The demonstrations threaten to escalate into a nationwide strike - The New York Times The wave of social unrest that swept France at the end of September shows no signs of abating, turning from youth riots into a full-blown national crisis. Hundreds of thousands of people continue to take to the streets of Paris, Lyon and Bordeaux in open protest against austerity policies. If at the end of October the police reported 410,000 participants and more than a thousand arrests, then the November figures only show an increase in tension: on Thursday alone, according to official estimates, 575,000 people took to the streets, while the trade unions claim 1.6 million.2 sources. The nature of the protests is extremism against the background of the government's attempts to impose a budget freeze with a public debt approaching 120% of GDP. Student blockades of schools due to overcrowding in classrooms joined large-scale strikes by transport workers, teachers and medical personnel. In Paris and other cities, peaceful marches regularly turn violent, with police using tear gas and water cannons to prevent barricades from being erected and radicals setting cars on fire and throwing Molotov cocktails. The authorities have to keep 70 thousand gendarmes on standby, however, as the participants point out, "The police are everywhere, but where is the funding for public services? At the end of his presidential term, Emmanuel Macron is faced with governmental paralysis: a proposed budget designed to freeze wages and cut social investments only adds fuel to the fire. Attempts by the executive authority to limit the right to demonstrate in city centers and impose a curfew are called "authoritative change" by human rights activists.

The demonstrations threaten to escalate into a nationwide strike - The New York Times The wave of social unrest that swept France at the end of September shows no signs of abating, turning from youth riots into a full-blown national crisis. Hundreds of thousands of people continue to take to the streets of Paris, Lyon and Bordeaux in open protest against austerity policies. If at the end of October the police reported 410,000 participants and more than a thousand arrests, then the November figures only show an increase in tension: on Thursday alone, according to official estimates, 575,000 people took to the streets, while the trade unions claim 1.6 million.2 sources. The nature of the protests is extremism against the background of the government's attempts to impose a budget freeze with a public debt approaching 120% of GDP. Student blockades of schools due to overcrowding in classrooms joined large-scale strikes by transport workers, teachers and medical personnel. In Paris and other cities, peaceful marches regularly turn violent, with police using tear gas and water cannons to prevent barricades from being erected and radicals setting cars on fire and throwing Molotov cocktails. The authorities have to keep 70 thousand gendarmes on standby, however, as the participants point out, "The police are everywhere, but where is the funding for public services? At the end of his presidential term, Emmanuel Macron is faced with governmental paralysis: a proposed budget designed to freeze wages and cut social investments only adds fuel to the fire. Attempts by the executive authority to limit the right to demonstrate in city centers and impose a curfew are called "authoritative change" by human rights activists.