France: 6th 'yellow vest' protester dies in road accident

December 13, 2018

PARIS (AP) — French authorities say a sixth "yellow vest" protester has been killed after being hit by a truck at a road blockade near the southern city of Avignon. Officials in the Vaucluse department said Thursday the driver was arrested and taken into custody after he tried to flee from the scene.

A statement from the Vaucluse prefect's office said the protester was attended by emergency services but died from his wounds overnight. Five others have been killed in accidents and more than 1,400 injured in the protests against diesel tax hikes since they began last month. Protesters have blocked highways across France, and Paris has erupted in rioting.

The protesters are collectively referred to as the "yellow vest" movement, in reference to the fluorescent safety outfit they sport.

France counts costs of protests, new measures: $11 billion

December 11, 2018

PARIS (AP) — Tax relief and other fiscal measures announced by French President Emmanuel Macron to try to calm nationwide protests will cost 10 billion euros ($11 billion), the government said Tuesday.

In parliament, Prime Minister Edouard Philippe went to bat for Macron's measures, calling them "massive" and proof that he "has heard the anger." After weeks of often violent demonstrations by so-called yellow vest protesters, Macron responded Monday with measures to boost the spending power of retirees and workers, including a 100-euro hike in the minimum monthly wage.

Retreating in the face of yellow vest demands is proving to be a costly exercise. The government says the total bill of conciliatory climbdowns so far will be around 10 billion euros ($11 billion). That includes around 6 billion euros for Macron's new measures announced Monday and the estimated loss of 3.9 billion euros that the government will no longer levy from its now abandoned carbon tax hike on fossil fuels.

In addition, the protests, including blockades of roads, have also caused economic losses to businesses that have lost customers in city and town centers hit by rioting. There have also been five protest-related deaths and 1,407 people injured, 46 of them seriously, according to the government's count.

More demonstrations are expected Saturday. The prime minister said the government wants to make jobs pay better without hurting business competitiveness. Government spokesman Benjamin Griveaux said the government will make savings in the state budget to help finance the measures.

Macron to break silence, address French nation amid protests

December 09, 2018

PARIS (AP) — Pressure mounted on French President Emmanuel Macron to announce concrete measures to calm protests marked by violence when he addresses the nation Monday evening, and breaks a long silence widely seen as aggravating a crisis that has shaken the government and the whole country.

The president will consult in the morning with an array of national and local officials as he tries to get a handle on the ballooning and radicalizing protest movement triggered by anger at his policies, and a growing sense that they favor the rich.

Macron will speak from the presidential Elysee Palace at 8 p.m. (1900 GMT), an Elysee official said. The official wasn't authorized to speak publicly and requested anonymity. Government spokesman Benjamin Griveaux said earlier on LCI TV station he was "sure (Macron) will know how to find the path to the hearts of the French, speak to their hearts." But, he added, a "magic wand" won't solve all the problems of the protesters, known as "yellow vests" for the fluorescent safety vests they often wear.

Last week, Macron withdrew a fuel tax hike — the issue that kicked off protests in mid-November — in an effort to appease the protesters, but the move was seen as too little too late. For many protesters, Macron himself, widely seen as arrogant and disconnected from rank-and-file French, has become the problem. Calls for him to resign were rampant on Saturday, the fourth weekend of large-scale protests.

"Macron is there for the rich, not for all the French," 68-year-old retiree Jean-Pierre Meunuer said Saturday. Retirees are among the categories to be punished by his policies. Labor Minister Muriel Penicaud dampened any notion that the minimum wage would be raised, telling LCI that "there will be no boost for the Smic (minimum wage)," because "it destroys jobs."

Paris tourist sites reopened Sunday, while workers cleaned up debris from protests that left widespread damage in the capital and elsewhere. At least 71 were injured in Paris on Saturday. The economy minister, meanwhile, lamented the damage to the economy.

"This is a catastrophe for commerce, it's a catastrophe for our economy," Bruno Le Maire said Sunday while visiting merchants around the Saint Lazare train station, among areas hit by vandalism as the pre-Christmas shopping season got underway.

After the fourth Saturday of nationwide protests by the grassroots movement with broadening demands, officials said they understood the depth of the crisis. Le Maire said it was a social and democratic crisis as well as a "crisis of the nation" with "territorial fractures."

However, the president must also speak to protesters' pocketbooks. Among myriad demands was increased buying power. French media reported 136,000 protesters nationwide on Saturday, similar to the previous week. However, the number of injured in Paris and nationwide was down. Still, TV footage broadcast around the world of the violence in Paris neighborhoods popular with tourists has tarnished the country's image.

Several tourists questioned at the Eiffel Tower, which reopened Sunday after closing Saturday, said they were avoiding the Champs-Elysees, Paris' main avenue that is lined with shops and cafes and normally a magnet for foreign visitors.

"Yes, we're very concerned with security ... but we couldn't cancel the trip," Portuguese tourist Elizabet Monteero said. But, she added, "We don't go to dangerous zones like the Champs-Elysees." Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian politely chastised U.S. President Donald Trump for mocking France in tweets over the 2015 Paris climate accord, which the U.S. is leaving and which Macron has championed worldwide.

"We don't take part in American debates. Let us live our own national life," Le Drian said in an interview on the LCI TV station. He said Macron had told Trump the same thing. Trump tweeted twice on the issue over the weekend, saying in one that "the Paris agreement isn't working out so well for Paris," referring to Macron's predicament.

Nearly 1,000 people, almost 100 of them minors and most without police records, were being held in custody after the Saturday protests in the French capital, Paris chief prosecutor Remy Heitz said, adding that most of those in custody were men under 40 from various regions who came to Paris to protest. Most were taken in for carrying weapons, like knives, or objects that could be used to cause injury, including petanque balls or tear gas.

Courts were working overtime to process the cases, he said. France deployed around 89,000 police but still failed to deter the determined protesters. More than 125,000 "yellow vests" took to the streets Saturday around France with a bevy of demands related to high living costs and a sense that Macron favors the elite and is trying to modernize the French economy too fast.

Thierry Paul Valette, who helps coordinate yellow vest protesters who come to Paris, said the president must announce concrete measures to quell the fury. It won't be enough to announce negotiations, he said in an interview with The Associated Press. People want change and "concrete, immediate, right now" measures.

Even if Macron withdraws his signature slashing of the wealth tax, "half of the yellow vests will go home, the other half will want him to resign and will stay in the streets," Valette predicted. "Because the movement isn't controllable."

There was also damage in other cities, notably Marseille, Toulouse and Bordeaux. Seventeen of the injured were police officers. Jean-Claude Delage of the Alliance police union urged the government on Sunday to come up with responses to France's "social malaise." He told BFM television that working class protesters were deliberately targeting high-end shops in Paris that were selling goods they couldn't afford.

Luxury shops on the posh Avenue Montaigne were totally boarded up on Saturday. In a knock at Macron, graffiti on the wall of one read: "You don't cross the street, you take it," mocking the president's response to a young unemployed gardener that he can "cross the street" to find a job.

Associated Press journalists Angela Charlton, Nicolas Garriga, Florent Bajrami and Sylvie Corbet contributed to this report.

Paris cleans up after latest riot; pressure builds on Macron

December 09, 2018

PARIS (AP) — Paris tourist sites reopened, workers cleaned up broken glass and shop owners tried to put the city on its feet again Sunday, a day after running battles between yellow-vested protesters and riot police left 71 injured and caused widespread damage to the French capital.

The man who unleashed the anger, President Emmanuel Macron, broke his silence to tweet his appreciation for the police overnight, but pressure mounted on him to propose new solutions to calm the anger dividing France.

The number of injured in Paris and nationwide was down Saturday from protest riots a week ago, and most of the capital remained untouched. Still, TV footage broadcast around the world of the violence in Paris neighborhoods popular with tourists is tarnishing the country's image.

France deployed some 89,000 police but still failed to deter the determined protesters. Some 125,000 yellow vests took to the streets Saturday around France with a bevy of sometimes contradictory or incoherent demands related to high living costs and a sense that Macron favors the elite and is trying to modernize the French economy too fast.

Some 1,220 people were taken into custody around France, the Interior Ministry said Sunday — a roundup the scale of which the country hasn't seen in years. French police frisked protesters at train stations around the country, confiscating everything from heavy metal petanque balls to tennis rackets — anything that could remotely be used as a weapon.

The Eiffel Tower and Louvre Museum reopened Sunday after closing in fear of Saturday's rioting. Shops assessed the looting damage Sunday and cleared out broken glass, after shutting down on a Saturday at the height of the holiday shopping season.

Fierce winds and rain pummeled Paris overnight, complicating efforts to clean up the debris left after protesters sought any objects they could find to hurl at police or set on fire. Protesters ripped off the plywood protecting Parisian store windows and threw flares and other projectiles. French riot police repeatedly repelled them with tear gas and water cannon.

Used tear gas canister lids lay scattered Sunday on the cobblestones of the elegant Champs-Elysees after the hours-long standoff on Saturday between riot police and protesters. Most of the Paris demonstrators were working class white men from elsewhere in France, angry at inequalities and economic stagnation.

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 huge traffic jams on both sides of the border. Some 135 people were injured nationwide, including the 71 in Paris.

Saturday's protests were a direct blow to Macron, who made a stunning retreat last week and decided to abandon the fuel tax rise that initially prompted the yellow vest protest movement a month ago. His turnaround damaged his credibility with climate defenders and foreign investors and earned derision from U.S. President Donald Trump, an opponent of the 2015 Paris climate change accord that Macron has championed worldwide.

