320,000 march across France as living-cost protests enter third weekend

Riot police fired tear gas in Lyon and Toulouse on Saturday as around 320,000 people marched across France in a third consecutive weekend of protests over living costs and public services, the interior ministry said. Organisers put the figure at nearly half a million.

Turnout fell from 410,000 the previous Saturday and 550,000 on 17 October, when riots and looting caught security forces off guard. Saturday's Paris march drew 70,000, according to the ministry.

Small groups broke away from marches in Bordeaux, Toulouse, Lyon and Marseille, but Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said security forces held their ground. He warned that authorities were bracing for scattered unrest tied to Halloween celebrations and said police were ready to respond firmly to anyone seeking a confrontation.

France's top administrative court had upheld a ban on a planned route between the Paris squares of Nation and Bastille. Authorities instead authorised a route along boulevards on the eastern edge of the capital, away from central shopping districts.

Far-left leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon marched at the head of the Paris demonstration. The protests have brought together students, trade unions and Yellow Vest activists united by anger over fuel prices, inflation and President Emmanuel Macron's government.

On Friday, ratings agency Fitch unexpectedly revised the outlook on French debt to negative, with public debt nearing 120 percent of economic output. The protests have also inspired youth-led demonstrations in several German cities and in Italy.