Paris is on lockdown as armed police braced for another confrontation with 'yellow vest' protestors in a fourth weekend of demonstrations over living costs. Dozens of streets in central Paris were closed to traffic, while the Eiffel Tower and world-famous museums such as the Musee d'Orsay, the Centre Pompidou and the Louvre were closed

Dramatic photographs offer a snapshot into the volatile atmosphere surrounding the streets of France, as 'yellow vests' continue to demand more concessions from the government following Macron's U-turn on the fuel tax

About 89,000 police were deployed across the country. Of these, about 8,000 were deployed in Paris to avoid a repeat of last Saturday's mayhem when rioters torched cars and looted shops off the famed Champs Elysees boulevard, and defaced the Arc de Triomphe monument with graffiti directed at President Emmanuel Macron

Police are seizing protective equipment from journalists and barring some provincial yellow vest protesters from boarding trains to Paris, as part of exceptionally stringent security measures to prevent a repeat of last week's rioting

French gendarmerie keep watch during the demonstration of the yellow vests on the Champs-Elysees avenue

Police are already battling accusations Friday of being heavy-handed, with a video of high-school pupils kneeling on the ground with their hands behind their heads causing widespread outrage

French CRS riot police vehicles stand in place along the Printemps Department store during a national day of protest by the 'yellow vests' movement in Paris

The protests, named after the high-visibility safety jackets French motorists have to keep in their cars, erupted in November over the squeeze on household budgets caused by fuel taxes. Demonstrations have since swelled into a broad, sometimes violent rebellion against Macron, a challenge made more difficult to handle since the movement has no formal leader 

Authorities say the protests have been hijacked by far-right and anarchist elements bent on violence and stirring up social unrest in a direct affront to Macron and the security forces. 'We have prepared a robust response,' Interior Minister Christophe Castaner said on Saturday. He called on peaceful protesters not to get mixed up with 'hooligans'

French police arrest a man during a Yellow Vests demonstration. Macron, whose popularity is at a low ebb according to polls, has been forced into making the first major U-turn of his presidency by abandoning a fuel tax. Despite the climbdown, the 'yellow vests' continue to demand more concessions from the government, including lower taxes

Macron, who has not spoken in public since he condemned last Saturday's disturbances while at the G20 summit in Argentina, will address the nation early next week, his office said

About 5,000 people gathered on the Champs-Elysées and marched a short distance to a police cordon, where they stopped. There have been a few confrontations, with police firing tear gas at protesters in a side street as tensions flared

People face off with French Gendarmes as they demonstrate during a national day of protest by the 'yellow vests' movement in Paris

Macron has agreed to abandon the fuel tax hike that triggered the movement. However, protesters' demands have now expanded to other issues hurting French workers, retirees and students

Officials are set to deploy 12 Berliet VXB-170s, which are usually equipped with a 7.62mm machine gun and a 56mm Alsetex Cougar grenade launcher