Yet it did nothing to cool tempers of the "gilets jaunes," the nickname for crowds wearing the fluorescent yellow vests that all French motorists must keep in their cars. The disparate movement now has other demands, from taxing the rich to raising the minimum wage to having the 40-year-old Macron, a former banker and economist, hand in his resignation.

Riot in Paris: Armored trucks, tear gas, smashed glass

December 08, 2018

PARIS (AP) — 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. 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 apparently experienced vandals, who tore steadily through some of the city's wealthiest neighborhoods, smashing and burning.

Police and protesters also clashed in the southern French cities of Marseille and Toulouse. The government's plan was to prevent a repeat of the Dec. 2 rioting that damaged the Arc de Triomphe, injured 130 people and tarnished the country's global image. But although Saturday's protest in the French capital started out quietly, by late afternoon at least 551 people had been taken into custody and 60 people had been injured, according to Paris police and hospitals.

Some stores along the city's elegant Champs-Elysees Avenue had boarded up their windows as though bracing for a hurricane, but the storm struck anyway, this time at the height of the holiday shopping season. Protesters ripped off the plywood protecting the windows and threw flares and other projectiles as they were repeatedly repelled by tear gas and water cannon.

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 had hit the Arc de Triomphe. Subway stations in the city center also closed and the U.S. embassy warned its citizens to avoid all protest areas.

Yet in a sign of the financial disconnect that infuriates many of the protesters, within a block of 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, eroding living standards and what many see as his inability to address the concerns of France's regions and ordinary people.

Before the clashes, Interior Minister Christophe Castaner had urged calm. "I ask the yellow vests that want to bring about a peaceful message to not go with the hooligans. We know that the hooligans are only strong because they hide behind the yellow vests, which hampers the security forces," he said.

Even as blue armored trucks rumbled over cobblestone streets and police moved yet again against protesters on the Champs-Elysees, an even larger environmental march moved peacefully Saturday toward the city's distant Republique Plaza.

A scattering of yellow vests, as well as women, children and retirees, were among the 17,000 participants marching to demand action against climate change. One sign read "No climate justice without fiscal and social justice." The march came in support of U.N. climate talks taking place in Poland.

National police estimated the number of protesters in Paris at 8,000, although the yellow vests said their numbers were far higher and Associated Press reporters saw city streets densely crowded with thousands of people. French authorities deployed 8,000 security officers in the capital alone, among the 89,000 who fanned out around the country

France's yellow vest protesters include people with views that range from the far right to the far left. The leaderless group is united primarily 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 so I am going to try to be safe for them, because they are afraid," said protester Myriam Diaz. "But I still want to be here to say 'Stop, that's enough, this has to stop.'"

Cyril, a 25-year-old garbage truck driver, came from Normandy with three other demonstrators to Paris. He said he earns 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 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 saving the planet from worsening climate change, but that approach hasn't defused the popular anger.

The renewed violence in Paris gave the impression of a government that is powerless against the uprising. Protesters who came to Paris from Normandy described seeing officers block yellow-vested passengers from boarding public transportation at stops along their route. The national gendarme service posted a video on Twitter of police tackling a protester and confiscating his dangerous material, which appeared to be primarily a tennis racket.

Four people have died in accidents since the unrest began Nov. 17 and Christmas markets, national soccer matches and countless cultural events have been canceled due to the protests. Protesters also blocked roads, roundabouts and tollbooths elsewhere in France and offshoot movements have 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 after they tried to breach a riot barricade. The protesters in Brussels threw paving stones, road signs, fireworks, flares and other objects at police and about 100 were detained, many for carrying dangerous objects.

According the ocean, U.S. President Donald Trump seized the moment to criticize the 2015 Paris climate accord, which he is pulling the United States out of, in a series of tweets Saturday. "People do not want to pay large sums of money ... in order to maybe protect the environment," he tweeted.

Angela Charlton, Lori Hinnant, Srdjan Nedeljkovic, Philippe Marion and Milos Krivokapic in Paris contributed.

Russian teenagers use social media to rebel against teachers

December 28, 2018

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia (AP) — The principal of a prestigious school near St. Petersburg summoned 16-year-old Leonid Shaidurov and 14-year-old Maxim Dautov in for a chat. Then he threatened them with expulsion, a criminal probe and being blacklisted from all Russian universities.

Their crime? Setting up an independent student union. But Shaidurov and Dautov, children of the social media era, did not take the threats lying down. Instead, they went public about their altercation with the principal last month. The student union's ranks swelled and education authorities in St. Petersburg, Russia's second-largest city, came out in support of the teenagers, not the principal.

Many other young Russians have had their first taste of political activism in street protests against corruption and the banning of rap music, protesting the authoritarian status quo that their parents have unhappily gotten used to.

Russian teenagers putting up a social media fight against the rigid, Soviet-like attitudes of some teachers was one of Russia's political highlights of the year. Shaidurov and Dautov came up with the idea after reading about Vladimir Lenin, Karl Marx and the U.S. trade union movement. They realized that their own problems — strict and unnecessary testing, dress code restrictions — had resonated elsewhere and would make a rallying cause for a student union.

"At first, everyone was laughing at Leonid and me, because it was just the two of us," says Dautov, who wears multiple rings and a "Revolutionary Workers Party" badge on his scarf. Two separate groups of the new student union held their first meetings in mid-November at a soccer field near the sprawling concrete school.

Shaidurov, who led both meetings, was summoned to the principal and told he had organized an "unsanctioned rally" that would be investigated by prosecutors. His and Dautov's parents were later hauled over the coals.

Later on, police officers visited the school to conduct "a preventive discussion" to warn the students about the dangers of staging unsanctioned rallies and extremism, a widely defined term that Russian authorities have used to go after dissenters of all stripes.

At the next parent-teacher meeting, parents were told that their children had joined an "extremist organization" and would be blacklisted from entering college, according to Shaidurov's mother, Yelena, who teaches history at the school.

To the boys, this was only "pouring the oil onto the flame," Dautov said. They spread the word on social media about the pressure and their case was taken up by the press. The number of student union members swelled from 70 to 200. Soon the city's Department for Education said students had the right to set up a union "as long as it doesn't impede the educational process."

The principal and the city's Department for Education would not respond to multiple requests for comment by The Associated Press. Students elsewhere in Russia are standing up, too. A high school student in the Urals city of Perm was turned away from class in December because she dyed her hair pink, and was told not to return until she changed it back. She mounted a social media campaign. Prosecutors went to check the school and found that the girl's rights were violated. Later, the Perm education department banned schools from strict dress code rules.

In Komsomolsk-on-Amur in Russia's Far East, a teacher has been suspended after a video of her pushing a teenager onto the ground and spanking him was posted online. Investigators have opened a criminal case.

Alexander Kondrashev, a teacher from St. Petersburg who belongs to an independent teachers' union, says the power dynamics between Putin-era teenagers and predominantly Soviet-educated teachers is starkly different from a generation earlier.

"It's much harder for a teacher to control the situation with children these days," he said. "First, children have a clearer idea of their rights and they are ready to stand up for them. And second, audio and video recordings have given them a significant information clout."

The St. Petersburg students claim the student union is not a political organization and are cagey about their own political views, saying "this is where the problems might start." Like typical teenagers, they are annoyed with age restrictions: a Russian at 14 is not allowed to vote or drive or drink.

"It's weird, because you can be sent to prison and contract TB at 14, but you can drink and smoke and express yourself fully only when you're 18," Dautov says. The system that Shaidurov and Dautov have been fighting against replicates the Russian government power structure in miniature.

The principal is answerable only to superiors in the education ministry while the students do not have much say in decision-making at school. Shaidurov and Dautov's school has its own student body but it works hand in hand with the administration and lacks any powers.

"We even have a newspaper and a YouTube channel — allegedly for students — which is dead and no one watches it," Dautov says, scoffing at the fact that instead of discussing real issues that students face, from high workloads to image pressures, the existing body debates "what kind of Christmas tree to put up."

Likewise, the often-strong reactions of teachers to anyone who undermines the existing power hierarchy mirror Russia's overall power structure. Teachers, who are paid by regional and federal budgets, are also under constant pressure from authorities, including when they run election precincts.

"It's a natural reaction of a person who himself is in fear. They're scared of the state, feel vulnerable and unprotected," said Kondrashev, speaking of teachers lashing out at students in numerous Russian videos posted online.

Svetlana Agapitova, government-appointed ombudswoman for children's rights in St. Petersburg, was one of the first officials who sided with the boys. She said adults should be proud that teenagers are taking an interest in political and economic topics.

The conflict also comes from the fact that the average age of a Russian school teacher hovers around 50, meaning that most were educated in the Soviet Union. Today's schoolchildren, born in Putin's era with instant access to information, are sincerely baffled by restrictions that have been in place for decades.

"It's hard for older teachers to change their ways because the authority of a teacher in school used to be indisputable," Agapitova says. "And to launch a dialogue with a student and discuss something with them — not everyone can do it."

Dautov, 14, was originally skeptical of his parents' willingness to speak to reporters about the case. But Dautov's father Marat voiced support for his son, saying that he and his friends "want to improve our lives. We all want this, too, but it's just that they are not afraid."

"Maybe it will work out for them and things will get better in our country," he mused.

As protests rages in France, Macron remains invisible

December 07, 2018

PARIS (AP) — As anti-government protests rage through France and Paris locks down, fearing new riots, the man whose presidency has unleashed the anger is nowhere to be seen. French President Emmanuel Macron has stayed out of the public eye all week, leaving his unpopular government to try to calm the nation. In response, "Macron, resign!" has become the main slogan of the "yellow vest" demonstrators.

