France Deploying Extra Security for New Year's Celebrations

(Bloomberg) -- French police forces are deploying extra means to secure public spaces for the New Year’s celebrations amid a terror threat and the possibility of a resurgence of Yellow Vests protests.

Police will establish a perimeter around the Champs-Elysees in Paris and take steps to secure retail centers, public spaces and transport networks, the interior ministry said in a statement Sunday. Almost 148,000 police officers and soldiers will be mobilized in France Monday evening, it said.

“The 2019 New Year celebrations are happening in the context of a still high terror threat and unannounced protests in public spaces,” the interior ministry said.

Some Yellow Vests protesters. named for the colored jackets they have worn, have said they plan to demonstrate on the Champs-Elysees Monday night after French President Emmanuel Macron speaks on television in the traditional address to the nation.

Several hundred protesters turned out Saturday in Paris for what has become a weekly protest. There was little disturbance compared to previous Saturdays, when protesters clashed with police, burned cars and smashed shop windows.

To contact the reporter on this story: William Horobin in Paris at whorobin@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Fergal O'Brien at fobrien@bloomberg.net, Mark Niquette, Virginia Van Natta

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