At the nationwide protests in In France more than 700 students have been temporarily arrested. The demonstrations had disrupted operations in nearly 280 schools, 45 of which had been blocked, according to the Interior Ministry in Paris.
In the northern French town of Mantes-la-Jolie alone, the police arrested 146 people – mostly students who had been protesting near a school, the police said. The students had rioted, it said.
Thousands of high school students and high school students took part in the student protests against tougher selection criteria for higher education entrance and feared cuts in teaching staff, in many places there was violence.
„Strong answer“ demands
There were also protests at universities. Parts of the University of Paris Sorbonne remained closed on Thursday, as the college announced. According to media reports, several people had previously tried to occupy them.
The President of the National Student Union, Louis Boyard, told BFMTV that if the education minister did not „give a strong response“ soon, there would be deaths. He feared violence during the protests – and at the same time called for calm. According to the broadcaster, about a hundred educational institutions in the greater Paris area were affected by the actions.
Suspend tax increases
Pupils in France have been blocking educational institutions since Monday. In the coming week also want to demonstrate the farmers. The starting point for the demonstrations throughout the country are the protests of the so-called yellow vests , which have been demonstrating since mid-November, among other things against the tax increase plans and other burdens by the government. Most recently, these protests also ended in violence.
French President Emmanuel Macron had announced on Wednesday evening, the tax increases for gasoline and diesel for 2019 suspend. On Thursday afternoon, Premier Édouard Philippe issued a government statement on the planned taxes in the French Senate. He had previously tried to meet with representatives of the protest, but did not succeed . Already on Wednesday he had declared himself before the National Assembly. Macron himself held back on public appearances on his return from the G20 summit in Argentina.
The violence could continue to escalate over the weekend: Police are already in action around the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, where riots broke out last weekend. The officers barred access to the landmark. Individual shops on the boulevard Champs-Elysees were secured.
Football matches canceled
Due to further riots were also several football games canceled, including the planned Friday game between AS Monaco and OGC Nice. An originally scheduled for Sunday game between AS Saint-Etienne and Olympique Marseille has been postponed.
According to information from the French news agency AFP intended for the games police officers are used instead of the games in the demonstrations of yellow vests. Because of the protests were also postponed the Saturday planned top match between Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) and the HSC Montpellier and the match between Toulouse and Lyon.
In the face of new protests, the government will deploy 89,000 security forces across the country on Saturday. Of this, 8,000 went to the capital Paris, said PM Philippe the TV channel TF1. The number is significantly higher than the 65,000, of which initially had been mentioned.
