Emmanuel Macron said France feels “anger and shame” after a day of protests that descended into rioters setting fire to cars and building led to 2,000 arrests on Saturday
In a national address on Sunday evening, Macron expressed support for French law enforcement, mayors, shop owners, and families following the “unprecedented violence” the day before.
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Macron → say → violence
Despite making clear that most protesters had taken to the streets peacefully with legitimate concerns, the French president warned the government would “make examples” of those who turned to looting and violence.
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who → make → looting
More than 500,000 people took to the streets before violent groups clashed with police officers in demonstrations across the country.
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groups → take → country
In Limoges, flames engulfed the 19th-century City Hall, causing its roof to collapse, with the lootings of hundreds of businesses in Paris, Marseille, Lyon, Bordeaux, Rennes, Strasbourg, Grenoble, Nice, and other cities.
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roof → engulf → Paris
Macron held an emergency meeting with top government officials on Sunday afternoon, before addressing the nation at 8pm.
US president Donald Trump hit out at the protesters, writing on social media: “France is burning!”
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France → hold → media
The protests began last month at high schools in Paris' poor northern suburbs, where anger over education facilities quickly morphed into a nationwide movement against inequality.
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anger → begin → inequality
What sparked the fiery protests in France – and how they could spread across Europe
Hundreds of people were arrested and buildings set on fire across France on Saturday as protests over the cost of living crisis spread.
uncertain
protests → spark → crisis
In Paris, police fired tear gas into crowds on Saturday, while there were also violent incidents reported in Marseille, Rennes, Toulouse and Angers.
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police → fire → Marseille
By Sunday, as the clean-up began, more than 1,800 people had been arrested.
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people → begin → Sunday
The turmoil marks the latest test for Emmanuel Macron’s presidency as France contends with both foreign and domestic troubles.
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France → mark → troubles
The protests began in September, launched by students angry at the conditions at their high schools after the summer holidays.
However, they have since grown, fuelled by a wider group of protesters incensed about the cost of living.
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they → begin → living
Here’s everything you need to know about the movement.
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you → ’ → movement
Fresh clashes break out in Paris on Sunday
Fresh clashes broke out in Paris on Sunday a day after France suffered one of its worst days of unrest in years.
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France → break → years
Police again fired tear gas towards protesters at Place de la Republique and bikes were set on fire on Sunday afternoon, a sign that tensions had not fully subsided in the capital.
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tensions → fire → capital
Protests over high prices left one demonstrator dead, thousands arrested and shops across the country looted or damaged on Saturday.
Far-left leader accuses French prime minister of 'playing with fire'
Far-left leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon, who joined the Paris march, accused prime minister Sébastien Lecornu of "playing with fire" and alleging that "by banking on degradation, you have only succeeded in uniting all youths and workers' unions."
Mr Mélenchon insisted that "my message is clear: those who share our fight have no business in looting or destruction."
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who → leave → looting
As France burns, Macron looks like a man who has lost control
In his last few months as president of the French Republic, Emmanuel Macron looks more than ever a man who lost control of events, lost touch with the nation he leads, and lost the confidence of international investors with it.
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he → burn → it
This is not a comfortable, confident position for any leader to be, but with a hung parliament hardly able to pass a budget and the very fabric of of the nation unravelling, this lame duck - who once promised so much with his unifying project of a radical centre - has been, and is, reacting in all the wrong ways to the malaise now enveloping his country.
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who → hang → country
Rather than through, say, a television interview or a speech delivered in person, President Macron, so inappropriately aloof, chose initially to react to the protests that have broken out across France over the weekend, sparking disorder, violence and hundreds of arrests in a rather terse statement on X: “Those who took part in the vandalism, attacked prefectures and stores, and engaged in looting, including in city hall buildings, will be brought to justice and will be punished.”
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who → deliver → justice
Emergency unit created to assess damage in Paris
Paris mayor Emmanuel Grégoire announced the creation of an emergency unit to support businesses assess the damage.
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businesses → create → damage
"The scale of the damage is considerable and unprecedented," Mr Grégoire wrote in an open letter.
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Grégoire → write → letter
It must remain so.
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It → remain → ?
But it must also be a city where everyone can work and run a business safely."
Police said groups of hundreds of people formed unauthorized marches across central Paris on Saturday.
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groups → work → Saturday
"By late afternoon, a new phase began with the arrival of large numbers of people whose sole aim was to steal and loot, taking advantage of the unrest," police said.
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police → begin → unrest
107 police officers injured in Marseille, three seriously - ICYMI
In Marseille, 107 police officers were injured including three “seriously”, according to one of the area’s prefects.
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officers → injure → prefects
"Alongside the acts of looting and violence witnessed by the city of Marseille today, 107 police officers were injured, three of them very seriously," Jacques Witkowski, the prefect of Bouches-du-Rhône, said according to Le Parisien.
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Witkowski → witness → Parisien
He added: "I respectfully thank the law enforcement officers who were mobilized on the front lines throughout the day and who are still holding on.
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who → add → day
I wish a speedy recovery to the injured men and women.
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I → wish → men
"
Watch: Moment roof of Limoges town hall collapses after being engulfed in flames
A tow hall in the central French city of Limoges has collapsed after it was set on fire on Saturday.
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it → watch → Saturday
Dramatic footage shows the moment the historic building’s roof caved in as it was engulfed in flames.
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it → show → flames
"The roof has collapsed onto the lower floors, except in the west wing, and two-thirds of the facade have already disappeared," state representative Maurice Barate said according to Le Parisian.
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Barate → collapse → Parisian
Mr Barate described it as a "heritage catastrophe" and a "deliberate act by vandals."
Local authorities have advised residents to avoid the area for safety reasons.
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authorities → describe → reasons
Protests over poor living and education standards also take place in Albania
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Protests → take → Albania
Elsewhere, police in Albania said that 388 people had been charged with criminal offences as widespread protests take place in the capital Tirana.
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protests → say → capital
Prime minister Edi Rama on Sunday rejected calls to step down from growing street protests, and said they were a threat not to his government but to Albania's progress toward joining the European Union.
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they → reject → Union
Student-led demonstrations, fuelled by anger over perceived government corruption, a lack of jobs and poor education standards, have engulfed central Tirana and spread to other cities in the past week.
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demonstrations → lead → week
Demonstrators demanding Rama's resignation have set fire to government buildings as well as banks and pulled up paving stones to throw at police, who have responded with tear gas, water cannon and rubber bullets.
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who → demand → gas
The unrest, which followed months of largely peaceful protests in the summer against a luxury coastal development backed by US President Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, pose the biggest challenge yet to Rama, who has governed since 2013 and last year won a fourth term in office.
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who → follow → office
"I am not being challenged, the government is not being challenged, a government majority or a winning party in the elections is not being challenged but a path is being challenged, a mission is being challenged," Rama said in a live address on Facebook.
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Rama → challenge → Facebook
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