Sociological Changes

[Gerard Zwaan]

February 23, 2011. http://www.theblaze.com/stories/ahmadinejad-predicts-mideast-unrest-coming-to-america/ Iran's president said Wednesday he is certain the wave of unrest in the Middle East will spread to Europe and North America, bringing an end to governments he accused of oppressing and humiliating people. "The world is on the verge of big developments. Changes will be forthcoming and will engulf the whole world from Asia to Africa and from Europe to North America," Ahmadinejad told a news conference. Ahmadinejad said the world was in need of a just system of rule that "puts an end to oppression, occupation and humiliation of people." [and from another] This correlates with what the Zetas said about the 8 of 10, "These sociological and political dramas are part of the 8 of 10 scenarios, as well as geological and astronomical features. This is the next chapter." https://poleshift.ning.com/profiles/blogs/zetatalk-fame The Zetas did say that Ahmadinejad is STO . Did he got his information from reading ZT or is there more too it?

 

Ahmadinejad is speaking as a leader of a Muslim country, viewing the Arab Spring as an uprising against colonialism, imperialism, and western corporate influence. This stance is expected of him because of his political role in Iran. The article makes much of Ahmadinejad's criticism of Gaddafi and his brutal treatment of his people. This is to differentiate between an Arab leader who was considered a puppet, as was Mubarak, and Gaddafi who was considered a leader who resisted western influence and control and thus should be a brother to his people. Does Ahmadinejad read ZetaTalk and have an inside track on the Transformation, the pending 8 of 10 scenarios? Yes on both fronts, as despite disbelief that Ahmadinejad is a Service-to-Other individual, he is a sleeper like Obama, awaiting his opportunities to make a difference in the world. He gives a hint as to the sequence of revolt and discontent - from the Arab Spring to Asia, then Africa, then Europe and thence to N America.

Source: ZetaTalk for June 18, 2011

 

Note: This blog is about his prediction. Keep in mind that political debates are not allowed on the poleshift ning.

[SongStar101]

Hong Kong Airport Cancels Flights as Protesters Flood In

https://www.wsj.com/articles/hong-kong-airport-cancels-flights-as-t...

HONG KONG—Hong Kong’s airport authority canceled more than 100 flights Monday afternoon as thousands of demonstrators thronged the city’s airport to protest police for their handling of this summer’s long-running protests.

After the bloodiest night of clashes with police in 10 weekends of unrest, crowds filled the airport’s departure and arrival halls Monday, expanding a smaller sit-in at the terminal that has run since Friday. Hong Kong’s airport authority said the assembly has seriously disrupted flights and all check-in service for outbound flights as of 3.30 p.m. Its website showed more than 130 flights canceled.

Inbound flights that have yet to take off were canceled for the rest of the day. More than 200 flights were canceled a week earlier because of a citywide strike, as protests bite into the city’s economy, especially tourism and retail.

At an empty Hong Kong Airlines counter, Jerry Huang, a businessman from Taiwan, expressed frustration at not knowing when he would get home.

“This is what they want!” he said of the protesters. “It’s fine they block the road, but we need to fly for urgent matters. How can they win support with such action?”

Hong Kong’s airport is one of the world’s busiest. Last year, it handled more than 400,000 flights and 75 million passengers, as well as 5 million tons of cargo.

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An injury sustained by female protester whom police shot in the eye with a projectile has helped galvanize demonstrators. Photo: tyrone siu/Reuters

Protesters were galvanized Monday after a night of clashes between police and protesters. In particular, an injury was sustained by a female protester whom police shot in the eye with a projectile a day before. The crowds held pictures of the injured woman, chanting “an eye for an eye” and reiterating their five demands.

Meanwhile, more impromptu protests were held across the city. In the afternoon, a group of pastors held condemned the police for using violence, and workers at a public hospital staged a two-hour strike.

The societal divide in Hong Kong shows no signs of healing as the semiautonomous Chinese city remains gripped in its worst political crisis in decades. The protest movement that began over a bill that would allow suspects to be tried in mainland China has snowballed into a wider movement demanding more accountability from police and for the government to respond to their issues.

In the past two months, the momentum of the protest has in part been sustained by public reaction to police use of force against street demonstrators. A protester who died in the course of unfurling a banner and the first use of tear gas by police, to clear a rally in early June, led an estimated two million people onto city streets.

