Protesters clash with police during 'Block Everything' unrest in France

French police arrested nearly 200 people on Wednesday in the early stages of the Block Everything protests organised by a loose leftwing coalition amid grassroots anger at President Emmanuel Macrons leadership and austerity measures France 24 reportedThe unrest coincided with the swearingin of Sebastien Lecornu as Frances new prime minister the countrys fifth in less than two yearsAn official handover is set to take place in Paris this afternoon between outgoing Prime Minister Francois Bayrou who was ousted after losing a confidence vote and his replacement Lecornu a close Macron ally and former defence ministerReporting from Matignon the prime ministers residence and office France 24 reported that Lecornu faces a daunting challenge pointing out that he has an uphill task getting a budget passed in a divided National AssemblyAccording to police a thousand determined individuals carried out an attempted intrusion at Gare du Nord station which was thwarted Demonstrations and attempted blockades were also reported outside Parisian secondary schools and in cities including Rennes and Montpellier Around a hundred young people some wearing hoods gathered outside Lavoisier school holding placards that read We are blocking because we care about our mental health and To fill their coffers Bayrou is picking our pocketsSome medical staff were on strike protesting against budget cuts and worsening working conditions France 24 reportedPolice fired tear gas in several cities as demonstrators blocked roads while French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau confirmed that nearly 200 arrests had been made Authorities deployed 80000 police nationwide to maintain orderProtesters in Lyon blocked a highway and set bins on fire while police in Nantes used tear gas to disperse crowds In the suburbs of Paris masked groups built barricades with dumpsters and threw rubbish at officers French President Emmanuel Macrons decision to name Sebastien Lecornu a close ally as prime minister is a slap in the face said Florent a protester in Lyon We are tired of his successive governments we need change he addedThe traffic on the Peripherique ring road around the capital was virtually unaffected by the Block Everything call as per France 24Meanwhile Socialist Party leader Olivier Faure urged Lecornu to renounce the use of Article 493 of the Constitution which allows bills to pass without a parliamentary vote calling it a chance to show a change in approach from past governments There was no scenario in which the Socialist Party would participate in the new government he told France Info while adding he was not refusing talks but would not give Lecornu a blank chequeThe unrest also spread to rail transport with stateowned SNCF reporting disruptions on TER regional and Intercites services due to two malicious acts overnight Damage to cables between Marmande and Agen in the LotetGaronne region disrupted services between Bordeaux and Toulouse while another incident near Toulouse also interrupted traffic Highspeed TGV trains remained unaffectedLecornu 39 enters office with the urgent task of forging a consensus on a new national budget after Bayrous failed austerity drive Macron named him prime minister late Tuesday hours after Bayrous resignation in what protesters have called a baptism of fire amid the mass demonstrationsThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever