France's Protest Wave Returns Under Mass Security—and Spreads Across Europe

France is again bracing for a weekend of unrest, with the government deploying some 70,000 officers and calling in the military to back up police, extending curfews, and banning gatherings in high-profile areas including around the presidential palace and the Champs-Élysées. Interior minister Laurent Nuñez defended blanket bans on demonstrations in parts of the country, while a New World Orchestra that kept playing as riot police fired teargas into Place de la République said 'an orchestra being gassed should be an alarm signal.' One person was killed and four injured in a shooting west of Paris, in Trappes and La Verrière, prompting an anti-terror investigation and a statement from Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu. The disruption has spilled into everyday life and sport—Paris Saint-Germain's fixture was postponed at police request and its star Ousmane Dembélé pulled out of the Ballon d'Or event, while French and Italian authorities are weighing whether parents should be financially liable for vandalism and looting by student protesters, and organizers of the NFL game in Paris warned the Steelers–Saints matchup could be canceled if the city is deemed unsafe. The episode continues to test the credibility of French policing and the resilience of the country's social contract.

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