France opens attempted murder probe after petrol bomb thrown at police

Paris prosecutors have opened an attempted murder investigation after a petrol bomb was thrown at police during protests in France on Saturday. The Guardian says the target was riot police and the case concerns the attempted murder of an officer.

The BBC reports hundreds of arrests as protesters marched in cities across France for the third weekend in a row. Deutsche Welle puts the figure at 779 arrests across the nationwide protests and Halloween night. It says that is fewer than on earlier weekends.

Al Jazeera reports that no arrests have been made over the attacks on police, and that several security officers were reportedly injured. The reports do not say whether any of the 779 arrests are linked to the petrol bomb attack.

The Guardian says the protests were peaceful and mainly led by young people, but ended in violence in cities across France, Germany, Switzerland, Portugal and Albania. Germany's interior minister called for harsh penalties.

In Portugal, police cleared protest camps with baton charges, some using dogs, the Guardian reports. In Switzerland, security forces were attacked with paving stones.