France arrests 1,200 as mass protests over living standards turn violent

French authorities arrested 1,200 people during nationwide protests on Saturday, Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu said, as hundreds of thousands of demonstrators took to the streets to voice their dissatisfaction with the government and living standards.

Although the demonstrations remained largely peaceful, several gatherings descended into violence, prompting police to use tear gas and stun grenades to disperse crowds.

Lecornu said 150 police officers had been injured during the unrest. Protesters, meanwhile, accused law enforcement officers of brutality and using excessive force to suppress the demonstrations.

The scale of the protests remained disputed, with estimates from organisers and the authorities differing significantly.

The CGT trade union, one of the organisers, estimated that at least 800,000 people had participated in the demonstrations across France.

However, the Interior Ministry put the nationwide turnout at 550,000.

The protests highlighted widespread public dissatisfaction with the government and living standards, drawing large crowds across the country and leading to confrontations between demonstrators and police in several locations.

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