Reports of early clashes in Toulouse as 'Act XXII' of Yellow Vest protest begins

There are early reports of confrontations between 'black block' protesters in Toulouse at the start of the 22nd consecutive weekend of demonstrations by Yellow Vests.

Black bloc protesters are protesters who wear black clothing, scarves, sunglasses, ski masks, motorcycle helmets with padding, or other face-concealing and face-protecting items.

It is unclear as yet how widespread the confrontations have been, but, for the moment at least, the situation is calm albeit tense.

This after Toulouse was named “capital” of this week's protest, the first since a controversial anti-rioting law took effect on Thursday.

Protests are also slated for Paris, Marseille, Lille and other cities.

On social media, Yellow Vest protesters in Toulouse have been called on to keep up the fight against President Emmanuel “Macron and his world” and to “show that everything is just getting started after the results of the big debate”.

There has been a strong mobilization in this city since the beginning of the movement - with up to 10,000 protesters identified in January.

Those numbers have been swelled by reinforcements from Bordeaux and Montpellier, but also the presence of figures of the protest, Priscilla Ludosky or Fly Rider-Maxime Nicolle.

Some activists, however, fear a holiday effect, slimming the processions after the decline already recorded last week.