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Yellow Vest

French Protest Day And Night Against Macron’s Banker Economy

The people of France continue to protest against President Macron's neoliberal policies and the cutting of French pensions. France has seen months of protests, starting with the Yellow Vests over a year ago and joined by the unions to become a general strike. Firefighters, teachers, railroad workers, electrical workers, lawyers, dancers -- across multiple professions people are in the streets sometimes speaking in front of guillotines or carrying Macron's head on a stick. They remind Macron what happened to King Louis XVI, call for revolution and say 'we can begin again.' Torchlit protests occurred in major cities across the country tonight with people dancing, singing, chanting and releasing Chinese lanterns in vivid displays against Macron's neoliberal policies for the wealthy.

French Yellow Vests Celebrate First Birthday Converge With Planned Labor Strikes

This weekend the Yellow Vests celebrated their first birthday, with convivial barbeques on traffic circles (roundabouts) all over France followed by direct actions like liberating tollbooths. Although number of protestors has declined to about 10% of the estimated 400,000 who rose up a year ago on Nov. 17, 2018 – thanks to a year of violent police repression, media distortion, and sheer fatigue –– a surprisingly large number of women and men throughout la France profonde (“middle France”) came out of ‘retirement’ and donned their yellow vests for “ACT 53” of the weekly Yellow Vest drama – double the previous weeks’ numbers. Recent polls indicate that 10% of French people consider themselves “Yellow Vests,” and two-thirds still support them (although a majority wish they would go home!) 

Gilets Jaunes Gather For Third “Assembly Of Assemblies”

Last month some 650 Gilets Jaunes (Yellow Vests) gathered for a meeting in Montceau-les-Mines, in the heartland of France. Although the movement has struggled to unify and has fewer participants than before, the strength of its local mobilizations and its slow progression toward municipalism were on display. In the streets of Montceau-les-Mines, dozens of cars with license plates from out of town were parked bumper to bumper and spilling onto the sidewalks: Gilets Jaunes from all over France had come to the department of Saône-et-Loire to participate in their third “Assembly of Assemblies” on June 29-30...

Migrants And ‘Black Vests’ Occupy Historical Monument

About a thousand migrants and asylum seekers entered Paris's Pantheon Friday and briefly occupied the vaunted memorial complex to demand talks with the prime minister on legalizing their undocumented status, activists said. The undocumented migrants, members of the 'Black Vest' collective, taking their name from the anti-government 'Yellow Vests' protesting throughout France since last November, entered the historic complex at around midday, a member of the Chapelle Debout collective said.

Amazon Protested In Three Cities Over Climate Crisis

Paris - Several hundred environmental activists protested outside Amazon’s headquarters in Paris and at two of its regional distribution centers in France on Tuesday as part of stepped-up climate change demonstrations. The protest drew support from groups including Friends of the Earth and the “Gilets Jaunes”, who have mounted months of demonstrations against President Emmanuel Macron. Some 240 people blocked access to Amazon’s (AMZN.O) main office in Paris, organizers said, with many denouncing the online giant’s business practices, saying it wasn’t paying its fair share of tax or paying its employees a fair wage.

French State Demands Four Months’ Jail For “Yellow Vest” Protester Eric Drouet

On Friday, on the eve of the 30th weekend of “yellow vest” protests, French prosecutors demanded a four-month prison sentence against Eric Drouet, one of the leaders of the “yellow vest” movement. He was accused of “grouping with a view to preparing violence or degradation” and “carrying a prohibited category D weapon” during a demonstration. Drouet’s conduct had been entirely peaceful, and the charges are fabricated out of whole cloth. At the end of December, police arrested Drouet, who had organised a rally at the Place de la Concorde to pay tribute to the victims of police violence among “yellow vest” protesters.

French Police Crack Down On 30th ‘Yellow Vest’ Protest

The French government said 10,300 people demonstrated across the country, up from 9,500 last weekend. French police violently clashed with protesters Saturday at the 30th consecutive weekend of "yellow vest" demonstrations, using tear gas and water cannons in the southern city of Montpellier. Demonstrators Saturday said they would continue to protest over Macron's policies. "We're still (fighting) for purchasing power, at this moment, for everyone; because we take into account that he (President Macron) has offered some small things, but often it's what's been previously taken away," said Sebastian, a postal service worker.

