French unions and Yellow Vests plan separate Paris protests despite ban

French unions and student groups will protest in Paris on Saturday over the high cost of living, while the Yellow Vests movement plans a separate banned rally, with 70,000 police deployed nationwide. The demonstrations follow weeks of youth-led unrest and strikes that drew hundreds of thousands of workers, occurring less than six months before a presidential election where the far right leads in polls. Yellow Vests activists refuse to join the authorized march, calling for "mass disobedience" at Place de la Concorde despite the ban. Interior Minister Laurent Nunez warned authorities are ready for rioters, after October 17 saw France's worst rioting in years. Unions demand minimum wage increases and tax reforms, but the government faces limited fiscal scope amid debt pressures.