French President Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday that "illegitimate" protests would be banned in the coming days and blamed "seditious" ultra-left groups and vandals for last weekend's riots and looting. Speaking after a meeting with intelligence chiefs and senior ministers, Macron said demonstrations organised by groups such as trade unions would be allowed to go ahead but could be diverted along alternative routes to protect businesses. "Last Saturday we had political and seditious acts by ultra-left groups whose aim is to bring down the Republic," he said. His comments came as authorities across France prepared for fresh protests following some of the country's worst urban unrest in years. Justice Minister Gerald Darmanin said he wanted voting rights suspended for people who defy bans on taking part in demonstrations, and restrictions on social media access for people involved in violence, looting or attacks on police. All protests planned for Saturday in Marseille and Lyon, France's second- and third-largest cities, have been banned, local authorities said. Yet fresh demonstrations are already taking shape before what officials fear could be another volatile weekend. France's main student union, UNEF, has called for rallies on Saturday, while the Yellow Vest movement, the anti-establishment force that emerged in 2018, has filed plans for a march through central Paris. Businesses in central Paris have begun boarding up their shop windows in case of violence. Luxury goods group Hermes said it had stepped up security measures at its French stores. Organisers of the Art Basel Paris international art collectors fair being held in a central Paris exhibition hall said it would be closed all weekend. Elsewhere, authorities in the northern city of Orleans were bracing for potential unrest as the far-right National Rally was due to hold an annual meeting and unions and left-wing groups planned demonstrations. A student protest called for Thursday in Paris was initially banned but eventually allowed to go ahead, though metro stations in central Paris were nonetheless shuttered by transit authorities in anticipation of unauthorised gatherings. France was rocked on October 17 by violence on the fringes of nationwide protests, exposing the depth of public anger and raising questions about the security services' ability to keep order. Two people have been arrested over an arson attack on Limoges city hall, French officials and media said. A third consecutive night of local curfews passed without major incidents in areas affected by the violence, offering the government some respite ahead of the weekend. (Reuters) Edited by Cecil Wong

Emmy-winning actor Tom Skerritt, who starred in Hollywood megahits including the sci-fi classic "Alien," the war comedy "M*A*S*H," and the action drama "Top Gun," has died at the age of 93. Skerritt, a Detroit native whose Hollywood career spanned from the 1960s to the 2020s, died on Wednesday of natural causes, his family said in a statement. "While the world knew Tom through his remarkable acting career, we knew him for his humour, curiosity, wisdom, generosity, and the love he brought into our lives," they said. "He cared deeply about imagination, creativity, storytelling, service, veterans, the natural world, and helping others find and share their own voices." Known for his rugged good looks and ability to shine in a variety of genres, Skerritt delivered memorable performances in leading and supporting roles in film and television. Skerritt's breakthrough role was a roguish US Army surgeon in director Robert Altman's 1970 Korean War black comedy "M*A*S*H," a film whose ensemble cast also included Donald Sutherland, Elliott Gould and Sally Kellerman. Skerritt played Southerner Duke Forrest as the doctors at the Mobile Army Surgical Hospital stitched up wounded troops. The film, whose popularity coincided with American unease over the Vietnam War, was nominated for five Academy Awards. In director Ridley Scott's claustrophobic 1979 sci-fi horror "Alien," Skerritt played Dallas, the captain of an ill-fated spacecraft whose crew encounters a deadly parasitic extraterrestrial creature with a surrealist look and a bad attitude. In the film's famous and bloody "chestburster" scene, Skerritt's character is seated next to cast mate John Hurt when a baby alien violently exits the torso of Hurt's character. "Alien," an influential masterpiece whose ensemble cast also included Sigourney Weaver and Ian Holm, earned two Oscar nominations. "It is spontaneity and impulse that make the difference, and that is what I felt we had with 'Alien.' Every one of us had that immediate rapport with each other – the respect that I had for the other actors and the respect that they had for me," Skerritt told interviewer Peter Sobczynski in 2019, while also lauding Scott's directorial brilliance. "Alien" was one of several films in which Skerritt appeared that featured strong female characters, in this case Weaver's courageous character Ripley. That was considered pioneering at the time. "When I read the script, one of the things that I liked most about it was that the woman becomes the hero. I loved that," Skerritt said. "The sight of women being in positions of strength and fortitude to make the right connections and decisions was what appealed to me. I experienced that as well in 'Steel Magnolias,' with the women in that. I liked the idea of women being tough and strong and influential." In "Steel Magnolias" (1989), Skerritt played Drum Eatenton, husband of Sally Field's M'Lynn Eatenton. Tony Scott, the brother of the "Alien" director, cast Skerritt in the key supporting role of naval aviation instructor Viper Metcalf in the 1986 blockbuster "Top Gun" that helped star Tom Cruise soar into Hollywood's stratosphere. Skerritt also played Shirley MacLaine's husband in director Herbert Ross's 1977 ballet drama "The Turning Point," and starred alongside another emerging star in Brad Pitt in Robert Redford's beautifully shot 1992 period drama "A River Runs Through It." On the small screen, Skerritt starred in the offbeat CBS series "Picket Fences" from 1992 to 1996, playing a Wisconsin town sheriff and claiming an Emmy as outstanding lead actor in a drama series in 1993. Born on August 25, 1933, in Detroit, Skerritt served in the US Air Force before becoming an actor, making his film debut in 1962 alongside a young Redford in "War Hunt." He was a father of five children and was married three times. (Reuters) Edited by Cecil Wong