France to Deploy Police and Soldiers in Force for Saturday Protests

The French government will deploy police and soldiers "massively" for Saturday's new protest mobilization, following criticism over weekend chaos. Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez promised a larger security operation, adding elite police units and Sentinelle army soldiers to replace officers on static guard duties. The weekend saw 60,000 police deployed nationwide, fewer than the 70,000 during a World Cup semi-final and 120,000 during 2018 Yellow Vest protests. Nuñez admitted police "lost control" in some cities. A 34-year-old man was arrested Tuesday for the fire that destroyed part of Limoges' 19th-century town hall. Over 3,000 shops were looted or damaged, with the government offering interest-free loans up to 50,000 euros for affected businesses. Conservative officials, without evidence, pressure for the Limoges fire to be classified as terrorism, while a police union noted six vans protected a chocolate shop owned by Brigitte Macron's nephew.