Looting, blazes and clashes in France amid nationwide protests

The widespread unrest follows weeks of student protests and deepens political uncertainty in France as it readies for elections in six months' time to replace President Emmanuel Macron. An Apple store in Lille was among dozens of shops looted in France © Sameer AL-DOUMY / AFP Macron and his government were criticised by many of the demonstrators, who numbered 500,000 across the country, according to the CGT union. Authorities did not immediately give their estimate of numbers.Police used tear gas and water cannon against masked protesters in Paris and other cities who were throwing projectiles and aiming fireworks. Several parked cars were torched in the capital, and more than 130 arrests made.In the southern city of Saint-Etienne, a male protester had his hand blown off by a police crowd-control grenade, a police source told AFP. His maiming came after a 15-year-old lost his hand October 5 to a police stun grenade during another protest in the city of Lens. A tourism office in the city of Lyon was set ablaze © Jeff PACHOUD / AFP In Lyon, protesters set ablaze a tourist office in the city centre, and smashed their way into town halls in the cities of Marseille and Lille, where they...