The protesters' anger has been directed at the French leader, who they feel has been the "president of the rich" and is out-of-touch with ordinary people. Macron's pro-business reforms have aimed to make the French economy more competitive globally, but French workers see the changes as brutal and weakening their rights.

Macron, whose popularity plummeted in recent months, is also widely seen as arrogant, which comes out when he tells an unemployed man he can find a job if he "crosses the street," or advising a retiree not to complain.

The 40-year-old leader mostly spent the week holding closed-door meetings in the Elysee presidential palace, which many protesters see as an ivory tower where he is hiding away from the people. The president's office said he would not speak before Saturday's anti-government protests.

Normally Macron is a president who likes the limelight, one who has sought a prominent place on the world stage since his surprise election last year. Just a week ago, he was basking in the international limelight at the Group of 20 summit in Argentina, challenging U.S. President Donald Trump on climate change and protectionist trade measures.

As he met with other world leaders last weekend, images of burning barricades in Paris and the Arc de Triomphe monument in a cloud of tear gas were all over the television screens. Just back from Argentina, Macron went directly to the Arc de Triomphe to see the damages to the monument but the media was not allowed to ask him questions or come close. On Monday he had a discreet lunch with anti-riot police officers in eastern Paris, again without press.

The next day, he paid a two-hour unannounced visit to Puy-en-Velay, in central France, where protesters earlier had set the provincial government's headquarters on fire. A few local reporters and other journalists who were there by chance reported that Macron was booed and insulted by a small crowd.

On Friday evening, Macron paid a quick visit to anti-riot security forces that were to be deployed Saturday in the French capital. No media was there. His office said he met with about 60 police officers at a fort east of Paris and thanked them for their service.

Instead, Prime Minister Edouard Philippe has been sent to the front lines to face opposition lawmakers at parliament and explain the government's security measures on television. In France, the president traditionally makes the key policy choices, especially in the fields of defense and foreign policy, while the prime minister is in charge of day-to-day decisions, especially those related to domestic issues.

Macron doesn't face re-election until 2022 and his party has a strong majority in parliament —yet his ability to pass sweeping reforms may be weakened by the yellow vests movement. Observers have suggested that Philippe's resignation might ultimately be considered as a way to protect Macron —especially if the mood in France doesn't calm down. But Philippe on Thursday rejected suggestions that he should quit.

Eiffel Tower to be closed as Paris braces for more protests

December 07, 2018

PARIS (AP) — The Eiffel Tower in Paris will be closed on Saturday as French authorities tighten security to prevent another outbreak of violence following three weeks of anti-government protests. In addition to the 8,000 police forces that will be deployed in the French capital, the Paris police prefect has identified 14 high-risk sectors that will be cleared out.

Fearing protesters could target street furniture or construction sites, Paris police will remove all the glass containers, railings and building machines set up in the identified sectors which include the world-renowned and glitzy Champs-Elysees avenue.

Across the country some 89,000 police will be mobilized, up from 65,000 last weekend when more than 130 people were injured and over 400 were arrested in the worst street violence seen in the country in decades. And authorities have also cancelled six French league soccer matches this weekend around the country.

Since the unrest began on Nov. 17 in reaction to a sharp increase in diesel taxes, four people have been killed in accidents. The protesters are collectively referred to as the "yellow vest" movement, in reference to the fluorescent safety outfit French motorists keep in their cars.

Amid the unrest, some of the protesters, French union officials and prominent politicians across the political spectrum have urged calm especially as French President Emmanuel Macron agreed to abandon the fuel tax hike that triggered the movement. However, protesters' demands have now expanded to other issues hurting French workers, retirees and students.

The rioting has also had an economic impact at the height of the holiday shopping season. Rampaging groups last weekend threw cobblestones through Paris storefronts and looted valuables in some of the city's richest neighborhoods.

The national Federation of French markets said Friday that Christmas markets have been "strongly impacted" and that its members registered "an average fall of their estimated figures between 30 and 40 percent since the beginning of the movement of the yellow vests."

In addition to the closure of the Eiffel Tower, many shops and museums across France, including the Orsay Museum and the Grand Palais, will keep their doors shut on Saturday for safety reasons. "We need to protect culture sites in Paris but also everywhere in France," Culture Minister Franck Riester told RTL radio.

In Paris, police officers will be equipped with a dozen armored vehicles for the first time in a French urban area since 2005. "These vehicles can be very useful to protect buildings," said Stanislas Gaudon, the head of police union Alliance. "And in case they set up barricades, we can quickly clear out the space and let our units progress."

Paris riots show difficulty of fighting warming with taxes

December 06, 2018

PARIS (AP) — The "yellow vests" in France are worrying greens around the world. The worst riots in Paris in decades were sparked by higher fuel taxes, and French President Emmanuel Macron responded by scrapping them Wednesday. But taxes on fossil fuels are just what international climate negotiators, meeting in Poland this week, say are desperately needed to help wean the world off of fossil fuels and slow climate change.

"The events of the last few days in Paris have made me regard the challenges as even greater than I thought earlier," said Stanford University environmental economist Lawrence Goulder, author of the book "Confronting the Climate Challenge."

Economists, policymakers and politicians have long said the best way to fight climate change is to put a higher price on the fuels that acre causing it — gasoline, diesel, coal and natural gas. Taxing fuels and electricity could help pay for the damage they cause, encourage people to use less, and make it easier for cleaner alternatives and fuel-saving technologies to compete.

These so-called carbon taxes are expected to be a major part of pushing the world to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and try to prevent runaway climate change that economists say would be far more expensive over the long term than paying more for energy in the short term.

But it's not so easy for people to think about long-term, global problems when they are struggling to get by. Macron said the higher tax was his way of trying to prevent the end of the world. But the yellow vest protesters turned that around with the slogan: "it's hard to talk about the end of the world while we are talking about the end of the month."

The resistance to the fuel tax is a personal blow to Macron, who sees himself as the guarantor of the 2015 Paris climate accord, its strongest defender on the global stage. He has positioned himself as the anti-Trump when it comes to climate issues.

The French government quietly fears a Trump-led backlash against the accord could spread to other major economies whose commitment is essential to keeping the deal together. The fuel tax was not originally Macron's idea; it dates back to previous administrations. But he vigorously defended it and won the presidency in part on a promise to fight climate change.

So what went wrong? Yale University economist William Nordhaus, who won this year's Nobel prize for economics, said the tax was poorly designed and was delivered by the wrong person. "If you want to make energy taxes unpopular, step one is to be an unpopular leader," he said. "Step two is to use gasoline taxes and call them carbon taxes. This is hard enough without adding poor design."

Macron, like French presidents before him, made environmental and energy decisions without explaining to the public how important they are and how their lives will change. He's also seen as the "president of the rich" — his first fiscal decision as president was scrapping a wealth tax. So hiking taxes on gasoline and diesel was seen as especially unfair to the working classes in the provinces who need cars to get to work and whose incomes have stagnated for years.

The French government already has programs in place to subsidize drivers who trade in older, dirtier cars for cleaner ones, and expanded them in an attempt to head off the protests last month. But for many French, it was too little, too late.

The French reaction to higher fuel prices is hardly unique, which highlights just how hard it can be to discourage fossil fuel consumption by making people pay more. In September, protests in India over high gasoline prices shut down schools and government offices. Protests erupted in Mexico in 2017 after government deregulation caused a spike in gasoline prices, and in Indonesia in 2013 when the government reduced fuel subsidies and prices rose.

In the United States, Washington state voters handily defeated a carbon tax in November. "Higher taxes on fuel have always been a policy more popular among economists than among voters," said Greg Mankiw, a Harvard economist and former adviser to President George W. Bush.

Even proponents of carbon taxes acknowledge that they can disproportionally hurt low-income people. Energy costs make up a larger portion of their overall expenses, so a fuel price increase eats up more of their paycheck and leaves them with less to spend. And because energy costs are almost impossible to avoid, they feel trapped.

It is also not lost on them that it is the rich, unbothered by fuel taxes, who are hardest on the environment because they travel and consume more. "The mistake of the Macron government was not to marry the increase in fuel taxes with other sufficiently compelling initiatives promising to enhance the welfare and incomes of the 'yellow vests,' said Barry Eichengreen, an economist at the University of California, Berkeley.

Now the question is "How can we address the climate problem while also avoiding producing political upheaval," Goulder said. The key is giving a good chunk of money back to the people, Wesleyan University environmental economist Gary Yohe said.

Many economists back proposals that would tax carbon, but then use that money to offer tax rebates or credits that would benefit lower-income families. The protests, while sparked by fuel prices, are also about income inequality, populism and anti-elitism, experts say, not just about carbon taxes.

"Is it a death knell for the carbon tax or pricing carbon? I don't think so," economist Yohe said. "It is just a call for being a little bit more careful about how you design the damn thing."

AP science writer Seth Borenstein reported from Washington. AP economics writer Christopher Rugaber contributed from Washington and Frank Jordans contributed from Katowice, Poland.

100 days to Brexit: EU, UK act to cushion no-deal chaos

December 19, 2018

LONDON (AP) — The European Union marked 100 days until Brexit on Wednesday by triggering an action plan to ensure planes can still fly and money can still flow between Britain and the bloc in the increasingly likely event that the U.K. leaves the EU without a divorce deal.

The British government, struggling to break a political logjam over Brexit, released immigration plans that it said will "take back control" of the country's borders — but which opponents warn will batter the economy by shutting out everyone but highly paid professionals.

