Isophoric News · Tuesday, October 27, 2026
More than 1,300 arrested in France after a second Saturday of nationwide protests, officials say
Officials said more than 1,300 people were arrested in France on Saturday after protests over the cost of living and school conditions, the BBC and Africanews reported; DW reported the government as saying more than 1,000. Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said the number was likely to rise, according to the BBC and Africanews. The interior ministry estimated 410,000 protesters, while unions put the figure at about 800,000, the BBC reported, and Africanews attributed a figure of nearly double the ministry's to the CGT union. The BBC reported that marches were largely peaceful but that police fired tear gas and water cannon in several cities after nightfall, that 53 officers were hurt, that 142 people were arrested in Paris, and that Nuñez said two people were seriously injured, in Toulouse and Clermont-Ferrand. About 70,000 police were deployed, the BBC and DW reported, and the BBC said officials had so far avoided rioting and looting on the scale of the previous weekend. Nuñez said "several thousand radical activists" gathered at the rear of the Paris march, including around 500 identified as rioters, AFP reported through the BBC, and Arab News (AFP) reported that he blamed much of the violence on "ultra-left" extremists. DW reported that unions and protest groups called for more rallies on Oct. 31 and a nationwide strike on Nov. 5, and Arab News reported that Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu would meet high school student groups on Monday, according to a leader of one group who spoke to AFP.
