Police arrested 1,314 people in weekend protests across France, with 53 officers hurt in the clashes.
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officers → arrest → clashes
The arrests occurred as violence broke out on the margins of mass demonstrations in major cities on Saturday over the high cost of living.
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violence → occur → living
It was the second consecutive weekend of unrest in France, which is heading to presidential elections in April and May to choose a successor to Emmanuel Macron, who is reaching his two–term limit.
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who → head → limit
Marine Le Pen is set to speak to 10,000 members of her National Rally (RN) party in the city of Orleans this afternoon, a day after protests sweeping the country again flared into violence.
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protests → set → violence
France's far–right candidate is hoping to succeed President Macron and is the front runner to takeover, according to the polls.
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candidate → hop → polls
The violent unrest in France in recent weeks has been perceived as beneficial for Le Pen's campaign, who has frequently accused the current PM's centrist government of being soft on violent protesters and lacking authority.
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who → perceive → authority
More than 400,000 people marched in major French cities yesterday to protest the rising cost of living, with groups of masked youths breaking away to provoke police, who responded with tear gas and water cannon.
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who → march → gas
Officers faced 'an extremely elevated level of violence' from black–clad 'ultra–left' extremists who had trailed in the demonstrations, Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said late Saturday.
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Nunez → face → demonstrations
A protester kicks away a tear gas canister as police moved to disperse the crowds in Paris
A French Republican Security Corps officer confronts a protester on the ground in Marseille on Saturday afternoon
A fire burns in Toulouse as protests against the government turned violent into Saturday evening
The interior ministry said police responded to 75 fires during Saturday's protests, adding that 24 shops were looted.
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shops → kick → protests
'Several investigations have been opened,' it said in a statement, without giving details.
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it → open → details
It said that the rest of Saturday night, after the clashes had died down, was 'calm'.
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clashes → say → night
The ministry statement on Sunday did not say how many protesters were hurt.
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protesters → say → Sunday
Late Saturday, Interior Minister Laurent Nunez spoke of two serious injuries among protesters: one in Toulouse and one in Clermont–Ferrand.
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Nunez → speak → Ferrand
The Toulouse prefecture, which reports to the interior ministry, said that a 20–year–old man was seriously hurt with a wound to his hand.
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man → report → hand
A street medic who tended demonstrators said, on condition of anonymity, that the man had 'several fingers' blown off his right hand.
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fingers → tend → hand
The prefecture covering Clermont–Ferrand said a man there also had a hand hurt, but did not suffer the loss of any fingers.
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hand → cover → fingers
A French regional daily, La Nouvelle Republique, reported that a man in Poitiers was hurt in his left eye, showing a photo of a man holding his face.
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man → report → face
Marine Le Pen, center, leader of France's far–right National Rally (RN) party, attends the 19th National Rally (RN) Congress in Orleans, France, Saturday, Oct. 24, 2026
Protesters hold placards featuring images of French far–right politicians Marine Le Pen and Jordan Bardella, during a demonstration against 'racism, fascism, and imperialism' as the RN holds its party congress in Orleans yesterday
The newspaper's photographer said he was a 19–year–old who was wounded during a charge by riot police firing stun grenades and tear gas.
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who → attend → grenades
There have been several instances in recent weeks, during student protests in France, of people being maimed by police stun grenades or tear gas grenades.
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people → maim → grenades
It was not known if the injuries reported from Saturday were from those police weapons.
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injuries → know → weapons
Officials said investigations had been opened in at least some of the cases.
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investigations → say → cases
A week earlier, on October 17, similar nationwide marches took place, also against rising inflation sent surging by the war in the Middle East.
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marches → take → East
These, too, degenerated into street violence, with public buildings vandalised and hundreds of shops looted.
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hundreds → degenerate → shops
The mass rallies were fed by four weeks of student protests across France, over classroom conditions and access to university places, which at times also descended into clashes.
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which → feed → clashes
Unions and Yellow Vest protesters have vowed to keep up their street marches in the weeks ahead, pointing to a febrile period as the elections draw near.
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elections → vow → period
Police were on Sunday filtering traffic going into Orleans, after thousands of counter–protesters opposed to Le Pen and her anti–immigration, nationalist RN marched in the city on Saturday chanting anti–fascist slogans.
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thousands → filter → slogans
Police put their numbers at 13,000, while organisers estimated the turnout at twice that.
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organisers → put → that
Despite the protests, polling has shown French voters, angry over Macron's perceived detachment over his two terms and his recent orders to curb the protests, are turning to more extremist politics.
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voters → show → politics
An Ipsos survey published Saturday suggested Le Pen would score 32 to 34 percent of the vote in the first round of the election, with a far–left rival, Jean–Luc Melenchon, getting 17 percent.
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rival → publish → percent
Centrist candidates from mainstream parties trailed them.
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candidates → trail → them
Asked about the protest violence, a majority of the 1,500 people questioned in the survey – 58 percent – said they felt anger.
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they → ask → anger
It found 81 percent believed the government was 'responsible for this situation', while 79 percent thought radical political groups were, 62 percent blamed the left, and 52 percent blamed the police.
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percent → find → police
If Le Pen wins the two–stage presidential elections in April and May, she has vowed to cut the cost of living through capped household energy bills, reduced taxes and trimming France's contribution to the European Union.
She is also critical of NATO, and of France's support of Ukraine as it battles Russia's invasion.
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it → win → invasion
The RN, which portrays itself as a party of law and order, has also sided strongly with the police in the current unrest.
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which → portray → unrest
The head of Le Pen's party, Jordan Bardella, whom she intends to make prime minister if she becomes president, has visited police stations to underline that credential.
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she → intend → credential
Regardless, whoever wins the presidency will find limited room to throw money around to placate various clamouring interest groups.
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wins → win → groups
France's public debt and budget deficit have climbed well beyond the ceilings EU member countries are meant to stick to.
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countries → climb → ceilings
Macron's government is trying to get a cost–cutting budget adopted, but faces headwinds from both the sustained protests demanding more spending and the political jockeying by parties eyeing power.
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budget → try → power
As Macron sees out the final months of his presidency, he has to tread a line between cracking down on street violence and opening dialogue with unions, students and other groups to attempt to restore order.
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he → see → order
Although the French president has not invoked a state of emergency, he has ordered bans on non–union demonstrations deemed 'illegitimate', and officials under him have imposed bans on protests in city centres and localised curfews in certain zones.
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officials → invoke → zones
…and 3 more, not listed.
The Aporia
