Image source, Getty Images

Around 550,000 people took part in demonstrations last Saturday to protest rising fuel prices and the cost of living, with frustrations escalating after weeks of student protests.

Marches were initially largely peaceful but became marred by scenes of violence, looting and destruction - including the 19th-Century building housing Lyon's tourism office being set on fire by demonstrators, which the mayor described as "a tragedy".

In the city of Limoges, the clock tower and parts of the roof of the ornate city hall were engulfed in flames before collapsing on Saturday.

At least 2,700 people have been arrested across France since the disorder broke out, with Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin saying on Thursday that 217 had been sent to prison.

Curfews have been imposed in several cities in the aftermath of last weekend's rioting.

Image source, Reuters

According to French broadcaster BFMTV, protests have been permitted by authorities in the following locations:

• Lille
• Strasbourg
• Mulhouse
• Grenoble
• Marseille
• Toulouse
• Amiens
• Paris

We've also seen pictures of protesters gathering in the city of Orléans for a demonstration against "racism, fascism, and imperialism" as the French hard-right National Rally party holds its congress in the city.

The yellow vests (gilets jaunes) movement has said more than 700 protests are planned today across the country.

Nick Beake
Europe correspondent, in Paris

The decision announced last night to move the route of the one officially permitted march in Paris came incredibly late.

The city’s police chief will have made the call after assessing intelligence reports.

The priority is to prevent a repeat of last weekend’s chaos - but that is easier said than done. Officers need to try and be as nimble as the most violent, marauding protestors.

Travelling through Paris just now, we have seen convoys of police officers - dressed in black on motorbikes - known as the Brav M squads.

They are highly mobile and were created in 2019 in the wake of the Gilet Jaunes “Yellow Vest” protests.

But they are controversial - accused of using excess force against protesters, a charge they deny.

Image source, EPA/Shutterstock

Sarah Rainsford
Southern and Eastern Europe correspondent, reporting from Milan

Image source, Reuters

Today will be a test of the Italian government’s tough new measures meant to clamp down on violent protest.

After crowds including many teenagers smashed up shops, vandalised cars and looted last weekend, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni moved quickly to increase the potential penalties for such unrest.

“Protesting is a right, tearing apart our cities is not,” she said, announcing that 500 soldiers were being deployed to Milan today to support police.

There's a new crime of violent participation in a protest - throwing firecrackers or stones can get you five years in prison – and young people aged 14 to 18 can now be held criminally responsible.

Police can also detain them preventatively if they suspect they pose a threat.

On top of that is the “break it, and pay” law: smash up a bus stop or a shop, for example, and you can be held liable for the damage. Under 18? Then the bill goes to your parents.

Announcing the measures earlier this week Meloni said her government, which faces an election next year, understands the difficulties many young people face finding work and getting decent pay.

“But hardship cannot be an excuse for violence," she said.

Pierre-Antoine Denis
Reporting from Paris

Image source, Reuters

As we've just reported, La Place de la Bastlle in Paris has been evacuated by authorities.

We have been told to move by the police, after our last live on the news channel.

Police officers were seen walking along the square.

The announcements from the police changed as we finished, they said "the square is now getting cleared by police officers so we urge to move immediately to Porte d’Italie".

We have duly obliged and are on our way to the new protest location.

La Place de la Bastille is being evacuated by police, say our reporters in Paris.

Police loudspeakers have been repeating the message that any demonstration on the square is banned.

Image source, Prefecture de Police/X

Police in Paris have seized a large amount of "prohibited materials" during checks in the city as it prepares for further protests.

Pictures show a knife, several gas masks, a helmet, an angle grinder, batons and goggles among the items that have been seized.

The prefecture for the French capital says in a post on X they have organised "massive checks to deter those who might come to the capital with bad intentions".

They add that several arrests have been made.

Image source, Prefecture de Police/X

Image source, Getty Images

Here are some of the key issues at stake:

Education

Students began protesting weeks ago demanding additional investment in their schools, criticising the lack of teachers and staff, overcrowded classrooms and run-down buildings.

One of the leading organisations behind the protests, secondary school student union the Union Syndicale Lycéenne, has stated the protests are necessary to force action.

Cost of living

The education protests subsequently broadened to encompass wider concerns about rising living costs and access to public services.

The "gilets jaunes" (yellow vest) movement - which previously demonstrated against cost-of-living hikes for over a year in 2018 - is also involved, along with a cross-section of trade unions.

