Police fire tear gas at protesters during day of strikes in France

Hundreds of thousands of people have taken part in anti-austerity protests and strikes in France.

The demonstrators included teachers, train drivers, pharmacists, and hospital staff. A third of primary school teachers were on strike nationwide on Thursday, and nearly half walked out in Paris, the FSU-SNUipp union said.

Regional trains were heavily affected, while most of the country's high-speed TGV services were working, officials said. There were clashes on the margins of the rallies, but the level of violence was not as high as interior minister Bruno Retailleau had feared.

Some 80,000 police and gendarmes were deployed. Officers in the capital threw tear gas to disperse troublemakers dressed in black who hurled beer cans and stones at them.

Police also stopped people targeting banks. There were brief clashes at other protests as well, including in Nantes, and in Lyon, where three people were reportedly injured.

The French interior ministry said more than 180 people had been arrested in the unrest. Authorities said over 450,000 people demonstrated outside Paris while another 55,000 marched in the capital.

But the CGT union said a million people took part in the strikes and protests. What's driving the unrest? Protesters and unions want President Emmanuel Macron and his new prime minister, close ally Sebastien Lecornu, to scrap looming budget cuts.

They have called for the previous government's fiscal plans to be axed, for more spending on public services, and for the wealthy to pay more tax. But Mr Macron and Mr Lecornu, who is a member of his centrist Renaissance party, are also under pressure from investors who are concerned about the deficit in the EU's second-largest economy.

Read more:Macron taking big risk in picking loyalist to be next PMThe Block Everything movement has mobilised protesters The country's budget deficit last year was almost double the EU's 3% ceiling. But even though he wants to reduce that, Mr Lecornu - who is reliant on other parties to push through legislation - will face a battle to get enough parliamentary support for a 2026 budget.

His predecessor, Francois Bayrou, was ousted by parliament last week over his plan for €44bn (£38bn) of budget cuts. The new prime minister has not yet said what he will do about Mr Bayrou's plans, but has shown a willingness to compromise..