PARIS — Thousands of students and workers marched in Paris and other French cities Saturday over school funding and soaring living costs.Police used tear gas in Lyon, where the rally had been banned, on Saturday morning.In Clermont-Ferrand, officers used tear gas and stun grenades to push back demonstrators trying to reach the city center, French media reported.Authorities had confined the Paris march to the city’s southeastern edge, away from the center.
Several thousand people marched from Porte d’Italie early in the afternoon, a smaller crowd than a week earlier.Trade unions led the procession, followed by protesters in raincoats carrying flags and handmade placards.Authorities sought to prevent another weekend of looting, burned cars and attacks on public buildings.
Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said up to 70,000 officers would be deployed nationwide, backed by helicopters, armored vehicles and water cannons.Thousands also marched Saturday in Orléans, south of Paris, in a separate peaceful protest against the far right as Marine Le Pen’s National Rally held a two-day congress in the city.A small protest became a national movementWhat began last month as a protest over staff shortages at one high school southeast of Paris has grown into a national movement.Students demanding better schools and workers seeking higher wages and pensions have brought anger over living standards into the final months of President Emmanuel Macron’s presidency.Authorities sought to prevent another weekend of looting, burned cars and attacks on public buildings.
Mouneb Taim / Anadolu via GettyEnergy prices in France were 21.3% higher in September than a year earlier, helping drive overall inflation to 3.1%, according to the national statistics agency, INSEE.Macron met high school representatives Friday.They said he had promised to overhaul university admissions, but called for protests to continue until concrete measures are announced.For SubscribersFOR SUBSCRIBERSVive...