The EU measures, announced a day after Britain ramped up its own no-deal planning, are intended to alleviate "major disruption" to people and businesses in case squabbling U.K. politicians fail to ratify a withdrawal agreement between Britain and the bloc.

European Commission Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis called the contingency plan "an exercise in limiting damage." Britain is due to leave the EU on March 29, but it's unclear whether lawmakers will approve the divorce agreement Prime Minister Theresa May's government has negotiated with the bloc. May postponed a vote in Parliament last week because the deal faced heavy defeat. It has been rescheduled for mid-January, but opposition remains strong across the political spectrum.

Leaving without a deal risks plunging the British economy into recession and sparking chaos at the borders, as four decades of economic alignment and open markets evaporate. The EU plan includes temporary one- to two-year measures to allow some U.K.-EU financial services to continue and a 12-month provision to keep planes flying between Britain and the bloc.

But Dombrovskis stressed that the measures "cannot replicate the benefits of the withdrawal agreement, and certainly it cannot replicate the benefits of EU membership." Britain's no-deal preparations include putting 3,500 soldiers on standby, chartering boats to bring in goods and stockpiling medicines. The government called them sensible precautions, but opposition politicians accused May of trying to scare lawmakers into supporting her Brexit deal.

"No-deal would be a disaster for our country and no responsible government would ever allow it," Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn said. Most members of Parliament dislike both May's Brexit deal and the prospect of leaving the EU without an agreement, but they are deeply divided about what to do instead, and the country's political debate has grown increasingly bad-tempered as Brexit day approaches.

Corbyn was forced to deny calling May a "stupid woman" in the House of Commons on Wednesday, after he was caught appearing to mutter the insult during a fiery debate. "I did not use the words 'stupid woman' about the prime minister or anyone else, and am completely opposed to the use of sexist or misogynist language in absolutely any form at all," Corbyn said.

In a bid to regain some of its vanished political momentum, the British government published long-awaited plans for a post-Brexit immigration system that will end the automatic right of EU citizens to live in the U.K.

"We're going to bring an end to free movement," May said. "We will do that in a way that enables us to reduce net migration but enables us to ensure that the brightest and best can be attracted to the United Kingdom."

She said that "in the future coming here will be based on your contribution, not on the country you come from." The government proposal places no limit on the number of well-paid, skilled immigrants who can settle in Britain, but puts curbs on "low-skilled" workers, who would only be able to get one-year working visas.

The government plan suggests setting a salary threshold that immigrants will have to meet in order to be given the right to settle in Britain. An independent body advising the government has suggested 30,000 pounds ($38,000) a year — above the median U.K. wage and more than the starting salary for nurses, paramedics, junior doctors and many other professions.

Saffron Cordery, deputy chief executive of NHS Providers — an umbrella group for Britain's state-funded health care system — said the health sector was "deeply concerned" about the proposal. "High skills does not equal high pay," she told the BBC.

The government said the exact salary threshold would be decided after public consultation. The rules will not apply to more than 3 million EU citizens currently living in Britain. The government has said they can stay, even if the U.K. leaves the bloc without an agreement on future relations. The EU, in its no-deal plans, urged member states to extend the same right to more than 1 million resident British nationals.

Immigration was a major factor behind Britain's 2016 vote to leave the EU, and May has made ending free movement and cutting net immigration by more than half to below 100,000 people a year her key Brexit goals.

But that has put her at odds with many business leaders. Big chunks of Britain's economy, from agriculture to health care, have come to depend on European workers, more than 1 million of whom have moved to Britain in the last 15 years. Businesses fear that choking off the flow of lower-skilled workers could lead to acute employee shortages.

Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, a fierce opponent of Brexit, said the immigration proposals would "devastate" the Scottish economy, "It's beyond me that any U.K. prime minister would want to have as her legacy turning the U.K. inwards and making it less open and welcoming to people from the rest of the world," Sturgeon said.

The longer the political impasse drags on, the more worried British businesses get. The country's five leading business groups said in a rare joint statement that businesses "have been watching in horror" as the prospect of a disorderly Brexit grew more likely.

Organizations including the British Chambers of Commerce and the Confederation of British Industry urged lawmakers to "return to their constituencies over Christmas and talk to their local business communities."

"We hope that they will listen and remember that when they return to Parliament, the future course of our economy will be in their hands," the groups said.

Cook reported from Brussels. Associated Press writer Danica Kirka in London contributed to this report.

Pentagon withdrawing all U.S. forces from Syria

DEC. 19, 2018
By Clyde Hughes and Danielle Haynes

Dec. 19 (UPI) -- The U.S. military is preparing for a full withdrawal from Syria, in a move that will pull about 2,000 service members from the country and signal a major Middle East policy shift.

U.S. troops have been training local forces to combat Islamic State militants in Syria, also known by the acronyms ISIS and ISIL. The withdrawal will be "full" and "rapid," CNN reported.

White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders acknowledged the pullout in a statement Wednesday.

"Five years ago, ISIS was a very powerful and dangerous force in the Middle East, and now the United States has defeated the territorial caliphate," she said. "These victories over ISIS in Syria do not signal the end of the Global Coalition or its campaign.

"We have started returning United States troops home as we transition to the next phase of this campaign. The United States and our allies stand ready to re-engage at all levels to defend American interests whenever necessary, and we will continue to work together to deny radical Islamist terrorists' territory, funding, support, and any means of infiltrating our borders."

Partners in northeast Syria have been told of the withdrawal, a senior administration official told reporters. The Pentagon, though, will maintain about 5,000 troops in neighboring Iraq and the ability to launch attacks into Syria, if needed. The Syrian government has long called for U.S. forces to leave the country.

The official said about 1 percent of the Islamic State remains active in Syria, a figure the United States believes can be eliminated by regional partners.

"We are under no illusions that ISIS at large or the scourge of Sunni tyranny has gone away," the administration official said.

The official offered no timeline for how quickly troops will be removed from Syria or how many have already left.

The announcement appeared to indicate a sudden shift in U.S. policy toward the Middle East. Earlier this month, the U.S.-led coalition said there were no plans for a change.

"Any reports indicating a change in the U.S. position with respect is false and designed to sow confusion and chaos," the coalition said in a statement.

News of a U.S. pullout comes a day after Russia, Iran and Turkey agreed that a panel to draw up a new Syrian Constitution will meet next month.

Diplomats from the three countries agreed at the end of a meeting in Switzerland on Tuesday the 150-body committee will convene for the first time in January.

"We have agreed to take efforts aimed at convening the first session of the Syrian constitution committee early next year," Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in a statement after the meeting.

"These steps will lead to the launch of a viable and lasting Syrian-owned, Syrian-led, U.N.-facilitated political process."

The three nations, which support the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, failed to agree on the makeup of the committee, however.

The body was expected to have 50 representatives from the Syrian government, 50 representatives from the opposition, and 50 "independent" delegates picked by the United Nations. The Syrian government, though, pushed back on the independent candidates' portion and objected outright to some of the U.N. delegates.

The creation of a new Constitution for Syria is at the center of the country's seven-year civil war and a political struggle by Assad. The United States has rejected any proposed peace deal that leaves him in power.

Assad said a new Syrian Constitution is not needed and the existing law only needs tweaking, The New Arab reported. The United Nations and United States believe a new Constitution is needed to guarantee free elections.

Syria's civil war has lasted for seven years and has killed more than 500,000 people. Millions more have fled their homes in the war-ravaged country.

"Slowly, we are reaching a conclusion," Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said. "We have reached an important step in our work toward the Syrian constitutional committee."

Source: United Press International (UPI).
Link: https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2018/12/19/Pentagon-withdrawing-all-US-forces-from-Syria/6051545224890/.

Cuban assembly approves draft of new constitution

December 23, 2018

HAVANA (AP) — Cuba's National Assembly on Saturday approved an update of the country's constitution, the final step before a national referendum expected to approve the new charter in February. The new constitution contains more continuity than change, although it recognizes the de-facto modernization of Cuban society over the last decade. The constitution maintains Cuba as a centrally planned economy ruled by a single Communist Party, but recognizes private property for the first time and paves the way for a separate referendum on legalizing gay marriage.

It also creates the role of prime minister alongside the current president, as well as provincial governors. Legalizing private property is a formal recognition of significant change in Cuban society since former President Raul Castro permitted home and auto sales, creating a booming real-estate market, and allowed more than half a million Cubans have permits to work as entrepreneurs. Hundreds of thousands more work full or part-time in the private sector without licenses.

The new constitution also recognizes worker-owned cooperatives for the first time as a legal form of production in every sector of the economy, while maintaining Cuba's largely inefficient and stagnant state-run industries as the central means of production.

Closing the National Assembly, President Miguel Diaz-Canel said the island's economic challenges — including a weak 1.2 percent 2018 growth rate, and similar growth expected next year — required the acceptance of private business, joint public-private ventures and coops working together. He promised to fight widespread public-sector embezzlement and corruption that makes it virtually impossible to get anything done in Cuba without a series of small bribes.

"We've called a battle, and we'll wage it, an ethical battle against corruption, illegality ... and social indiscipline," he said. The president also promised a more responsive government, part of an initiative that has seen almost all Cuba's head of ministries start social-media accounts for the first time, some of which take questions from citizens.

"There are a lot of questions to pay attention and respond to," Diaz-Canel said. "We'll give responses to all of them as soon as it's possible, and those that we don't' have an answer to for the moment, we'll never stop searching."

