PARIS (Reuters) - France will deploy some 70,000 police nationwide as it braces for new protests this weekend after some of the worst urban violence in years erupted on the sidelines of demonstrations a week ago, the government said Friday. 
President Emmanuel Macron, who according to aides is postponing a visit later this month to Nigeria and Senegal amid the crisis, held a meeting of his defense council of top ministers and officials and was to meet security forces. 
Anger over living costs and strained public services has drawn students, workers and unions onto the streets of France in recent weeks, but authorities say radical militants and bands of young looters have taken advantage of the dispute to sow chaos.
Police have authorized only a union demonstration in Paris on Saturday, rejecting requests for rallies lodged by France’s main student union, UNEF, and the Yellow Vest movement, an anti-establishment force that first emerged in 2018.
Many French cities beyond Paris have also banned protests, including France’s second and third largest cities, Marseille and Lyon.
UNEF said its rallies, which grew from high school protests last month against teacher shortages and shabby facilities, would go ahead regardless.
Fears of renewed turmoil prompted several of Paris’ best-known cultural institutions, including the Louvre, to close on Saturday, while the city’s normally bustling Art Basel fair will remain shut throughout the weekend.
Business groups also urged shops to stay shut after some 3,000 stores and businesses were ransacked last weekend.
Nunez said 10,000 more police would be on the streets than a week ago, while the specialist RAID and GIGN units, mounted police, helicopters, drones and anti-drone systems would be deployed across the country.
Armored vehicles and water cannon vehicles would also be available, while curfews imposed in some sensitive areas this past week would remain in force.
Authorities are also concerned that the annual congress of Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally in Orleans this weekend could become a flashpoint, with left-wing and anti-racist groups announcing counter-demonstrations.
The upsurge of violence has boosted poll ratings for Le Pen, who is the frontrunner for next year’s presidential election. She has portrayed the unrest as evidence of a collapse in state authority.
Adding to tensions, one person was killed and four injured in a shooting west of Paris on Friday.
Marylise Leon, the general secretary of the CFDT, one of the nation’s largest trade unions, criticized him on Friday for refusing to grant permission to more rallies on Saturday.
“It’s counterproductive because there is a lot of anger, a lot of anger and a demand to be considered and to be listened to,” she told French broadcaster TF1. “It’s not for the president to decide who can legitimately request to protest.”