Title: Why the French are protesting
Headings: Yellow vests, blue vests and red scarves — Here’s why the French are protesting
Yellow vests, blue vests and red scarves — Here’s why the French are protesting
What’s going on in France?
How and why did protests start?
November 17
Why are they called Yellow Vests?
Why did protests escalate?
So, who are the Red Scarves?
What about the Blue Vests?
What has the government done about protests?
How is Macron doing?

Content: The video went viral and a petition to bring down the price of fuel went online, garnering thousands of signatures. Some also attribute the start of the Yellow Vest element to Ghislain Coutard, a car mechanic from southern France. He posted a video on social media in late October calling on people to show their opposition to the fuel tax rises by wearing a high-visibility yellow jacket and calling on them to join a protest on November 17. The video has been viewed 5.5 million times. Protestors block an access to the A11 and A 28 highways near Le Mans, northwestern France, on November 18, 2018 a day after tens of thousands of people blocked roads across France in a ‘yellow vest’ protest against high fuel prices. JEAN-FRANCOIS MONIER | AFP | Getty Images
November 17
The first countrywide demonstration was held on November 17 with over a quarter of a million people taking to the streets of France. The demonstrations were largely rural or at a small-town level with demonstrators blocking roads, motorways, roundabouts and fuel depots. Despite the localized nature of the protests, 400 people were injured, 14 seriously, over 50 people were arrested and one woman died that day, Interior Minister Christophe Castaner said on November 18. The movement garnered support among working and middle-class people angry about a perceived decline in living standards as a result of Macron’s policies and the demonstrations quickly grew into more structured events organized via social media groups. It quickly spread to urban areas and the capital, Paris, where weekly, weekend protests since mid-November have attracted well over 100,000 people.