Fourth Saturday of protests in France: 146,000 on the streets according to police, "yellow vest" spokespeople arrested

According to France's Interior Ministry, 146,000 people took part in protests against the rising cost of living nationwide on November 7, while the youth union coalition puts the figure at 250,000, CNEWS and franceinfo report. In Paris, according to the police prefecture, about 46,000 marched from Place de la République to Place de la Nation, compared with 65,000 on Thursday; the prefecture said the march was calm.

Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez again deployed 70,000 police and gendarmes. By 2 p.m. the ministry had recorded about 7,000 people at 68 gatherings outside Paris and 18 arrests, compared with 27 at the same time the previous Saturday, along with more than 15,600 preventive checks.

The "yellow vests" and the ban

Police banned a "yellow vest" gathering at Place de la Concorde. Movement spokespeople Azelma Sigaux and Benjamin Ball were arrested in front of the National Assembly, and about a hundred people at the Concorde were surrounded and checked by police, Quartz reports.

"It is not up to the President of the Republic to decide where people should demonstrate," Ball said shortly before his arrest.

Protesters are demanding a citizens' initiative referendum, a price freeze on basic goods, caps on fuel and gas prices and the scrapping of the Parcoursup university admissions platform. Education unions have called a strike for Tuesday, November 10.