France will deploy some 70,000 police officers across the country for this weekend's protests, the government said on Friday, after some of the worst urban violence in years erupted on the sidelines of demonstrations a week ago.

In a statement to the Associated Press (AP), the Culture Ministry said the Louvre, the Orsay and Picasso museums, as well as the Grand Palais, would be closed. Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin said courts have already sent 217 people to prison over the events on Saturday, half of them first-time offenders. President Emmanuel Macron, according to aides, is postponing a visit later this month to Nigeria and Senegal amid the crisis. He held a meeting of his defence council of top ministers and officials and was to meet security forces.