He did not mention Cuba's unique two-currency system, which creates inefficiencies and distortions that are seen as one of the island's most serious economic problems. Castro called monetary unification an urgent priority before stepping down in April, but the issue has barely been mentioned since Diaz-Canel took over.

The degree to which the new constitution will actually spur change is expected to be seen only after the National Assembly approves a raft of changes to the civil and penal codes and electoral laws next year.

Language seen as the immediate precursor to the legalization of gay marriage was eliminated after widespread public objection and protests by evangelical churches. Cuban officials say the question of gay marriage will be put to a nationwide referendum, something most gay activists oppose.

The constitution was drafted by a committee led by Castro, who is still Communist Party head. It was then subjected to months of public comment in workplaces and neighborhoods across the island. Some suggested changes were approved, others rejected.

As in virtually every vote in recent memory, the National Assembly unanimously approved the draft constitution.

Madagascar goes to the polls in runoff presidential election

December 19, 2018

ANTANANARIVO, Madagascar (AP) — Voters have begun casting their ballots are across the Indian Ocean island nation of Madagascar Wednesday to select a new president in a runoff election that pits two former leaders against each other.

Andry Rajoelina, 44, president from 2009 to 2014, received 39 percent of the vote in the first round in November, while Marc Ravalomanana, 69, president from 2002 to 2009, got 35 percent. They face off for the first time since political turmoil in 2009 forced Ravalomanana from power. Both have said they will accept the runoff's results.

Rajoelina, after casting his ballot in Antananarivo, the capital, said he is confident of the process. "I appeal to all the Malagasy people to vote massively to express their choice so that they can choose who will lead this country," he said. "I am a democrat and I will accept the verdict of the ballot box," he said.

Ten million voters are registered in Madagascar, a former French colony which is ranked by the World Bank as one of the world's poorest nations, although rich in ecological diversity. More than two-thirds of the island's population of 25 million live in extreme poverty, while corruption is reportedly widespread.

Campaigning in the election was largely peaceful. Antananarivo was vibrant in the final days before the vote with the orange T-shirts of Rajoelina and the white and green ones of Ravalomanana worn by hundreds of supporters.

Provisional results are expected within a week.

Koreas break ground on railways but sanctions block project

December 26, 2018

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North and South Korea broke ground Wednesday on an ambitious project to modernize North Korean railways and roads and connect them with the South, but without progress in nuclear negotiations, regular trains won't be crossing the border anytime soon.

The ceremony at the North Korean border town of Kaesong came weeks after the Koreas conducted a joint survey on the northern railway sections they hope to someday link with the South. It's one of several peace gestures agreed between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and liberal South Korean President Moon Jae-in as they push ahead with engagement amid a stalemate in larger nuclear negotiations between Washington and Pyongyang.

But beyond on-site reviews and ceremonies, the Koreas cannot move much further along without the removal of U.S.-led sanctions against the North. A South Korean train carrying about 100 people — including government officials, lawmakers and aging relatives separated by the 1950-53 Korean War — rolled into the North Korean border town of Kaesong, where they were greeted by North Koreans including Ri Son Gwon, who heads an agency dealing with inter-Korean affairs.

North and South Korean officials signed a wooden railroad tie, unveiled a new signboard and observed a ceremonial connecting of northern and southern tracks at Kaesong's Panmun Station, according to South Korea's Unification Ministry.

Officials from China and Russia were also invited to witness the symbolic start of an ambitious project Seoul hopes will one day link South Korea with the Trans-China and Trans-Siberian railways. Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana, executive secretary of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, also attended, according to the South Korean ministry.

The Seoul government plans to conduct further surveys on North Korean railways and roads before drawing up a detailed blueprint for the project. Actual construction will proceed depending on the progress in the North's denuclearization and the state of sanctions against the country, the ministry said.

"We plan to hold detailed negotiations with the North to coordinate on the specific levels we want to achieve in the modernization of railways and roads and how to carry out the project," said Eugene Lee, the ministry's spokeswoman.

Even if the North takes concrete steps toward denuclearization and gains sanctions relief, some experts say updating North Korean rail network could take decades and massive investment. Seoul said it received an exemption to sanctions from the U.N. Security Council to proceed with Wednesday's ceremony as it involved South Korean transport vehicles and goods. The Koreas' joint survey of North Korean railways in November, which also required U.N. approval, marked the first time a South Korean train traveled on North Korean tracks.

The Koreas in December 2007 began freight services between South Korea's Munsan Station in Paju and the North's Panmun Station to support operations at a now-shuttered joint factory park in Kaesong. The South used the trains to move construction materials north, while clothing and shoes made at the factory park were sent south. The line was cut in November 2008 due to tensions over North Korea's nuclear ambitions.

The Kaesong factory park was shut down under the South's previous conservative government in February 2016 following a North Korean nuclear test and long-range rocket launch.

UN General Assembly endorses global migration accord

December 20, 2018

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.N. General Assembly endorsed a sweeping accord to ensure safe and orderly migration Wednesday over opposition from five countries, including the United States and Hungary. The Global Compact for Migration, the first international document dealing with the issue, is not legally binding. But the escalating debate over people leaving their home countries for new ones has sparked increasing opposition and reservations among the U.N.'s 193 member states.

The General Assembly resolution endorsing the compact was approved by a vote of 152-5, with Israel, the Czech Republic and Poland also voting "no" and 12 countries abstaining. The vote in favor of the resolution was lower than the 164 countries that approved the agreement by acclamation at a conference in Marrakech, Morocco, earlier this month.

The compact represents a U.N.-led effort to give migrants seeking economic opportunity a chance to find it and to have authorities crack down on the often dangerous and illegal movements of people across borders that have turned human smuggling into a worldwide industry.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres welcomed the resolution's adoption, saying the compact provides a platform for international cooperation that points the way "toward humane and sensible action to benefit countries of origin, transit and destination as well as migrants themselves."

"It calls for greater solidarity with migrants in situations of appalling vulnerability and abuse," the U.N. chief said. "And it highlights the imperative of devising more legal pathways for migration, which would also help to crack down on trafficking and exploitation."

According to a U.N. estimate, there are 250 million migrants around the world, or 3.4 percent of the global population. A McKinsey study cited earlier this year by Guterres said they "contribute 10 percent of global gross domestic product."

The compact says that "the majority of migrants around the world today travel, live and work in a safe, orderly and regular manner." But Guterres told the Marrakech conference that "more than 60,000 migrants have died on the move since the year 2000" and called the loss of lives "a source of collective shame."

The secretary-general and other supporters of the compact contend that migrants contribute to the world economy, including by providing needed workers in aging rich countries and returning cash to poorer home countries through remittances.

The United States and other opponents argue that the compact is attempting to "globalize" how migration is carried out at the expense of the sovereignty of individual countries, and is trying to make new international law. Supporters counter that the compact is non-binding and every country remains sovereign and in charge of its borders and migration policy.

The 34-page compact addresses all aspects of migration — why people leave their home countries, how to protect them, integrate them and cooperate in returning them home safely. Its principles include recognizing the sovereignty of nations and reaffirming that migrants have the same human rights as all other people that "must be respected, protected and fulfilled at all times."

The compact has 23 objectives "for safe, orderly and regular migration" that seek to boost cooperation in managing legal migration and discourage illegal border crossings. These range from technical issues like collecting data, ensuring migrants have proof of their legal identity, and promoting faster and safer transfer home of earnings by migrant workers, to such matters as preventing and eradicating trafficking, providing access to basic services for migrants, and using migration detention "only as a measure of last resort."

Before the vote, General Assembly President Maria Fernanda Espinosa called the compact "a historic opportunity to cooperate, exchange good practices and learn from each other so that migration, a phenomenon that has marked the history of humanity, benefits all of us."

"Who can be against guidelines that strengthen the fight against migrant trafficking and human trafficking?," she asked, stressing that "no state, as powerful as it may be, is able to resolve alone the challenges of international migration."

By contrast, Hungary's Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto, whose country's right-wing Prime Minister Viktor Orban is vehemently opposed to migration, warned the assembly that approving the "unbalanced, biased and extremely pro-migration" compact would be "a serious mistake."

"This document describes migration as if it would be the best thing what (cq) has ever happened to humanity," he said. "But this is not true. Migration is a dangerous phenomenon" that has destabilized countries of origin and transit and "put enormous security risk on countries of destination."

Szijjarto said Hungary is also concerned "that this document will contribute to launch new massive migratory flows all around the world, which will put enormous risk around the globe." The assembly chamber remained silent after Szijjarto's speech but after Philippines Foreign Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. spoke out in strong support of the compact, diplomats burst into loud applause.

Locsin stressed that "the compact does not derogate one iota from sovereignty, but it reveals sovereignty's fundamentally moral nature." "A key aspect of sovereignty is the care states must take of people inside them, even if they are on the move from countries of origin through countries of transit to where they finally end up to be welcomed or booted out," he said.

Locsin said the compact "merely speaks truth to sovereign power and reminds it of its moral aspect." And it mildly suggests "what might be done out of decency about the problems encountered by migrants. It does not tell states what to do," he said.

Locsin said that "Western countries would be cesspools without migrants." "Migrants are not slaves in transport, but free human beings on the move, with more courage to improve their condition aboard, than ... to persist in the wretched places they must flee or perish," Locsin said. "Sometimes the needs of state and migrants overlap, sometimes not."

The drafting process for the global compact was launched after all 193 U.N. member states, including the United States under President Barack Obama, adopted a declaration in 2016 saying no country can manage international migration on its own and agreed to work on a pact.

