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TEHRAN, December 05 - France's government was finally forced to withdrew its plan to increase taxes on fuel in order for mitigating the escalated protests.
TEHRAN, Young Journalists Club (YJC) - The decision came after pressures mounted on the government after protests degenerated into the worst street clashes between police and people in central Paris for decades.
The concessions, coming after an earlier 500-million-euro ($570 million) relief package for poorer households, mark the first time 40-year-old Macron has given ground in the face of public opposition.
Tax hikes on petrol and diesel on January 1 will be suspended for six months, while hikes in regulated electricity and gas prices will be frozen during the winter.
Across France, four protesters have been killed and hundreds injured in the wake of the violent clashes between polie and protesters.
For weeks Macron held his ground on the fuel taxes, which he says are meant to finance anti-pollution policies but critics say unfairly weigh on drivers in rural and small-town France.
The movement began on November 17 as a social-media-planned protest against fuel-tax rises but has since morphed into an uprising against the policies of President Emmanuel Macron.
The protests have taken on a name of its own: the "yellow vest" protests, a reference to the vests worn by people active in the transportation industry.
Protests against fuel tax have expanded to include unpopular education changes and the working conditions of unhappy ambulance workers.
On Tuesday, 11 fuel depots across France were blockaded by protesters and shut. Over 70 service stations had run out of fuel and restrictions were in place in Brittany on how much fuel motorists could buy
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