"yellow vest"

Paris - The Arc de Triomphe in Paris, which was ransacked during a "yellow vest" protest last year, will be entirely restored for next week's VE Day celebrations, the French government said Friday.

French police said they arrested more than 100 "yellow vest" demonstrators on Saturday in Paris as thousands of protestors took to the streets for a 23rd week of anti-government marches.

Thousands of police fanned out across central Paris and other French cities Saturday ahead of planned "yellow vest" protests, with the government vowing to prevent a repeat of the rioting and looting seen in the capital last week.

Rioters looted and torched shops and businesses on the famed Champs-Elysees avenue in Paris on Saturday, on the 18th weekend of French "yellow vest" protests, characterised by a sharp increase in violence after weeks of dwindling turnout.

Thousands of anti-government demonstrators marched in cities across France on Saturday in a new round of "yellow vest" protests against President Emmanuel Macron, accused of ignoring the plight of millions of people struggling to make ends meet.

France braced for a fresh round of "yellow vest" protests across the country on Saturday, with the authorities vowing zero tolerance for violence after weekly scenes of rioting and vandalism in Paris and other cities over the past two months.

Paris - France's "yellow vest" protestors were back on the streets again Saturday as a government spokesman denounced those still protesting as hard-liners who wanted only to bring down the government.

French "yellow vests" prepared for a sixth Saturday of nationwide demonstrations, but numbers on the streets are falling fast as the police clear protest camps in the run-up to the Christmas holidays.

Fewer than 3,000 "yellow vest" demonstrators turned up in Paris for what was the fifth consecutive Saturday of mass anti-government protests, the city's police said.

"Yellow vest" demonstrators began gathering on the Champs-Elysees in Paris on Saturday morning for a fifth weekend of protests in defiance of calls by the French government to stay home.

Embattled French President Emmanuel Macron Monday announced a series of financial measures seeking to defuse the "yellow vest" revolt that has triggered violent protests in cities across the country.

Around 70 people were arrested Saturday in the Belgian capital Brussels during copycat "yellow vest" demonstrations rocking neighbouring France, police said.