Hundreds of protests expected across France, with shops, businesses and tourist sites closed – Europe live

Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of events in Europe – we will be closely following protests across the continent today.

In France , hundreds of thousands are expected at rallies across the country, with high school students, unionists, “yellow vest” demonstrators and others turning out for a fourth weekend of protests demanding more government funding for schools and measures to help with housing and the cost of living.

Desperate to avoid the looting and property damage seen on the fringes of some protests last weekend, French authorities have ramped up restrictions on where protesters can march and which groups are “authorised” to do so. They’ve increased policing 20%, mobilising 70,000 police officers and soldiers to the streets, including both elite units and trainee officers.

Many of Paris’s metro stations and major museums and tourist sites are shut today, while across the country, shops and businesses have been urged to close their doors. Community tensions are also high following a deadly shooting on Friday west of Paris where the gunman targeted non-white people, killing one person and injuring five others including a child. The French president called it a “racist terrorist attack”.

Meanwhile, Marine Le Pen’s anti-immigration party is also due to hold its national conference in the central city of Orléans. The far-right National Rally’s meeting is expected to draw up to 30,000 counter-demonstrators. Protests are also being held in Italy, Spain, Austria, Portugal, Albania and Ireland today.

Fuente: The Guardian World