectiles at rows of riot police.

Like several neighborhoods of Paris, the area is largely locked down, with many stores shuttered for fear of violence.

Overall police estimate there are about 8,000 yellow vest protesters in Paris on Saturday, down from last week.

Meanwhile the government deployed 8,000 police in the city, as part of exceptional security measures aimed at preventing a repeat of last week's rioting, which injured 130 people and struck a new blow to France's global image.

Belgian police are scuffling with yellow-vested protesters calling for the resignation of Prime Minister Charles Michel as hundreds of marchers try to enter the European quarter of Brussels.

Police used pepper spray on a small group of men who threw street signs, bottles and other objects as they tried to break through a barricade near the European Parliament.

Walking behind a banner marked "social winter is coming," the protesters have been chanting "(French President Emmanuel) Macron, Michel resign."

The rallies, which started at different locations around the city and converged on the European quarter, have disrupted road and rail traffic.

Dozens of people were searched at stations.

Police have warned people to stay away from the area.

Police are seizing protective equipment from journalists and barring some provincial "yellow vest" protesters from boarding trains to Paris, as part of exceptionally stringent security measures to prevent a repeat of last week's rioting.

A group of four protesters who came to Paris from Normandy on Saturday told The Associated Press that they saw people wearing yellow vests turned away at train stations all along their route. They said fellow protesters trying to reach Paris from Toulouse in southern France reported the same problems.

A national police spokesman said officers stationed at train stations around the country are under orders to verify all passengers and turn away any carrying equipment that could be used to "cause damage to people or property."

Three Associated Press journalists had gas masks and protective goggles confiscated by police despite carrying government-issued press cards. The equipment allows journalists to cover violence between police and protesters when tear gas is fired.

Paris police have fired tear gas on a group of yellow-vested protesters trying to march on the French presidential palace and are pushing them back with shields.

Crowds of protesters first tried to march down the Champs-Elysees avenue toward the Elysee palace but were prevented by rows of police. So a group of a few hundred took side streets and tried to get past a police barricade, and police fired back with tear gas.

Most of the protesters remain peaceful, and there are no signs so far of the rioting and looting that marked a similar protest last Saturday and prompted fears of greater violence this week.

Crowds were also gathering across town around the Bastille plaza.

Authorities have detained 343 people already Saturday amid exceptional security and filtration measures.

Police are searching people throughout zones of central Paris and confiscating goggles and gas masks from journalists who use them to protect against tear gas while covering demonstrations.

A crowd of "yellow vest" protesters is marching down the Champs-Elysees avenue in central Paris surrounded by exceptional police security amid fears of new violence.

Hundreds of people gathered early Saturday around the Arc de Triomphe, which was damaged in rioting a week ago. They then started walking peacefully down the avenue, lined with high-end shops normally bustling before the Christmas holidays but boarded up this Saturday amid worries of more looting or other damage.

A Paris police spokesman said more than 170 people have already been detained Saturday on suspicion they were planning violence, though most were later released.

President Emmanuel Macron's government is deploying 89,000 security forces around the country for Saturday's protests against his reforms.

The French yellow vest protest movement is crossing borders, with demonstrations planned in neighboring Belgium and in the Netherlands.

Neither country has proposed a hike in fuel tax — the catalyst for the massive and destructive demonstrations in France in recent weeks.

Hundreds of police officers are being mobilized in Brussels Saturday, where yellow vest protesters last week clashed with police and torched two police vehicles. More than 70 people were detained.

Some rallies are taking place outside the main European Union institutions, which are closed Saturdays. Some could be held in the city center on what is a major Christmas shopping weekend.

Jan Dijkgraaf, editor of a Dutch "resistance newspaper" is calling for peaceful protests in the Dutch cities of Amsterdam and Rotterdam.

Paris monuments and shopping meccas are locked down and tens of thousands of police are taking position around the country, fearing worsening violence in a new round of anti-government protests.

President Emmanuel Macron's government has warned that Saturday's "yellow vest" protests in Paris will be hijacked by "radicalized and rebellious" crowds and become the most dangerous yet after three weeks of demonstrations.

Authorities are deploying barricade-busting armored vehicles and 8,000 police in the capital alone, part of 89,000 security forces fanned out around France.

