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Paris – Paris police say 317 people were detained after an unauthorised protest seeking to call attention to climate change, which ended with police firing tear gas at protesters throwing bottles and candles. The Paris police department had said on Sunday night that 174 were detained in the protest, then said yesterday morning that the figure had grown to 317. It did not give a reason for the growing number.

France is under a state of emergency after November 13 attacks that killed 130 people. It banned protests ahead of landmark climate talks which opened yesterday, citing security concerns.

But thousands of people formed a human chain along the route of a long-planned environmental march Sunday. It was largely peaceful.

President Francois Hollande denounced the violence as “scandalous”. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and French President Francois Hollande yesterday greeted heads of state and government from around the world for high-stakes talks aimed at fighting global warming.- AP.