Darmanin

At least 108 policemen and gendarmerie were injured yesterday in France, of which twenty in Paris, during clashes in the course of protests against the pension reform, reported APP and BTA, referring to the French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin.

291 people were arrested across the country, 90 of them in Paris.

Interior Minister Grald Darmanin said that an additional 12,000 policemen and gendarmes will be deployed across the country, 5,000 of which will be in Paris, French online television BFMTV reported.
Darmanin repeated that in France there is freedom of expression, but not the right to create riots and incidents at street protests.

Angry protesters took to the streets in Paris and other cities for a second day on Friday, trying to pressure lawmakers to bring down French President Emmanuel Macron's government and doom the unpopular retirement age increase he's trying to impose without a vote in the National Assembly.

A total of 310 people were arrested across France during protests against the passage without a vote of the controversial pension reform in the lower house of the French parliament yesterday, AFP and BTA reported, citing French Interior Minister Géral Darmanen.

France hosts a meeting of European ministers on Nov. 28 to discuss ways to stop migrants crossing the Channel in dinghies, but without Britain, which has been excluded following a row last week.

France is to mobilise 100,000 police and gendarmes on New Year's Eve to break up parties and enforce a curfew imposed to combat coronavirus.

The extra security also aims at halting the torching of cars that often takes place on the final night of the year.

France has confirmed 2.6m Covid-19 cases, the fifth highest total in the world, and more than 64,000 deaths.