Global News Edmonton has reported:

Scuffles broke out between police and small groups of protesters in Paris on Saturday as demonstrations spread across France over rising living costs and in support of high school students’ grievances. At Place de la République, northeast of the city centre, police used tear gas against people in hoods and masks who threw fireworks and other objects at officers. Large numbers of riot police were deployed in the square and nearby streets.

Protesters answered social media calls to revive the “yellow vest” movement, which began in 2018 in opposition to social injustice. Student groups have held school blockades since mid-September and called on supporters to join the demonstrations. The CGT, one of France’s major labour unions, also supported the protests, demanding “higher wages and pensions, lower prices and the protection of public services that meet people’s needs.”

Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez’s office said authorities had recorded 140 protest actions outside the Paris region by midday, involving more than 30,000 people. At least 166 arrests had been reported nationwide. Nuñez’s office cited violence by masked people in Paris, Marseille, Rennes, Toulouse and Angers, including attempted looting, assaults on police, fires set to street furniture, and attacks targeting government institutions and media outlets.

In Marseille, a southern port city, some shops and a municipal police station were damaged. Some protesters briefly entered the lobby of City Hall before police dispersed them. Mayor Benoît Payan told BFM television there was “limited damage” in the lobby.

President Emmanuel Macron called for calm on Friday while in Brussels. “There is a constitutional right to protest and to express oneself,” he said. “But this right comes with the need to respect. Respect for people, respect for property, and therefore a commitment not to insult or destroy.” Authorities banned some proposed gatherings elsewhere in central Paris. At police request, many metro stations were closed on Saturday, including stops around the Champs-Élysées and near the presidential palace, parliament and government offices.

The protests come after weeks of student demonstrations that have seen thousands of arrests, hundreds of injuries and schools set on fire as the new school year began. The unrest is influencing France’s presidential election campaign and attracting international attention. Some teenagers have suffered severe wounds that protesters attribute to police riot-control weapons. Nuñez suspended the use of one type of police stun grenade against young demonstrators after a 15-year-old lost a hand.

On Tuesday, climate and social justice activist Greta Thunberg joined students at a high school in Saint-Denis, a suburb of Paris.