121 arrested across France as protest crowd estimates split

French authorities arrested 121 people across the country Saturday as a fresh wave of cost-of-living protests hit the streets, according to the Interior Ministry. Twenty-two of those detentions happened in Paris, most for minor offenses. The ministry reported no major incidents during the day.

The two sides can't agree on how many people showed up. The ministry put the nationwide crowd at 106,000, including 24,000 in the capital. Organizers said roughly 200,000 marched in total, with about 100,000 of them in Paris.

Security was heavy. Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said more than 70,000 police officers were deployed to keep order. One Paris march set off from the Place de la Republique and was headed for the Place de la Nation by way of the Place de la Bastille, with French media estimating that crowd at between 30,000 and 60,000. Between 50 and 60 marches were expected around the country.

The unrest keeps rolling. The General Confederation of Labour (CGT) has called for another major day of strikes and protests on Nov. 17. General Secretary Sophie Binet said mobilization will continue as long as wages don't rise and demands go unanswered, and she brushed off the government's 1.6% minimum wage increase as too small, noting it works out to €23, just €5 more than the automatic increase.

That raise, announced by Labor Minister Jean-Pierre Farandou, kicks in Dec. 1 and brings the full-time minimum wage to €1,502 net per month. Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu said the increase is not enough but launches a cycle of discussions on wages. Education, higher education and research unions have already called a strike and demonstration day for Nov. 10, saying a government social conference on wages looked set to leave out public-sector workers.