But the United States under President Donald Trump pulled out a year ago, claiming that numerous provisions in the compact were "inconsistent with U.S. immigration and refugee policies." After lengthy negotiations on the often contentious migration issue, 192 countries unanimously agreed on the 34-page compact in July — every member of the U.N. General Assembly except the United States, which boycotted the meeting.

But in recent months, opposition to the compact has grown, reflected in the lower number of countries approving the compact in Marrakech and voting "yes" on Wednesday. U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Andrew Veprek reiterated U.S. opposition, telling the assembly Wednesday that the United States honors the contributions of immigrants who helped build the country, but "we cannot support a compact or process that imposes, or has the potential to impose, international guidelines, standards, expectations or commitments" that might constrain government decisions, especially on security of borders and who to admit.

Popular former military chief jumps into politics in Israel

December 27, 2018

JERUSALEM (AP) — A popular former Israeli military chief jumped into the political fray Thursday, announcing he would run for office in the upcoming election and instantly injecting a potent challenge to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's lengthy rule.

Retired Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz has been polling favorably in recent weeks, emerging as a fresh, exciting face in Israel's staid political landscape. By officially registering his new party, "Israel Resilience," Gantz shakes up a snap three-month election campaign that has been widely seen as Netanyahu's to lose.

Even before officially announcing his candidacy, several polls showed Gantz's hypothetical party coming in second only to Netanyahu's ruling Likud in a crowded field of contenders in the April 9 vote. A second-place finish would position Gantz for either a top Cabinet post in a Netanyahu government or to be a high-profile opposition leader.

Gantz has yet to comment publicly on the new party. Though he has yet to lay out his worldview or political platform, he flaunts stellar military credentials — a must in security-centric Israel — and a squeaky-clean image to contrast Netanyahu's corruption-laden reputation.

Although still short of the kind of widespread support likely needed to become prime minister, Gantz's candidacy captures a yearning in Israel for a viable alternative to emerge against the long-serving Netanyahu, who has been in office for nearly a decade and is seeking a fourth consecutive term.

With a commanding lead in the polls, and a potential indictment looming against him, Netanyahu called early elections this week, seeking to pre-empt possible corruption charges and return to office to become the longest serving premier in Israeli history.

Police have recommended charging Netanyahu with bribery and breach of trust in three different cases. Netanyahu has denied any wrongdoing, dismissing the allegations as a media-orchestrated witch hunt aimed at removing him from office.

Israel's attorney general is now weighing whether to file criminal charges. Analysts say that Netanyahu hopes to win re-election before a decision is made, believing it would be much more difficult for the attorney general to charge a popular, newly elected leader.

Even with Netanyahu's legal woes, he remains popular in opinion polls, while Israel's established opposition remains splintered and unable to produce a viable challenger. Like most retired security officials, Gantz is believed to hold moderate positions toward the Palestinians, which would set him apart from Netanyahu, who has largely ignored the issue while focusing on Iran's influence in the region. But Gantz has been cagey about voicing his opinions, wary of alienating conservative voters crucial for a political upheaval.

Early opinion polls indicate that Gantz would take away votes from all the major parties and may not tip the scales away from Netanyahu just yet. But the emergence of the tall, telegenic ex-general with salty hair makes things more interesting, as he could spark new alliances with other moderate parties to give the hard-line Likud an honest fight.

"It's too early to tell, but he definitely strengthens the center-left camp," said Mina Tzemach, a leading Israeli pollster, whose most recent survey gave Gantz's new party as many as 16 seats in the 120-seat Parliament. "He projects security and integrity. And the fact that he looks good doesn't hurt either."

Gantz, 59, was a paratrooper who rose up the ranks to head special operations units and other various commands before serving as military attache to the United States and ultimately becoming Israel's 20th military chief between 2011-2015. His term was marked by two wars with Hamas militants in Gaza and a covert air campaign in Syria against Iranian arms shipments to Hezbollah guerrillas in Lebanon.

Since his discharge, he has been aggressively courted by several Israeli political parties, but ultimately decided to go it alone for now as the leader of his own party. Despite his impressive pedigree, Gantz remains a political unknown, which explains part of his appeal in such a highly partisan climate.

"There seems to be about 20 percent of the public that is fed up with what's out there. He appeals to those who don't want Netanyahu but can't bring themselves to vote for the others either," said Reuven Hazan, a political science professor at Jerusalem's Hebrew University. "He's the flavor of the election."

Israel is no stranger to such would-be saviors. In the 2013 elections, former TV anchor Yair Lapid came out of nowhere with his centrist Yesh Atid party to capture 19 seats and become Israel's second-largest faction. Last time, in 2015, Moshe Kahlon's economy-focused Kulanu became the unlikely kingmaker. Both, however, decided to join Netanyahu's coalition rather than oppose him and their years in the system have taken off some of the shine since then.

Polls currently reflect a dichotomy in which most Israelis don't want Netanyahu to continue to be their prime minister while simultaneously saying they see no preferred candidate to replace him. To finally topple Netanyahu, Gantz will likely have to team up with a combination of Lapid, Kahlon, the venerable Labor Party and others. Opposition leader Tzipi Livni has called on the various candidates to "put their egos aside" and unite against Netanyahu.

Official: Russian weapon 27 times faster than speed of sound

December 27, 2018

MOSCOW (AP) — Russia's new strategic weapon has rendered any missile defenses useless at a small fraction of their cost, officials said Thursday. The Avangard hypersonic glide vehicle flies 27 times faster than the speed of sound, making it impossible to intercept, Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Borisov told Russian state television.

The new weapon "essentially makes missile defenses useless," he said. Borisov spoke a day after Russian President Vladimir Putin oversaw what he described as the conclusive successful test of the Avangard and hailed it as a reliable guarantee of Russia's security for decades to come.

In Wednesday's test, the weapon was launched from the Dombarovskiy missile base in the southern Ural Mountains. The Kremlin said it successfully hit a practice target on the Kura shooting range on Kamchatka, 6,000 kilometers (3,700 miles) away.

The Defense Ministry released footage from the test launch, in which a ballistic missile could be seen blasting from a silo in a cloud of smoke, but it hasn't released any images of the vehicle itself.

Putin said the Avangard will enter service with the Russian Strategic Missile Forces next year. The test comes amid bitter tensions in Russia-U.S. relations, which have been strained over the Ukrainian crisis, the war in Syria and the allegations of Moscow's meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

Sergei Ivanov, a former Russian defense minister, said in televised comments that the Avangard constantly changes its course and altitude as it flies through the atmosphere. He emphasized that unlike previous nuclear warheads fitted to intercontinental ballistic missiles that follow a predictable trajectory allowing it to calculate the spot where they can be intercepted, the Avangard chaotically zigzags on its path to its target, making it impossible to predict the weapon's location.

A smiling Ivanov likened the weapon's flight through the atmosphere to a pebble skipping off the surface of water. Ivanov, who now serves as Putin's adviser, said the Avangard could be fitted to the Soviet-made UR-100UTTKh intercontinental ballistic missile, which is code-named SS-19 Stiletto by NATO.

He noted that Russia has a stockpile of several dozen such missiles, which are in a factory-mint condition and not filled with fuel, allowing them to serve for a long time to come. Ivanov added that they could be put in existing silos, sharply reducing the costs of Avangard's deployment.

"The Avangard has cost hundreds of times less than what the U.S. has spent on its missile defense," Ivanov said. He noted that Russia began to develop the Avangard after the 2002 U.S. withdrew from the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty and started to develop defenses against ballistic missiles.

Moscow feared that the U.S. missile shield could erode its nuclear deterrent, and Putin announced in 2004 that Russia was working on a new hypersonic weapon. Ivanov recalled that when Russian officials warned their U.S. counterparts about the new weapon program at the time, American officials were openly skeptical about Russia's ability to carry out its plan.

"We aren't involved in saber-rattling, we simply ensured our security for decades to come," he said.

Putin crows as he oversees Russian hypersonic weapons test

December 26, 2018

MOSCOW (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin oversaw a test Wednesday of a new hypersonic glide vehicle, declaring that the weapon is impossible to intercept and will ensure Russia's security for decades to come.

Speaking to Russia's top military brass after watching the live feed of the launch of the Avangard vehicle from the Defense Ministry's control room, Putin said the successful test was a "great success" and an "excellent New Year's gift to the nation."

The test comes amid bitter tensions in Russia-U.S. relations, which have sunk to their lowest level since the Cold War times over the conflict in Ukraine, the war in Syria and the allegations of Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

Putin's hopes for repairing ties with Washington under President Donald Trump have fizzled amid investigations into allegations of Trump's campaign ties with Russia, and tensions have escalated as the U.S. administration slapped Russia with new waves of sanctions.

The Avangard was among the array of new nuclear weapons that Putin presented in March, saying that Russia had to develop them in response to the development of the U.S. missile defense system that could erode Russia's nuclear deterrent.

In Wednesday's test, the weapon was launched from the Dombarovskiy missile base in the southern Ural Mountains. The Kremlin said it successfully hit a designated practice target on the Kura shooting range on Kamchatka, 6,000 kilometers (3,700 miles) away.

"The Avangard is invulnerable to intercept by any existing and prospective missile defense means of the potential adversary," Putin said after the test, adding that the new weapon will enter service next year with the military's Strategic Missile Forces.

When first presenting the Avangard in March, the Russian leader said the new system has an intercontinental range and can fly in the atmosphere at 20 times the speed of sound, bypassing the enemy's missile defense.

