Looting, blazes and clashes in France amid nationwide protests

Police and protesters clashed violently in Paris and other French cities on Saturday on the sidelines of nationwide marches against soaring inflation, with one demonstrator’s hand blown off, multiple blazes set, and looters breaking into dozens of stores to strip them bare. With just months to go before the two-round elections in April and May to choose Macron’s successor, the demonstrations follow weeks of high-school student blockades demanding better learning conditions. Macron and his government were criticised by many of the demonstrators, who numbered 500,000 across the country, according to the CGT union. Authorities did not immediately give their estimate of the numbers. Police used tear gas and water cannon against masked protesters in Paris and other cities who were throwing projectiles and aiming fireworks.

Several parked cars were torched in the capital, and more than 130 arrests were made. In the southern city of Saint-Etienne, a male protester had his hand blown off by a police crowd-control grenade, a police source told AFP . His maiming came after a 15-year-old lost his hand on October 5 to a police stun grenade during another protest in the city of Lens. Protesters stand amid tear gas smoke as clashes erupt ahead of a demonstration to protest against the “high cost of living”, at Place de la Republique in Paris, France on October 17, 2026. — AFP The protests geared up with a handful of gatherings nationwide on Saturday morning, AFP reporters said. In Lyon, protesters set ablaze a tourist office in the city centre, and smashed their way into town halls in the cities of Marseille and Lille, where they vandalised the premises before leaving. Dozens of shops were looted, including many in Marseille, among them a Hermes boutique, an Apple store in Lille,…