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The Latest: Macron visits damaged Arc de Triomphe after riot

Workers are about to clean a graffiti, center, reading "yellow jackets will triumph" on the Arc de Triomphe the day after a demonstration, in Paris, Sunday, Dec. 2, 2018. A protest against rising taxes and the high cost of living turned into a riot in the French capital, as activists torched cars, smashed windows, looted stores and tagged the Arc de Triomphe with multi-colored graffiti. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

PARIS (AP) — The Latest on French protests against higher taxes (all times local):

11:55 a.m.

French President Emmanuel Macron is visiting the Arc de Triomphe monument in Paris, which had been sprayed with graffiti and damaged in Saturday's protest riot in Paris.

Macron, just back from the G-20 summit in Argentina, went to the Arc de Triomphe to pay tribute to the Unknown Soldier from World War I whose tomb is under the monument.  He then headed to a nearby avenue where activists wearing yellow jackets had torched cars and smashed windows Saturday in France's worst urban riot in years. There he met with firefighters and police officers.

Later Sunday, Macron is holding an emergency government meeting on security issues.

Paris police say 133 people were injured and 412 arrested as protesters trashed the streets of the capital Saturday. Police fired tear gas and used water cannon to tamp down the violence.

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9:45 a.m.

Paris police say 133 people have been injured and 412 have been arrested as protesters trashed the streets of the capital during France's worst urban riot in years.

French President Emmanuel Macron was holding an emergency meeting on security later Sunday with his prime minister and interior minister. He has vowed that those responsible for the violence and the damages will pay for their actions.

A protest against rising taxes and the high cost of living turned into a riot Saturday in the most popular tourist areas of the French capital. Activists wearing yellow jackets torched cars, smashed windows, looted stores, threw rocks at police and tagged the Arc de Triomphe with multi-colored graffiti. Police responded with tear gas and water cannon, closing down dozens of streets and Metro stations to contain the riot.

By Sunday morning, Paris city employees were cleaning up the graffiti on the Arc de Triomphe. Some of Paris' major avenues near the Arc de Triomphe and streets around the famed Champs-Elysees Avenue and the Tuileries garden were littered with piles of debris and burned cars.

 

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