Protests by the yellow-jacketed movement will be banned on Saturday in the Champs-Elysées, around the Elysee Palace and the National Assembly, police said.
Local authorities in Toulouse, Marseille and Nice announced a ban on demonstrations in the central regions, where the government is preparing to quell the four-month-old protest movement, which has no broadpread leadership.
President Emmanuel Makron´s centrist government plans to reaffirm its control over the situation after violence and looting broke out in the Champs-Elysées last week and vowed to disperse any protests that defy the ban immediately.
At the same time, French Defense Minister Florence Barley defended the government´s decision to call up troops to defend public buildings and the police to deal with the protesters.
"It was clear that it was unacceptable," she told Le Parisien newspaper. "The soldiers stand face to face with the protesters.
