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Chaos erupted on the streets of Paris as a May Day workers' march saw riots break-out in protest against Marine Le Pen.

Fighting broke out in central Paris during a rally held close to the Place de la Bastille, where protestors shouted ‘Fascists out!’.

They were furious that Ms Le Pen, 48, has got through to the second round of the election to choose a new head of state.

Six French police officers were injured by Molotov cocktails with one badly hurt by a firebomb that exploded on top of his helmet which resulted in flames engulfing his entire body.

A police source said: "Around one hundred hooded protestors got as close as they could to police lines, and then one or two threw Molotov Cocktails.

"One officer suffered serious burns to the face just after 3pm. He was rushed to hospital. He is in a bad way, but his condition is not life threatening. Another officer suffered serious hand wounds, while others were less badly hurt. There were five arrests in all."

Ms Le Pen will go head-to-head against independent favourite Emmanuel Macron, 39, on Sunday.

"She represents racism and hatred, that’s why we’re opposing her," said one left-wing activist Nicole, aged 22.

(Image: AFP) (Image: Getty Images Europe) (Image: AFP)

"Thousands of us have come out on the street to stand up for justice and decency, and to show our shame at these fascists hoping to take over," she added.

As Nicole smoke police took part in running battles with riot police, who used tear gas and baton charges to try and restrain the crowds.

More than 9,000 police, gendarmes and soldiers were on duty to try and prevent trouble on what is traditionally a day of protest across France.

Today Ms Le Pen addressed National Front (FN) supporters at the Exhibitions Park at Villepinte, north-east of Paris, calling on ‘nationalist France’ to rise up.

Earlier her father, Jean-Le Pen, the convicted racist and anti-Semite Jean-Marie Le Pen, had laid a wreath of Joan of Arc in Paris.

(Image: AFP) (Image: REUTERS) (Image: REUTERS)

Mr Le Pen, who remains the honorary president of the FN and who is funding his daughter’s election campaign with a loan worth more than £6m, told supporters to vote in their masses.

He was a frequent presidential candidate, and came second to the conservative Jacques Chirac in 1995.

Mr Macron meanwhile taunted his far-right rivals by visiting the spot where her FN supporters murdered a Moroccan immigrant.

Mr Macron paid a moving tribute at the Carousel Bridge, in central Paris, where Brahim Bouarram was killed by neo-Nazis attached to the party exactly 22 years ago today.

At the time Ms Le Pen was an up-and-coming FN politician, having unsuccessfully stood for a parliamentary seat in the French capital.

(Image: AFP) (Image: REUTERS) (Image: REUTERS)

The four men involved in Bouarram’s killing were all in the same FN cortege as Ms Le Pen and her father as they paid homage to Joan of Arc on May Day 1995.

Referring to the Bouarram tribute, a member of Mr Macron’s En Marche! (On the Move!) political movement said: "Emmanuel Macron was determined to honour Brahim and in turn to show what the FN is all about."

Bouarram, a married father-of-two, was first of all attacked by the FN supporters, who chanted racist slogs, before throwing him into the River Seine, where he was left to drown.

His murder – for which four attackers were eventually convicted – caused shockwaves in the middle of the 1995 presidential election, which was contested by Mr Le Pen.

Francois Mitterand, the then Socialist head of state, stopped campaigning between the two rounds as 12000 people gathered on the bridge to pay tribute to Bouarram.

(Image: AFP) (Image: REUTERS) (Image: REUTERS) (Image: REUTERS)

Ms Le Pen, who came second in this year’s first round, has been desperately trying to distance the FN from its xenophobic image.

Last week she stood down as leader of the party, saying she wanted to become France’s first female president as a candidate of the whole country.

But Mr Macron has constantly been reminding people of the FN’s roots, including Ms Le Pen’s personal links with neo-Nazis and Holocaust deniers.

(Image: REUTERS) (Image: AFP) (Image: AFP)

Earlier this month, Ms Le Pen caused outrage by claiming that the French were not responsible for the round-up of Paris Jews during the Second World War.

She is currently trailing in opinion polls, which suggest that the independent Mr Macron will win Sunday’s poll by as much as 60 per cent.

Other May Day marches and protests breaking out across the world

Venezuela

As the streets in the French capital erupted into scenes of violence, other protests across the world brought chaos to annual May Day marches.

In Venezuela, the capital Caracas also saw violence break out as opposition protesters wore masks while rioting in the street.

Security forces in riot vans blocked off central Caracas as the country braced for pro and anti-government May Day protests one month after a wave of deadly political unrest erupted.

Last month violent protests erupted across the country following a Supreme Court decision to strip the legislative branch of its powers.

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(Image: AFP) (Image: AFP)

Manila

Manila, in the Philappines also saw thousands take to the street.

The Filipino workers and trade unions marked international labor day with a protest march towards the presidential palace.

Workers are calling for better wages and an end to contractualization.

(Image: Getty Images AsiaPac)

(Image: Getty Images AsiaPac)

London

In London members of the Communist Party of Great Britain marched against cuts to services and anti-trade union laws.

The march was supported by several trade unions, including UNITE, ASLEF, PCS, TSSA, RBU AND UNISON.

Various organisations representing migrant workers in the UK also marched from Clerkenwell towards Trafalgar Square holding party flags and chanting their support.

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(Image: Rex Features)

(Image: Rex Features)

Spain

In Spain, the country’s two major unions called for marches in more than 70 cities.

Under the slogan ‘No More Excuses’, they demanded an increase in wages and pensions as fires erupted across main roads and thick smoke engulfed cities.

The UGT and CC.OO unions also demanded that Spain's conservative government roll back its labour reforms that have made it easier to fire workers.

(Image: REUTERS) (Image: REUTERS) (Image: REUTERS)

CC.OO general secretary Ignacio Fernandez Toxo spoke at a march of thousands of people in Madrid.

He said: "Spain has been growing for two years and now it is time for the economy to align itself with the needs of the people."

Thousands more marched in Barcelona, Seville and Valencia.

Berlin

In Berlin, demonstrators used smoke grenades in a protest in the district of Kreuzberg.

Revellers and rioters were celebrating the MyFest street party when the chaotic scenes broke out.

Crowds were engulfed as smoke bombs were let off.

Many rioters wore masks to cover their faces as they demonstrated against the establishment.

(Image: REUTERS)

(Image: REUTERS)

(Image: REUTERS)

Thousands of police were deployed to the streets of various European cities as violence escalated.

The May Day workers march saw chaos in cities such as London, Berlin and Gijon as trade unions and opposition activists took to the streets.

In Paris, as astonishing 9,000 police officers were drafted in to help control the crowds, with many receiving injuries from firebombs and missiles thrown in the carnage.