Since then, a spiraling cycle of violence between thousands of radical protesters and police has spread across the city, descending into battles in many urban districts. Hundreds of protesters have been arrested, and more than 1,800 rounds of tear gas have been used, along with scores of rubber bullets and bean-bag rounds.

“We are outraged by the violent protesters’ behaviors, which showed a total disregard of the law, posing a serious threat to the safety of police officers and other members of the public. We severely condemn the acts,” the government said early Monday. In recent public appearances, Hong Kong’s leader, Carrie Lam, has said the government can’t accede to the protesters’ demands.

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Hong Kong police showed off a truck equipped with a water cannon on Monday. Photo: Kyle Lam/Bloomberg News

On Monday police showed off an armored truck equipped with a water cannon that could be used to disperse crowds. Pro-democracy legislators immediately said it would be dangerous and lethal to use water cannons in a city as densely populated as Hong Kong.

At one of the city’s biggest public hospitals, more than 200 doctors, nurses, paramedics and pharmacists staged a strike. Many bandaged an eye as a show of solidarity with the injured protester and held signs that said, “Police attempt to murder Hong Kong citizens.”

“The police has gone wild. This is our way of sending them a message,” said Tommy Chan, a 31-year-old nurse who bandaged his left eye. “We‘re so angry,” he said. “The police should protect us, not inflict permanent harm.” Mr. Chan said he hasn’t participated in any street protests but said he supports them.

At the airport, protesters walked around the halls in several lines, chanting against police brutality. The march expanded in the departure hall, though check-in aisles were undisturbed.

Some sat outside and used trolleys to block the terminal, agitating passengers who had to make a detour. “Blame the government,” a cardboard sign put out by protesters said.

Ms. Feng, a flight attendant for a local airline, said she joined the airport protest after returning from a work trip to mainland China. She had also protested there on Friday, before leaving town.

“Hong Kong is my home. It will no longer have rule of law if the practice of the police becomes a frequent scene,” she said.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hong Kong Police Fire Tear Gas As Demonstrations Continue

https://www.npr.org/2019/08/10/750143749/hong-kong-police-fire-tear...

Protests continued in Hong Kong for a 10th straight weekend on Saturday as demonstrators organized across the city, blocking multiple roads and a key tunnel under Victoria Harbor.

The protests checkered much of Hong Kong. At the airport, demonstrators dressed in black filled the arrivals hall with a massive sit-in, cheering in Cantonese, "Go, Hong Kong people!" and calling for the resignation of Hong Kong's chief executive, Carrie Lam. It was the second day of what protesters said would be a three-day occupation at the airport.

Protesters also demonstrated outside China's military garrison in Hong Kong and marched through the city's Central District, parts of the Kowloon Peninsula and a neighborhood in the New Territories, where police officers in riot gear cleared the demonstration with tear gas.

In Hong Kong's Tsim Sha Tsui district, protesters set fires outside a police station, prompting the police to release a statement that the fires posed "a serious threat" to public safety.

Some protestors have started fires outside Tsim Sha Tsui Police Station, posing a serious threat to the safety of everyone on site.

— Hong Kong Police Force (@hkpoliceforce) August 10, 2019

The protests were originally sparked by a bill that would have allowed China to extradite people from Hong Kong. That bill has since been shelved, but not formally withdrawn, by Hong Kong's government. Demonstrators are demanding that the bill be permanently withdrawn. They are also calling for the direct election of the city's leaders, seats on the Hong Kong legislature and an investigation into police conduct during the demonstrations.

China has recently indicated it will not allow the protests to go on indefinitely and has called demonstrators "violent radicals" who are under foreign influence.

When Britain returned Hong Kong to China 22 years ago, China employed a "one country, two systems" principle, allowing Hong Kong to retain its own legal system, currency and civil service. Since then, fears have grown that Beijing is attempting to subvert that autonomy and erode democratic freedoms and the rule of law in the city.

NPR's Anthony Kuhn reports that some visitors to Hong Kong from China's mainland do not support the demonstrations. Lei Yong, a visitor to Hong Kong from China's central Henan province, was yelling at the protesters, reports Kuhn. Lei said of the extradition bill: "This bill must be implemented. How can you not punish the bad guys?"

"It just shows this huge disparity, this gap, in the thinking and the culture of people in mainland China and Hong Kong," Kuhn reports.

In an interview last month, leading pro-democracy activist Joshua Wong told NPR, "We are not afraid of the Communist regime."

