+++ Day of protest in France +++: Tear gas, controls and arrests

7:29 p.m.: Clashes in Paris and other cities

In the evening there were riots in Paris, as reporters from the AFP news agency reported. Police forces used batons and tear gas against demonstrators, and according to authorities, a water cannon was also used.

Before the escalation in Paris, the police had already used tear gas against demonstrators in several other French cities. AFP journalists observed this in Lille, Montpellier and Toulouse.

In Nantes, western France, thousands of demonstrators broke through police ranks to advance into the city center. The emergency services tried to stop them with tear gas and water cannons. Some at the edge of the crowd hurled fireworks and other projectiles at the police.

The police also used water cannons in Nice. In Lyon she used tear gas to disperse around 1,000 demonstrators. In Marseille, southern France, a protest march ended without any major incidents. Shop owners in Paris and other cities had previously protected their shop windows with wooden panels to prevent looting.

According to authorities, more than 10,000 people protested in Orléans on Saturday against the party conference of the right-wing populist Rassemblement National (RN). The organizers spoke of 26,000 people. Around 50 political parties, unions and associations called for the demonstration “against racism, fascism and imperialism”. Six months before the presidential election, RN candidate Marine Le Pen is ahead in the polls.

The CGT union spoke early in the evening of almost 800,000 protest participants nationwide. In Paris alone, 250,000 people took to the streets. The Interior Ministry said there were 410,000 protest participants nationwide, including 110,000 in the capital. A week ago, 550,000 people demonstrated in France. (afp)

5:54 p.m.: Police use tear gas during protests in Brussels

Belgian police used tear gas and pepper spray in clashes with anti-government demonstrators in Brussels on Saturday. Hundreds of mostly young participants took to the streets to demand better conditions and more money for the education system. At the same time, they accused the officers of excessive force. Eyewitnesses told the Reuters news agency that protesters had fled from the emergency services. Some fell to the ground and officers hit one of them. According to the information, the protests were significantly smaller and less violent than similar demonstrations last week in Belgium and neighboring France. (rtr)

5.40 p.m. Massive police presence at protests in France

Tens of thousands of people demonstrated against the government in France on Saturday under a massive police presence. While there were riots in several cities, the protests overall were significantly less violent than a week ago. In Paris, the main rally remained largely peaceful. However, in Marseille and Lyon, masked young people clashed with the police. Officials used tear gas in Clermont-Ferrand, Grenoble, Lille and Nice. A water cannon was also used in Nice after demonstrators ignored a request to evacuate.

Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez had mobilized 70,000 police officers across the country, 10,000 more than a week ago. By early afternoon, 135 people had been arrested, he said. Many arrests were preceded by preventive searches in which fireworks, ball bearings and other potential weapons were found. “We have to react extremely quickly,” said Nuñez. He accused left-wing extremist groups and criminals of fomenting violence.

According to police, tens of thousands of people peacefully marched through the streets of the capital. They accused President Emmanuel Macron of cutting spending on government services and failing to combat growing inequality. The route was only decided after a legal dispute: the police had expelled the organizers from the center to the southeastern edge of the capital at the last minute in order to protect business districts. The left-wing politician Jean-Luc Mélenchon joined the protest march and praised the “great mass demonstration of collective discipline”. He threatened weekly protests if Macron did not address the social misery. “There is still time for him to give in,” Melenchon said. After that, his only option is to resign. (rtr)

The first protests in France began on Saturday with a massive police presence. The start of the main rally in Paris was peaceful. However, in the third largest French city of Lyon, the police used tear gas against the crowd. (rtr)

Student groups in France are calling for 250,000 additional study places and an end to selection via the national admissions system Parcoursup in a joint ten-point plan. There also needs to be more teachers and repairs at schools and universities. Monthly student funding should increase by 200 euros, and rent increases should be waived for public student halls of residence.

