France will deploy 70,000 police for a third weekend of protests amid fears rioters will hide behind Halloween masks

France's third consecutive Saturday of protests begins today as an estimated hundreds of thousands take to the streets, with authorities warning that Halloween costumes could let rioters conceal their identities and evade police. Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez has described October 31 as carrying "a very high risk of public order" disruption, with far-left groups and Yellow Vest networks using social media to call for evening violence. The unrest has now spread to over 30 German cities, where youth group Gen Z regelt is demanding more school funding and opposing mandatory military service.

Some 2,500 businesses were damaged in the October 17 riots, with 47% severely affected and 480 in the Paris region alone.

Students were not mollified by government concessions, which included capping class sizes and phasing out an unpopular university admissions platform.

Authorities have rerouted Paris marchers to the city's eastern periphery, drawing fury from protest organisers who launched failed legal challenges.