Page 8 - ARUBA TODAY

A8 WORLD NEWS
Monday 19 noveMber 2018

Scattered tax protests persist in France; injuries up to 409

By ELAINE GANLEY tered locations Sunday,
Associated Press Castaner told RTL radio.
PARIS (AP) — French Prime Protesters were notably in
Minister Edouard Philippe, Rennes, in western France,
standing firm against a Avignon, in the south, and
wave of grassroots pro- Nancy, in the east, where
tests, said Sunday that fuel police moved in to clear
tax hikes would remain in them.
place despite nationwide The situation throughout
agitation. the night was “agitated,”
“The course we set is good Castaner said, with “ag-
and we will keep it,” Philippe gressions, fights, knife-slash-
said during an interview on ing” taking place, including
TV station France-2, “It’s not among the protesters.
when the wind blows that Overall, 157 people were
you change course.” detained for questioning -
Nearly 300,000 protesters double the number report-
paralyzed traffic at more ed Saturday night.
than 2,000 strategic sites The upstart movement be-
around France on Satur- hind the weekend protests
day in a bid to force the represents middle-class citi-
government to lower taxes Protesters shout anti government slogan on the place de la Concorde to protest fuel taxes in Paris, zens and those with fewer
on diesel fuel and gaso- France, Saturday, Nov. 17, 2018. means who rely on their
line. Other issues, like buy- Associated Press cars to get to work. The pro-
ing power, melted into the icked driver facing a road- ter and released. At last day on RTL radio. testers called themselves
main demand as the dem- block in the eastern Savoie count, at least 409 people Holdouts refusing to end the “yellow jackets” after the
onstrations unfolded. region. French press reports had been injured — 14 seri- protests continued to slow safety vests French drivers
A protester was struck and Sunday said the driver was ously, Interior Minister Chris- traffic Sunday. Blockades are obliged to keep in their
killed Saturday when a pan- charged with manslaugh- tophe Castaner said Sun- were counted at 150 scat- cars for emergencies.q

In Jordan’s ancient Petra, sirens warn of flash floods

By LAURE VAN RUYMBEKE and were later evacuated, struck Petra in 1963 when
Associated Press he said. 22 French tourists and a
PETRA, Jordan (AP) — In an- Amateur video posted on- local guide were killed by
cient times, Arab tribesmen line at the time showed rapidly rising waters. In re-
dug diversion tunnels to visitors running through sponse, Jordan’s Depart-
protect their low-lying trad- a steep, narrow canyon ment of Antiquities built a
ing post of Petra against leading to the Treasury, Pe- dam to keep water from
desert flash floods. More tra’s main draw, as guides entering the canyon lead-
than two millennia later, an urged them to hurry. Later, ing to the Treasury.
alarm system warns visitors visitors were seen stand- On Nov. 9, the system was
if flood water rushes toward ing on a higher patch near triggered for the first time,
what has become Jordan’s the Treasury as knee-high through a computer in the
main tourist attraction. water poured through the Petra Authority’s control
Earlier this month, the In this Feb. 13, 2017 file photo, tourists brave a rare rainstorm canyon. room.
alarms were activated for in plastic ponchos to hike deeper into Jordan’s famous Petra Elsewhere in Jordan, such The computer is connect-
the first time, said Hussein archaeological park, southern Jordan. alarms are still missing. Thir- ed to eight rain forecast
al-Hasanat of the Petra Associated Press ty-four people were killed in systems and two water de-
Development & Tourism torrent fed by heavy rains into rose-hued rock face. flash floods in late Septem- tection stations placed in
Region Authority. Sirens approached the UNESCO Hundreds of tourists were ber and early November. the area, within 8 kilome-
blared minutes before a World Heritage site carved able to seek higher ground The last fatal flash flood ters (5 miles) of Petra. q