French Protests Over School Funding and Living Costs Draw 400,000

More than 400,000 people marched across France on Saturday over school funding and living costs, with clashes erupting in Paris where police fired tear gas and used water cannons. The protests pose a fresh challenge to President Emmanuel Macron's government. The Interior Ministry reported 410,000 demonstrators nationwide, including 110,000 in Paris, where authorities confined the march to the city's southeastern edge. The Paris prosecutor's office said 64 people were arrested, including six minors, mostly on suspicion of weapons offenses or preparing violence. Police also used tear gas in Lyon, Clermont-Ferrand and Strasbourg. The unrest follows last weekend's rioting that damaged or looted some 3,000 shops, and tests Macron with his popularity at its lowest since 2017. The movement began over staffing shortages at one high school and has expanded to demands for higher wages, pensions, and more university places.