"Now is the summer of discontent, and as a Hong Konger, I am born, I live, and I love my hometown," Wong told NPR. "We should determine our own destiny instead of the Hong Kong people's future being dominated by Beijing."

------------------------------------------

Hong Kong Police Fire Tear Gas On Protesters In 10th Week Of Demonstrations

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-08-11/hong-kong-police-fire-tea...

More here

[Juan F Martinez]

Trump to invoke Insurrection Act that authorizes National Guard, military action inside U.S. borders

According to sources cited by The Daily Caller, President Trump is poised to invoke the Insurrection Act to fight for America’s survival against the ongoing invasion of illegals who are flooding the United States as a tactic to destroy the country from within. The Daily Caller is now reporting:

According to multiple senior administration officials, the president intends to invoke the “tremendous powers” of the act to remove illegal immigrants from the country.

The Insurrection Act, passed by Congress in 1807, allows the president to deploy National Guard and U.S. military troops to combat “rebellion” against the United States of America. The Act has been invoked by other presidents to quell violent uprisings such as the L.A. Riots.

https://www.newstarget.com/2019-05-17-trump-to-invoke-insurrection-...

[Juan F Martinez]

White House launches tool to report censorship on Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, and Twitter  SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS should advance FREEDOM OF SPEECH.

‘If you suspect political bias caused such an action to be taken against you, share your story with President Trump’

On Wednesday, the White House launched a new tool for people to use if they feel they’ve been wrongly censored, banned, or suspended on social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter.

“Too many Americans have seen their accounts suspended, banned, or fraudulently reported for unclear ‘violations’ of user policies,” the site reads. “No matter your views, if you suspect political bias caused such an action to be taken against you, share your story with President Trump.”
"“Too many Americans have seen their accounts suspended, banned, or fraudulently reported”"

A Twitter spokesperson responded to the new tool saying, “We enforce the Twitter Rules impartially for all users, regardless of their background or political affiliation. We are constantly working to improve our systems and will continue to be transparent in our efforts.”

Facebook, Google, and YouTube did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

https://www.theverge.com/2019/5/15/18626785/white-house-trump-censo...

[Juan F Martinez]

The highest number of internally displaced people on record

28 million new internal displacements due to general conflicts of violence and natural disasters.

One of these events was caused by the struggles between Syria and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and the raising of an intercommunal tension between Cameroon, Ethiopia and Nigeria generated a cipher from 10.8 million people displaced by conflicts and violence. In fact, the number of IDPs who tried to return to their homes have had to deal with a lot of new issues counting damage on infrastructure, the disappearance of basic services and property destruction.

39% of new internal displacements were triggered by conflict and 61% by natural disasters.

Extreme weather events were responsible for the majority of the 17.2 million new displacements associated with disasters in 2018. Tropical cyclones and monsoon floods led to mass displacement in the Philippines, China and India, mostly in the form of evacuations. California suffered the most destructive wildfires in its history, which displaced hundreds of thousands of people.

https://watchers.news/2019/05/13/the-highest-number-of-internally-d...

[Matt B]

Vatican treasurer Cardinal George Pell found guilty of child sex charges.

Melbourne, Australia (CNN) - One of the most powerful men in the Roman Catholic Church was found guilty of multiple historical child sex offenses at a secret trial in Melbourne in December, the existence of which can only now be revealed.

By Hilary Whiteman and Ben Westcott, February 26, 2019.

https://edition.cnn.com/2019/02/25/australia/cardinal-george-pell-v...

Australian Cardinal George Pell, 77, is almost certain to face prison after a jury found him guilty of one charge of sexual penetration of a child and four charges of an indecent act with or in the presence of a child in the late 1990s.

The conviction of Pell, the Vatican treasurer and a close adviser to Pope Francis, will send shockwaves through the church, which is already reeling from accusations of sexual abuse committed by priests worldwide.

Pell is the most senior Catholic official to be found guilty of child sex offenses to date. His conviction brings the escalating international controversy around the abuse of children in Catholic institutions straight to the doors of the Holy See.

A court order banning media reporting of Pell's five-week long trial, which began in November 2018, was lifted by Chief Judge Peter Kidd on Tuesday.

The prosecution's case hinged on the testimony of one man, who said Pell sexually abused him and another boy in Melbourne's historic St. Patrick's Cathedral after mass one Sunday.

-----

Under Australian law, all details of the first trial, including its existence, were suppressed due to concerns they could prejudice future juries.

The court order was lifted after the crown prosecutor chose to not proceed with a planned second trial into further child sex allegations against Pell.

