Around 550,000 people took part in France cost-of-living protests: interior minister

More than half a million people took part in French protests against dwindling purchasing power on Saturday, a minister said, adding there were 110,000 in the capital.

Police arrested around 400 people, most of whom were adults, Interior Minister Laurent Nunez told reporters, after vandalism “at the very clear instigation of the hard left” and what he described as opportunistic looting on the sidelines of the demonstrations.