Ahead of protests: France deploys 70,000 security personnel

French authorities announced the deployment of 70,000 police and gendarmes across the country, in anticipation of protests over the high cost of living and declining purchasing power. This coincides with an authorized march by trade unions and student organizations demanding improved purchasing power and support for young people, amid expectations of Yellow Vest activists' movements in Place de la Concorde in Paris despite a ban on gathering there, while Benjamin Bal, a member of the movement's coordination committee, called for "collective disobedience."