Protests break out in Paris, Lyon as France’s Macron re-elected

Demonstrators took to the streets in Paris and Lyon on Sunday (April 24) night in protest against French President Emmanuel Macron’s election win over far-right rival Marine Le Pen.

Protesters threw fireworks at a police car in Lyon, while police fired tear gas and charged at dozens gathered in Place de la Republique square in Paris.

Police earlier in Paris tried to break up a crowd of mostly young protesters who had gathered in the central neighbourhood of Chatelet, images on Twitter showed.

Macron defeated Le Pen in a runoff vote earlier on Sunday by winning a second five-year term and preventing what would otherwise have been a major political upset.

Although Macron won by a comfortable margin, the abstention rate was expected to settle at the highest since 1969, with a substantial chunk of voters unwilling to vote for either Macron or Le Pen.

(Reuters)