Nearly 1,000 Arrested as France Protests Turn Violent After Dark

Nearly 1,000 Arrested as France Protests Turn Violent After Dark

Nearly 1,000 people were arrested across France on Saturday as a second weekend of mass protests over the cost of living and school conditions turned violent after dark, despite a 70,000-strong police operation. The Interior Ministry put turnout at 410,000 nationwide, while the CGT union claimed 800,000. Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said the arrest figure was expected to rise further.

The main Paris march, from Porte d'Italie to Porte de Vincennes, was largely peaceful until its end, when masked protesters threw objects and fireworks at police, who answered with tear gas, sound grenades and water cannon. Police in Paris made 65 arrests and carried out more than 3,000 checks. Two people were seriously injured, one in Toulouse and one in Clermont-Ferrand. In Marseille protesters set bins alight and built barricades, while in Bordeaux boards were torn from a shopfront to block a street. Clashes were also reported in Lyon, Lille, Nantes and Grenoble.

The government says the tougher response prevented a repeat of last weekend's rioting, when 2,700 people were arrested and hundreds of shops were looted. But with the Louvre and Musee d'Orsay closed for the day and Art Basel cancelling its weekend programme, the unrest is already biting into daily life, six months before France elects a successor to President Emmanuel Macron.

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