Paris museums close and shops board up ahead of fresh protests

Paris museums including the Louvre, Musée d’Orsay, Picasso Museum and Grand Palais closed Saturday, with shops boarded up, ahead of fresh protests feared to repeat last weekend’s violence. The precautions follow unrest where masked groups looted shops and attacked buildings, damaging about 3,000 stores nationwide. Art Basel cancelled its weekend programme, and police plan up to 70,000 officers with helicopters and water cannons for Saturday’s march. The protest movement began over school staffing shortages and has broadened to living costs and inequality, adding pressure on the government before next spring’s presidential election. Some rallies in Lyon, Nice and Montpellier were banned, drawing union criticism.