More than 320,000 join another round of protests across France, clashes with police in Paris and other cities

Hundreds of thousands of protesters took to the streets in cities across France again on Saturday. The interior ministry estimated that 320,000 people demonstrated nationwide, a smaller number than the previous two Saturdays. Protesters and police clashed in Paris and other cities.

The now-weekly demonstrations have become a regular expression of national grievance. In Paris, tensions began flaring in the late afternoon as police fired rounds of tear gas at people who refused to disperse.

The Paris police estimated that 70,000 people marched in the capital, compared with 110,000 last Saturday. The interior ministry estimated 320,000 nationwide, compared with 410,000 last week. Protesters and police also clashed in Marseille, Lyon, Toulouse and Rennes.

Earlier in the week, France's interior minister, Laurent Nunez, promised to deploy 70,000 police officers, matching the numbers on 24 October. That operation helped keep a lid on outbreaks of arson and looting, although then, too, there were clashes as police tried to disperse crowds in the evening.

Halloween, which also fell on Saturday, added to the authorities' fears. Citing calls on social media for people to revolt that encouraged them to wear masks and costumes, the authorities warned that the risk of a new outbreak of violence was high.

Mr. Nunez said at a news conference: 'We are seeing numerous calls to gather coming from the far left, the radicalized extreme left, and from certain radicalized yellow vests websites, which are urging people to attend rallies or public gatherings starting at 8 p.m. in many cities across France.' He said some of the messages were violent, calling for 'revolution' and 'insurrection.' Those gatherings would be forbidden, and any attempt to gather in spite of the ban would lead to arrests, he said.

Mr. Nunez warned it was a criminal offence to conceal one's face during a demonstration in which public order is disrupted. Demonstrators had been encouraged on social media to turn up wearing Halloween costumes.

Students, who return to school on Monday after a two-week break, were not mollified by the government's initial response to their demands. The Education Ministry agreed to cap some class sizes, offer low-interest loans to rebuild school buildings and phase out an unpopular online college admissions platform. The students vowed to go on protesting.

Their two-month-old movement has grown to include university students, public workers and veterans of the yellow vest movement that convulsed France from 2018 to 2020.

While the government has blamed far-left activists for much of the mayhem, officials confirmed that bands of young men with links to the far right have also infiltrated the demonstrations. They use the pretext of protecting shop owners but often end up in clashes with far-left groups.

French officials are also increasingly concerned about the role of social media in attracting people and inciting them to violent behaviour. Speculation that the government considered temporarily suspending several popular sites drew a denial from President Emmanuel Macron himself.

The nationwide unrest began with a handful of student demonstrations at high schools in suburban Paris last month. At 2 p.m. on Saturday, the interior ministry estimated that 15,000 people were taking part in 65 protests, compared with 37,000 at that time last week. The ministry said it had arrested 27 people, compared with 217 by this time last Saturday.