France protests: Government counts cost of violence as more demonstrations loom

People heading back to work in Paris on Monday dodged shattered glass and debris as the government counted the cost of this weekend's violence. Interior Minister Laurent Nunez says police lost control during the protests. Mayors gathered in solidarity in front of town halls across France. Many complained of not having enough police on duty to manage the violence. The government has promised a mass criminal justice response. It's understandable that French people watching television are thinking it's chaos everywhere. Fortunately, no, the chaos is very localized in urban centers. Therefore, I've asked the prefects to implement a number of curfews for this evening, partial curfews, in which they'll be working with mayors, but also with chambers of commerce and industry. More than 500,000 people protested peacefully nationwide on Saturday, demanding better conditions for students and help with the cost of living. of living. But there were some people intent on violence. Looting, vandalism, and arson hit districts of Paris and other French cities. More than 3,000 businesses were affected by the weekend's violence, with damage running into the hundreds of millions of dollars, according to France's Chamber of Commerce. President Emmanuel Macron says he wants to give local authorities the opportunity to ban some protests if they deem it necessary. On Monday, small protests rumbled on. Students forced the Louvre Museum to close as they protested against cuts to culture funding. We tried to show our support to all the students and the high schoolers that are protesting in France right now. We wanted to show that even if we are from a privileged school, we can be concerned about all those topics. This week might just be a lull as more nationwide protests are planned for next Saturday. This time it's the yellow vests leading the calls, the nationwide movement that brought France to a standstill in 2018. Bernard Smith, Al Jazeera, Paris.