France suspends fuel tax increases in face of protests

French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe on Tuesday suspended for six months planned increases to fuel taxes in response to weeks of protests.

President Emmanuel Macron has called the increases critical to combating climate change, according to Reuters.

“The French who have donned yellow vests want taxes to drop, and work to pay. That’s also what we want. If I didn’t manage to explain it, if the ruling majority didn’t manage to convince the French, then something must change,” Philippe said in a TV address.

The "yellow vest" movement started as a social media protest, named after the high-visibility jackets all motorists in France must have in their cars. It's spawned sometimes violent protests.

Read more from Reuters.