{"id":2962,"date":"2026-10-19T18:03:51","date_gmt":"2026-10-19T13:03:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/?p=2962"},"modified":"2026-10-19T18:03:51","modified_gmt":"2026-10-19T13:03:51","slug":"france-reels-from-weekend-violence-as-mayors-rebuke-govt-for-security-failings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/?p=2962","title":{"rendered":"France reels from weekend violence as mayors rebuke govt for security failings"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

The mayors of France\u2019s biggest cities on Monday demanded answers from the government \u200bto what they called a lack of preparation by security forces as the country licked its wounds from a weekend of rioting and looting.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The protests followed weeks of \u200cstudent demonstrations with occasional bouts of street violence, rocking the country six months ahead of its next presidential election and increasing pressures over a weak economy and surging debt.<\/p>\n

French assets were underperforming broader European markets on Monday, though moves were more contained than at some other moments of recent political tension.<\/p>\n

Fears of tensions inside Macron\u2019s fragile government over apparent security shortcomings \u2014 coming just as the government needs to pass a much-needed budget bill to rein in its finances \u2014 \u200bcould further unsettle investors.<\/p>\n

President Emmanuel Macron\u2019s office said on Monday he had turned down his Interior Minister Laurent Nunez\u2019s offer to resign, telling him instead to put an end to barricades \u200band looting and be transparent over what Macron called \u201cintelligence and foresight failings\u201d.<\/p>\n

The mayors of Paris, Marseille and Lyon said in a joint op-ed published by \u2060the newspaper Liberation that they were used to demonstrations and protests.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut on Saturday \u2026 for the first time, we had the feeling that whole sections of our cities had been left without protection,\u201d \u200bthe mayors \u2014 all from the centre-left \u2014 said. \u201cWe now need to patch the wounds of our cities and face up to the anger of our residents, aghast at this level of violence.\u201d<\/p>\n

The start of school \u200bholidays on Monday looked likely to hand the government some immediate relief, but students were staging more gatherings and blockades in some places, including the Louvre gallery and Sciences Po university in central Paris.<\/p>\n

Marseille, one of the cities worst hit by the riots, put in place a ban on gatherings and demonstrations. French unions meanwhile called for a new round of national strikes and demonstrations on November 5.<\/p>\n

<\/a>INTELLIGENCE FAILURES<\/h3>\n

At the weekend, hundreds of thousands took to the \u200bstreets to protest over what many say are declining and dysfunctional public services that leave citizens to fend for themselves amid cost-of-living pressures.<\/p>\n

In many places, including Paris, Marseille and Lyon, peaceful protests \u200bwere quickly hijacked by rioters, leading to scenes of vandalism and chaos.<\/p>\n

In Paris, at least 300 to 400 businesses were vandalised at the weekend, Dominique Restino, the head of the Paris chamber of commerce, told BFM television.<\/p>\n

At \u200cthe Place \u2060Vendome, home to many luxury hotels and boutiques, most shops were shuttered and surrounded by security guards, according to a Reuters reporter. The front door of a Dior boutique was smashed, while the windows were damaged in the stores of various other luxury brands in central Paris, including Rolex, Louis Vuitton, Ralph Lauren and Gucci.<\/p>\n

In Marseille, Ligue 1 club Olympique de Marseille said its official store on the city\u2019s historic main avenue had been looted.<\/p>\n

France deployed 60,000 police and other security forces on Saturday, Interior Minister Laurent Nunez told France Inter radio, but acknowledged that wasn\u2019t enough to control violent crowds in \u201ccertain cities\u201d.<\/p>\n

Macron\u2019s \u200boffice said on Monday that Nunez, a former \u200bParis police chief, offered the president his \u2060resignation following the riots.<\/p>\n

Macron refused, but urged Nunez to urgently come up with new concepts \u201cto put an end to the barricades and looting,\u201d his office said.<\/p>\n

It added that Nunez also needed to \u201censure transparency regarding the failures in foresight and intelligence that led to the violence\u201d.<\/p>\n

European governments have advised citizens travelling to \u200bFrance to avoid large crowds and exercise caution.<\/p>\n

<\/a>BOND YIELDS RISE, STOCKS DOWN<\/h3>\n

As France was busy cleaning up its streets, Macron arrived in Kuwait for \u200ba Gulf trip aimed at \u2060securing additional petrol and diesel supplies to bring down pump prices.<\/p>\n

Cost-of-living issues were also front and centre during numerous demonstrations and protests staged in other European countries including Italy, Belgium and Albania on the weekend, with high fuel prices, largely resulting from the Iran war, adding to pain for many people.<\/p>\n

In France, a town hall was torched, shops pillaged and buildings covered in graffiti on Saturday as violent groups clashed with police throughout the country.<\/p>\n

French \u2060shares were \u200bamong the worst performers on the European market on Monday, as the CAC 40 fell 1.3% in early session trade. \u200bA slide in bond prices meanwhile pushed France\u2019s 10-year yield up 8 basis points to 4.86%.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe modest recovery in French spreads over the last week or so will be tested today,\u201d Jim Reid, an analyst from Deutsche Bank, said in a \u200bnote.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The mayors of France\u2019s biggest cities on Monday demanded answers from the government \u200bto what they called a lack of preparation by security forces as the country licked its wounds from a weekend of rioting and looting. The protests followed weeks of \u200cstudent demonstrations with occasional bouts of street violence, rocking the country six months ahead of its next presidential election and increasing pressures over a weak economy and surging debt. French assets were underperforming broader European markets on Monday, though moves were more contained than at some other moments…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2962","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-english"],"gutentor_comment":0,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2962","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2962"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2962\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2962"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2962"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2962"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}