Paris braces for weekend unrest as Macron meets student unions

Paris shopkeepers are stocking up on pepper-gel self-defence weapons ahead of weekend demonstrations, fearing violence and looting, as President Emmanuel Macron prepares to meet high school unions Friday in a bid to quell unrest. Macron will meet students at the presidential palace at 3pm to address grievances behind protests, which began over school decline—teacher shortages, overcrowding, and crumbling infrastructure—and have grown into nationwide rallies that turned violent last weekend. Macron has vowed to ban demonstrations not organised by unions, extended Paris's nighttime curfew until Monday, and blamed ultra-left groups for riots, while the justice minister proposed suspending voting rights for those defying protest bans.