"About 800,000 people mobilized" across France today for the second round of protests by unions, students, and the Yellow Vests, according to the CGT union. The same source reports "250,000 demonstrators in Paris," where police had counted 110,000. The French Interior Ministry's figures differ, saying 410,000 people demonstrated across the country today.

The large Paris march continued without tension until it reached its destination, the Porte de Vincennes. At that point, a group of over 500 masked protesters clashed violently with the police, who responded with tear gas and a water cannon to disperse the crowd. Hundreds of peaceful protesters found themselves caught in the middle of the clashes.

Clashes and tensions also erupted in Nantes, Rennes, Bordeaux, Marseille, and Lyon, where 10,000 people gathered to demonstrate within a large perimeter of the city despite a police ban.

French Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez announced around a thousand arrests in France this evening. During the demonstrations, he added, "everything went well," although the number of arrests "will increase." "At this very moment, on October 17," he emphasized, "we had 385 arrests," but "thanks to the intervention of law enforcement, looting was prevented." The minister added that "there were no direct attacks on public buildings."

(Unioneonline)

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