France: about 410,000 march nationwide as nearly 1,000 are arrested
About 410,000 people protested across France on October 24 over living costs and school conditions, according to the Interior Ministry, while unions put turnout at about 800,000; nearly 1,000 people were arrested.
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Protests against rising living costs and poor school conditions swept France again on Saturday, October 24, with the Interior Ministry estimating that about 410,000 people took to the streets. The CGT union, one of the organisers, put turnout at about 800,000, the BBC and AP reported.
Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said nearly 1,000 people had been arrested nationwide and that the number was likely to rise. In Paris, 142 people were arrested, less than half the figure on the same day a week earlier. The previous weekend's rioting and looting led to more than 2,700 arrests across France, and the government deployed some 70,000 police officers and imposed restrictions in several cities this time.
Paris police counted about 110,000 marchers in the capital, while the CGT estimated 250,000. After a largely peaceful day, protesters near Porte de Vincennes in Paris threw objects at police, who responded with tear gas and water cannon. Rubbish bins were set alight and streets blocked in Marseille, and in Bordeaux masked protesters pulled boards off a building to build a barricade. Police also used tear gas in Lyon and Nantes.
Nuñez said two people were seriously injured, one in Toulouse and one in Clermont-Ferrand. He told AFP that "several thousand radical activists gathered at the rear of the march, including around 500 individuals identified as rioters".
Protesters spoke of pressure from taxes and living costs and of fears for young people's future. A 26-year-old protester in Paris told the BBC that people had taken to the streets because the hardship had gone on too long. Protests were also held in Brussels, Rome and Milan.
Sources: BBC, AP
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