Police confront protesters in Paris: 100 demonstrators arrested in France's capital

Aljazeera
47 followers
Oct 17, 2026
Flames tear through a tourist office in central Lyon.
On the roof,
hooded protesters rip away the sign's lettering.
The violence broke out on the sidelines
of nationwide protests,
a movement that began in schools and has spread far beyond them.
In Paris, students have been joined by workers and parents.
What started last month as protests over teacher shortages
and run-down classrooms
has become a wider outcry over inequality and the cost of living.
For some young people, it's about whether
studying will lead to a secure future.
I'm young. I've completed my studies. I've got no income, no money.
I don't necessarily have a secure future.
Our planet is burning
and we've got a government that's making a joke out of us.
There's anger too over how police have handled weeks
of student demonstrations.
Rights groups have accused officers of using disproportionate force.
Police fired tear gas.
Some protesters threw the canisters back.
I can't just stand by and do nothing,
even though actually I'm not directly affected.
I'm no longer a student.
I moved on from that stage.
Nor am I one of those on lowest wages.
I'm not directly affected by the fuel shortages,
but I can't just stand by and say nothing.
I can't look at the people around me and pretend it's not a problem.
There's been violence across the capital.
Firefighters tackled
a burning emergency vehicle after one of the clashes.
President Emmanuel Macron has appealed for calm,
saying the right to protest must go alongside respect
for people and property.
In Marseille, fireworks from protesters and tear gas from police.
Protesters also broke
into the city's town hall before police forced them out.
The Yellow Vest movement,
which brought mass protests to France eight years ago,
had called on people to join the students.
With a presidential election due next year,
the government faces anger that reaches
from the classroom to the household budget
and demands that a call for calm alone are unlikely to answer.
Victoria Gatenby, Al Jazeera.
