Almost 1,000 arrested as clashes follow another day of mass protests across France

What the report says

French authorities said nearly 1,000 people were arrested on Saturday as another day of nationwide demonstrations over the cost of living and school conditions ended with scattered clashes in several cities. According to BBC World News, hundreds of thousands of people joined marches across France, with the interior ministry estimating 410,000 participants and unions putting the figure closer to 800,000.

Most of the protests were peaceful for much of the day, but police later used tear gas and water cannon in places including Paris, Lyon, Marseille and Bordeaux. In Paris, officers confronted groups of masked protesters after a march ended, while in Marseille and Bordeaux barricades were set alight and street furniture and boards were used to block roads. The BBC reported that police had deployed about 70,000 officers and that restrictions were in place in some cities to prevent a repeat of the more severe unrest seen the previous weekend.

Interior minister Laurent Nuñez said several thousand radical activists had joined the rear of the Paris march, including about 500 people identified as rioters. He also said two people were seriously injured, in Toulouse and Clermont-Ferrand. Officials said the latest unrest did not reach the scale of last week’s looting and arson, when more than 2,500 arrests were made and widespread damage was reported.

The protests are part of broader anger over inflation, living costs and public services, and they come amid rising political pressure on President Emmanuel Macron ahead of next year’s presidential campaign period.