'Block Everything' Protests Rock France

A day of anti-government action across France on Wednesday saw streets choked with smoke, barricades in flames, and volleys of tear gas as protesters denounced budget cuts and political turmoil. The nationwide "Bloquons Tout," or "Block Everything," campaign presented a challenge to President Emmanuel Macron and turned Sébastien Lecornu 's first day as prime minister into a baptism of fire, the AP reports.

• Although falling short of its self-declared intention of total disruption, the protests still managed to paralyze parts of daily life and ignite hundreds of hot spots across the country. The deployment of 80,000 police officers broke up barricades and dragged hundreds of protesters into custody, yet flashpoints multiplied. In Rennes, a bus was torched. In the southwest, electrical cables were severed, halting train services and snarling traffic.

• By evening, Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau said nearly 200,000 people had taken to the streets nationwide, while the CGT union, one of France's largest labor confederations, claimed closer to 250,000.
• Retailleau's ministry reported more than 450 arrests, hundreds held in custody, over a dozen officers injured, and more than 800 protest actions — from rallies to street fires—across the country. Retailleau called the day "a defeat for those who wanted to block the country." Yet the government's own tally told a different story.
• The protests did not match the scale of France's 2018 yellow vest revolt but still underscored the cycle of unrest that has dogged Macron's presidency: mass deployments, bursts of violence, and repeated clashes between the government and the streets.

• 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 Road blockades, traffic slowdowns and other protests were widely spread— from the southern port city of Marseille to Lille and Caen in the north, and Nantes and Rennes in the west to Grenoble and Lyon in the southeast. Authorities reported demonstrations in small towns, too.
• Afternoon gatherings of thousands of people in central Paris were peaceful and good-humored, with placards taking aim at Macron and his new prime minister. "Lecornu, you're not welcome," read a placard brandished by a group of graphic design students. "One prime minister has just been ousted and straight away we get another from the right," said student Baptiste Sagot, 21. "They're trying to make working people, young students, retirees—all people in difficulty—bear all the effort instead of taxing wealth."