PARIS: French
"yellow vests" turned out in small numbers for a sixth Saturday of
nationwide demonstrations, with one person killed in a road accident, the tenth
death since the protests began last month. In Paris, the scene of violent
clashes in previous demonstrations, traffic was normal in the morning and most
shops, except for some luxury boutiques, were open for business in the busy
weekend before Christmas.

David Delbruyere
was one of about 20 protesters near the Arc de Triomphe, the fifth time he has
come to the French capital to join a demonstration. And he wasn't discouraged
by the small turnout so far. "I think it's going to happen," the
48-year-old said. Some 200 people gathered for a demonstration in Paris'
tourist area of Monmartre and the Sacre Coeur basilica. In all, around 800
"yellow vests" showed up for small demonstrations around the French
capital, police said at mid-day. Authorities were also stationed at the Palace
of Versailles outside Paris which has been closed to visitors over fears of
unrest.

A Facebook event
organized by "yellow vest" leader Eric Drouet listed 1,400 people as
planned "participants" in the Versailles demonstration with a further
8,000 people saying they were "interested". Overnight in Perpignan in
southern France a driver was killed when his car collided with a truck stopped
at a roadblock set up by "yellow vest" protesters at the entrance to
an autoroute, prosecutor Jean-Jacques Fagni told AFP. There have now been 10
deaths related to the protests since they began on November 17.

Around 50
"yellow vests" briefly blocked trucks near the border between France
and Spain before gendarmes stepped in. Blockades were also reported in northern
France near the border with Belgium. Further demonstrations were planned for
yesterday in Lyon, Toulouse, Orleans and Brittany. The number of protesters has
however fallen significantly since last week, when President Emmanuel Macron, a
pro-business centrist, gave in to some of their demands.

Since the peak on
November 17 with 282,000 demonstrators, the turnout has fallen to around
166,000 on November 24, 136,000 on the first and eighth of December and 66,000
on December 15. The interior ministry estimated the numbers taking part in
various protests on Thursday at under 4,000, the lowest since demonstrations
began. The  movement characterized by the
high-visibility yellow vests worn by the protesters originally started as a
protest about planned fuel tax hikes, but has morphed into a mass demonstration
against Macron's policies and top-down style of governing.

On Friday
evening, the French Senate approved Macron's raft of measures to help the
working poor and pensioners -- just hours after they had been adopted by the lower
house of parliament -- which aim to quell "yellow vest" anger and
should come into force early in 2019. In the southwestern city of Toulouse on
Thursday, some 30 protesters held a rally lampooning Macron on his 41st
birthday. "We haven't brought him any presents because he hasn't given us
any," said one protester. - AFP