Police fire teargas in Paris and protesters storm town hall in Marseille – with officials blaming violence on ‘ultra-left’
More than 400 people were arrested in France on Saturday after protesters supporting high school student grievances clashed with police.
Police fired teargas in confrontations with protesters, as demonstrations across France were boosted by other groups angry over high prices and the fraying of a social welfare system.
Hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets across the country, and tensions erupted on the fringes of the nationwide demonstrations over absent teachers, decrepit school buildings and police violence.
Late on Saturday, the interior minister, Laurent Nuñez, said there had been 400 arrests and most were adults who were not part of the high school protests.
He said the official demonstration had been hijacked by casseurs – “opportunistic delinquents who had seen a chance to pillage and loot … we will find them and deal with them firmly”.
He said the state was not planning to declare a state of emergency but added: “I very strongly condemn the violence we have seen.”
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Continues at https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/oct/17/protests-france-high-prices-social-security-gilets-jaunes
What we’re seeing in UK, uncertain how accurate it is.
Demonstrators from CND and Fairford Action during an emergency protest outside the main gate of RAF Fairford, in Gloucestershire, following an attack on Iran by a US B-1 bomber stationed there earlier this week, July 25, 2026