He emphasized that no other country currently has hypersonic weapons. Putin has said that Avangard is designed using new composite materials to withstand temperatures of up to 2,000 degrees Celsius (3,632 degrees Fahrenheit) that come from a flight through the atmosphere at hypersonic speeds.

Presidents of Russia, Belarus talk over energy price dispute

December 25, 2018

MOSCOW (AP) — The presidents of Russia and Belarus met in Moscow Tuesday for talks focused on an energy dispute that clouded ties between the two allies. Before sitting down with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Belorussian President Alexander Lukashenko harshly criticized tax changes that left his country of 10 million people paying a higher price for Russian oil and gas.

Putin had countered by saying that despite the changes, Belarus still paid much less than other countries for Russian energy resources. The Russian leader confirmed at the start of Tuesday's talks that he and Lukashenko would discuss the issue. Lukashenko said he hoped for a quick resolution.

The two met for more than four hours. Their respective media representatives said they agreed to have another meeting in the next week to iron out remaining differences. Lukashenko has ruled Belarus with an iron hand for nearly a quarter-century, cracking down on dissent and the media. He has relied on loans and cheap energy from Russia to keep a Soviet-style economy afloat.

Despite the close political, economic and military ties between the two ex-Soviet neighbors, Lukashenko has bristled at what he described as Moscow's attempts to subdue Belarus. Earlier this month, he accused some politicians in Russia of floating the prospect of incorporating Belarus and said he wouldn't let it happen.

Residents of Russian city protest 'black sky' air pollution

December 24, 2018

CHELYABINSK, Russia (AP) — Residents of Chelyabinsk are expressing worry over industrial pollution after heavy smog enveloped the Ural Mountains city this month and remained for two weeks. On Sunday, about 700 protesters braved temperatures of -20 degrees Celsius (-4 degrees Fahrenheit) to demand cleaner air. They held banners reading "We want clean skies!" and "Stop poisoning our children!"

Low winds helped the thick grey layer of smog called "black sky" by the locals settle over the city of 1.2 million. The Chelyabinsk meteorological office reported that air pollution exceeded healthy levels before the smog dissipated.

"The ecological situation in the city is getting worse and worse, and the government does not want to take measures to correct it," protester Artur Abuzarov said during Sunday's rally. The protest followed an earlier one in which participants tried unsuccessfully to force their way into the mayor's office. The situation went unreported in state-controlled media.

Locals say the pollution problem has persisted for years and they fear air quality will worsen further if a new copper mining enterprise opens next year as planned. "We are suffocating, children are ill, the ecology is bad," said another demonstrator, Tatyana Pominova. "What is happening in Chelyabinsk is a complete disgrace. It is impossible to breathe and it is impossible to live."

Anastasia Zubareva, a doctor who specializes in conditions of the ear, nose and throat, attributed the city's high number of childhood illnesses to air pollution, noting that her patients only feel better when smog dissipates.

And it's not only children. Galina Gurina, 58, attributes her chronic headaches and asthma to industrial emissions. Chelyabinsk officials have dismissed the residents' protests. Vitaly Bezrukov, a local official who deals with environmental issues, acknowledged that power plants and other sites sporadically produce pollutants in concentrations that exceed permissible levels. But he said they do not pose a danger for people.

UK bans pet shops from selling puppies and kittens

December 24, 2018

LONDON (AP) — Britain has banned third-party sales of puppies and kittens to protect the animals from exploitation. The government says the new law will help crack down on "puppy farms" and make it harder for unscrupulous dealers who have little regard for animal welfare.

Animal Welfare Minister David Rutley said the ban "is part of our commitment to make sure the nation's much-loved pets get the right start in life." The decision follows a public consultation that found overwhelming support for banning third-party sales.

Under the new measure, people wishing to adopt a puppy or kitten would have to deal directly with a breeder or a re-homing center, rather than pet shops or other commercial dealers. Animal welfare groups praised the government measure as an important step forward. Marc Abraham, a veterinarian who appears on television and is the founder of Pup Aid, called it "a real victory for grassroots campaigners as well as the U.K.'s dogs and cats."

He said the law would make breeders more accountable and make it more difficult to sell illegally smuggled puppies and kittens. The change was also endorsed by one of Britain's best-known animal shelters, the Battersea Cat and Dogs Home.

It comes as the RSPCA is asking the British public for information about the identity of a passenger and driver caught on closed circuit TV abandoning a dog despite its pleas to be allowed back into the car.

The abandonment took place earlier this month in Trentham, 145 miles (235 kilometers) northwest of London, but the video was circulating Monday online. "To see the poor dog in such obvious distress, jumping up at the car as it drives away, is just heartbreaking," said RSPCA inspector Natalie Perehovsky. "I can't understand how someone could do this."

Protesters, now joined by unions, reject French concessions

December 05, 2018

PARIS (AP) — Trade unions and farmers pledged Wednesday to join nationwide protests against President Emmanuel Macron, as concessions by the government failed to stem the momentum of the most violent demonstrations France has seen in decades.

The "yellow vest" protests began over a plan to raise fuel taxes, but by the time Prime Minister Edouard Philippe bowed to three weeks of violence and suspended the plan Tuesday, the protesters were demanding much more.

Students set fires outside high schools to protest a new university application system. Small business owners blocked roads to protest high taxes. Pensioners marched to protest the president's perceived elitism.

And on Wednesday, France's largest farmers union said it will launch protests next week, after trucking unions called for a rolling strike. Trade unions have not so far played a role in the improvised movement, but are now trying to capitalize on the growing public anger. A joint statement from the CGT and FO trucking unions called for action beginning Sunday night to protest a cut in overtime rates, and asked for an urgent meeting with the transportation minister.

Farmers union FNSEA said it would fight to help farmers earn a better income, though it said it would not officially be joining forces with the "yellow vests," as the protesters have come to be called after the high-visibility vests French motorists are required to keep in their cars, and which they don for demonstrations.

French police have cleared most of the fuel depots that protesters had blocked, but fuel shortages continued to hit several parts of France on Wednesday, with hundreds of gas stations affected. Demonstrators were also blocking toll booths, letting drivers pass without paying, to press demands that ranged from income and pension rises to the dissolution of the National Assembly, France's parliament.

At Tolbiac University in downtown Paris, students took over a school building and classes were canceled. "We need taxes, but they are not properly redistributed," protester Thomas Tricottet told BFM television. "We obviously need to fight against this."

High school students' union FIDL called for a "massive and general mobilization" on Thursday and urged the education minister to step down. One student was injured during protests in front of a high school in Saint-Jean-de-Braye in north-central France. BFM said he was shot in the head with a rubber bullet; authorities did not immediately confirm that. Julien Guiller, head of communication at the regional school administration, told The Associated Press that the student was expected to survive.

The government was clearly on the back foot. A day after announcing a six-month suspension of the fuel tax rises, it opened the door for more concessions as spokesman Benjamin Griveaux did not rule out bringing back a wealth tax that was slashed soon after Macron came to power in May 2017.

"If something isn't working, we're not dumb — we'll change it," Griveaux told RTL radio, though he said "the issue is not on the table for now." Macron's popularity has slumped to new lows since the first demonstrations took place on Nov. 17. The former investment banker, who campaigned for deep pro-business economic reforms, is accused of being the "president for the rich" and of being estranged from the working classes.

Since returning from the G20 summit in Argentina over the weekend, Macron's actions have done little to change that perception. He has refrained from speaking publicly about the protests, and has largely remained in his palace residence. On Tuesday night, he was booed and jeered as he traveled to a regional government headquarters that was torched by protesters last weekend.

An activist among those leading the protests said on Wednesday that he fears more deaths if Saturday's demonstration goes ahead, and called for Macron to speak out and bring calm. "If not there will be chaos," with risks of more deaths, Christophe Chalencon said.

Chalencon, a 52-year-old blacksmith from the Vaucluse in southern France, said in an interview with The Associated Press that the public needs Macron to "admit he made a mistake, with simple words ... that touch the guts and heart of the French."

In a movement without real leaders, "we don't control the situation," he said. Four people have been killed since mid-November. By caving in to the protesters' demands on fuel taxes, Macron also lost credibility in the fight against climate change, which he has tried to champion. U.S. President Donald Trump said Macron's decision to delay the tax hikes show he doesn't believe in an international climate accord.

"I am glad that my friend @EmmanuelMacron and the protesters in Paris have agreed with the conclusion I reached two years ago," Trump wrote on Twitter. "The Paris Agreement is fatally flawed because it raises the price of energy for responsible countries while whitewashing some of the worst polluters."

Elaine Ganley in Paris contributed.

France suspends fuel tax hike, protesters vow to fight on

December 04, 2018

PARIS (AP) — The French government's decision to suspend fuel tax and utility price hikes Tuesday did little to appease protesters, who called the move a "first step" and vowed to fight on after large-scale rioting in Paris last weekend.

In a major U-turn for the government, Prime Minister Edouard Philippe announced in a live televised address that the planned increases set for January would be postponed until summer. The backpedaling by President Emmanuel Macron's government appeared designed to calm the nation three days after the worst unrest on the streets of Paris in decades.

"No tax is worth putting the nation's unity in danger," Philippe said, just three weeks after insisting that the government wouldn't change course in its determination to wean French consumers off polluting fossil fuels.

But demonstrations continued around the country Tuesday. Protesters wearing their signature fluorescent yellow vests kept blocking several fuel depots and, on a highway near the southern city of Aubagne, protesters took over a toll booth to let vehicles pass for free. They put up a sign by the side of the road reading "Macron dictator."

