Rioters smash up shops, set fires in the streets and clash with police in France as thousands take to streets in another weekend of violent protests
Rioters have smashed up shops, set fires and clashed with police in France as 170,000 took to the streets for the fourth weekend in a row.
Footage from across the country shows roads alight and protesters brawling with law enforcement.
The protests erupted again as France tilts towards presidential elections in five months' time, with the far right increasingly viewing the time as ripe to seize power.
Authorities expected up to 170,000 people to protest nationwide, including 60,000 in Paris. But the interior ministry counted 7,000 people protesting early afternoon nationwide, down on the same time last week and indicating a downward trend in participation.
The demonstrations follow mass protests by unions on Thursday accompanied by strikes, with teaching unions vowing more walk-outs next week.
Some 70,000 members of the security forces were deployed on Saturday, ready to move in quickly after mass protests on October 17 degenerated into the worst riots seen in France in years.
Unions staged a march along a traditional route, from the Place de la Republique in central Paris to Place de la Nation in the east of the city.
But the Yellow Vests movement - a group whose protests shook Emmanuel Macron in the early years of his presidency almost a decade ago - called for a rival demonstration at the Place de la Concorde in central Paris, a stone's throw from the president's Elysee Palace and the lower house of parliament.
Authorities banned their protest, with a large police presence preventing protesters from getting close.
Thousands have clashed with riot police on the streets of France for the fourth weekend in a row in the latest show of anger against the Government. Pictured: Protesters in Marseille
Riot officers were out in force to quell the demonstration as it made its way through Paris
A protester kicks the window of a grocery store in Strasbourg on Saturday
A police officer stands in front of a fire during a demonstration in Paris with a riot shield and baton in hand
Police officers clash with protestors in the stairs at the entrance of subway station during a demonstration at place de la Nation in Paris
Some 100 people who arrived were surrounded by officers, while one of the movement's coordinators, Benjamin Ball, and its spokeswoman, Azelma Sigaux, were arrested by police.
News of the latest protests emerged as it was revealed Emmanuel Macron has a secret bunker outside Paris to take shelter should the Elysee Palace come under attack by rioters, a new book has claimed.
The refuge in the Paris suburbs emerged in La Nouvelle Armee des Ombres (The New Army of Shadows), a new book by investigative journalists Pierre Gastineau, Antoine Izambard and Franck Renaud.
The authors say authorities fear a victory for Marine Le Pen's National Rally could spark a 'third round' of protests, with radical Left activists, youths and rural militants taking to the streets to challenge the result.
They also claim a victory for hard-Left Jean-Luc Melenchon, who current polling suggests could reach the presidential run-off, could provoke 'passive resistance' from within the police force.
After speaking to senior sources, the authors say that Paris police chief Patrice Faure has held a series of meetings focused on preparing for the risk of an insurrection.
Meanwhile, France's foreign intelligence agency has practiced scenarios in the event of electoral interference.
In Paris, police have spent an entire day operating without smartphones to prepare for the possibility of a crippling cyber-attack.
Footage shared online shows riot police dragging protesters away from the mayhem
In a separate incident earlier on Saturday another demonstrator is dragged away by police
French Republican Security Corps police officers pour water on a burning trash container during a demonstration in Montpellier
Riot police are seen on the streets of Montpellier after the fire is mostly extinguished
Riot police officers detain a protester in the French capital
Policemen help an injured colleague after clashes with rioters
It comes after one senior spy warned the authors in April that major revolts were imminent in France.
However, intelligence chiefs underestimated the chaos that would unfold on October 17, with the prediction of 60,000 falling dramatically short of the half a million protesters who took to the streets.
The demonstrations come less than six months before voters elect a new head of state to replace centrist President Macron, with the hard-Right leading in opinion polls.
In the southeastern city of Lyon, police fired tear gas to disperse several hundred people in the city centre blocking a road during an unauthorised gathering.
'The risk is exactly the same as on previous Saturdays,' said Interior Minister Laurent Nunez, calling on authorities 'not to lower their guard'.
The wave of demonstrations was sparked in late September by students angered by conditions at their establishments. These teenagers, joined by university students, remain at the heart of the protests.
'Today is a date that helps keep the pressure on,' said Sabine Kharbach, spokeswoman of the Student Union. 'Many young people are mobilising because the government's responses remain unsatisfactory.'
The police response has faced criticism for being heavy-handed, with dozens of internal investigations launched into allegations of brutality against demonstrators.
French Gendarmes in riot gear detain a protestor during clashes during a demonstration in Lille
Protesters put saline solution in their eyes after being exposed to tear gas in the capital
Riot Police clash with youths during a demonstration organized by French trade unions and Yellow Vests in Lille
A protester is seen wearing a rat mask while topless in Paris amongst other rioters
Protestors stand next to a burning trash can during a demonstration in Lille
Firefighters extinguished a fire on the streets of Lille as a crowd surrounds them
A masked protester appears to launch a water bottle during the riots in Paris on Saturday
Riot Police clash with youths during protests across France over the weekend
Local businesses are also feeling the pain. 'So this can't go on, otherwise I think it will be a disaster before long,' said Paris shop manager Jean Emile Moulinier, whose store is around the main protest route and says hardly any customers brave security barricades on protest weekends.
Shop windows of stores in Paris and other cities were again barricaded with wooden shutters for the day to prevent potential ransacking.
The government is grappling with ways to find solutions, but is constrained by France's gigantic debt pile which is already spooking markets.
Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu is due to meet unions and employer federation representatives on Monday to discuss wages and purchasing power.
But student and teacher groups in France have called for a new strike on Tuesday to keep pressure on the government for more education spending, saying they were 'in a position of strength [and] the government in a position of weakness and starting to yield'.
Polls meanwhile show that far-right candidate Marine Le Pen is the favourite to win the Elysee in 2027, with her main rival currently not one of Macron's centrist former allies, but hard-left leader Jean-Luc Melenchon.
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