March Of The Mutilated: Injured Yellow Vests Protest Police Brutality In Paris

Several hundred people have shown up for the ‘march of the mutilated’ in Paris, protesting police brutality and demanding a ban on the weaponry law enforcement uses to control demonstrators. People gathered in central Paris on Sunday, the day after ‘Act 29’ of the Yellow Vest protests. The demonstrators carried banners, showing injuries – such as lost eyes and limbs – various protesters have received over the past few months and demanding a ban of the ‘less-lethal’ weapons used by police.

The Yellow Vests Of France: Six Months Of Struggle

I am writing you from Montpellier, France, where I am a participant-observer in the Yellow Vest (Gilets jaunes) movement, which is still going strong after six months, despite a dearth of information in the international media. But why should you take the time to learn more about the Yellow Vests? The answer is that France has for more than two centuries been the classic model for social innovation, and this unique, original social movement has enormous international significance.

French Labor Leaders Size Up Yellow Vests

Several weeks ago Emmanuelle Cheron, 43, was out on the Place de La République in Paris, along with other members of a new collective of professional child minders. They wore pink vests, held balloons and had set up a large pink-and-white banner that said “Maternal assistants are angry. No to the unemployment reform.”  Later that Saturday, on March 30, the Yellow Vest protesters were going to be on the streets as usual.But Cheron and her allies wanted to stage their own, single-issue demonstration.

The Yellow Vests of France: Six Months of Struggle

I am writing you from Montpellier, France, where I am a participant-observer in the Yellow Vest movement, which is still

French Actors And Writers Back Latest Yellow Vest Protests

Anti-government yellow vest protesters on Saturday marched in cities across France for the 25th straight week. Following the annual May Day march attended by thousands on Wednesday, the crowds at the yellow vest protests in Paris were lighter than on previous weekends. Some 18,900 protesters took part in marches across the country, the Interior Ministry said. Of these, 1,460 were in Paris. Demonstrations were also held in cities around France, including Nice and Marseille, the Alpine town of Chambery and in Lyon, where ecologists and yellow vest protesters joined forces.

French Yellow Vests Rally In May Day Protests Amid Teargas

French police fired tear gas to push back masked demonstrators in central Paris Wednesday as thousands of people used an annual May Day rally to protest against President Emmanuel Macron's policies. Labor unions and "yellow vest" protesters were on the streets across France just days after Macron outlined policy proposals including tax cuts worth around 5 billion euros (US$5.58 billion). More than 7,400 police were deployed in Paris, Global News reported.

Muslims And The Working Class: France’s Marginalized And Natural Yellow Vest Allies

Yellow Vests and Muslims are the two largest groups in France which suffer from socioeconomic marginalization – and there is no doubt that they will be open political allies, eventually. Even though the Yellow Vest anti-government movement is historic in scope, duration and intensity, and even though Muslims comprise 5-10% of France’s population, there has been almost zero media coverage of the interplay between these two forces. Check Google in French or English and you truly find almost nothing. I have been waiting and waiting to do a story on this angle for Iran’s PressTV – I am their Paris correspondent – but there is simply no “news peg” from which we can start any report.

Yellow Vests Demonstrate In Paris As Notre Dame Donations Highlight Wealth Inequality

"Victor Hugo thanks all the generous donors ready to save Notre Dame and proposes that they do the same thing with Les Miserables." The contrast between the French government's and upper class's response to Monday's fire at Notre Dame and ongoing inaction to combat income inequality, was a primary driver of mass protests in Paris on Saturday. The Gilets Jaunes, or Yellow Vests, staged their first major protest since large portions of the historic cathedral burned, apparently due to an electrical short-circuit, to call attention to the €1 billion ($1.1 billion) that the country's richest families have donated to help rebuild the church, months after the yellow vest movement began demonstrating against income inequality.
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