French police arrested hundreds of protesters Wednesday as "Block Everything" demonstrations erupted across the country, with crowds shutting down roads, lighting fires and clashing with authorities.
The government's interior ministry announced 295 arrests in the first hours of what was a planned day of nationwide demonstrations against President Emmanuel Macron, budget cuts and other complaints. France’s government suffered a major setback Monday when Prime Minister François Bayrou lost a parliamentary confidence vote, forcing his resignation and replacement by Sébastien Lecornu.
"One Prime minister has just been ousted and straight away we get another from the right," student Baptiste Sagot, 21, told The Associated Press on Wednesday. "They're trying to make working people, young students, retirees, all people in difficulty, bear all the effort instead of taxing wealth."
Groups of protesters who repeatedly tried to block Paris' beltway during the morning rush hour were dispersed by police using tear gas. Elsewhere in the capital, protesters piled up trash cans and hurled objects at police officers. Firefighters were called to the downtown Châtelet neighborhood after a fire broke out in a restaurant, threatening to spread to an adjacent building.
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