Chaos hit the streets of France as violent protesters rebelled against the cost of living, education standards and Emmanuel Macron's government as police admitted they 'lost control'.
asserted
they → hit → control
The streets of major French cities were turned into a battleground as city halls and prefectures were set on fire and hundreds of shops were looted in 'apocalyptic riots'.
Desperate business owners and horrified residents could only watch in fear as the mob went door-to-door, smashing their way into each business.
uncertain
mob → turn → business
Among the destruction, a distraught woman was seen begging rioters in France not to loot a supermarket on Saturday.
asserted
woman → see → Saturday
The heartbreaking moment was caught on video, as the woman pleaded with a crowd of young male rioters not to raid the store – a plea they ignored, pushing her aside as they entered the smashed shop.
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they → catch → shop
She is heard asking 'why are you doing this' and screaming 'this is not the cause' as the looters ignore her, with the crowd then appearing to cheer the balaclava-clad rioters as they leave the store with their arms full of stolen goods.
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arms → hear → goods
The shop was one of many buildings and businesses to be damaged in Saturday's demonstrations, which saw more than 1,200 people arrested in France as roughly 550,000 people took to the country's streets.
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people → damage → streets
The iconic Limoges Town Hall, which was built in 1883 and survived both world wars, came tumbling down in a blaze after it was torched by rioters in the south-west of France.
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it → build → France
A video seen by 1.4 million people on X showed the historic hall, which played a significant role in the French Resistance during the Second World War, collapsing, with its bell tower engulfed in flames.
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tower → see → flames
While there were 1,200 arrests nationwide, French police admitted they did not have the manpower to cope.
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they → be → manpower
A woman is seen pleading with rioters not to loot a shop, asking: 'Why are you doing this?'
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you → see → this
In Limoges, the iconic town hall - built in 1883 and having played a significant role in the French Resistance - burnt down on Saturday night
A comic book shop owner was attacked by a looter with a flying kick to the back while trying to defend his business
The historic Limoges Town Hall, pictured in 2017, was a grand Neo-Renaissance building which served briefly as the official seat of the Belgian government-in-exile in 1940
Daylight images show the partially burnt facade of the Limoges Town Hall after a blaze
Daylight images show broken windows at an Adidas store caused by rioters in Paris, France
The woman was pushed aside by looters, while pleading to them: 'This is not the cause'
'
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This → build → them
It was apocalyptic,' a senior commander told Sunday's Le Parisien newspaper.
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commander → tell → newspaper
'Law enforcement was unable to contain the multitude of simultaneous attacks occurring across the country, and was quickly overwhelmed by determined protesters.
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enforcement → contain → protesters
'
Explaining how a number of districts fell into 'the hands of rioters,' the source said 'there weren't enough personnel or ammunition.'
The 'apocalyptic rioting' followed intense violence in recent weeks which saw gangs of agitators taking part in running battles with the forces of law and order.
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gangs → explain → law
Daylight revealed the path of destruction left by protesters in Paris yesterday as the streets were covered in shattered glass and burned vehicles.
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streets → reveal → glass
Business owners awoke to smashed windows and doors off their hinges with many having seen their produce stolen by looters.
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produce → awake → looters
Rioters were even able to break in and ransack municipal police premises, as the emergency services lost their grip on authority.
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services → break → authority
As blazes were started across the country and Molotov Cocktails were thrown at officers, water cannon, tear gas and baton charges were used to try and end the uprising.
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cannon → start → uprising
President Emmanuel Macron and his wife, Brigitte Macron, were accused of acting like the out-of-touch King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette at the start of the 1789 Revolution.
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Macron → accuse → Revolution
Damages on Boulevard Saint Martin in Paris the day after the demonstration
A city worker cleans the street, the day after clashes during a national day of demonstrations in Marseille
A view inside the municipal police premises, which were vandalized by rioters
A pile of burned motorcycles seen on Boulevard Sebastopol in the French capital
French firefighters examine a broken frontage windows of a shop which has been looted
French restaurant La Barrique seen badly damaged by the mob of rioters on Saturday
The destroyed interior of the restaurant La Barrique near the Place de la Republique in Paris, France
A person walks next to open and scattered Nike shoeboxes on the streets of Marseille
McDonald's was ransacked by thugs in Paris with damage caused to the ordering tills
A pile of burned debris including bicycles, chairs and metal gates on Boulevard Saint Martin, Paris
The Macrons attended a Céline Dion concert on Friday night, and were seen dancing in a private box.
