Violent clashes broke out across France on Saturday as demonstrations entered a fourth week.Earlier in the week, President Emmanuel Macron made some of his most direct comments yet on the protests as he enters his final six months in office.In his weekly cabinet meeting, Macron "stressed that young people have legitimate concerns," government spokeswoman Maud Bregeon told the AFP, "but these are being exploited for political purposes and turned into urban violence." Bregeon added that Macron called on his ministers to come up with "concrete responses" to the unrest within weeks.This comes as a national day of protest over rising costs of living and additional student grievances led to violence in Paris and other major cities today.
While many of the protests were without violence, police used tear gas and water cannons to disperse violent groups in the capital, where people wearing hoods and masks threw fireworks and other objects at officers in the Place de la République.The interior ministry reported assaults on police, looting and damage to public buildings, saying there have been at least 272 arrests nationwide.FRANCE EXPLODES AGAIN AS STUDENTS RIOT OVER EDUCATIONA protester faces off with French riot police amid clashes during a demonstration against the cost of living and rising fuel prices at the Place de la Republique in Paris as part of nationwide protests called by the "Yellow Vests" movement, joined by French high school and university students, teachers and parents demanding better school conditions and government action, as well as labour unions, workers, farmers and retirees, France, Oct.
17, 2026.(Jack Taylor/Reuters)French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu took a more direct approach than Macron, saying the student movement has been "instrumentalized by the allies of France Unbowed (LFI)...
for electoral reasons." The left-wing LFI’s presidential candidate, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, even participated in one of the Paris protests this week, while LFI...