"It's a first step, but we will not settle for a crumb," said Benjamin Cauchy, a protest leader. In the nearby port city of Marseille, students clashed with police outside a high school. Student protests blocked or otherwise disrupted about 100 high schools around the country blocked or otherwise disrupted by student protests Tuesday, according to the French Education Ministry. Many of the demonstrations were over a new university application system.

More protests were expected this weekend in Paris. Last weekend, more than 130 people were injured and 412 arrested in the French capital. Shops were looted and cars torched in plush neighborhoods around the famed Champs-Elysees Avenue.

The Arc de Triomphe, which is home to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and was visited by world leaders last month to mark the centenary of the end of World War I, was sprayed with graffiti and vandalized.

"This violence must end," Philippe said. Philippe held crisis talks with representatives of major political parties on Monday, and met with Macron, who canceled a two-day trip to Serbia amid the most serious challenge to his presidency since his election in May 2017.

On Tuesday, Philippe announced a freeze in electricity and natural gas prices until May 2019, and warned protesters against more disruptions. "If another day of protests takes place on Saturday, it should be authorized and should take place in calm," he said. "The interior minister will use all means to ensure order is respected."

A soccer match between Paris Saint-Germain and Montpellier, scheduled for Saturday in Paris, was postponed after police said they couldn't guarantee security there and at protests simultaneously. The protests began last month with motorists upset over the fuel tax hike, but have grown to encompass a range of complaints, with protesters claiming that Macron's government doesn't care about the problems of ordinary people.

In all, four people have been killed and hundreds injured in clashes or accidents stemming from the protests. Political opponents of the government called Philippe's announcement Tuesday too little, too late.

"This decision should have been taken from the start, as soon as the conflict emerged," said prominent Socialist figure Segolene Royal, a former candidate for president, adding: "The more you let a conflict fester, the more you eventually have to concede."

Far-right leader Marine Le Pen tweeted that the delay in price rises was "obviously not up to the expectations of the French people struggling with precariousness," and noted sarcastically that it is "surely a coincidence" that the price hikes will now come into effect a few days after EU elections.

Elaine Ganley and Sylvie Corbet contributed to this report.

Violent protests in France reveal a hard-to-heal fracture

December 04, 2018

PARIS (AP) — A grassroots protest movement in France has ballooned and radicalized, unleashing anger that devastated the heart of Paris in weekend riots and revealed a fracture in the country between the haves and have-nots.

Tough talk by unpopular President Emmanuel Macron, who has been roundly blamed for the chaos, isn't likely to mend the growing sense of social injustice. Discontent about the rising cost of living among the "little people," as many protesters call themselves, had been growing, along with a sense of marginalization. The approach of Macron's fuel tax increases in January, meant to wean the French off fossil fuels, has caused things to snap.

The weekend violence in Paris, in which more than 130 people were injured and over 400 were arrested, was the worst in the country in decades, officials have said. The protesters say they want to level a playing field that they believe is tipped in favor of the elite and well-off city dwellers.

The fuel tax "was the spark," said Thierry Paul Valette, a Paris protest coordinator, in an interview. "If it hadn't been (that), it would have been something else." "People want fair fiscal justice. They want social justice," he added, as well as improved purchasing power.

Members of the nationwide movement call themselves the "yellow vests," after the fluorescent safety clothing that all French motorists are obliged to keep in their cars. "It's clear the position of President Emmanuel Macron is untenable ... contempt for a France that suffers and contempt for a France that's not doing well," Valette said.

The Yellow Vest movement has no leaders but is trying to organize and choose legitimate representatives to negotiate with the government. An attempt to meet last week with Prime Minister Edouard Philippe failed. Reports that another rendezvous announced for Tuesday was canceled by the protesters could not be immediately confirmed.

The movement, which organized on social media in October, was initially made up of retirees, the self-employed, artisans and others having a hard time making ends meet, often from rural France and in their 30s and 40s, said Sorbonne sociologist Jean-Francois Amadieu, an expert in social movements.

As the government braces for a fourth weekend of protests, discontent spread Monday to ambulance workers and some high schools with students upset about scholastic reforms. That's a danger sign, according to Amadieu, who believes the protests could have been nipped in the bud weeks ago.

He said the 40-year-old Macron, who is surrounded by a young team with little experience, misread the signs of the extent of discontent and failed to understand that refusing to budge on a policy isn't always the best route to take in France.

"These are people who think you govern a nation like a startup," Amadieu said. Macron, whose popularity is plummeting, is also widely seen as arrogant with a style that ruffles sensitivities, such as telling an unemployed man he can find a job if he "crosses the street," or advising a retiree not to complain.

"Never has a president communicated like that," Amadieu said. The protesters have positioned themselves at strategic roadways, filtering traffic to a slowdown in the protests that began Nov. 17. Three people have died since then, although none in Paris.

Valette blamed the past two weekends of violence on people "usurping the yellow vest." On Saturday, shops were looted and cars torched in plush neighborhoods around the famed Champs-Elysees Avenue. The Arc de Triomphe, which cradles the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and was visited by world leaders last month to mark the centenary of the end of World War I, was besmirched with graffiti and vandalized inside. A 19th century statue was broken.

"The yellow vests will triumph," one scrawled slogan said. Amadieu said the violence is seen by many as a necessary means for change. "We all learned about the taking of the Bastille and the French Revolution. ... Change is always through a rapport of force," he said. "That is, unfortunately, very anchored in France."

Some graffiti on the Arc de Triomphe showed that the ultra-right and ultra-left had melded into the movement. But violence already was bubbling up from within. Jason Herbert, a Yellow Vest representative who met briefly Friday with the prime minister, said he and others who bowed out had received threats from fellow demonstrators, and he said the movement was radicalizing.

"We have all received enormous pressure ... threats, be they verbal or physical," Herbert said. "Our lives are still at stake." He described those making the threats as people who are "terribly hopeless, terribly miserable, (who) lost everything (because) everything was taken from them."

Paul Marra, a Yellow Vest in the southern Bouche-du-Rhone around Marseille, warned over the weekend that time is of the essence to end the crisis. "The longer the executive office waits, the more complicated things will become," he told the broadcaster BFMTV. He said there would be an "Act 4, Act 5, Act 6," referring to the Saturday protests.

"Today things have gone too far," he added.

Jeffrey Schaeffer and Sam Petrequin in Paris contributed.

French paramedics, students join cost-of-living protests

December 03, 2018

PARIS (AP) — Anti-government protesters gained new allies Monday as French paramedics and students joined ongoing rallies while the prime minister met with political rivals in a bid to ease the anger following riots that rocked Paris.

Facing the most serious crisis since his election in May 2017, President Emmanuel Macron remained silent but met with police officers to offer them support after "a day of unprecedented violence," the Elysee palace said.

On Saturday, more than 130 people were injured and 412 arrested in the French capital amid one of the worst waves of unrest in the country in recent years. Police responded with tear gas and water cannons, closing down dozens of streets and subway stations to contain the riot.

The "yellow vest" movement — led by protesters wearing the distinctively colored roadside safety vests used by motorists — is bringing together people from across the political spectrum complaining about France's economic inequalities and waning spending power.

More protests took place on Monday in Paris, as dozens of ambulances blocked a bridge leading to the National Assembly. Lines of riot police stood in the rain to prevent them from getting too close to the building.

The paramedics who joined the demonstrations are complaining about changes to working conditions. Students opposing education reforms also joined in, blocking dozens of high schools across France, according to French media reports.

Clashes between protesters and police officers took place again Monday on the Indian Ocean island of Reunion, where demonstrations have been particularly violent in recent weeks. Macron, just back from the Group of 20 summit in Argentina, held an emergency meeting Sunday on security. The government hasn't ruled out the possibility of imposing a state of emergency.

Serbia's President Aleksandar Vucic said the crisis has forced Macron to postpone a visit to Belgrade that would have started Wednesday "for a couple of weeks." Saturday's rioting was the third straight weekend of clashes in Paris. The protests began last month with motorists upset over a fuel tax increase and have grown to include a range of complaints that Macron's government doesn't care about the problems of ordinary people. Other protests in France remained peaceful.

By Sunday, some of the most popular tourist streets in Paris were littered with torched cars and broken glass from looted shops, and the Arc de Triomphe monument was defaced by graffiti. During Monday's protest by paramedics, some demonstrators set fire to a small pile of debris and blocked traffic. One activist held up a sign reading "The State killed me," and others chanted "Macron resign!"

Prime Minister Edouard Philippe and Macron have been criticized for their handling of the crisis. After meeting with the prime minister, Socialist leader Olivier Faure urged Philippe to drop the tax increases and to restore a wealth tax that was slashed by the centrist government.

"We want a change in the method. One needs to come down from Mount Olympus," Faure said, a reference to Macron's nickname of Jupiter, from the ancient Roman god. Laurent Wauquiez, head of center-right Les Republicains party, urged Macron to hold a referendum to end the crisis, although he didn't say what its topic should be.

"French people need to be heard again, and for that we must organize a referendum to decide these issues. Only these measures will restore calm," Wauquiez said. Since the movement kicked off Nov. 17, three people have been killed and hundreds injured in clashes or accidents stemming from the protests. In the past three weeks, demonstrators have been setting up roadblocks across the country and their movement has won wide public support.

Philippe will try to defuse tensions before more possible protests this weekend, speaking with representatives of the yellow vest movement on Tuesday. Members of the National Assembly will also hold talks on the crisis later this week. Meanwhile, the trade union CGT has called for a day of protest across France on Dec. 14.

Michel Euler contributed.