Nearly 350 people were arrested in Paris on Sunday and overnight amid violent unrest sweeping France despite President Emmanuel Macron’s appeals for calm, the authorities said on Monday.

Hundreds of thousands protested rising living costs and education funding cuts over the weekend, with demonstrations escalating into clashes with police, arson and looting.

The violence erupted Saturday as Yellow Vest demonstrations merged with student protests that began last month at a high school in Creteil, near Paris, over teacher shortages and deteriorating facilities. The movement has since broadened into protests against inequality and rising living costs, with labor unions joining in opposition to the government’s proposed 2027 budget and spending cuts.

Despite Macron’s Friday appeal for “calm and respect,” Paris endured two days of rioting. On Sunday, protesters clashed with police near Place de la Republique as vehicles and trach cans burned, shops were looted and officers deployed tear gas and water cannons.

https://rt-english.com/news/647380-paris-arrests-macron-protests/

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France: Emmanuel Macron slams 'failures' over protest unrest

Jon Shelton | Karl Sexton with AFP, Reuters

France's president has refused the resignation of his interior minister, who says police "lost control" during protests that turned violent at the weekend. France's PM has called for limited curfews around the country.

France's President Emmanuel Macron has condemned "failures in anticipation and intelligence" by French authorities, the Elysee Palace said Monday, after nationwide cost-of-living protests were marred by violence.

Despite the failures, Macron has refused the resignation of Interior Minister Laurent Nunez, the presidential palace added.

Macron and his government are under pressure from opposition politicians, who have called for Nunez to be removed, after mass rallies on Saturday over the rising cost of living and high fuel costs turned violent.

In some of the worst urban violence France has seen in years, nearly 2,400 people were arrested, while almost 1,000 police and gendarmes (French armed police) were injured, the Interior Ministry said Sunday.

Nunez on Monday admitted that police across the country had "lost control" of the situation over the weekend.

As tens of thousands of people took to streets across the country to protest rising costs and social inequality, crowds of mostly masked and mostly male youths clashed with police, looting shops and torching public and private property, including the historic Limoges city hall.

Nunez agreed with Macron over what he called authorities' "lack of anticipation," saying he tendered his resignation "because I felt responsible for everything that happened." 

Macron has instructed Nunez to "take all necessary steps to ensure transparency over the failures in planning and intelligence that led to the violence," according to a statement from his office.

The president also ordered Nunez to "put in place new operational methods for security forces" to handle the crisis — and how to deal with violent looters — moving forward.

In an effort to quell the situation, authorities in the southern city of Marseille announced a ban on Monday on all "gatherings and demonstrations" from noon to 8 pm.

Nunez is expected to visit France's second-largest city later on Monday.

https://www.dw.com/en/macron-slams-failures-over-protest-unrest-in-france-but-refuses-interior-ministers-resignation/a-79695496

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