Key Facts

• Unions and student groups called for an authorised march in central Paris against the high cost of living and in support of young people.
• Yellow Vests activists planned a separate rally at Place de la Concorde, near parliament and the presidential palace, despite a ban by authorities.
• The Yellow Vests movement urged supporters to engage in what it called “mass disobedience.”
• Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said 70,000 police officers and security forces would be deployed across France.
• The planned protests followed weeks of youth-led unrest and strikes over rising living costs.
• On Thursday, hundreds of thousands of workers joined protests across France, which were mostly orderly but included clashes in several cities.
• The article says protests have generally been peaceful, though some have involved clashes with police or vandalism.