The Eiffel Tower and Louvre are shut along with hundreds of stores and businesses, fearing damage after rioting last Saturday that saw 130 people injured and the worst urban unrest in Paris in decades.

The protesters are angry at Macron and high taxes, among other problems.</s>French minister: 135 people have been injured in protests Saturday; nearly 1,000 protesters are in custody

PARIS (AP) — French minister: 135 people have been injured in protests Saturday; nearly 1,000 protesters are in custody.</s>Clashes, tear gas, barricades and broken windows have been the sights in the French capital as the Yellow Vest protests rage throughout the country for the fourth week in a row. Hundreds were detained and dozens injured.A total of 125,000 people demonstrated across France , including 10,000 in Paris. Authorities saidthroughout the country.Saturday's clashes appeared to be even more heated and violent than last week's ones, RT's Charlotte Dubenskij, who has been reporting from the middle of Paris mayhem, said."In previous protests, the police have generally tried to hold back from deploying tear gas and even when they had objects pelted at them by the protesters, they've held back until they feel that's too much," she said.Several hours into the protests, trucks armed with water cannon arrived in the heart of the capital.Violence unfolded as severalBeefing up its presence, law enforcement also deployed armored vehicles belonging to the French Gendarmerie - the military police. The hardware was stationed right next to the Arc de Triomphe,which last week saw one of the fiercest battles between police and rioters.This is the fourth consecutive Saturday of Yellow Vest protests, withScores of people were also injured during the heavy-handed police response. Officers also suffered injuries while trying to handle the situation., which triggered the rallies. The unrest, however, is still far from losing steam. The demonstrators are billing their action on Saturday as "Act IV. Stay on the course" and are</s>A total of 118 people and 17 police officers were injured during Saturday’s Yellow Vest protests across France, the French Interior Minister said late Saturday.

Around 125,000 people participated in the nationwide protests, said Interior Minister Christophe Castaner in a press meeting.

Castaner said that 974 people were arrested during the protests.

Security measures were tight in France ahead of the demonstrations. Dozens of armored vehicles and 89,000 troops -- including 8,000 in Paris – were on duty.

On Saturday, protesters wearing bright yellow vests -- dubbed the Yellow Vests -- gathered along the famous Champs-Elysees in the capital Paris, where stores, restaurants, and banks were shut down due to violence.

French police used pepper spray against Yellow Vest protesters along the Champs-Elysees.

During Saturday's protests, the tension between demonstrators and the police flared up from time to time.

Thousands of yellow vest protesters have been gathering in major French cities including Paris since Nov. 17 to protest President Emmanuel Macron's controversial fuel tax hikes and the deteriorating economic situation.

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.

According to a recent survey, 84 percent of the French people -- mostly from the middle-income group -- support the protests.

Fuel prices in France have risen more than 20 percent this year.

This article has been adapted from its original source.</s>PARIS (AP) — French minister: 135 people have been injured in protests Saturday; nearly 1,000 protesters are in custody.</s>Act IV (Act 4), the name given to the fourth weekend of protests in France, is just around the corner and the French government and police authorities are busy preparing in an attempt to keep the violence and destruction down to a minimum.

from an "extreme core of several thousand" coming to the French capital. The French presidency revealed on Wednesday that it fears there will be "major violence" The interior ministry has spoken of the likely presence of the "extreme-right who dream of a revolution and the extreme-left who advocate insurrection". And they are concerned their numbers will be boosted by youths from the poor Paris suburbs, some of whom took advantage of the mayhem to loot stores last weekend, according to police. And then there's the fringes of the yellow vest movement which appears to have become more radicalized in recent weeks. As a result the French PM said "exceptional means" will be devoted to keeping order across the country on Saturday.

A total of 89,000 police officers - up from the initial figure of 656,000 - and law enforcement staff will be deployed across France on Saturday, 8,000 of whom will be in the French capital.

The PM confirmed that 12 armored vehicles from the gendarmes military police will also be deployed to the capital, but the decision whether or not to send them onto the streets will be taken on the day.

"Given what has happened it is absolutely necessary to take all the possible measures to stop the rioters taking hold of this movement," said Jérôme Bonner, a police spokesperson.

