1,300+ arrested as protests sweep France
More than 1,300 people were arrested after mostly calm cost-of-living and schools protests across France ended in late clashes.
French police arrested 1,314 people after another Saturday of nationwide protests, France's Interior Ministry said on Sunday. The ministry said 53 members of the security forces were injured.
Demonstrators marched in Paris and in cities across the country over the rising cost of living and poor conditions in schools. The protests have continued for weeks, and the previous Saturday's marches ended in widespread rioting and looting.
The Interior Ministry estimated turnout at about 410,000 people nationwide. Trade unions put the figure at roughly 800,000. Official and union counts of French protests often differ widely, and neither figure can be independently confirmed.
For most of the day the marches were calm. Clashes broke out later in several cities, including Paris, Marseille and Bordeaux, and police used tear gas and water cannon to disperse groups of protesters. Around 70,000 police officers were deployed nationwide.
Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez defended the reinforced security operation, saying most marches went well but that radical groups had carried out serious violence. The ministry's tally covers the whole country and does not say how many of those detained were later charged.
The unrest comes months before France's presidential election next spring, when President Emmanuel Macron leaves office.
This summary is original reporting by tehworldnews, written after checking the facts against several major international news outlets and official statements.