Violence flares in Paris after largely peaceful protests across France over living costs, inequality
AI generated
PARIS - Hundreds of thousands of demonstrators marched in France on Oct 24, with largely peaceful rallies giving way to clashes in Paris and Marseille as night fell despite a huge security operation aimed at preventing a repeat of last week’s unrest.
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night → flare → unrest
The Interior Ministry said 410,000 people took part in protests nationwide, though unions said the true figure was twice as high.
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figure → say → protests
The main demonstration took place in Paris, where around 110,000 people marched on the southeastern fringes of the capital, denouncing rising living costs and growing inequality.
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people → take → costs
The atmosphere deteriorated sharply after the rally ended.
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rally → deteriorate → ?
Riot police fired tear gas and water cannon to disperse a group of around 500 hooded youths who hurled stones at officers, a security official said.
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official → fire → officers
In France’s second city, Marseille, youths dragged large metal sheets to block a street, set fire to rubbish bins, and hurled rocks and bottles at riot police.
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youths → drag → police
The confrontations continued after sunset and police said two jewellery shops were raided.
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shops → continue → sunset
Clashes also flared in Lyon, Bordeaux and Grenoble, while police fired volleys of tear gas at demonstrators in Clermont-Ferrand, Lille, Nantes and Nice.
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police → flare → Ferrand
However, the violence was still less intense than a week ago, when looters and vandals went on the rampage in a number of French cities.
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looters → go → cities
Police carry out pre-emptive searches
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Police → carry → searches
Authorities deployed 70,000 police officers and gendarmes, 10,000 more than a week earlier, after conceding they had underestimated the scale of the unrest on Oct 17.
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they → deploy → Oct
“We have to be ultra, ultra responsive,” Interior Minister Laurent Nunez told reporters on Oct 24, accusing far-left activists and criminal gangs of seeking to foment violence.
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Nunez → have → violence
Much of central Paris took on the appearance of a city under lockdown, with shopkeepers boarding up storefronts, museums closing their doors and more than 20 metro stations shut.
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stations → take → doors
Business groups urged retailers to remain closed after thousands of shops and businesses were damaged or looted across France last weekend.
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thousands → urge → France
“There are hardly any customers, so it’s not really worth staying open,” said Oskar, manager of a Kiton boutique in Paris.
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Oskar → be → Paris
Several of the capital’s best-known cultural institutions, including the Louvre, the Musee d’Orsay and the Paris Opera, closed for the day as a precaution, leaving tourists frustrated.
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Several → know → tourists
“Everything’s boarded up and we’re not quite sure where we should be,” said Xavier Dolliole, a tourist from the US city of New Orleans.
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Dolliole → board → Orleans
Protests ripple across Europe
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Protests → ripple → Europe
The nationwide unrest began with small student demonstrations in suburban Paris in September to denounce school conditions.
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unrest → begin → conditions
After it spread into a broader protest against the state of the economy in France, it also prompted demonstrators to take to the streets in neighbouring countries.
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it → spread → countries
On Oct 24, Belgian police used tear gas and pepper spray as they clashed in Brussels with anti-government demonstrators, while protests took place in a number of Italian cities for a second weekend.
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protests → use → weekend
Leftist leaders in France denounced a government move to limit the number of authorised marches in many cities, as well as a last-minute decision to shift the Paris event to the southeastern fringes of the capital.
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leaders → denounce → capital
Hard-left leader Jean-Luc Melenchon, who joined the Paris rally, hailed what he called a “magnificent mass display of collective discipline and self-restraint”.
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he → leave → discipline
He predicted the protests would continue until President Emmanuel Macron, whose mandate expires in 2027, addressed the social malaise in France, one of the world’s richest nations but with a growing debt mountain that has alarmed investors.
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that → predict → investors
“Given the current situation, I think he will come to understand that this will happen again every week.
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this → give → situation
There is still time for (Macron) to give in.
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Macron → be → ?
After that, the only thing left to him will be the exit door,” Melenchon told reporters.
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Melenchon → leave → reporters
Far-right party holds congress
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party → hold → congress
Many demonstrators have accused the government of overreacting, as soldiers were dispatched to patrol the Champs-Elysees, a grand boulevard lined with luxury shops and restaurants.
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soldiers → accuse → shops
“We shed tears for shops, not for the people who are being impoverished all year round,” said Clara Lebbadi, a 22-year-old arts student.
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Lebbadi → shed → people
“My friend and I almost didn’t come because we were scared, but we came precisely because it’s important not to let repression win,” she added.
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she → come → ?
The first authorised march on Oct 24 passed off peacefully in Orleans, around 120km south of Paris, where demonstrators rallied against Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally, which is holding a party congress in the city.
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which → authorise → city
A shooting west of Paris on Oct 23 heightened tensions.
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shooting → heighten → tensions
A gunman suspected of acting out of Islamophobic hatred killed one person and wounded four others, including a 12-year-old girl.
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gunman → suspect → girl
“We have come to tell the far right, face-to-face, that we are not afraid,” said Bally Bagayoko, the mayor of Saint-Denis and a member of Melenchon’s France Unbowed party.
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Bagayoko → come → party
The Aporia
