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French police use tear gas, pepper spray at Paris anti-far right protest

Police deployed tear gas and used pepper spray on demonstrators marching in Paris on Saturday (April 16) against the far right.

French police fired tear gas and used pepper spray on demonstrators marching in capital Paris on Saturday (April 16) against the far right.

Thousands of anti-far right protesters marched across France on Saturday as opponents of far-right presidential candidate Marine Le Pen seek to form a united front to prevent her from winning an election runoff against incumbent Emmanuel Macron on April 24.

Police warned of possible incidents as demonstrators convene in some 30 cities. Macron, a pro-European Union centrist, won the presidency in 2017 after easily beating Le Pen when voters rallied behind him in the runoff to keep her far-right party out of power.

This year, the first round of voting last Sunday set up the same battle, but Macron is facing a much tougher challenge.

(Source: Reuters)