FRENCH police used tear gas and a water cannon to break up anti-G7 protesters in the southern city of Bayonne on Saturday, as leaders from the world’s leading industrialized nations arrived for their summit just a few kilometers away in Biarritz. Since Monday, anti-capitalist activists, environmentalists and other anti-globalization groups have been flocking to a counter-summit in southwestern France that organizers insisted would be peaceful. More than 9,000 anti-G7 protesters took part in the largest protest Saturday — a mass march over a bridge linking France and Spain that took place without incident. However, the atmosphere was more hostile in Bayonne, where hundreds of protesters chanting anti-capitalist slogans did not seem to follow a route, instead wandering the streets trying to find a way into the city center. The protesters tried to get through the barricade and police faced them down for more than an hour. The larger, peaceful march took place in the coastal French town of Hendaye, about 30 kilometers from Biarritz, with police giving a figure of 9,000 but organizers saying as many as 15,000 people turned up. Biarritz is a popular tourist destination, but with U.S. President Donald Trump and other world leaders flying in for three days of talks, the resort was on lockdown. (SD-Agencies) |