France Braces for Weekend of Protests: 70,000 Cops Deployed, Tourist Destinations Shut

Multiple tourist sites have been defaced during the protests in France.

France will deploy around 70,000 police officers and gendarmes across the country on Saturday as authorities prepare for renewed unrest over the rising cost of living. Several major Paris museums, including the Louvre, will remain closed amid fears of further violence.

Last weekend, protests descended into violent clashes, with demonstrators setting fires, storming public buildings, smashing shop windows and looting businesses. The unrest was among France's most violent in years.

Students, members of the CGT labour union and activists from the yellow vest movement are expected to join Saturday's demonstrations. The movement's protests against social injustice shook France in 2018 and 2019.

Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said the security operation would involve police helicopters, armoured vehicles and water cannons. Elite police units would also help protect public buildings, including town halls, as part of what he described as a "highly mobile" operation.

"There have been numerous calls from radical far-left groups on social media to commit acts of violence and vandalism. There have also been renewed calls for looting, with those messages clearly being spread by rioters," Nuñez said at a news conference. "We will be absolutely uncompromising" with…

Original source: https://www.timesnownews.com/world