Thu Sep 11 04:10:00 UTC 2025: **FOX NEWS**
**Hundreds Arrested as “Block Everything” Protests Rock France**
**PARIS** – French police arrested nearly 300 demonstrators Wednesday as nationwide “Block Everything” protests brought cities across France to a standstill. Demonstrators blocked roads, lit fires, and clashed with authorities in a coordinated day of action against President Emmanuel Macron’s policies and recent budget cuts.
The protests come on the heels of political turmoil in France, with Prime Minister François Bayrou losing a parliamentary confidence vote on Monday and being replaced by Sébastien Lecornu, marking Macron’s fourth Prime Minister in under a year.
“One prime minister has just been ousted and straight away we get another from the right,” said Baptiste Sagot, a 21-year-old student, to the Associated Press. “They’re trying to make working people, young students, retirees, all people in difficulty, bear all the effort instead of taxing wealth.”
In Paris, police deployed tear gas to disperse protesters attempting to block the city’s beltway. Elsewhere in the capital, trash cans were set ablaze, and objects were thrown at police. A restaurant fire in the Châtelet neighborhood required intervention from firefighters. By mid-afternoon, Paris police reported 183 arrests, with over 100 more taken into custody across the country.
Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau reported that protesters torched a bus in Rennes. Widespread disruptions were reported in cities from Marseille to Lille and Caen, and from Nantes and Rennes to Grenoble and Lyon.
The “Block Everything” movement, or Bloquons Tout, gained traction over the summer through social media and encrypted chats. The call for mass protest comes as the government seeks to implement austerity measures, including $51 billion in public spending cuts, to address France’s growing deficit and national debt, which stands at 114% of GDP.
Around 80,000 police officers were deployed nationwide to manage the protests.
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