France to shut anti-govt 'yellow vest' protest if radical groups participate - PM

France will shut down any anti-government "yellow vest" protest if violent groups are identified taking part with an intent to wreak havoc in Paris and other major cities, the prime minister said on Monday.

"From next Saturday, we will ban 'yellow vest' protests in neighbourhoods that have been the worst hit as soon as we see sign of the presence of radical groups and their intent to cause damage," Prime Minister Edouard Philippe said in a televised statement. Rioters set fire to a bank and ransacked stores on Paris's Champs Elysees avenue on Saturday, the latest flare-up of violence in four months of protests against President Emmanuel Macron and his pro-business reforms.