On Sunday, Mr Macron said: 'There's no place for violence in our Republic.
'
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Macron → clean → Republic
Those who have engaged in destruction, attacked government offices and businesses, and even looted our town halls, will be prosecuted and punished.
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who → engage → halls
'We will stand united against those sowing chaos-people who seek only to tear down our institutions and who prevent others from expressing their grievances peacefully.
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who → stand → grievances
Laurent Nuñez, the Minister of the Interior, highlighted the 'significant mobilization of the far-Left movement' within the rioters.
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Nuñez → highlight → rioters
He said these included radical groups such as Antifa, the NPA New Anticapitalist Party, and another called Permanent Revolution.
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these → say → Antifa
Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu also singled out 'far-Left groups' for their part in the violence.
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Lecornu → single → violence
He said: 'Peaceful demonstrations have a rightful place in our Republic.
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demonstrations → say → Republic
Arson, looting, and attacks do not.
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Arson → do → ?
Today, far-Left groups orchestrated violence in several French cities - criminals joined in to loot and destroy.'
Protesters clashed with French police as they demonstrated in Nantes, western France, on Saturday
French police push a burning rubbish bin set alight by protesters away in Nantes
A protester holds a placard reading 'Youth in struggle, system in collapse' in front of a burning barricade in Paris on Saturday
In turn, Left-wing politicians denied stirring up any trouble, and said paramilitary police units had provoked the crowds.
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units → orchestrate → crowds
Jean-Luc Mélenchon, leader of France Unbowed (LFI) said too many tear gas canisters had been fired at peaceful demonstrators.
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canisters → say → demonstrators
He claimed: 'It seems that confrontation is the very goal of this public-order strategy.
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confrontation → claim → strategy
Marine Tondelier, of the Ecologists party also called on the government to revise its approach to law and order.
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Tondelier → call → law
She said: 'When you fail to call on law enforcement to exercise restraint-and, in fact, implicitly encourage the opposite-you end up fueling a surge in tensions.'
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you → say → tensions
Other government sources said the disorder played into the hands of Marine Le Pen, of the far-Right National Rally (RN) party.
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disorder → say → party
She hopes to replace Mr Macron as President in May, when he is forced to stand down having spent two terms as head of state - the maximum allowed.
uncertain
he → hop → state
Ms Le Pen said: 'Legitimate social grievances have once again been held hostage by the far-Left and the rhetoric of Jean-Luc Melenchon's MPs - who, by legitimising violence and framing public order as oppression and disorder as a right, are seeking to plunge the country into chaos.'
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who → say → chaos
A protester runs past a burning car amid clashes in Paris on Saturday
Protesters wearing balaclavas and dressed in all black were pictured holding baguettes as they clashed with police on the streets
A man wearing goggles and a balaclava storms past a police van in Nice, southern France
A police officer attempts to extinguish a burning trash bin during a demonstration in Nantes, France
Some of the worst violence was in the eastern city of Lyon, where a tourist office was set on fire by a violent gang.
Youths wearing face masks and hoodies also broke into City Hall in Marseille, where they vandalised a statue of Marianne, the female personification of the French Republic.
asserted
they → run → Republic
There was also fighting on the Place de la République - the Paris square - and close to the Gare du Nord Eurostar hub, where high-speed trains travel to and from London.
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trains → be → London
They have now been joined by numerous other social groups, including the infamous Yellow Vests - or Gilets Jaunes - which brought chaos to France at the start of Mr Macron's time in office over a sharp increase in diesel taxes.
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which → join → taxes
In Paris, protesters were seen lobbing baguettes at riot police, as the protests quickly descended into violence.
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protests → see → violence
A tourist office and cars were set on fire by rioters in France, who took to the streets to protest in their hundreds of thousands, including 110,000 in Paris alone.
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who → set → Paris
…and 37 more, not listed.
The Aporia
