Paris protests draw 70K people as Molotov cocktail hurled at cops, Israeli flags burned

Key Points:

• Violent protests erupted across France, especially in Paris, where rioters threw Molotov cocktails at police, set US and Israeli flags on fire, and broke into homes, with at least 320,000 people participating nationwide.
• Police used tear gas, water cannons, and mortar fire to disperse crowds, resulting in clashes that injured officers, some of whom had to evacuate students from a school for safety.
• The French government blamed far-left extremist groups for the violence, describing the Molotov cocktail attack on a police officer as attempted murder, and announced readiness to confront further unrest.
• Protests also spread to other European cities, including Frankfurt, Hamburg, Cologne in Germany, and Tirana in Albania, where clashes with police involved stone-throwing, Molotov cocktails, and barricade fires.
• Demonstrators expressed anger over rising living costs and political grievances, with symbolic acts such as burning flags, attacking a Macron piñata, and chanting slogans against Israel and the French president.