France drops fuel tax hike as 'yellow vest' anger persists

Protesters wearing yellow vests, the symbol of a French drivers' protest against higher diesel fuel prices, occupy a roundabout in Cissac-Medoc, France, December 5, 2018. REUTERS/Regis Duvignau

PARIS (Reuters) - President Emmanuel Macron's government is dropping further fuel-tax hikes in next year's budget in the face of protests across France over living costs, his prime minister said on Wednesday, a day after announcing their suspension for six months.

The Macron administration is struggling to defuse the anger driving the "yellow vest" protests, as it reels from the worst riots seen in central Paris in five decades last Saturday.