France kicks off May Day rallies a year after pensions backlash

In Lyon, 17 people were arrested after hooded individuals attacked a bank, Report informs via RFI.

Similar violence also broke out in the western city of Nantes.

A police source told FranceInfo that authorities were ready for both ultra-right and ultra-left demonstrators, with some 12,000 police and gendarmes deployed throughout the country – including 5,000 in Paris.