Violent Protests Erupt in Paris as France Sees Widespread Demonstrations Against School Funding and Living Costs

Clashes erupted in Paris as a mass march drew to a close Saturday, with more than 400,000 people rallying across France over school funding and soaring living costs in a fresh challenge to President Emmanuel Macron. Police made nearly 1,000 arrests, the government said. The Paris march began peacefully, a week after widespread rioting and looting during protests across the country. But near the demonstration's endpoint in eastern Paris, masked protesters hurled objects and fireworks at police, who answered with clouds of tear gas, deafening sound grenades and jets of water cannons. Officers with megaphones urged protesters to disperse. Some demonstrators panicked as tear-gas canisters landed in their midst, scattering with screams. Veteran protesters shouted after them: "Don't run!" The Interior Ministry put nationwide turnout at 410,000 — fewer than the 550,000 it said protested last weekend — while the CGT union that helped organize some of Saturday's protests estimated nearly 800,000. The ministry's estimate included 110,000 in Paris, where authorities confined the march to the city's southeastern edge, away from the center. The CGT put the number of protesters in Paris at 250,000.