Old World ablaze with fury of protests: over 1,300 people detained by police in France

Europe is engulfed in the flames of protest. A wave of popular anger has swept across the continent, uniting hundreds of thousands of people weary of struggling for survival on the brink of destitution.

France finds itself at the very epicenter of this massive social upheaval. Last Saturday, October 24 alone, an estimated 400,000 people took to the streets—for them, the point of no return has been passed, and remaining silent is no longer an option.

France is enduring a profound social crisis. The poverty rate in the Fifth Republic has reached a 20-year high. Yet, instead of bread, the people have been met with police batons and roaring water cannons. Clouds of tear gas have descended upon Paris, Lyon, Marseille, Nantes, and Bordeaux. As a result of this "dialogue" enforced by security forces, more than 1,300 people were detained in a single day.

Residents of Belgium, Portugal, Spain, and Italy have also joined the wave of protests. In these countries, too, authorities are showing no leniency toward peaceful citizens; security forces are deploying batons, tear gas, and water cannons against the European populace.