Emmanuel Macron postpones speech on Yellow Vest protests for Notre Dame

(Image credit: Ludovic Marin/Getty Images)

French President Emmanuel Macron is changing up his priorities.

Macron was scheduled to give a "highly-anticipated" television address on Monday evening in response to the Yellow Vest movement, a sometimes-violent national protest that began after a French fuel tax hike last November based around the beliefs that ordinary French citizens have lost purchasing power and that Macron's policies favor the rich. Per France 24, Macron was possibly going to introduce tax cuts and other measures to help retirees and single parents.

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Per The Associated Press, Macron is treating the fire as a national emergency and, upon arrival at the scene, went straight into meetings at the Paris police headquarters. It remains unclear what, if any, parts of the Cathedral firefighters will be able to save.

Explore More

Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.