Mass protests challenge Macron as French police use tear gas and water cannons

PARIS — More than 100,000 people marched in Paris on Saturday over school funding and soaring living costs, challenging President Emmanuel Macron’s government as police fired tear gas and water cannons near the end of the protest.

Paris police estimated turnout at 110,000, with demonstrators mobilizing despite restrictions that confined the march to the city’s southeastern edge, away from the center.

Police used tear gas in several cities, including Lyon, Clermont-Ferrand, and Strasbourg, and water cannons in Nice and Nantes, French media reported. In Marseille, officers fired tear gas during clashes with several dozen people near the march’s endpoint.

The Paris prosecutor’s office said 64 people had been arrested in connection with Saturday’s demonstration and 40 placed in police custody. Those arrested included six minors. Most arrests concerned suspected weapons offenses or participation in a group preparing violence or property damage, the office said.

The unrest is testing Macron’s authority in the final months of his presidency before voters choose his successor in May. The stakes are high: the far-right National Rally has accused his government of failing to protect the public and urged people to channel their anger into votes for them.

Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez had announced a…

Original source: https://www.nbcnews.com/world