Workers protect a Franprix supermarket with wooden boards a day ahead of new nationwide protests over the soaring cost of living and inequality in Paris. (AFP pic)PARIS: Shops and other businesses in Paris and other cities on Friday were boarding up windows as France braced for a third consecutive weekend of protests that coincide with Halloween celebrations.
Around 70,000 security personnel will be deployed on Saturday, matching the number mobilised a week ago, as authorities sought to prevent a repeat of the Oct 17 unrest when thousands of businesses were damaged or looted.
Alain Di Crescenzo, president of France's chamber of commerce, said on Friday that business owners were worried about fresh street violence.
