Only authorised union protests will be allowed in French towns and cities on Saturday, President Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday, after big demonstrations against the high cost of living and school conditions were overshadowed last Saturday by riots and looting that destroyed businesses and historic buildings, the BBC reported.

Source: BBC (via TOB News)

"The general recommendation is that there should be no demonstrations. Those who want to continue to demonstrate, when they are trade union organisations, will have alternative routes proposed by the prefects," Macron announced. "When they're not union organisations, wherever possible, they'll be banned." Prefects would offer unions alternative routes so that businesses could be protected, he said, and he described "illegitimate" protests as not allowed.

Some cities have gone further: Lyon, France's third-biggest city, has imposed a blanket ban on demonstrations, and Nice has also imposed a complete ban, the BBC reported. Paris authorities have said several marches proposed by the gilets jaunes (yellow-vest) movement, which was behind many of last weekend's protests, have been banned. Macron met intelligence services and ministers on Thursday to prepare for Saturday's national day of protests.

Source: BBC (via NewsBeep)

Darmanin said more than 1,000 of the 2,700 people arrested have appeared in court, and that half of those detained had no prior criminal record, according to Le Figaro newspaper as reported by the BBC. Curfews were imposed in several cities in the aftermath of the weekend rioting, and Macron said the government wanted a return to calm.

Politico Europe reported the same announcement from Paris: Macron instructed local authorities to ban Saturday protests except those organised by unions, any request to protest or regroup by people he said have "no legitimacy" to do so will be refused, and he will chair a defence council on Friday and announce further decisions afterwards. Elite tactical police units and a military unit normally deployed on French soil for counterterrorism operations would also be mobilised this weekend, Politico reported.

Source: Politico Europe (via ScoopFeeds)

The government has been accused of mismanaging last week's protests by significantly underestimating the number of demonstrators and failing to deploy enough police to prevent criminal acts on the sidelines, Politico reported. Hundreds of thousands of demonstrators took to the streets last weekend, while vandalism and looting affected thousands of businesses and public buildings; in Lyon, the tourism office was set on fire during the protests.