{"id":885634,"date":"2026-10-17T15:18:09","date_gmt":"2026-10-17T15:18:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/885634\/"},"modified":"2026-10-17T15:18:09","modified_gmt":"2026-10-17T15:18:09","slug":"scuffles-and-fires-break-out-as-protesters-rally-across-france-joining-students-world-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/885634\/","title":{"rendered":"Scuffles and fires break out as protesters rally across France, joining students | World News"},"content":{"rendered":"

PARIS (AP) \u2014 A car and a newspaper kiosk were set on fire in Paris as police used tear gas and water cannons to disperse violent groups of protesters, while similar tensions erupted Saturday in other big cities on the fringes of nationwide demonstrations against rising living costs and in support of high school students\u2019 grievances<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Interior Minister Laurent Nu\u00f1ez\u2019s office described \u201ca growing number of violent incidents,\u201d including assaults on police officers, looting or attempted looting of shops and damage to public buildings. Authorities reported at least 272 arrests across the country, including in Paris.<\/p>\n

In the French capital, police used tear gas and water cannons to push back people wearing hoods and masks and throwing fireworks and other objects at officers in the Place de la R\u00e9publique, northeast of the Paris city center. Large numbers of riot police were deployed in the square and surrounding streets.<\/p>\n

The majority of peaceful protesters joined a march that moved toward northwestern Paris. The crowd chanted France’s national anthem as French flags were waved. The chants were accompanied by people playing trumpets and violins.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, police were working to prevent other small groups of protesters from converging on government buildings, Nu\u00f1ez\u2019s office said.<\/p>\n

Many metro stations were closed Saturday at police request, including those around the Champs-Elys\u00e9es and near the presidential palace, parliament and government offices.<\/p>\n

Violence hit Lyon, Marseille and other cities<\/p>\n

In Lyon, France\u2019s third-largest city, where about 20,000 protesters joined the march, fire broke out inside a tourist office. Smoke and flames were seen rising from the building.<\/p>\n

In the southern port city of Marseille, some shops and a municipal police station were damaged, while some protesters briefly forced their way into the lobby of City Hall.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is unacceptable,” Marseille Mayor Beno\u00eet Payan told BFM TV, describing the damage in City Hall as \u201climited.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nu\u00f1ez\u2019s office also reported violence by masked groups in Rennes, Toulouse, Montpellier and Grenoble, among other cities.<\/p>\n

Protesters across France<\/a> responded to calls on social media to revive the \u201cyellow vest\u201d movement<\/a>, which emerged in 2018 against social injustice. Demonstrators expressed widespread frustration and anger at the government as gasoline, energy and food prices have spiked in recent months.<\/p>\n

Saturday\u2019s protests follow weeks of school blockades<\/p>\n

Student groups protesting since mid-September through school blockades have urged supporters to join them.<\/p>\n

The CGT, one of France\u2019s major labor unions, also backed the protests, calling for \u201chigher wages and pensions, lower prices and the protection of public services that meet people\u2019s needs.\u201d<\/p>\n

In recent weeks, France has seen thousands of arrests, hundreds of injuries and schools set on fire as the new school year descended into nationwide student protests that are influencing the country’s presidential election campaign<\/a> and drawing international attention.<\/p>\n

Among protesters, particularly gruesome wounds suffered by some teenagers have been blamed on police riot-control weapons. Nu\u00f1ez suspended the use of a type of police stun grenade against the young demonstrators after a 15-year-old lost a hand.<\/p>\n

On Tuesday, climate and social justice activist Greta Thunberg joined students at a high school in the Paris suburb of Saint-Denis.<\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PARIS (AP) \u2014 A car and a newspaper kiosk were set on fire in Paris as police used…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":885635,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[4,450,789,6659,371604,793,451,4381,3,111,3775,232,452,453,16757,965],"class_list":["post-885634","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-breaking-news","tag-breaking-news","tag-breakingnews","tag-education-costs","tag-fires","tag-france-school-protests-yellow-vest","tag-general-news","tag-headlines","tag-law-enforcement","tag-news","tag-politics","tag-protests-and-demonstrations","tag-schools","tag-top-stories","tag-topstories","tag-violence","tag-world-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/885634","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=885634"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/885634\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/885635"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=885634"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=885634"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=885634"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}