Pell has repeatedly maintained his innocence. His legal team confirmed on Tuesday they had filed an appeal against the guilty verdict.

The Vatican has yet to comment on the verdict. Pope Francis quietly removed Pell from his small council of advisors for "reasons of advancing age" in December, before the news of the cardinal's conviction became public.

(Read more)

-----

Q post - Feb 25 2019 20:08:29 (EST)

https://8ch.net/qresearch/res/5384047.html#5384495

[jorge namour]

"yellow vests" - FRANCE UPDATE

09/02/2019

"yellow vests": a few thousand protesters across the country, clashes in Paris

http://www.lefigaro.fr/actualite-france/2019/02/09/01016-20190209AR...

https://translate.google.com.ar/translate?hl=es&sl=fr&tl=en...

VIDEOS - They were about 51,400 across France, according to the Interior Ministry. Some clashes broke out. In Paris, a protester had his hand torn off at midday, at the height of the National Assembly.

They had announced it in several Facebook events: "Let nothing go as long as Macron and the 5th Republic will not be dismissed!

"Yellow Vests" Act XIII: a vigipirate vehicle burned in Paris

TRADUCED PHOTO FROM FRENCH

https://www.facebook.com/events/347255952539958/

GENERAL STRIKE ILLIMITED
BEGINNING FEBRUARY 5 2019

TOTAL BLOCKAGE ALL FRANCE

[Juan F Martinez]

Pentagon to send 3,750 troops to border with Mexico  Published time: 3 Feb, 2019 20:21

The US is sending nearly 4,000 soldiers to its frontier with Mexico for three months to “provide additional support” to border security and customs agencies, the Department of Defense has said.

The new deployment will bolster the numbers of active duty forces at the border to “approximately” 4,350, it added.

https://www.rt.com/usa/450512-troops-border-mexico-pentagon/

[SongStar101]

"It Feels Apocalyptic" - A Letter From Zimbabwe, Where The Country Remains In Total Shutdown

Zimbabwe is once again at the brink of economic collapse, making a mockery of President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s claim that the country is open for business.

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-01-20/it-feels-apocalyptic-lett...

As Bloomberg reports,  many shops and factories have shut their doors because of a lack of customers and those that continue to trade are open to haggling over prices to secure hard currency. At an appliance shop in the capital, Harare, a salesman whispers that a Whirlpool Corp. washing machine priced at about $5,000 if paid for electronically will sell for $1,500 in cash, while at a nearby electrical warehouse, a $600 invoice is whittled down to $145 for payment in dollar bills.

But, as OilPrice.com's Tsvetana Paraskova reports, Zimbabwe is on a three-day nationwide strike and protests are erupting in the streets after the government of the southern African country doubled fuel prices, making gasoline sold in Zimbabwe the most expensive gasoline in the world. 

We are now in our third day of complete shutdown throughout the whole of Zimbabwe.

Banks are closed, schools are closed, roads are closed in and out of the main towns and transport systems have shut down.

There are no newspapers to be bought, the Internet has been shut down by the government and everything is at a complete standstill.

People are too afraid to move around as a result of the burning of vehicles by vigilante groups and the complete dearth of any updated information or warnings due to the total social media blackout. This means that no WhatsApp messages or photos can be sent, no one can access Facebook or Messenger, and the situation is very tense.

In some centres it almost feels apocalyptic. We have heard gunfire, and before the Internet was closed down, saw pictures of dead and wounded people. It is unclear how many people have died but before the media blackout, it was reported that there had been five deaths and more than 200 people had been arbitrarily arrested.

Elements of the police and military are also involved in ensuring that there is a complete shutdown. People in civilian dress armed with AK-47 rifles have been seen in some areas. It is clear that these are military personnel.

Amnesty International has condemned the military crackdown and has called on the Zimbabwean authorities to ensure restraint by security forces and respect the public’s right to protest.

Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights reported prior to the blackout that they had received reports of soldiers and police breaking into homes in townships overnight and assaulting suspected demonstrators.

Contacts in the diplomatic corps and the political opposition are also completely in the dark, along with the rest of us.

This morning I spoke to Nelson Chamisa, leader of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) Alliance, and it is clear that no one knows what is going on because the entire country has been effectively silenced.

I have also spoken to lawyers regarding the arrest once again of Pastor Evan Mawarire who inadvertently triggered the highly successful #ThisFlag social media protest action in April 2016 because he could no longer afford to pay school fees. This led to his arrest on trumped up charges and his high profile court case. Since then, his activities have been under constant surveillance.

