Yellow Vest protests degenerate on Saturday afternoon

France’s Yellow Vest protesters gathered in cities throughout the country on Saturday in “Act VIII” of their movement against French President Emmanuel Macron’s economic policies

Saturday began peacefully but degenerated later in the afternoon.

Protesters hurled missiles at riot police barricading bridges over the Seine river and torched rubbish bins.

Officers fired tear gas to prevent hundreds of yellow vests crossing the river and reaching the National Assembly.

One riverboat restaurant was set ablaze and a policeman wounded when he was struck by a bicycle hurled from a street above the riverbank.

The Yellow Vests movement, named after the hi-vis jacket worn by its protesters, called for people to gather at symbolic and historical sites across France – from the Hôtel de Ville in Paris, to the Place de la Bourse in Bordeaux, and the Place du Capitole in Toulouse.