WARZONE
DEVASTATING riots tearing France apart have claimed their eighth victim during a fifth week of violence.
French interior minister Christophe Castaner confirmed the person died on Friday night, but provided no other details.
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Paris has seen much of the worst of the violence, with clashes continuing over the weekend.
Dramatic pictures show fireworks and missiles flying as riot police and "Yellow Vest" protesters battled again on the streets today.
The chaos began this morning with cops spraying anti-government demonstrators with pepper spray during a scuffle on the Champs-Elysees.
The Interior Minister said around 69,000 police officers were active today with a reinforced presence in the cities of Toulouse, Bordeaux and Saint-Etienne.
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Thousands of anti-government protesters gathered in Paris, which was been the epicentre of the mayhem since mid-November, launching fireworks at police.
Disturbing images show riot cops appearing to kick a man who is cowering on the floor while officers fire tear gas grenades in an attempt to disperse the crowds of rampaging demonstrators.
A spokesman for the Paris prefecture said at 7pm: "There have been 168 arrests so far, with 115 held for public order offences. Seven serious injuries have been reported."
Toll booths on highways have been torched amid nationwide protests
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At least 66,000 protesters were counted throughout the country and 4,000 took to the streets in Paris, according to official figures.
Cops were positioned around central train stations and along the famed Champs-Elysees, where shops were closed and their windows boarded up in anticipation of the violence.
Protesters have ignored calls from Emmanuel Macron's government to suspend the demonstrations following a shooting in Strasbourg earlier this week.
Today marks the fifth straight weekend of demonstrations by the Yellow Vest movement, which takes its name from the fluorescent safety vests French motorists carry in their vehicles.
Paris riots – French police pepper spray ‘yellow vest’ protesters as violent clashes break out for fifth week
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It emerged in mid-November as a protest against fuel tax increases and morphed into an expression of rage against the government.
Dramatic video showed a tollbooth that had been set on fire as cars try to safely navigate around the flames.
A driver in Belgium, near the border with France, was killed on Friday evening after a hitting a truck which had slowed because of a Yellow Vest blockade, a government official said.
He was the seventh person to have died in incidents linked to the anti-government protests.
Toll booths on highways have been torched amid nationwide protests
The protest movement has spread to Belgium and the UK.
Pro-Brexit protesters in London blocked Westminster Bridge yesterday and have staged a similar demonstration on London Bridge today.
The fighting in Paris was stopped quickly this morning while protesters began marching toward the landmark Arc de Triomphe at the end of the avenue.
On the Champs-Elysees, a handful of topless activists from the feminist protest group Femen faced cops near the Elysee Palace, the president's residence.
Successive weekends of protests in Paris have lead to vandalism and violent clashes with security forces.
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"France needs calm, order and a return to normal," President Macron said, after a meeting of European Union leaders in Brussels.
In a televised address to the nation on Monday, the French leader announced wage rises for the poorest workers and tax cuts for pensioners in further concessions meant to end the movement but many said they would maintain pressure.
The government, as well as several unions, called on protesters to stay off the streets today after four people were killed in a gun attack at a Christmas market in Strasbourg.
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Who are the yellow vests?
The yellow vest movement is led by protesters wearing the distinctively coloured roadside safety vests used by motorists known as gilets jaunes in French
Since the movement kicked off on November 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.
Riot police were overrun during the first weekend in December as protesters wrought havoc in Paris's wealthiest neighbourhoods.
Demonstrations flared up once again on December 8 with an estimated 5,000 taking to the streets for a "Day of Rage".
Rioters burned dozens of cars, looted boutiques and smashed up luxury private homes and cafes in the worst disturbances the capital has seen since 1968.
The movement was organised online and has no clear leadership, making talks all the more complicated for the government.
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Its supporters cut across age, job profile and geographical region.
Most want the government to scrap the new fuel taxes, hold a review of the tax system and raise the minimum wage.
There have also been calls to roll back Macron’s tax cuts for the wealthy and his economic programme, which is seen as pro-business.
One of the eight spokesmen for movement Christophe Chalençon called on President Macron to resign.
Emmanuel Macron surrenders to Paris rioters handing them £90 pay rise and axing overtime in humiliating U-turn as he declares state of emergency
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