Rwanda on Sunday began 100 days of mourning for more than 800,000 people slaughtered in a genocide that shocked the world, a quarter of a century on from the day it began.

The number of migrants trying to smuggle across the Channel from France to Britain by boat has fallen sharply after a spike late last year, authorities in northern France said late Thursday.

French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said on Friday that France would stick to plans for a tax on digital giants such as Facebook and Apple, despite displeasure in Washington.

French banks called Saturday for an end to violence against branches, cash machines and personnel as the country braced for a 20th day of "yellow vest" protests.

France's budget deficit fell to a 12-year low of 2.5 percent in 2018, a greater-than-expected decline achieved despite falling growth and purchasing power, national statistics agency Insee said Tuesday.

The deficit was lower than the government's forecast of 2.6 percent, and came as Insee revised upwards the shortfall between spending and revenue for 2017 to 2.8 percent of GDP, from a previous estimate of 2.6 percent.

Thousands of police fanned out across central Paris and other French cities Saturday ahead of planned "yellow vest" protests, with the government vowing to prevent a repeat of the rioting and looting seen in the capital last week.

After hooded rioters torched and looted shops in Paris' fabled tourist areas, President Donald Trump took aim at France suggesting its climate policy was to blame.

After weeks of declining participation, France's "yellow vest" protest movement attempted to rebound on Saturday with a major rally in Paris which quickly turned violent.

Rwanda, which has accused France of complicity in the 1994 genocide that killed some 800,000 of its citizens, said Tuesday it had invited President Emmanuel Macron to attend the 25th anniversary of the massacre on April 7.

President Michel Aoun received on Thursday the former French President Francois Hollande who plans to make a series of meetings with Lebanese officials to discuss the economic aid for Lebanon agreed at the CEDRE support conference last year.

Hollande had arrived Wednesday in Beirut and met with Prime Minister Saad Hariri who threw a banquet in his honor.