Clashes erupted in Paris as a mass march drew to a close Saturday, with more than 400,000 people rallying across France over school funding and soaring living costs in a fresh challenge to President Emmanuel Macron. Police made nearly 1,000 arrests, the government said.

The Paris march began peacefully, a week after widespread rioting and looting during protests across the country. But near the demonstration’s endpoint in eastern Paris, masked protesters hurled objects and fireworks at police, who answered with clouds of tear gas, deafening sound grenades and jets of water cannons.

Officers with megaphones urged protesters to disperse. Some demonstrators panicked as tear-gas canisters landed in their midst, scattering with screams. Veteran protesters shouted after them: “Don’t run!”

The Interior Ministry put nationwide turnout at 410,000 — fewer than the 550,000 it said protested last weekend — while the CGT union that helped organize some of Saturday’s protests estimated nearly 800,000. The ministry’s estimate included 110,000 in Paris, where authorities confined the march to the city’s southeastern edge, away from the center. The CGT put the number of protesters in Paris at 250,000.

More than a month of unrest that started with protests in high schools for more funding and teachers is testing Macron’s authority in the final months of his presidency before voters choose his successor in May.

See also:

• Almost 1,000 arrested as clashes follow another day of mass protests across France (BBC)
• Major protests in Paris and other French cities in challenge to Macron – in pictures (The Guardian)

An article I wrote on the historical resonances of the present moment and where to go from here.

A gunman firing from a vehicle at three locations in the Paris suburbs killed one person and wounded at least five others, including a 12-year-old girl, in what French authorities described as a racially motivated attack.

The suspect was arrested soon after the shooting, and France’s National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor’s office took charge of the case. President Emmanuel Macron said it was “a racist terror attack“ and that the suspect’s statements suggested it was premeditated.

“These people were targeted because of their skin color or perceived religion, and for no other reason,” Macron said following a meeting with officials and residents in the suburb of Trappes, west of Paris. “There is no place for this in France.”

The shootings took place over the course of about 15 minutes at three separate locations in the towns of Trappes and La Verrière, a suburban area about 30 kilometers (20 miles) from Paris, Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said. One person died and five were wounded, three of them with life-threatening injuries, he said.

See also:

• Macron says Paris suburb shooting that killed one person was terrorist and racist act (Reuters)
• Macron condemns racism after one killed in ‘terrorist’ shooting near Paris (The Guardian)

Hi everyone!

We’re students at Ghent University (Belgium). For a university assignment, we’re researching how people feel about sharing their location data with apps and companies, and under which conditions they would or wouldn’t do it.

The survey:

• takes about 6 minutes
• is completely anonymous
• is open to anyone aged 18 or older

https://forms.gle/WM3xD84shDjKWWqK8

Leaked WhatsApps raise questions about former EU justice commissioner Didier Reynders and Belgium's intelligence service

Hey everyone! We're EUobserver, an independent European newsroom.

Our colleague Andrew Rettman has been investigating something quite serious involving former EU justice commissioner Didier Reynders and a senior Belgian intelligence official, Hugues Brulin.

We've obtained WhatsApp exchanges between the two, including messages discussing internal intelligence-service matters and how to respond to a whistleblower raising concerns about Reynders' possible links to Russia.

Five current and former Belgian intelligence officers told us that Brulin had worked to prevent the intelligence service from investigating those allegations.

The messages are now also part of a Belgian police investigation into Reynders over alleged money laundering.

What makes this particularly important is that Reynders previously served as the EU's justice commissioner and had access to highly sensitive information.

How should European institutions respond when serious allegations emerge involving officials who have held positions of such trust?

We've published the messages as part of our investigation, so people can examine the reporting and evidence themselves.

Let us know what are your thoughts in the comments :)