Paris riots LIVE: Police scramble across street launching gas canisters into masked crowds

Protesters clashed with police early on Wednesday in Paris, where garbage bins were set on fire and teargas apparently used by police. The French government deployed an exceptional 80,000 police in response to a day of nationwide action under the slogan "Block Everything." The demonstrators, angry at French President Emmanuel Macron over his leadership and austerity policies, are planning to disrupt activity across the country.

The Paris police prefecture said 75 people had already been detained by 9am, with demonstrations and blockades expected to continue throughout the day. Across the country, an estimated 200 people had been detained by 10am BST. In Rennes, on the outskirts of the capital, a bus was set on fire, with dramatic footage circulated on social media. Two days after François Bayrou was ousted as prime minister in a parliamentary confidence vote and replaced on Tuesday by Sébastien Lecornu, thousands of protesters responded to online calls to disrupt the country. One, posting on X, warned: "Emmanuel Macron, if he keeps mocking the French people, he end up like Kennedy or Louis XVI."

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