Student representatives reported after a meeting with President Emmanuel Macron on Friday that he had promised a fundamental overhaul of university admissions. However, they called for the protests to continue until concrete measures were announced. (ap)

Police in Paris have asked people to leave the Place de la Bastille. Anyone who does not leave the originally planned starting point of a protest march on Saturday will face a fine of 135 euros, police said via megaphone. The police changed the originally approved route on Friday and moved the demonstration from the east of central Paris to the southeastern outskirts. Instead of from the Bastille to the Place de la Nation, the march should lead along the outer city limits from the Porte d'Italie to the Porte de Vincennes. (ap)

According to French media reports, police used tear gas and stun grenades during protests in Clermont-Ferrand. In doing so, she pushed back demonstrators as they tried to get to the city center. Clermont-Ferrand is the capital of the Puy-de-Dôme department. (ap)

According to French media reports, a demonstration against the extreme right in Orléans ended peacefully early Saturday afternoon. Thousands of people took part in the protest, which took place parallel to a two-day party conference of Marine Le Pen's anti-immigrant Rassemblement National party in the city southwest of Paris. Around 50 organizations called for the protest. The organizers included trade unions, left-wing parties as well as student and anti-racism groups. (ap)

Before the start of the large demonstrations in cities like Paris, the police had already arrested 135 people by 1 p.m., according to France's Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez. There have been no major incidents so far, as Nuñez told the press at midday. He had previously announced the deployment of 70,000 officers on the streets. According to the Interior Minister, more than 1,000 checks were carried out in the Paris region. Many dangerous items were seized - boules balls, slingshots and also an airsoft gun. The controls were “extremely productive,” said Nuñez. We remain extremely cautious and are still far from the end of the day.

The young people who have been demonstrating for weeks for better equipment in schools have been joined by other groups, among other things to demonstrate against the high cost of living. Due to fears of riots and looting, such as those that took place on the sidelines of the rallies last weekend, there were bans on gatherings in certain zones and curfews in several cities. (dpa)

At the beginning of the day of protests in France, the police checked numerous people. The Paris police prefecture said it had confiscated many prohibited items and arrested several suspects in 635 checks. It is carrying out “massive controls”, especially in train stations and public transport, “to deter those who want to come to the capital with bad intentions”. According to initial information at lunchtime, the situation in Paris was “calm”.

Due to fears of riots and looting like the one that took place last weekend, there were bans on gatherings in certain zones and curfews in several cities. In Nice, where all gatherings are banned according to the prefecture, police forces, gendarmes and special forces were deployed in the city center. (dpa)

Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez visited security forces in Paris in the morning and announced on the X platform that a large contingent of emergency services had been mobilized. “We are ready,” he wrote. He had previously announced the deployment of 70,000 civil servants.

Trade unions were outraged by the fact that the demonstration they had registered in Paris was moved from the prefecture to the outskirts of the city. The administrative court confirmed the route in an emergency decision. At midday the first demonstrators arrived at the Porte d'Italie, from where the protest procession was scheduled to start at 2 p.m. (dpa)

After the apparently racially motivated attack on the street in the greater Paris area that left one dead, French anti-terror investigators have extended the suspect's custody after an initial interrogation. They also said on Saturday that three people close to the 39-year-old suspect Kevin T. had been arrested the evening before.

A man drove through the streets in Trappes, west of Paris, and in nearby La Verrière on Friday and opened fire repeatedly. One person was shot and five people were injured. Among the injured was a 12-year-old girl whose life was still in danger, according to the anti-terror public prosecutor's office on Saturday. French head of state Emmanuel Macron spoke of a “racist terrorist attack”. (afp)

More than 10,000 people protested in Orléans, France, on Saturday against a party conference of the right-wing populist Rassemblement National (RN). Around 50 political parties, unions and associations called for the demonstration. RN parliamentary group leader Marine Le Pen wants to officially open her presidential election campaign on Sunday with a speech at the party conference. Six months before the election, she is currently well ahead in polls.

The authorities in Orléans in the Loiret department spoke of around 11,000 demonstrators at midday, the organizers of 26,000. A total of 20,000 to 30,000 counter-demonstrators from all over France were expected at the right-wing populist party conference. The authorities feared violent riots on the sidelines of the demonstration.

The participants protested against both the right-wing populist RN and President Emmanuel Macron. "Macron, resign. Le Pen in prison," people shouted.

The protest was also directed against the apparently racist attack on the street in the Paris area the day before, in which a person was shot. The attack made it necessary to rally against the RN, said the mayor of Saint-Denis, Bally Bagayoko, who marched at the head of the demonstration. Macron had spoken of a “racist terrorist attack”.

The RN is meeting in Orléans for a party conference this weekend. RN leader Jordan Bardella is running for re-election unopposed on Saturday. A speech by Le Pen is scheduled for Sunday. She wants to officially open her presidential election campaign with the appearance in front of around 10,000 supporters. (afp)

During new protests in France, the first confrontations are said to have occurred in the city of Lyon. French media reported that police used tear gas on Saturday morning. (ap)