In all, some 79 police units, including CRS riot police officers, are set to be mobilised in the capital on Saturday December 8th compared to the 50 who were on the streets last weekend.

And there is a new strategy -- this time police officers have been instructed not just to be mobile but also to directly engage with protesters, meaning that the situation could be even more violent than the riots seen last weekend.

"We are going to try to intervene as quickly as possible at the flash points to arrest the main thugs to try to suffocate the violence," said Denis Jacob from the police union Alternative Police.

The city's police chiefs have promised that officers from all units will be present, including the French Anti-Crime Squad known as the BAC, the territorial brigades and all Paris police station staff will be on duty on Saturday.

Even units not accustomed to carrying out everyday police work, such as the SDLII, which fights illegal immigration, will have 500 officers on the ground.

A crisis unit for police officers confronted with "particularly violent incidents" has been created, according to reports in the French press in order to offer officers legal assistance if necessary.

All emergency services will also be mobilized on Saturday.

Security will also be tight on the French capital's public transport network, with transport police officers stationed at railway stations and Metro stations.

Meanwhile, the capital's transport operator RATP is already planning to divert or suspend dozens of bus lines around the Champs-Élysées, as well as at Porte Maillot near Neuilly-sur-Seine in the western suburbs of the capital, Trocadéro, near Opera, Hotel de Ville and Gare du North and Gare de l'Est.

French President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday urged politicians and union officials to launch a "call for calm", with French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe echoing that call in parliament and urged politicians to be responsible. "What is at stake is the safety of the French people and our institutions. I call here for responsibility," said Philippe. "All the actors in this public debate, politicians, union leaders, editorialists and citizens, will be accountable for their statements in the coming days," he added. In a move they hoped would help appease protesters the government announced it was completely scrapping the planned fuel tax hikes for 2019, yet it appears demonstrators are unsatisfied and are ready to push for more concessions that will help boost their spending power. The anxiety of the French authorities is evident in view of the prospect of another day of violence in the heart of the capital which is still under the shock of last weekend's riots. There have been dozens of calls to demonstrate in Paris on social media on Saturday, with many naming the Champs-Elysees -- the scene of riots on December 1st -- as the meeting point. For more information on what the protester's have in store for Paris this weekend CLICK HERE</s>The rumble of armored police trucks and the hiss of tear gas filled central Paris on Saturday, as French riot police fought to contain thousands of yellow-vested protesters venting their anger against the government in a movement that has grown more violent by the week.

A ring of steel surrounded the president’s Elysee Palace — a key destination for the protesters — as police stationed trucks and reinforced metal barriers throughout the neighborhood.

Stores along the elegant Champs-Elysees Avenue and the posh Avenue Montaigne boarded up their windows as if bracing for a hurricane but the storm struck anyway Saturday, this time at the height of the holiday shopping season. Protesters ripped off the plywood protecting the windows and threw flares and other projectiles. French riot police repeatedly repelled them with tear gas and water cannon.

Saturday’s yellow vest crowd was overwhelmingly male, a mix of those bringing their financial grievances to Paris — the center of France’s government, economy and culture — along with groups of experienced vandals who tore steadily through some of the city’s wealthiest neighborhoods, smashing and burning.

Police and protesters also clashed in other French cities, notably Marseille, Toulouse and Bordeaux, and in neighboring Belgium. Some protesters took aim at the French border with Italy, creating a huge traffic backup near the town of Ventimiglia.

The French government’s plan was to prevent a repeat of the Dec. 2 rioting that damaged the Arc de Triomphe, devastated central Paris and tarnished the country’s global image. It did not succeed, even though it was better prepared.

Although Saturday’s protest in the French capital started out quietly, tear gas choked the Champs-Elysees Avenue by early evening.

Interior Minister Christophe Castaner said that 135 people had been injured and 974 taken into custody amid protests around the nation. Paris police headquarters counted 71 injuries in the capital, seven of them police officers.

An estimated 125,000 people demonstrated around France while 10,000 took their anger to the streets of Paris, double the number in the capital last week, the interior minister said. Toughening security tactics, French authorities deployed 8,000 security officers in the capital alone, among the 89,000 who fanned out around the country.