Police officers arrive at his flat this morning in central Harare and took him to the Law and Order section, charging him under a false charge of incitement to commit public violence.

The crisis was precipitated on Sunday (January 13) by President Emmerson Mnangagwa when he announced a shock increase of 200 percent in the fuel price – this in a country with more than 90 percent unemployment and where the struggle to survive escalates daily. Mr Mnangagwa promptly left the country for Russia and has not returned. Reports say that he has gone there to “discuss Russian assistance to modernise the military”.

Right now the situation remains eerie and uncertain. If this goes on for much longer, the humanitarian crisis will escalate. We cannot buy food because the shops are all closed and transport systems have closed down. Most of the hospitals are without essential medicines and also staff because doctors and nurses can’t even get to work.

This is an unprecedented situation in Zimbabwe and internationally. Even in wartime Europe, the people could get newspapers, transport systems operated, retail outlets were still open and people could communicate.

I cannot send you an e-mail or a photograph – it is a very weird situation.

The only thing we can do at this point is to ask for your prayers as we face this time of escalating fear and uncertainty.

[SongStar101]

The Yellow Vest Movement Has Gone Global

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-01-20/yellow-vest-movement-has-...

The Yellow Vest anti-government movement started in France on November 17, when over 300,000 people across France protested a carbon tax on fuel that French President Emmanuel Macron touted as evidence of France's leadership when it comes to mitigating climate change. 

The Yellow Vest protests quickly evolved into a general anti-government movement - with hundreds of thousands of angry French citizens taking to the streets for ten straight weeks of mostly peaceful protests marked with pockets of violence, looting and mayhem. 

What's more - the movement has gone worldwide - with perhaps the most notable protests outside France taking place in Belgium, where Brussels riot cops have dealt with week after week of protesters blocking oil depot and throwing hard objects at them. 

#YellowVests march on #Brussels amid ongoing political turmoil pic.twitter.com/hNBgxiFGaX

— srb news (@srbnews0) January 20, 2019

On December 8, Belgians attempted to breach a riot barricade while calling for the resignation of Prime Minister Charles Michel, resulting in around 100 arrests. 

And while most of the protests outside of France happened last month, this is a good list to note where discontent is mounting. 

• Bulgaria: Yellow Vests began protesting the same weekend as the French movement - coming out in force on November 16 to protest in front of parliament and demand the resignation of the government. 
• Canada: Yellow Vest protests have taken place in more than a dozen cities across Canada - largely campaigning against the carbon price, Canada's participation in the UN's Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration, the Trudeau administration and other issues. 
• Croatia: Croatians came out in force on December 15, gathering in Ban Jelacic Square. 

• Egypt: An Egyptian A lawyer was arrested and jailed for 15 days after he posted a picture of himself wearing a Yellow Vest in support of the French protests. 
• Finland: Finns came out in force in mid-December as well, gathering in front of Parliament in opposition to the UN's Global Migration pact. 
• Germany: Marching in solidarity with the French, German Yellow Vests similarly came out against the UN migration pact. 
• Iraq: Yellow Vests demonstrated in Basra, Iraq on December 5 to protest poor job opportunities among other things. They were reportedly fired upon with live ammunition by police. 

• Ireland: Hundreds of people gathered in the center of Dublin to protest the "perceived failures of the Government." 

• Israel: Yellow Vests held a rally at the Azrieli Centre Mall in Tel Aviv on December 14. 

• Italy: There have been several ongoing Yellow Vest protests in Italy over the last several months, with some protesting the government's hard-line stance against illegal migrants, and other pro-government activists protesting against the EU. In January, Italy's ruling government came out in support of the Yellow Vest movement, which AFP noted was "extremely rare for European leaders to back anti-government protesters in a fellow member state." 
• Netherlands: The Dutch joined the party at the beginning of December, blocking roads, roundabouts and tollbooths. 
• Pakistan: Hundreds of engineers came out in December to protest government services and pay. 

• Poland: Polish Yellow Vests protested in November and December, blocking the A2 motorway outside of Warsaw, demanding compensation for pigs they were required to slaughter, as well as the import of unlabeled Ukrainian agricultural products. 

