France deploys thousands of police amid a new wave of protests
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France → deploy → protests
Major museums, including the Louvre and Grand Palais, closed Saturday over protest-related concerns
Paris braced for a fresh march by students and workers over school funding and soaring living costs Saturday, one week after unrest left shops looted and cars burned.
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cars → include → shops
The new march was restricted to the city's southeastern edge as police deployed in force across France.
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police → restrict → France
Scenes of looting, burned-out cars and attacks on public buildings left the impression that the government had lost control, as groups of masked vandals targeted businesses in Paris and other city centres.
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groups → burn → Paris
Police imposed the new route Friday between Porte d'Italie and Porte de Vincennes, replacing the planned march from Bastille to Nation.
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Police → impose → Nation
The movement began last month over staff shortages at one high school southeast of Paris.
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movement → begin → Paris
It now reaches well beyond the classroom.
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It → reach → classroom
Students want more teachers, better school buildings and more university places.
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Students → want → teachers
Unions are demanding higher wages and pensions to help people meet the cost of living.
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people → demand → living
Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said as many as 70,000 officers will be deployed nationwide, along with helicopters, armored vehicles and water cannons.
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officers → say → helicopters
In central Paris, a few dozen gendarmes, or military police officers, were stationed beneath the Arc de Triomphe and along the nearby avenues.
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gendarmes → station → avenues
A massive turnout is expected again after more than half a million took to the streets last week.
Museums are closed and shopkeepers are worried
Major museums, including the Louvre, Musée d'Orsay, Picasso Museum and Grand Palais — where a major Cézanne exhibit is on display — are closed Saturday.
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exhibit → expect → display
Art Basel, one of the world's most prestigious contemporary art fairs, opened to the public Friday, but only for the day, with the threat of unrest prompting organizers to cancel the weekend program.
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threat → open → program
Parisian shopkeepers have been barricading their stores all week.
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shopkeepers → barricade → stores
Near the Saint-Lazare train station, Akram Ahmed, a 34-year-old contractor, was boarding up an optician's shop.
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Ahmed → board → shop
"I got the call last night," he said.
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he → get → call
"The owner seemed desperate.
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owner → seem → ?
He said I was saving his life."
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I → say → life
Following the unrest, Paris police prefect Patrice Faure urged Parisian shopkeepers to hire security guards.
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Faure → follow → guards
He later clarified that protecting business owners and their establishments is the responsibility of the government.
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protecting → clarify → government
Some 3,000 shops across France were damaged or looted last weekend.
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shops → damage → France
Some protests have been banned
Protest marches are scheduled in Paris and Marseille, but some other rallies, including in Lyon, Nice and Montpellier, have been banned by local authorities.
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rallies → ban → authorities
In Lyon, French media reported that police used tear gas Saturday morning.
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police → report → gas
Cities outside Paris were hit hard by the unrest.
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Cities → hit → unrest
Two suspects in the fire that nearly destroyed Limoges's 19th-century city hall were placed under formal investigation and held pending trial, French media reported.
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media → destroy → trial
The probe includes attempted murder of a public official.
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probe → include → official
Trade unions have criticized the bans, calling them violations of freedom of expression, which is protected by the constitution.
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which → criticize → constitution
French President Emmanuel Macron, a centrist, has entered the crisis in the final stretches of his term, with his popularity at its lowest since he took office in 2017.
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he → enter → 2017
He has said that the measures are needed to protect city centres, businesses and public buildings.
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measures → say → centres
French police move people away to prevent gatherings at the Place de la Bastille in Paris as part of nationwide protests that are taking place again on Saturday.
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that → move → Saturday
Thousands of people gathered Saturday morning for an anti-far-right protest in the city of Orléans, about 110 kilometres south of Paris.
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Thousands → gather → Paris
It was organized on the sidelines of a two-day congress of Marine Le Pen's nationalist, anti-immigration party ahead of next spring's presidential election.
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It → organize → election
Students and workers are angry
Student groups want 250,000 more places in higher education and an end to selection through Parcoursup, the national admissions system.
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groups → want → Parcoursup
Their joint 10-point plan also calls for more teachers and repairs to schools and universities.
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plan → call → schools
They are also seeking help with everyday costs: an extra 200 euros (around $313 Cdn) a month in student grants and a rent freeze in public student housing.
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They → seek → housing
High school students have raised concerns about underfunded schools and staff shortages, particularly in lower-income neighbourhoods.
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students → raise → neighbourhoods
Some also called for a reform of the university admissions system, seen by many as unfair.
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Some → call → many
With the government seemingly unable to respond to students' demands, the movement has morphed into larger protests over soaring living costs, just months before the vote to choose Macron's successor.
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movement → respond → successor
"The money is now concentrated in the hands of very few people," said Victoria Ambrosini, an art critic and art teacher at Saint-Denis University.
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Ambrosini → concentrate → University
The Aporia
