1700 arrested in France, Paris takes stock of destruction

Protestors wearing a yellow vest (gilet jaune), clash with French riot police during a demonstration against rising costs of living they blame on high taxes in Mondeville near Caen, northwestern France, on December 8, 2018. (CHARLY TRIBALLEAU / AFP)

More than 1,700 people were arrested across France during the latest "yellow vest" protests as demonstrators clashing with riot police caused more damage in Paris than a week ago, officials said on Sunday.

Workmen remove protective wood panels outside a restaurant the day after clashes during a national day of protest by the "yellow vests" movement in Paris, France, December 9, 2018. (REUTERS/Stephane Mahe)

Protesters set fire to cars, burned barricades and smashed windows in pockets of violence across the city centre, clad in their emblematic luminous safety jackets, as armoured vehicles rolled through the streets.

Yellow Vest protest aftermath

Clashes broke out in the French capital and other several cities, including Marseille, Bordeaux, Lyon and Toulouse, during a fourth weekend of nationwide protests against rising living costs and President Emmanuel Macron in general.

Armoured car on standby in Paris (REUTERS/Benoit Tessier)

The embattled president -- whose name rang out across the Champs-Elysees as protesters shouted "Macron, resign" -- is expected to address the demonstrations in a much-anticipated speech in the coming days.

#YellowVests have denounced heavy-handed treatment by French #police on today's protests. Jean-Pierre Colombiès, spokesperson for the French Union of independent police officers (UPNI), told @RFI that the police cannot be the only solution to resolving the crisis. pic.twitter.com/Q0uOf5ofgf

  RFI English (@RFI_English) 8 décembre 2018

A total 1,220 of the 1,723 detained were ordered held in custody, the ministry said.

Police in Paris said they made 1,082 arrests on Saturday, up sharply from 412 in the previous round.

The interior ministry said some 136,000 people took part in Saturday's protests across France, around the same number as ...on December 1.

But it was Paris which again bore the brunt of the violence and destruction.

Protesters in the capital set fire to cars, burned barricades and smashed windows in pockets of violence, clad in their emblematic luminous safety jackets, as armoured vehicles rolled through the streets.

City authorities said the 'yellow vests' had caused "much more damage" than on December 1 protests.

"The sector concerned by the incidents was much larger... With fewer barricades, there was much more dispersion, so many more places were impacted by violence," Paris deputy mayor Emmanuel Gregoire told France Inter radio.

"There was much more damage yesterday than there was a week ago.".