French police arrest nearly 1,000 at protests, with more expected

French authorities arrested nearly 1,000 people during protests across France on Saturday, with Interior Minister Laurent Núñez warning the number will rise significantly. Núñez said the marches went well overall, attributing the improvement to police anticipation and reinforced security measures. He noted only 385 arrests had been made by the same time last week, when hundreds of shops were vandalized, while Saturday saw limited looting attempts, including in Marseille where perpetrators were detained. The 289 protests drew 410,000 attendees, according to officials, though organizers claim 800,000. Núñez reported two serious injuries, in Toulouse and Clermont-Ferrand, and said far-left groups infiltrated the demonstrations while far-right activists were detected in Nice and Montpellier.