Nearly 200 protesters detained as France deploys 80,000 police to quell unrest.
Bus torched in Rennes; power line sabotage halts trains in southwest.
New PM Sébastien Lecornu appointed after government collapse, faces immediate crisis.
France witnessed a fresh wave of unrest on Wednesday as thousands of protesters clashed with police, blocked roads, and set fires in major cities, intensifying political pressure on President Emmanuel Macron. Nearly 200 people were arrested during the first hours of a nationwide protest campaign aimed at disrupting the country.
Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau confirmed, as cited by Associate Press, that a bus was set ablaze in Rennes and that damage to a power line halted train services in the southwest. He accused demonstrators of trying to create “a climate of insurrection,” despite the deployment of 80,000 police officers across the country.
According to Reuters, the violence erupted just hours after Emanuel Macron appointed Sébastien Lecornu, 39, as France’s new prime minister. A Macron loyalist and the youngest defence minister in French history, Lecornu is tasked with uniting divided political parties and securing a budget after his predecessor François Bayrou was ousted in a confidence vote earlier this week.
