Police today banned protest gatherings at Place de la Concorde, its largest square. Parisas well as on the Champs Elysees, after two consecutive nights of unrest in French capital.

“Due to the serious risk of disturbing order and public safety (…), any gathering in public places on the Place de la Concorde and the surrounding area, as well as in the Champs-Elysées sector, is prohibited,” the statement said. . “Persons who try to gather there will be systematically removed by law enforcement forces,” and they may be given a verbal recommendation, the police added.

On Friday evening, like the day before, thousands of people gathered in the Place de la Concorde. Clashes with police ensued as the crowd threw bottles and firecrackers, and the police responded by firing tear gas in an attempt to disperse the crowd. The police announced the arrest of 61 people.

On Thursday, 10,000 protesters gathered at the same location outside the National Assembly building, with police reporting 258 arrests.

On Thursday, the French government decided to legislate the pension reform. To do this, he invoked Article 49.3 of the Constitution, which allows laws to be passed without a vote in the National Assembly, unless a motion to impeach the government is passed.

Today, the strike of workers at the TotalEnergies refinery, as well as on the railways, continues. The demonstration is scheduled for the Place d’Italie in southern Paris in the late afternoon.

Earlier, a group of students and activists from the Permanent Revolution collective broke into the Forum des Halles shopping center with posters and chanting “Paris, get up.”

BFM broadcast footage of demonstrations in Compiègne, Nantes and Marseille.

“There is no place for violence here. We must respect parliamentary democracy,” Jean-Noel Baro, Minister for Digital Transition and Telecommunications, told Sud radio station.

The unions say they will continue their actions and have called a general strike next Thursday.

^{Source: APE-MEB, AFP, Reuters.}