Nationwide Protests Sweep France Over Rising Prices and Social Inequality

Protests against high prices and the erosion of a system meant to guarantee basic opportunity and social security took place across France on Saturday, with organizers anticipating a major nationwide turnout. The movement traces its origins to last month, when students at high schools in Paris' poorer northern suburbs demonstrated against teacher absences and dilapidated facilities; that anger soon expanded into a broader campaign targeting inequality, weak public spending and declining standards. Central Paris saw a heavy police deployment, particularly around the Avenue des Champs-Elysees and the Arc de Triomphe, both of which were left off the routes of the two official demonstrations. Tens of thousands of participants were expected at hundreds of additional protests planned throughout the country. In hi-vis vests, demonstrators blocked streets, recalling the unrest that marked President Emmanuel Macron's earlier term, and in Marseille trash cans were set on fire.