2:59 • no narration • every clip credited on screen • French clips carry our English subtitles • as of 10:14 p.m. PT, Thursday, Oct. 22 (Friday morning in France)
News compilation, newest developments first. Every item is attributed to the outlet or official named.
Latest — Friday morning in France
Macron’s Friday. President Emmanuel Macron chairs a defense council at 9 a.m. Paris time, where “additional decisions” on security are expected; at 3 p.m. he receives high-school student organizations at the Élysée for the first time since the protests began, then visits police. Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu goes to Limoges, whose city hall was set on fire on Oct. 17 (BFMTV; Europe 1/AFP).
Police numbers. BFMTV police reporter Alexandra Gonzalez said Saturday’s deployment will be bigger than last week’s, with the exact figure to be announced by the Interior Minister at 11:30 a.m. Paris time; police sources told BFMTV that CRS companies due to be off this weekend will be mobilized (BFMTV). Police-school students are being asked to volunteer for administrative and static-guard duty to free experienced officers; the law bars them from crowd control (BFMTV).
Court challenge. The Association for the Defense of Constitutional Liberties (Adelico) and the Magistrates’ Union filed an emergency appeal with the Council of State on Thursday evening asking it to suspend Macron’s “general recommendation” against non-union protests; the court has 48 hours to rule. An adviser told franceinfo the president “is absolutely not overstepping his prerogatives” (franceinfo; RMC). The Human Rights League (LDH) has filed appeals in administrative courts against local bans (RMC; franceinfo).
Lille. The Nord prefecture banned all protests and gatherings in central Lille on Saturday (Europe 1/AFP).
Paris closures. The Culture Ministry closed the Louvre, Musée d’Orsay, Orangerie, Picasso Museum and Grand Palais for Saturday (BFMTV; Anadolu). At the prefecture’s request, the RATP will close just under 30 metro stations from 9 a.m. Saturday on lines 2, 6 and 12 (BFMTV).
Shopkeepers. Paris hair-salon owner Jean Saberny, in business 42 years, told BFMTV he will spend the weekend in his shop with friends and no longer counts on the police (BFMTV). Locksmith Tony Lopes said call-outs have almost tripled since Saturday (BFMTV).
Orléans. Shops on rue de la République, including a Fnac, have boarded up their windows before the RN congress protests (BFMTV; Europe 1). A Sunday march filed by the Sud-PTT union was banned; Saturday’s march is maintained (BFMTV).
Rome. A student march from Piazza della Repubblica to the Imperial Fora, 3 to 7 p.m. Saturday, is confirmed; the Circo Massimo rally called by Movimento 17 Ottobre remained unconfirmed (Fanpage.it).
Serbia. The pre-election campaign silence began at midnight and lasts until polls close Sunday at 8 p.m. Final polls differ: Ipsos put Vučić’s list at 47.4% and the Student List at 40% (RTS); New Serbian Political Thought put the Student List ahead, 44.5% to 42.7% (Politico).
Thursday evening
Serbia. About 150,000 people attended the Student List’s final rally at Belgrade’s Slavija Square on Thursday evening, according to the independent Archive of Public Gatherings (AFP; Danas; Anadolu video).
Paris shops told to protect themselves. In a letter sent Wednesday evening, Paris police prefect Patrice Faure wrote that the reinforced police plan “cannot on its own guarantee the protection of every establishment” and advised businesses near march routes to use private security guards, protect windows, bring in terraces and consider closing early or not opening during the march and the evening after (franceinfo; Le Parisien). Le Figaro reported the letter drew an outcry (Le Figaro).
Darmanin, Hermès, curfews. Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin said he wants voting rights suspended for people who defy protest bans; Hermès said it stepped up security at its French stores; and a third night of local curfews passed without major incidents (Reuters).
Albania. Opposition lawmakers scuffled with ruling-party members in parliament on Thursday, holding up photos of a protester they said was injured by police; the student-led movement has called a national rally for Saturday (AFP via The Hindu; Euronews Albania; Al Jazeera English video).
Rome. Only two of four protests planned in Rome on Saturday have been notified to police; Movimento 17 Ottobre called a 3 p.m. rally at Circo Massimo without notice, Corriere della Sera reported (Corriere della Sera).
