Police fire teargas as over 410,000 protest across France

 PARIS: Protesters and police are clashing in Paris, with tear gas fired and projectiles thrown, at the tail-end of demonstrations in the capital and elsewhere that the French government says have drawn 410,000 demonstrators nationwide.

Paris saw the largest protest on Saturday, with the interior ministry estimating that 110,000 took part in a march on the city's southeastern edge that started peacefully but is ending with violence.

Police have fired volleys of tear gas and are also using water cannons to try to disperse people, including some who have thrown projectiles.

Demonstrators mobilised despite restrictions that confined the march to the city's southeastern edge, away from the center.

Police used tear gas in several cities, including Lyon, Clermont-Ferrand, and Strasbourg, and water cannons in Nice and Nantes, French media reported.

In Marseille, officers fired tear gas during clashes with several dozen people near the march's endpoint.

The Paris prosecutor's office said 64 people had been arrested in connection with Saturday's demonstration and 40 placed in police custody. Those arrested included six minors.

Most arrests concerned suspected weapons offenses or participation in a group preparing violence or property damage, the office said.

Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez had announced a nationwide deployment of up to 70,000 officers, backed by helicopters, armored vehicles and water cannons.

Trade unions led the procession, followed by protesters in raincoats carrying flags and handmade placards.

Camille Chesnier, 27, said she had been unable to find work despite having an engineering degree and a master's degree.

"There are enormous numbers of people in the same situation as me but who aren't privileged and who find themselves living on the streets and in squats and, frankly, it's very tough," she said.

In Paris, Bénédicte Pittion, a 46-year-old teacher, marched through steady rain with her 16-year-old daughter, Garance, a high school student. Both had supported the movement from the start, but this was their first protest together.

"The young people who have been demonstrating have not been heard, and as a parent and as a teacher, I stand with them," Pittion said.

Garance said she had been "really scared" to attend after seeing images of last weekend's violence, but argued that staying away would hand the government a victory.

Public middle and high schools lost 15.4 million teaching hours in the 2024-25 school year because absent teachers were not replaced, according to Education Ministry figures. That amounted to 7.5% of scheduled teaching time.

Macron met high school representatives on Friday.

They said he had promised to overhaul university admissions, but called for protests to continue until concrete measures are announced.

Organisers from the "yellow vest" protest movement called for another day of rallies Oct.31 to defend the right to demonstrate.

Soumaya Abed, a 58-year-old nurse wearing a red CGT union vest, said she had been joining protests for more than 30 years, but had never seen one start at Porte d'Italie, on the capital's outskirts.

"They are using what happened last week as an excuse to quiet protesters," she said.

"But it won't stop the movement. It won't stop students from demanding better conditions in schools."

In Marseille, police put attendance at 17,000, while the CGT union estimated 100,000. In the southwestern city of Toulouse, 26,500 people joined the protests, according to authorities. Authorities had banned rallies in cities including Lyon, Nice and Montpellier.

Trade unions have criticised the bans, calling them violations of freedom of expression, which is protected by the constitution.

Thousands also marched on Saturday in Orléans, south of Paris, in a separate peaceful protest against the far right as Marine Le Pen's National Rally held a two-day congress in the city.

President Emmanuel Macron, a centrist, has entered the crisis in the final stretches of his term with his popularity at its lowest since he took office in 2017.

He has said that the measures are needed to protect city centers, businesses and public buildings.

Nuñez acknowledged on Monday that police had lost control in some cities during last weekend's unrest, when more than half a million people took to the streets and some 3,000 shops across France were damaged or looted amid street violence not seen in years.

He offered to resign, but Macron refused the offer.

Gendarmes stood guard Saturday beneath the Arc de Triomphe and shopkeepers boarded up storefronts across Paris.

Near the Saint-Lazare train station on Saturday, Akram Ahmed, a 34-year-old contractor, was boarding up an optician's shop.

"I got the call last night," he said. "The owner seemed desperate. He said I was saving his life."

Major museums, including the Louvre, Orsay Museum, Picasso Museum and Grand Palais - where a major Cézanne exhibit is on display - were shuttered Saturday.

Art Basel, one of the world's most prestigious contemporary art fairs, opened to the public Friday, but only for the day, with the threat of unrest prompting organisers to cancel the weekend program.

Student groups want 250,000 more places in higher education and an end to selection through Parcoursup, the national admissions system.

Their joint 10-point plan also calls for more teachers and repairs to schools and universities.

They are also seeking help with everyday costs: an extra 200 euros ($224) a month in student grants and a rent freeze in public student housing.

Energy prices in France were 21.3% higher in September than a year earlier, helping drive overall inflation to 3.1%, according to the national statistics agency, INSEE.

Paris protester Louis Ledoux--Xatard voiced frustration over inequality.

"Looking at countries like the United States, we don't want to end up like them, where part of the population has everything and the others have nothing," he said.

"I never imagined that I'd be taking to the streets so much before my thirties."

Associated Pre