Hundreds of Thousands March Across France in Protests Over Schools and Policing

Hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets across France to support students' demands for better school conditions, and to protest high living costs and heavy-handed policing policies.

On Saturday, hundreds of thousands of people marched in large-scale protests across France demanding the repair of dilapidated school buildings and the appointment of more teachers. According to government estimates, at least 110,000 people participated in the march in the eastern part of the capital, Paris, while total participants nationwide reached at least 400,000 according to government data, with unions reporting that this figure was twice as high.

In the southern city of Nice, the prosecutor's office announced on Sunday that 59 people had been detained, 11 of whom were suspected of having ties to far-right groups. According to Interior Ministry data, a total of 1,314 people were detained nationwide, 75 fires broke out, and 24 shops were looted. More than 70,000 police officers were deployed across French cities to maintain security.