Follow-Up: France Protests Enter a Fourth Weekend: 146,000 Nationwide, 46,000 in Paris, About 360 Arrested
Tens of thousands of people protested across France on Saturday, November 7, for a fourth consecutive weekend, in another show of anger over the rising cost of living and deteriorating public services. The Interior Ministry counted 146,000 demonstrators nationwide as of 7 p.m., including 46,000 in Paris, and reported about 360 arrests. The government deployed 70,000 police officers and gendarmes across the country, with Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez warning that authorities would be "ready and waiting" for anyone engaging in rioting or looting.
The authorized march in Paris from Place de la République to Place de la Nation proceeded peacefully before tensions broke out in the evening. Police said about 200 people attacked law enforcement after officers arrested a man accused of setting fire to a rubbish bin, and tear gas was used to disperse the crowd. Clashes were also reported in Lyon, Toulouse, Marseille and Bordeaux; in Lyon, police fired tear gas at several hundred people blocking a road in the city centre. Two leading figures of the Yellow Vest movement, Benjamin Ball and Solene Azelma Sigaux, were arrested and taken into custody at a banned event at Place de la Concorde in Paris.
The demonstrations began in mid-September, when high school students blockaded their schools over deteriorating conditions, including dilapidated buildings and teacher shortages, as well as what they see as an unfair system for accessing higher education. The movement has since become a focal point for wider discontent over the cost of living, inequality and President Macron. Last Saturday's protests drew more than half a million people, with looting and vandalism in places and more than 2,000 people taken into police custody. In Thursday's nationwide strike on November 5, the Interior Ministry counted 575,000 participants, with 448 arrests and 53 police officers injured. Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu said he would convene a social conference with unions and employers on Monday to address purchasing power and wages, while the government announced a 0.6 percent increase in the minimum wage.
Source: French Ministry of the Interior
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：巴黎抗议现场标语（资料图）。A protest sign in Paris. (file photo)
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- 2026-11-07Follow-Up: France Protests Enter a Fourth Weekend: 146,000 Nationwide, 46,000 in Paris, About 360 ArrestedThis story
