France Prepares for New Protests
French trade unions have called on people to gather for demonstrations on Thursday to demand wage increases and oppose cuts to social spending.
Authorities expect hundreds of thousands of people to participate in the demonstrations. Protests will take place under heightened security presence to prevent outbreaks of violence.
The unions have also called for strikes, and public sector workers are likely to respond to this call, but it is still unclear how much disruption this will cause.
The unions' call for protests is supported by the 'Yellow Vests' movement, as well as student organizations. In the last three Saturdays, they organized demonstrations against the cost of living and for better education.
In several cases, these demonstrations escalated into violence.
