Thousands take to the streets in France for the fifth Saturday in a row: Police use tear gas and charge at crowds during anti-government protests

Police fired tear gas and charged at demonstrators today to disperse crowds of tens of thousands during anti-government protests across France.Around 106,000 people took to the streets nationwide on Saturday in cities including Paris for the so-called Act V demonstrations.More than 120 people were arrested during the fifth consecutive Saturday of mass protests, which have sent shockwaves across the country.Crowds gathered to jeer at police and demand the resignation of President Emmanuel Macron, whose popularity has slumped to its lowest level since 2017.Footage shot in Paris showed a riot-control unit battling with youngsters close to Place de la Nation, on the eastern side of Paris, towards the end of a march. Meanwhile, armoured officers were seen chasing protesters through the streets of France, striking demonstrators with batons as clashes escalated.Trade union activist Remi Durand said: 'The police were ridiculously heavy handed - they were attacking anyone they could find with their weapons.'The protests were originally sparked by anger over a rise in fuel taxes and the cost of living, before broadening into a wider movement against Mr Macron's government and his economic policies. Protesters clash with riot police during a demonstration against rising living costs and cuts to public services in Montpellier, France, on Saturday, November 14, 2026 Police intervene as fire breaks out on the street during a demonstration as the people march from the Manufacture des Tabacs to Place Jean-Mace on Saturday, November 14, 2026 in Lyon, France A riot police officer looks on in front of a burning barricade during riots after a demonstration as part of a nationwide protest over the rising cost of living and inequality organised by the Yellow Vest movement in Lyon on November 14, 2026By 6pm today, a French Interior Ministry spokesman said: 'There have been 121 arrests across the country so far, following disturbances in numerous cities and towns.' Adrien, a 20-year-old cello player in a volunteer orchestra at the Paris rally, said the focus of the day was a new bill in parliament to give police who use their weapons a presumption of legitimate self-defence.'We're scared when we come to a protest, and this will only make us even more afraid if their impunity is strengthened,' he said, after tear gas fell on protesting musicians last month.Backers of the new police bill – including the hard-Right party of leading presidential hopeful Marine Le Pen – say a new law is necessary to avoid officers being automatically suspected of using disproportionate force.Activists argue it would amount to a 'licence to kill', and make holding security forces accountable even harder in a country where alleged police brutality cases rarely reach a criminal court.Others nationwide demanded better learning conditions, more children's rights or simply sang for a better France.In the southwestern city of Bordeaux, 72-year-old Josette belted out protest song 'I have two passions: brass bands and revolution'.'My children didn't want me to come,' she said. 'But I'm so grateful to the youth for starting this movement.''They're giving us hope at a time when it feels like we're heading straight for disaster, with a planet that keeps getting hotter and far-right movements that are increasingly unapologetic.' Around 106,000 people took to the streets nationwide on Saturday in cities including Paris for the so-called Act V demonstrations Riot police officers charge to disperse demonstrators during a nationwide day of protests in Paris on November 14, 2026 Protesters walk amid a cloud of tear gas during a demonstration in Marseille, southern France, on November 14, 2026 as part of a nationwide day of protestsWeeks of unrest erupted over a campaign led by high school students calling for the equivalent of around £9billion to be put into the education system.It has now mushroomed into a mass movement encompassing multiple groups, from trade unions to Black Bloc anarchists and the Yellow Vest movement - a protest against fuel tax increases that erupted in 2018.Around 106,000 people took to the streets nationwide on Saturday, including 24,000 in Paris, the interior ministry said, in the lowest turnout in recent weeks.Student unions put the number of demonstrators at 200,000, including almost 100,000 in the capital.'No justice, no peace,' a protester shouted into a megaphone in Paris as people including students, unions and Yellow Vest activists demonstrated for the fifth Saturday in a row.Others called for the president to resign, or cried 'Everybody hates the police', as a group carried a giant puppet whose hat read 'Lord Macron'.Some of the largely peaceful rallies in recent weeks have seen fringe violence, as well as accusations of police brutality, including against young teenagers.Saturday's arrest total added to at least 4,000 people who have been taken into custody during disturbances over the past month alone, with hundreds wounded. Two masked demonstrators hold a French flag in front of a burning barricade during riots after a demonstration as part of a nationwide protest over the rising cost of living and inequality organised by the Yellow Vest movement in Lyon on November 14, 2026 A protester kicks back a tear gas canister during a demonstration in Bordeaux, south-western France, on November 14, 2026 Police intervene as demonstrators gather during a protest against the rising cost of living, organized as part of Act V of the social movement, in Strasbourg, France on November 14, 2026Some 70,000 police officers and gendarmes have been deployed on each of these Saturdays under orders from France's Minister of the Interior Laurent Nunez. He also warned of multiple social media posts 'calling for acts of violence against the police and public buildings'.Mr Nunez said there would be 'an extremely firm response' to any such 'acts of violence'.An attempted murder investigation has been launched after petrol bombs were hurled at gendarmes during a march in Paris at the end of last month, he added.Arson is also emerging as a growing concern during the protests, with a series of attacks targeting public buildings.Among them was the 19th-century town hall in Limoges, which was nearly burned to the ground last month, while a historic tourist office in Lyon was also set ablaze.Left-wing politicians have been accused of stirring up trouble, while they say that paramilitary police units have provoked the crowds.Jean-Luc Melenchon, the presidential candidate for the France Unbowed party, said too many tear gas canisters had been fired at peaceful demonstrators. Demonstrators set up a makeshift barricade during a demonstration as part of a nationwide mobilisation against violence, amid a protest movement by high school students, in Nantes on November 14, 2026 Police detain demonstrators during a demonstration to protest children's rights and police violence in Paris, France, on November 14, 2026 Protesters take part in a demonstration against rising living costs and cuts to public services as a sign reading 'Class struggle' is displayed in Montpellier, France, on Saturday, November 14, 2026He claimed: 'It seems that confrontation is the very goal of this public-order strategy. It's pathetic.'The unrest comes as France prepares for a presidential election in April.Mr Macron's popularity is the lowest it has ever been since he first became president in 2017, according to recent polls, and the government has little leeway to respond to protester demands as it struggles to reduce its debt.Opinion polls suggest Marine Le Pen, the hard-Right National Rally candidate, could go head-to-head against hard-Left candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon in the second round. She is currently appealing against a conviction for embezzling taxpayers' cash from the European Parliament, so could become the first convicted criminal to enter the Élysée Palace. In the southern city of Toulouse, Kenza, a 28-year-old asylum law specialist, denounced the government's response to the social unrest.'The repression of protesters is unacceptable - even more so when they are children,' she said.Lawyers last week said police violence at recent protests had led to 'mutilations' including hand, foot and eye injuries.Saturday's rallies were largely peaceful but police fired tear gas to disperse crowds in Paris, Bordeaux and the western city of Nantes.Unions have called for a new day of strikes on Tuesday, after rejecting a government promise to increase the minimum wage by 0.6 per cent as 'crumbs'.The largest protests in recent weeks occurred during a union-led strike on Thursday last week, when more than half a million people took to the streets nationwide, according to official figures.