Paris burns again: France puts 70,000 police on the streets as protests hit a fourth straight week

Protesters defied a police ban and took to the streets of Paris and other French cities Saturday for a fourth straight weekend, with police firing tear gas, making arrests and fires burning in the capital.

France's Interior Ministry expected about 170,000 people nationwide and deployed 70,000 security forces. Paris police had refused permits for rallies across the city, citing October riots that led to thousands of arrests and attacks on public buildings, and banned a Yellow Vest rally at Place de la Concorde. Two prominent Yellow Vest figures were arrested near the National Assembly anyway, AFP reported.

"The risk is exactly the same as on previous Saturdays," Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said. The protests, driven by students, teachers' unions and the Yellow Vests over wages and the cost of living, have coincided with a surge for Marine Le Pen in presidential polling. Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu meets union leaders Monday; unions are already calling for new strikes Tuesday.