Paramedics clashed with police as ambulances blocked a bridge in Central Paris on Monday in protests over pay.

The clashes were the latest in three weeks of "yellow vest" protests that have hit the French economy hard, with trade in retailers, hotel chains, high-street stores and restaurants falling significantly.

The movement began on November 17 as a social-media-planned protest against fuel-tax rises but has since morphed into an anti-President Macron uprising.  

Protests were particularly violent on Saturday,  with protesters from the far-right and far-left mixing with the "yellow vests" and intent on causing as much damage as possible.

The Arc de Triomphe was defaced and avenues off Paris's Champs Elysees were the scene of mass-vandalism.

Shops on the Champs Elysees and in the heart of Paris, including the Apple store and Dior and Chanel boutiques, had their windows smashed. Some others were looted. Prestigious Parisian department stores Printemps and Galeries Lafayette protectively shut their doors.  

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