Police arrested 565 people as clashes broke out across France on Saturday during a third weekend of France protests over the cost of living and public services, according to the interior ministry, which announced the figure late in the day.
About 320,000 people took part in rallies nationwide, down from an estimated 410,000 the previous weekend, the interior ministry said. About 70,000 marched in Paris, it added. These crowd figures and the arrest total come from the ministry, and no independent count was available.
Interior minister Laurent Nuñez said about 150 planned demonstrations passed off peacefully. He said police faced an "extraordinary" level of violence from some rioters as rallies ended, according to the Guardian.
Nuñez also said a riot police officer in Paris was hit by a molotov cocktail, which he described as an "attempted murder". The Guardian reported this through the minister’s account. No police or hospital confirmation of the details was provided. Four police officers and one gendarme were injured in Paris, the Guardian reported.
According to France 24, riot police fired tear gas to push back protesters in Paris as small fires broke out in several areas. The outlet reported similar scenes in Bordeaux, Toulouse and Marseille. Its article is a round-up with few specific figures, so its claims about those cities lack numbers. The Paris police prefecture described a "hardcore of several hundred rioters". That is the prefecture’s own characterisation and has not been independently confirmed.
Saturday’s rallies followed a first wave of mass protest on 17 October. That day involved widespread street violence and looting, and it became one of the worst days of civil unrest in France’s recent history, according to the Guardian. Earlier in the week, Nuñez said 70,000 police and gendarmes, including elite units, would be deployed. Protesters included school students, trade unions and gilets jaune (yellow vest) demonstrators.
The Guardian also reported protests in Germany, Albania, Barcelona and Italy.
Student protesters have vowed new high school and university blockades on Tuesday and Thursday. They will then join a 5 November demonstration called by workers and trade unions.
The main accounts of the weekend’s violence come from the interior ministry and the interior minister, and no comment from protest organisers or the government beyond the minister’s remarks was included. Al Jazeera was available only as a headline and short excerpt, so its details could not be verified.
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This article was written with AI assistance from the published reporting listed above. It is part of the World Brief daily news podcast.