Violent protests have broken out across Europe amid growing frustration over the cost of living crisis, a lack of affordable housing and deteriorating conditions in schools.
asserted
protests → break → schools
As many as 550,000 people turned out across France last Saturday, according to authorities, to demonstrate against declining public services.
uncertain
people → turn → services
Protests turned violent in Paris as shops were looted and cars set on fire in some of the city’s worst violence in years.
asserted
cars → turn → years
France is now bracing for another weekend of unrest, despite curfews imposed across the country and an 11th hour meeting between president Emmanuel Macron and high school unions on Friday to hear out their concerns and demands.
asserted
France → brace → concerns
Italy has approved a raft of new security measures including a new offence of violent participation in a demonstration, tougher penalties for rioters, and financial liability for parents whose children take part in vandalism and looting, following tumult in Milan last weekend.
asserted
children → approve → Milan
Gangs of mainly young people went on the rampage, smashing windows, robbing shops and attacking police in northern Italian cities.
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Gangs → go → cities
Police used water cannon and teargas to break up the crowds after some masked rioters clashed with authorities and set off fires.
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rioters → use → fires
Tens of thousands of people also marched through central Lisbon in protest of the soaring cost of living and a deepening housing crisis, echoing weeks of demonstrations in Spain that prompted prime minister Pedro Sanchez to call a snap general election.
asserted
that → march → election
More than a dozen people were injured in violent clashes between rioters and police in northern Spain this week as anti-fascist protests spiralled out of control, in the latest instance of civil unrest sweeping the continent.
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protests → injure → continent
Here we look at the factors behind the protests sweeping the continent and the latest developments:
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we → look → continent
As many as 70,000 police and gendarmes will be mobilised throughout France to keep order on Saturday, with unions and political parties calling for renewed anti-government protests, after demonstrations last week led to curfews in several cities and thousands of arrests.
asserted
demonstrations → mobilise → arrests
Protests erupted last month in response to the perceived state of decline in schools, with students aggrieved by teacher shortages, overcrowded classrooms and crumbling infrastructure.
asserted
students → erupt → shortages
They have since ballooned into sweeping nationwide rallies, which last weekend descended into rioting, vandalism, arson and looting.
asserted
which → balloon → rioting
President Macron vowed on Thursday to ban all demonstrations not organised by unions, while Paris was to extend its nighttime curfew until Monday, but major events were still planned for the weekend.
asserted
events → vow → weekend
France's justice minister Gerald Darmanin said on Thursday that 2,700 people have been taken into police custody since last Saturday in connection with riots and looting, as authorities respond to the ongoing unrest in France.
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authorities → say → France
Police are under pressure to maintain security during further protests expected in some cities, while facing scrutiny over their riot-control tactics used during previous unrest that left some teenagers seriously injured.
asserted
that → maintain → teenagers
A 17-year-old girl lost an eye while participating in a protest in Mulhouse last Saturday, while a 17-year-old boy lost a hand in Saint-Etienne.
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boy → lose → Etienne
Other teenagers have suffered disabling injuries during weeks of high school blockades and street demonstrations.
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teenagers → suffer → blockades
One protester died after suffering a cardiac arrest during demonstrations in the capital.
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protester → die → capital
Authorities said more than half a million people turned out to march last Saturday, including 110,000 in Paris alone.
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people → say → Paris
Organisers put the figure closer to 800,000.
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Organisers → put → 800,000
While hundreds of thousands protested peacefully across France on Saturday, violent fringe groups targeted public buildings, looted luxury boutiques and supermarkets, and attacked police vehicles and officers.
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groups → protest → vehicles
Tens of thousands of people have turned out across Spain in recent weeks following the eviction of 87-year-old Maria del Carmen Abascal, known as Maricarmen, from her Madrid home.
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thousands → turn → home
The pensioner was forcibly removed from her flat of 70 years after the property was bought by the investment firm Urbagestion, which tried to increase her rent by 230 per cent.
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which → remove → cent
She died suddenly in early October, two weeks after she was evicted.
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she → die → October
Maricarmen’s death reinvigorated a movement long frustrated by home shortages and surging rents across the country.
asserted
death → reinvigorate → country
Socialist prime minister Pedro Sanchez last month called a snap general election for 29 November after parliament rejected his government’s proposals to address a mounting housing crisis.
asserted
parliament → call → crisis
Several people who received eviction orders have taken their own lives in Spain in recent months.
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who → receive → months
Spain's minimum wage is €1,221 (£1,025), while the average monthly rent for an 80-square-meter apartment is around €1,130 (about £949), according to an analysis by the business newspaper Expansión.
uncertain
rent → accord → newspaper
Unrelated clashes erupted in A Coruña, in Galicia, on Wednesday as thousands turned out to protest the visit of politician Santiago Abascal, the president of Spain’s far-right populist Vox party.
asserted
thousands → erupt → party
Tensions exploded towards the end of Abascal’s speech in the Plaza de María Pita as protesters threw eggs and police repeatedly charged in a bid to disperse the activists, some of whom threw stones and chairs back.
asserted
some → explode → stones
The fracas escalated as masked individuals near the Teatro Colón then began throwing flares and fireworks at police, who responded with a charge, according to La Voz de Galicia.
uncertain
who → escalate → Galicia
Italy
“Italia in Piazza,” or Italy in the Streets, has galvanized thousands of demonstrators against crumbling public services and the rising cost of living.
asserted
Italia → galvanize → living
Milan police clashed on Sunday with protesters throwing stones and looting shops.
asserted
protesters → clash → shops
Meanwhile, police in riot gear fired teargas and used water cannons after several hundred hooded protesters broke shop windows and set bins on fire in the area near central Piazza Duomo, sources told Reuters, adding that more than 60 protesters had been detained for checks.
asserted
protesters → fire → checks
A total of 28 protesters were arrested after similar clashes erupted on Saturday in northern cities including Milan, Bologna, Brescia, Bergamo and Turin, according to a police report on Sunday.
uncertain
clashes → arrest → Sunday
Ms Meloni, facing an election next year, condemned the violence and announced a government meeting on Monday to discuss how to address the situation.
asserted
Meloni → face → situation
Now a newly formed group calling itself the “17 October Movement” has announced what it describes as a “permanent mobilization” to demonstrate every Saturday at 3 p.m. in cities across Italy.
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it → form → Italy
Portugal
Fifty-five people were arrested as Portuguese police dismantled housing crisis protest camps in the central squares of Lisbon and Porto before dawn earlier this month.
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police → arrest → dawn
Activists pitched roughly 200 tents in Lisbon’s Rossio square last Saturday, while Porto’s Dom Joao I square had been occupied for 10 days.
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square → pitch → days
…and 21 more, not listed.
The Aporia
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