Police clash with protesters over oil giant meeting

FRENCH police today used tear gas and baton charges to stop climate change demonstrators disrupting a meeting of shareholders of oil giants Total in Paris.

There were scenes of chaos as hundreds of mainly young protesters staged a sit-in outside the Salle Pleyel conference centre.

“At dawn, they were blocking the pavement in a bid to stop the Total meeting, so officers moved in to try and dislodge them,” said an eyewitness.” When the protesters refused to move, tear gas canisters were fired.

A coalition of green groups had called for the annual general meeting of shareholders of Total — which now uses the official name TotalEnergies — to be disrupted.