12 Jan 2019; DW: Across France, 80,000 police officers are being mobilized for the ninth weekend of nationwide street protests. President Emmanuel Macron's plans for a three-month public debate have done little to assuage anger.
More than 5,000 police officers are expected to be on the streets of the French capital on Saturday to monitor the ninth weekend of street protests by the "gilets jaunes" (yellow vests) movement.
National police chief Eric Morvan told France Inter radio that he expected turnout nationwide to be similar to protests in mid-December, when more than 60,000 took to the streets across the country.
The protests, named after the high-visibility jackets French drivers carry in their cars, have repeatedly witnessed clashes between demonstrators and police since they began in November in response to a fuel tax hike.
The town of Bourges in central France became the center of attention before the weekend kicked off after one of the yellow vest organizers told followers on Facebook the town was easy to reach and had a small police presence. By Friday evening, 3,000 people had indicated that they would be heading for Bourges, with a further 13,000 saying they were interested.
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