Earlier Thursday, Oct. 22
Macron: only union marches. After chairing a security council with the prime minister and intelligence services, President Emmanuel Macron said protests requested by people “with no legitimacy” will be banned by prefects, while unions will be offered “alternative routes to protect our city centers.” He accused “ultra-left” groups of “sedition” and said he will chair a defense council Friday to take “further decisions” (Élysée; Euronews; The Guardian; BFMTV video).
Paris route. The Paris police prefecture approved the CGT-filed march from Bastille to Nation on Saturday, leaving at 2 p.m.; the Bastille-to-Opéra route filed by Yellow Vests and the Interfac student group will be banned, citing the violence of last weekend and Oct. 13 (Europe 1/AFP; Le Parisien). BFMTV later reported that the Yellow Vests coordination will join the Bastille–Nation march (BFMTV).
Bans elsewhere. All protests are banned Saturday in Lyon and in Marseille; Grenoble, Rouen, Le Havre and Toulon banned protests in their city centers (AFP). In Marseille the prefecture also halted public transit for Saturday and extended the curfew to adults (BFM Marseille; France 24). RTL reported the Paris curfew was renewed through Monday (RTL live).
Police. Junior Interior Minister Jean-Didier Berger said police numbers Saturday will be 20% higher than on Oct. 17, with Sentinelle soldiers and the RAID, GIGN and BRI units (Euronews; BFMTV video). Euronews notes Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez had expected about 200,000 marchers on Oct. 17, against 550,000 to 800,000 counted.
Students. A Paris student march banned by police went ahead Thursday after an administrative court suspended the ban; hundreds attended (AFP via France 24). Mediapart reported a new prefectural order then kept the march from moving (Mediapart).
Paris mayor. After a meeting at the prime minister’s office, Mayor Emmanuel Grégoire said he would not call himself at ease before Saturday (franceinfo). Art Basel Paris said it will close two days early this weekend (France 24).
Stocking up on pepper spray
Gun shops report a surge in sales of non-lethal self-defense items since the Oct. 17 looting. Le Parisien reported orders multiplied by ten at several Paris shops (Le Parisien). Yves Gollety, president of the national gun dealers’ union, said sales are rising “mainly in big cities” (TF1 Info; CNEWS video). Jean-Daniel Mercier of Armurerie Alex in Paris told TF1 Info he sells mostly tear-gas sprays and is out of stock of rubber-ball launchers, and reminds buyers that carrying them is normally prohibited. A Pau-area dealer told La République des Pyrénées his sales are “5 to 10 times” normal (La République des Pyrénées; RTL). M6 Info filmed a Paris resident, Tracy, buying two pepper sprays near Bastille (M6 Info).
Orléans: RN congress
Loiret prefect Hugues Moutouh said 20,000 to 30,000 people are expected Saturday to protest the National Rally congress, including “2,000 to 3,000 radical elements”; about 3,000 police and gendarmes, a Centaure armored vehicle and water cannon will be deployed, and all gatherings are banned Sunday. The declared march leaves the cathedral square at 10:30 a.m. Saturday; the RN expects 5,000 people Saturday and 10,000 Sunday for the launch of Marine Le Pen’s presidential campaign (Europe 1/AFP; France 3). Mayor Serge Grouard said the tram will not run downtown Saturday (franceinfo).
Italy
In Milan, Italia in Piazza called off its Saturday march; its Milan representative Louis Pogutz told AGI there is “a risk of new violence,” and an anarchist march was also cancelled. Movimento 17 Ottobre still plans Saturday protests in major cities (Milano Notizie). The government’s decree creates an offense of violent participation in protests, punishable by up to five years, and sends 500 soldiers to Milan (Italian government; The Local).
Serbia
Serbia votes Sunday, Oct. 25, in a snap parliamentary election pitting the Student List against the SNS list led by Aleksandar Vučić, who resigned as president to run (Al Jazeera; OSCE/ODIHR). Students held their final rally in Belgrade on Thursday; the Archive of Public Gatherings estimated about 150,000 attended (AFP; AP).
Sunday, Oct. 25: RN rally in Orléans (gatherings banned); Serbia election; NFL Steelers–Saints game at Stade de France, with heightened security, the NFL said (AP).
Known fakes: the 2024 church-fire video and AI-generated “Paris on fire” images are not from this unrest and are not used here.
Clips used under fair use for news commentary; sources are credited in the video.
