Half a million march in France over cost of living, police arrest 565

Clashes marked the third day of protests in Paris, Marseille and Lyon. Police put 70,000 officers on the streets.

Half a million people marched against the cost of living in France on 31 October, or 320,000 if French authorities count.

Police arrested 565 people during the third day of protests, according to BFMTV and 20 Minutes.

France put 70,000 police officers on the streets for the day, according to Politico. Police carried out 40,000 identity checks across the country, including 15,000 in the Paris region, 20 Minutes and BFMTV reported. The protests did not stay in France. Young people marched against living costs in Rome, Milan, Berlin and Frankfurt, and in Germany also against military spending.

One officer was directly hit by violence. At Porte de Charenton in Paris, a Molotov cocktail thrown at a barricade set a mobile gendarme's protective gear on fire, footage showed. His comrades pulled him away, and he was only slightly hurt. Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said everything would be put in place to find the authors of the attack. She said the gendarme was only lightly injured and did not stop his service, BFMTV and Le Parisien reported.

Nuñez still called the day a success. Despite the incredible violence of groups of vandals, Nuñez said the marches had gone well, blaming far-left groups targeting the security forces, 20 Minutes reported. Outside the city centres, the marches stayed calm, BFMTV reported. Nuñez judged the choice to keep them out of the centres a good one, saying it did not restrict the freedom to demonstrate.

Clashes between protesters and police broke out in the early evening in Marseille, Paris and Lyon, as the crowds dispersed, BFMTV and Politico reported.