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.

Macron tours damaged Arc de Triomphe after Paris hit by riot

December 02, 2018

PARIS (AP) — French President Emmanuel Macron visited the graffiti-damaged Arc de Triomphe monument and held an emergency meeting on security Sunday, a day after central Paris was hit by France's worst riot in a generation.

Macron, who was meeting with his prime minister and interior and environment ministers, has vowed that those responsible for the violence and the damages will pay for their actions. His tour of France's beloved monument came just hours after he flew back from the G-20 summit in Argentina.

Macron paid tribute to the Unknown Soldier from World War I whose tomb is under the monument. He then headed to a nearby avenue where activists wearing yellow jackets had torched cars, smashed windows, looted stores and battled police on Saturday. There he met with firefighters, police officers and restaurant owners.

Paris police said Sunday that 133 people had been injured and 412 had been arrested as protesters trashed the streets of the capital during a demonstration Saturday against rising taxes and the high cost of living.

Charred cars, broken windows and downed fences from the riot littered many of the city's most popular tourist areas on Sunday, including major avenues near the Arc de Triomphe, streets around the famed Champs-Elysees Avenue, and the Tuileries garden. Graffiti was also sprayed on many stores and buildings.

Activists wearing yellow jackets had torched cars, smashed windows, looted stores, threw rocks at police and tagged the Arc de Triomphe with multi-colored graffiti. French police responded with tear gas and water cannon, closing down dozens of streets and Metro stations as they tried to contain the riot.

Police said 23 police officers were among the injured and 378 of the arrested have been put in police custody. By Sunday morning, Paris city employees were cleaning up the graffiti on the Arc de Triomphe. One slogan read: "Yellow jackets will triumph" — a reference to the fluorescent yellow vests that protesters wore to demand relief for France's beleaguered workers.

Government spokesman Benjamin Griveaux said Saturday's violence was due to extremists who hijacked the protest, people who came "to loot, break and hit police forces." He was asked why thousands of French police couldn't prevent the damage, especially to the Arc de Triomphe.

"Yesterday we made a choice ... to protect people before material goods," Griveaux told French broadcaster BFM TV. It was the third straight weekend of clashes in Paris involving activists dressed in the yellow vests of a new protest movement and France's worst urban violence since at least 2005. The scene in Paris contrasted sharply with protests elsewhere in France on Saturday that were mostly peaceful.

"It's difficult to reach the end of the month. People work and pay a lot of taxes and we are fed up," said Rabah Mendez, a protester marched peacefully Saturday in Paris. The demonstrators say Macron's government does not care about the problems of ordinary people. The grassroots protests began Nov. 17 with motorists upset over a fuel tax hike but now involve a broad range of demands related to France's high cost of living.

Macron, speaking in Buenos Aires before he flew home, welcomed the views of the protesters but said there was no place for violence in public discourse. "(Violence) has nothing to do with the peaceful expression of a legitimate anger" and "no cause justifies" attacks on police or pillaging stores and burning buildings, Macron said.