Hundreds of thousands take to the streets across France as protests against soaring prices intensify

[Financial News] Mass protests against insufficient investment in the public sector and high prices are continuing across France. The French government has imposed restrictions on demonstrations and deployed 70,000 police officers as part of a tough response, but with hundreds of thousands taking to the streets, sporadic clashes between police and protesters have been reported in some areas. 
According to French media outlets and others, large-scale protests led by students and labor unions were held on the 24th (local time) in major cities including Paris, Lyon and Marseille. France’s Interior Ministry put the nationwide turnout at 410,000, including 110,000 in Paris. The organizers, the General Confederation of Labour (CGT), claimed that 800,000 people took part nationwide, including 250,000 in Paris. 
That was fewer than at the protest on the 17th, which police estimated drew 550,000 people. Clashes and violence overall also eased compared with before, but confrontations between police and protesters continued in some areas. 
President Emmanuel Macron had earlier announced plans to ban gatherings other than authorized union protests. Authorities stepped up security, deploying 70,000 police officers, helicopters and armored vehicles, but some protesters went ahead with rallies despite the ban. 
In the capital, Paris, protests that had proceeded relatively peacefully during the day intensified in the afternoon. After some protesters set fire to bicycles and scooters, police moved to disperse them using tear gas and water cannons, foreign media reported. 
France’s Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said that nearly 1,000 people had been arrested in connection with the protests that day, and that the number of arrests could rise further. One person was reportedly seriously injured in each of Toulouse and Clermont-Ferrand. 
In Lyon, where protests were completely banned, about 10,000 people also took to the streets. Police used tear gas to disperse protesters, and in Nantes, they used water cannons to stop crowds attempting to enter areas where protests were prohibited. 
In Marseille, 17,000 people took part in the protests, according to police, while organizers put the figure at 100,000. Rallies against high prices and cuts to public services also continued in major cities including Toulouse, Bordeaux and Nice. 
Politicians also joined the protests. Jean-Luc Mélenchon, a presidential candidate for the far-left party La France Insoumise (LFI), took part in the Paris protest again that day and said, “Macron will come to realize that these protests will be repeated every week.” 
Meanwhile, the Yellow Vest movement announced another protest for the 31st. 

[email protected] Lim Subin Reporter