French protest violence eases while scattered riots hit Germany ahead of school return

PARIS: French authorities expressed relief on Sunday after mass protests over rising living costs resulted in less violence than on previous weekends. However, police expect new demonstrations as high schools at the heart of the movement reopen on Monday after their autumn break.

Germany faced its own challenges after nationwide protests on Saturday ended with rioters attacking police and looting shops in some cities. Across Europe, hundreds of thousands joined overwhelmingly peaceful marches on Saturday inspired by young people, despite scattered unrest.

In Paris, rioters targeted police with Molotov cocktails at the end of Saturday's march on the city's eastern edge, injuring three officers and setting a car ablaze, police said. Across the city, masked groups hurled fireworks at officers at a viewpoint opposite the Eiffel Tower, and police charged repeatedly, sending panicked tourists fleeing the area.

Overall, however, the violence was less severe than on October 17, when a city hall was torched and more than 2,000 shops were looted in hours of unrest that authorities appeared unprepared to control, or during follow-up protests on October 24.

Police had arrested 779 people as of Saturday night, compared with 2,628 on October 17 and 1,314 last weekend. Paris and Marseille police said a handful of shops were targeted, but no major damage was reported.

A national police official said on Sunday that authorities had prepared for a larger turnout of both peaceful marchers and troublemakers. About 70,000 police officers were deployed across the country.

Police are preparing for more tensions as schools reopen on Monday and as student groups and labour unions call for new nationwide protests on Tuesday and Thursday, the official told The Associated Press. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to be publicly identified under police policy.

Germany regains calm after night of unrest

More than 100,000 mostly young people protested peacefully across Germany on Saturday, demanding that the government invest more money in education, housing, climate protection and making daily life more affordable. In some cities, the protests turned violent at night.

Following a demonstration in Frankfurt, rioters attacked police in the city centre and looted shops. More than 100 officers were injured and 54 people, aged 13 to 29, were detained. It was not clear how many protesters were injured. Police said 17 shops were damaged and five of them were looted. After police cordoned off an area in the city centre, the situation calmed down by early Sunday morning.

"I am shocked by the violent excesses in Frankfurt, which will not go unpunished," said Boris Rhein, the governor of Hesse, where Frankfurt is located. "Anyone who behaves like the attackers in central Frankfurt places themselves outside our society."

Violence also broke out on Saturday night in Cologne, where police used water cannon to disperse the crowd. In Berlin, protesters attacked police with bottles and pyrotechnics.

The organisers of Saturday's protests, a youth initiative called "Gen Z regelt" roughly meaning "Gen Z's got this", posted a statement on Instagram distancing itself from "any form of violence, as well as violent acts by other groups or individuals" who were not part of the demonstrations.

German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt accused "violent left-wing groups and troublemakers from the immigrant community" of hijacking peaceful demonstrations. "The rioters and looters will be identified and held accountable," Dobrindt told the daily newspaper Bild on Sunday.

Housing costs inspire protesters in Portugal

In Portugal, riot police overnight removed protesters by force from a square in Lisbon following protests for more affordable housing. Thousands of people marched through the city during the day and, at the end, a few hundred camped out in Rossio, an iconic square in central Lisbon. Police intervened early on Sunday, removing tents and pushing people away, and a few people were detained.

Portuguese demonstrators have been protesting for weeks after drawing inspiration from the Spanish movement calling attention to rising living costs, especially housing costs.

By RSS/AP