A Starbucks near the Champs-Elysees was smashed wide open and people were seen stepping over broken glass and serving themselves to beverages. The window of a nearby bank was smashed in with a wrought-iron decoration used to encircle city tree trunks.

All of the city’s top tourist attractions — including the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre museum — shut down for the day, fearing the kind of damage that hit the Arc de Triomphe a week ago. Christmas markets and soccer matches were cancelled. Subway stations in the city center closed and the U.S. embassy warned citizens to avoid all protest areas.

Yet in a sign of the financial disconnect that infuriates many of the protesters, a few blocks from the famed boulevard, people were sitting in Paris cafes, drinking cocktails and chatting.

Amid the melee, President Emmanuel Macron remained invisible and silent, as he has for the four weeks of a movement that started as a protest against a gas tax hike and metamorphosed into a rebellion against high taxes and eroding living standards.

The mayor of the city of Saint-Etienne, a town in southeast France hit by violence Saturday, castigated Macron for failing to speak out, saying it “feeds the resentment.”

“This silence becomes contempt for the nation,” the mayor, Gael Perdriau, of the opposition conservative party, said on BFMTV. “He has a direct responsibility in what is happening. He can’t remain closed up in the Elysee.”

France’s yellow vest protesters have political stances ranging from the far right to the far left but the leaderless group is united in its sense that Macron and his government are out of touch.

“We are here to tell (Macron) our discontent. Me, I’m not here to break things because I have four children,” said protester Myriam Diaz. “But I still want to be here to say ‘Stop, that’s enough.'”

Some protesters sang the French national anthem — “The Marseillaise” — as they confronted phalanxes of police in heavy riot gear. One protester in Paris showed an Associated Press reporter a fresh wound on his jaw, saying a rubber bullet fired by charging police had glanced his face.

“I was running with my hands up. They charged,” said Ludovic, a 38-year-old cabinetmaker from the eastern city of Colmar. He only gave his first name, saying he feared being tracked by security authorities. He said he was fleeing the Champs-Elysees, choked with tear gas, when police moved in.

Even as blue armored trucks rumbled over cobblestone streets in Paris, a larger environmental march took place peacefully Saturday toward the city’s Republique Plaza.

A scattering of yellow vests, as well as women, children and retirees, were among the 17,000 people marching to demand action against climate change. One sign read “No climate justice without fiscal and social justice.”

Cyril, a 25-year-old garbage truck driver, came from Normandy with three others. He said he earns only 1,430 euros ($1,625) a month despite working 45 hours a week and has decided not to have children because doesn’t feel he can earn enough to raise them. This was his third weekend of protesting in Paris.

“I’ve come to defend myself,” he said, adding that he thought Macron’s mistake was trying to reform the French economy too quickly. “He’s done more in 18 months than the others in 30 years.”

Macron on Wednesday agreed to abandon the fuel tax hike, which aimed to wean France off fossil fuels and uphold the Paris climate agreement. Many economists and scientists say higher fuel taxes are essential to save the planet from worsening climate change, but that stance hasn’t defused the anger among France’s working class.

Late Saturday, after announcing that the violence in Paris had been “contained,” Castaner, the interior minister, took a victory stroll down the Champs-Elysees.

Tear gas had dissipated and a standoff was over. It had pitted a line of security forces, backed by two armored vehicles, against protesters, some lobbing objects and cherry bombs to taunt police.

Protesters also blocked roads, traffic roundabouts and highway tollbooths elsewhere in France and offshoot movements emerged in Belgium and the Netherlands.

Belgian police fired tear gas and water cannon Saturday at yellow-vested protesters calling for the resignation of Prime Minister Charles Michel. The protesters in Brussels threw paving stones, road signs, fireworks, flares and other objects at police and about 100 were detained.

Across the ocean, U.S. President Donald Trump seized the moment to once again criticize the 2015 Paris climate accord that he is abandoning.

“People do not want to pay large sums of money … in order to maybe protect the environment,” he tweeted.
125,000 people demonstrate across France, according to the Minister of the Interior, with about 89,000 police officers on duty. 1,385 people are detained. Tear gas and pepper spray are used against the protesters and 135 people are injured.