But it's not easy for the French government to assuage these concerns, as it has spiralling public debt and faces pressure from investors. It worries that if it cuts public services or welfare, yet more angry people will pour out onto the streets - which is what happened last Saturday.

Vandalism and looting

While most protests have been peaceful, violence has sometimes flared from groups of masked activists and vandals. An estimated 3,000 shops and businesses were looted and destroyed.

Political response

Now, many French people are angry over the government's handling of the crisis. Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez offered to resign, and President Emmanuel Macron has been roundly criticised for a lack of concrete detail on how vandals and rioters will be brought to account.

Image source, Reuters

Thousands of people from left-wing groups are marching in Orléans, a city about 120km (75 miles) south of Paris where the hard-right National Rally party is holding a conference this weekend.

Large numbers of police officers have been deployed to the city and public transport has been suspended.

National Rally's Marine Le Pen is set to launch her campaign to become France's next president at the two-day conference.

Opinion polls suggest Le Pen could have her strongest chance yet of becoming president as she runs for a fourth time, despite a court finding her guilty of embezzling EU funds earlier this year.

She has denied committing any offence and is appealing the verdict.

Mark Lowen
Reporting from Paris

Image source, EPA/Shutterstock

We’re on Place de la Bastille, where protests had been due to begin - but late last night, the authorities changed the authorised route, to try to push the march out to the ringroad of the city.

Police loudspeakers have been repeating the message here, that any demonstration on this square is banned.

For the moment, police and journalists outnumber demonstrators.

Across Place de la République - the focus of the worst violence in Paris last week - shops have boarded up, taking no chance. Security guards have been stationed outside some hotels.

Parisians are braced for a repeat of last week - but the government, under fire for a hapless response last Saturday - has vowed a ring of steel to quell any potential chaos.

Image source, AFP via Getty Images

Paris's transport authority, the RATP, confirms several metro stations in the French capital have been shut down because of today's protests. Here's a quick look at which ones are not operating:

• M1: Tuileries, Concorde, Champs-Élysée-Clemenceau, Franklin D. Roosevelt, George V, Charles de Gaulle-Étoile, Argentine won't be served
• M2: No service between Nation and Barbès - Rochechouart; trains do not stop at Charles de Gaulle-Étoile
• M3: Access to République metro station will be shut until Sunday
• M4: Trains won't stop at the central stations of Odéon, Saint-Germain-des-Prés et Saint-Sulpice
• M6: No service between Kléber et Charles de Gaulle – Étoile; trains are not stopping at Picpus, Bel-Air, Daumesnil et Dugommier
• M8: The stations of Concorde and Daumesnil won't be served
• M9: No services stopping at Franklin D. Roosevelt and Miromesnil
• M10: The stations of Sèvres - Babylone, Mabillon, Odéon, Cluny - La Sorbonne et Maubert - Mutualité won't be served
• M12: No service between Notre-Dame-des-Champs and Madeleine
• M13: The Varenne, Champs-Élysées – Clemenceau et Miromesnil won't be served

We can now bring you some pictures from the streets of Paris this morning, where businesses have been boarding up their windows.

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

A map from the yellow vests - key participants in last weekend's protests - shows more than 700 gatherings planned across France on Saturday.

Their website calls the October 24 protests "Act II", proclaiming: "Macron must go and make way for the people!"

The site calls on Gen Z protesters, school and university students, farmers, workers, climate activists and pensioners to come together.

The group also expresses anger at paying "ever-increasing prices for gas, groceries, and rent".

Image source, Gilet Jaune

Image source, Reuters

France is bracing for another day of protests, with hundreds of thousands of people expected to join despite some gatherings being banned by authorities.

Protest bans and curfews are in place in many cities, and Paris has closed a number of central metro stations.

The protests began in September with students unhappy about conditions in schools. Yesterday, President Emmanuel Macron met with students representatives to discuss several commitments to improve educational standards.

But people from other parts of French society have become involved in protests, which have grown to include discontent about the cost of living and government inaction on climate change, and some have descended into violence, arson and looting.

A conference by the hard-right National Rally in Orléans could prove to be a flashpoint today, with protesters from left-wing groups also expected to descend on the city.

The French interior ministry says that 70,000 police officers will be deployed across the country, after the government was accused of failing to prepare for the large-scale protests last weekend.

Stay with us as we bring you the latest updates.

Image source, EPA/Shutterstock