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Protesters Opposed to COVID-19 Measures Clash With Police in Paris


Protesters attend a demonstration called by the nationalist Les Patriotes (The Patriots) against France's restrictions to fight COVID-19, on the Droits de l'Homme (human rights) esplanade at Trocadero Square in Paris, July 24, 2021.
Protesters attend a demonstration called by the nationalist Les Patriotes (The Patriots) against France's restrictions to fight COVID-19, on the Droits de l'Homme (human rights) esplanade at Trocadero Square in Paris, July 24, 2021.

French anti-riot police fired tear gas Saturday as clashes erupted during protests in central Paris against COVID-19 restrictions and a vaccination campaign, television reported.

Police sought to push back demonstrators near the capital's Gare Saint-Lazare railway station after protesters had knocked over a police motorbike ridden by two officers, television pictures showed.

Images showed a heavy police presence on the capital's streets. Scuffles between police and demonstrators also broke out on the Champs-Elysees thoroughfare, where tear gas was fired and traffic was halted, the pictures showed.

Opposition to 'dictatorship'

At another protest called by far-right politicians in west Paris, demonstrators opposed to anti-coronavirus measures carried banners reading "Stop the dictatorship."

Across France, protests were planned in cities including Marseille, Montpellier, Nantes and Toulouse.

An official with France's interior ministry said 161,000 people had demonstrated across the country on Saturday, up from 114,000 a week earlier.

French lawmakers are due to vote this weekend on a bill drafted by the government aimed at setting up a health pass and mandatory vaccination for health workers.

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    Reuters

    Reuters is a news agency founded in 1851 and owned by the Thomson Reuters Corporation based in Toronto, Canada. One of the world's largest wire services, it provides financial news as well as international coverage in over 16 languages to more than 1000 newspapers and 750 broadcasters around the globe.

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