Protesters stage demonstrations across France in bid to 'Block Everything'

Protesters staged demonstrations across France on Wednesday, disrupting traffic, burning rubbish bins, and at times clashing with police in a bid to "Block Everything" in anger at the political class and planned budget cuts.

Security forces deployed across the country to try to remove any blockades as fast as possible, officials said, meaning that France was, for now, not blocked. Dozens of protesters were arrested, and there were some scuffles with police.

The demonstrations took place at a time of political turmoil: two days after parliament ousted Prime Minister Francois Bayrou in a confidence vote over his plans to tame the country's ballooning debt.

In Paris, firefighters removed burnt objects from a barricade set up by students to block traffic near a high school. Paris police said 132 people had been arrested in the demonstrations there so far.

The "Block Everything" movement - a broad expression of discontent with no centralized leadership and an ad hoc organisation by social media - sprung up online in May among right-wing groups, researchers and officials said, but has since been taken over by the left and far-left.

In the western city of Nantes, protesters blocked a highway with burning tires and bins. Police used teargas to disperse people trying to occupy a roundabout in the same city.

In Montpellier, in the southwest, police scuffled with protesters who had set up a barricade to block traffic at a roundabout. A protester carried a banner that read: "Macron resign."

Police used teargas to disperse the protesters, some of whom threw various objects at them.

Highway operator Vinci reported protests and traffic disruptions on highways throughout the country, including Marseille, Montpellier, Nantes, and Lyon.

About 50 hooded people tried to start a blockade in Bordeaux, while in Toulouse, in the southwest, a fire was quickly extinguished but still disrupted train traffic, Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau told reporters early on Wednesday.

He said 80,000 security forces had been deployed throughout the country, including 6,000 in Paris. French media had reported that 100,000 people were expected to take part in the demonstrations.

Reuters