French protests force Louvre closure as 70,000 police deploy nationwide

Thousands of students and workers marched across France on Saturday over school funding and rising living costs, prompting the closure of major Paris museums including the Louvre and a massive police deployment of up to 70,000 officers nationwide. Police used tear gas in Lyon, where the rally was banned, and stun grenades in Clermont-Ferrand to push back demonstrators. The Paris march was confined to the city's southeastern edge, drawing several thousand people, a smaller crowd than last week when over half a million protested and some 3,000 shops were damaged or looted. The movement began over staff shortages at one high school and has grown into a national protest against living standards, with energy prices up 21.3% year-on-year. President Emmanuel Macron, at his lowest popularity since 2017, met student representatives Friday, while some rallies in Lyon, Nice and Montpellier have been banned.