Poland, November 2018#YellowVests #GiletsJaunes pic.twitter.com/4xX99Sw6PX

— Fair Yuze #MinisterOfGodsWrath (@Fairyuze1) December 16, 2018

• Portugal: On 21 December 2018, a "Coletes Amarelos" or "Yellow Vest" rally was held under the slogan "Vamos Parar Portugal", roughly translating to "Let's Bring Portugal to a Halt".

• Russia: Yellow Vests protested right before Christmas in Moscow's Hyde Park against increased parking fees. "I’m a driver with 20 years of experience, and I can understand that the authorities want to free the city and make it accessible to pedestrians," said resident Tamara Papuashvili, adding " it's just a disgrace. You can use the metro, but there are more and more people there, it just cannot cope."

• Serbia: Civil rights organisation "Združena akcija Krov nad glavom" began using yellow vests in its protests to show solidarity with the French protesters, as well as opposition to high fuel prices. Serbians have protested for six weeks in a row. 

• Taiwan: The Tax and Legal Reform League which has been protesting against high taxes since 2016 organized a yellow vest march on December 19. 

• Tunisia: A derivative group, the Gilets Rouges (Red Vests), called for protests over the ailing economy. 

Tunisia Catches Yellow Vest Infection#Tunisia #Yellowvesthttps://t.co/e93g7009Vz pic.twitter.com/Wu3SPlBPiW

— Mohamed Al Maeeni (@redbey) December 17, 2018

• United Kingdom: UK Yellow Vests are mostly right wing, pro-Brexit groups who have held rallies in London and other UK cities. 

[SongStar101]

French riot police are now using semi-automatic weapons with live ammunition against Yellow Vest protestors as Macron's law and order crisis spirals

• Officers were filmed brandishing weapons by Arc de Triomphe in Paris today
• Riot police were on crowd control duty today facing off a mob of Gilet Jaunes
• Rifles at demonstration by unarmed citizens show how Macron crisis intensifies
• Last week former conservative minster said live fire should be used on 'thugs'

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6586991/French-riot-police...

French riot police have deployed semi-automatic weapons with live ammunition against Yellow Vest protestors for the first time.

Officers were filmed brandishing Heckler & Koch G36 weapons by the Arc de Triomphe in Paris on Saturday afternoon.

The presence of semi-automatic rifles at a demonstration by unarmed French citizens shows how President Emmanuel Macron’s law and order crisis spirals. 

It comes after former conservative minister Luc Ferry called for live fire to be used against the ‘thugs’ from the Yellow Vest movement who he says 'beat up police'. 

Riot police were on crowd control duty today facing off a mob of Gilet Jaunes or Yellow Vests - named after the bright high-visibility clothing.

Live ammunition 30 cartridge magazines could be seen as officers marched the streets, although none were used as 5000 police were deployed on the streets of the French capital.

Yellow Vest protestor Gilles Caron said: ‘The CRS with the guns were wearing riot control helmets and body armour – they were not a specialised firearms unit.

‘Their job was simply to threaten us with lethal weapons in a manner which is very troubling. We deserve some explanations.’

The CRS are known for their tough approach to policing, frequently using distinctively wide-barrelled guns to fire flash-ball projectiles and tear gas canisters.

But until now, the guns used have mainly been associated with specialist military units, as well as the elite GIPN police intervention squads, and the BAC anti-criminal brigade.

A French National Police spokesman confirmed that the CRS were equipped with H&K G36s on Saturday, but would not discuss their operational use ‘for security reasons’.

A G36 was stolen from inside a police van during a similar Yellow Vest demonstration by the Arc de Triomphe on December 1.

A number of vehicles belonging to the 21stIntervention Company of the Paris Prefecture were stormed, suggesting that the theft was an opportunistic one during a day of intense violence, when the Arc de Triomphe itself was vandalised.

Last week, Luc Ferry, who was France’s education minister in the early 2000s, responded to a series of attacks on police by the Yellow Vests by calling for live fire against them.

r Ferry, who is now a full time philosopher, said: ‘What I don’t understand is that we don’t give the means to the police to put an end to this violence.'

When it was suggested that guns might lead to wounding or worse, Mr Ferry said: ‘So what? Listen, frankly, when you see guys beating up an unfortunate policeman on the floor, that’s when they should use their weapons once and for all! That’s enough.’

Police were attacked in major cities including Paris on Saturday on an Act 9 Day of Rage by the Yellow Vests, who have pledged to continue their campaign calling for social, political and economic reforms indefinitely.

Mr Macron’s government has launched a crackdown on their methods, pledging a new anti-riot law to deal with them.