Paris, 24 October. Some 35,000 people took part in protests across France on 24 October against the rising cost of living and conditions in education, and 135 were arrested, Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said; in Lyon about 2,000 people took to the streets in defiance of a ban, and police used tear gas.
In Paris thousands marched from Porte d'Italie; the authorities closed 24 metro stations and major museums for the day, and gendarmerie armoured vehicles were deployed near government buildings. According to video from the scene, there were also clashes with police in Nantes, Clermont-Ferrand, Montpellier and Marseille. The Yellow Vests movement called for new nationwide protests on 31 October against what it calls the government's "authoritarian drift".
Protests that day also took place outside France: in Brussels shops boarded up their windows in advance and the Apple store closed; there were protests against high living costs in Naples and Madrid, and in Tirana police used water cannon.
Meanwhile, the investigation into the shooting in Trappes moved forward. The National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor's Office detained three people close to the suspect, including his mother. According to Le Monde, after his arrest the man said he had wanted to "take revenge" for the riots and had deliberately shot at black and Arab people; a copy of "Mein Kampf" was found in his flat. The man killed was 26-year-old mixed martial arts fighter Pengo Bossio Vangi, his club Atch Academy said.
What it means: The French authorities kept Saturday's protests under control at the cost of massive security measures, but the protest movement is not subsiding: the next date is 31 October, and discontent over the cost of living has spread to neighbouring countries.
Who benefits: The government, which saw less rioting than a week earlier. The unions and the Yellow Vests, who have a reason for new protests. Residents of big cities face closed metro stations and museums on protest days.
Background: A week earlier, on 17 October, protests in France were accompanied by rioting; according to the Justice Ministry, 2,700 people were detained afterwards. On 23 October Emmanuel Macron called the Trappes shooting a racially motivated terrorist attack.
We have also reported that Macron called the Trappes shooting a racist terrorist attack.
