PARIS (AP) - The Latest on protests in France against rising fuel taxes (all times local):
12:45 p.m.
French interior ministry officials say that one protester has been killed and 47 injured as demonstrators block roads around France to protest gas price increases.
Police say that three of the injured are in serious condition, according to the ministry. Officials say that 24 people have been arrested and 17 held for questioning.
The protests over rising fuel taxes have drawn citizens upset about a host of problems like decreased buying power. An investigation was underway in the death of a protester in the eastern Savoie region, hit by a driver who apparently accelerated in a panic while caught in the demonstration, according to a regional official.
Authorities didn’t give a breakdown about how the 47 others were injured during the protests.
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8:20 a.m.
Drivers in France are planning to block roads across the country to protest rising fuel taxes, in a new challenge to embattled President Emmanuel Macron.
Protesters pledge to target tollbooths, roundabouts and the bypass that rings Paris on Saturday. The government is preparing to send police to remove protesters and threatening fines.
The taxes are part of Macron’s strategy of weaning France off fossil fuels. Many drivers see them as emblematic of a presidency seen as disconnected from day-to-day economic difficulties.
The protesters have dubbed themselves the “yellow jackets” because they wear fluorescent vests that all French drivers must keep in their vehicles in case of car troubles.
Separately, ambulances briefly blocked Paris’ Champs-Elysees on Friday to protest new rules on ambulance financing and put pressure on Macron’s government.
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