France marches for fifth Saturday over prices and police bill

France held a fifth consecutive Saturday of nationwide protests on 14 November, with marches against the cost of living, for better protection of children, and against a police bill that opponents call a licence to kill.

The interior ministry estimated 50 to 60 marches across the country and expected 30,000 to 60,000 people at the main Paris rally, called for 1:00 pm local time (1200 GMT), RFI reported. About 70,000 police officers and gendarmes were deployed.

The Rio Times reported that 106,000 people joined the day's protests nationwide, citing the ministry, while organisers put the figure at 200,000. Police made 219 arrests, the outlet reported. Authorities said 146,000 marched on the previous Saturday, well below earlier weekends.

The demonstrations follow more than a month of high-school blockades and cost-of-living protests. Presidential elections are due next year, and the far right, which supports the police bill, sees them as its best chance of taking power.

In Paris, the Yellow Vest movement was to join high-school students, unions and campaigners for children's rights. "Society's in bad shape," said Claire Bourdille, of a collective campaigning against violence against children and teenagers. "We can't focus on one cause more than another."

The contested bill would give police officers who use their weapons a presumption of legitimate self-defence. It has passed the lower house and is due to go to the Senate. The National Rally of Marine Le Pen backs it, arguing that officers should not be automatically suspected of disproportionate force. Opponents say it would make holding security forces to account even harder in a country where most allegations of brutality never reach a criminal court.

Lawyers spoke out last week against alleged police violence at recent protests, citing "mutilations" including injuries to hands, feet and eyes.

Karl Ghazi of the CGT union said the Paris march might be smaller, with "real activist fatigue" after six weeks of demonstrations. "It'll essentially be child rights activists on one side and people against the 'licence to kill' on the other," he said.

Unions rejected a government promise to raise the minimum wage by 0.6 percent, calling it "crumbs", and have called a new day of strikes on Tuesday. A union-led strike in the past week drew more than half a million people nationwide, according to official figures.