Closing summary
As it turns 4.30am in Paris, this is where we’ll wrap up the live blog for now. Here’s an overview of where things stand and the day’s major developments.
The interior minister, Gérald Darmanin, said there had been at least 471 arrests in France on Friday and that 45,000 police, including special forces, would be deployed across the country as violence flared for a fourth consecutive night after the fatal police shooting of a teenager in Paris.
Darmanin denounced “unacceptable violence” in Lyon and Marseille but said that nationally it was of “much less intensity” and there were “extremely calm departments”.
Looting was reported in the cities of Lyon, Marseille and Grenoble. Darmanin said “significant reinforcements” were arriving in Marseille, where more than 80 people had been arrested and three police sustained injuries.
President Emmanuel Macron said after a second cabinet crisis meeting that social media was fuelling copycat violence and that state agencies would ask platforms such as Snapchat and TikTok to remove the most “sensitive content”.
Kylian Mbappé, the PSG and France footballer, called for “appeasement” and an end to the “time of violence” in a message on Twitter.
Paris police said 120 people had been arrested in the capital, where officers evacuated the Place de la Concorde. A prefectural decree prohibited “undeclared gatherings around in particular” the Place de la Concorde, the Champs-Élysées, the Tuileries, the Champ-de-Mars and the national assembly from 7pm Friday to 5am Saturday.
Aulnay-sous-Bois mayor Bruno Beschizza issued a decree establishing a citywide curfew of 9pm-5am. Two cities in the Alsace region, Colmar and Mulhouse, established curfews for unaccompanied minors for the next few days.
Updated
The interior minister has declared “it’s the republic that will win, not the rioters” as he reported a calm evening in Ile-de-France but denounced “unacceptable violence in Lyon and Marseille”, where 100 people were arrested, Le Monde reports.
Gérald Darmanin told BFMTV in Mantes-la-Jolie, west of Paris, that he was pleased with efforts to try to stem the violence, in particular the 45,000 police mobilised across the country on Friday night.
Darmanin lamented the young age of many rioters, saying “13-, 14-year-old kids … who obviously had better be at home rather than hanging out in the streets”.
He also said:
The ministry of the interior is ready to further increase its position of strength if ever things were to deteriorate, which is not the case tonight.
Darmanin remained cautious about the possibility of declaring a state of emergency, which “has been called four times in 60 years” , he said, mentioning that in 2005, during previous riots, it had been declared on the 10th day.
I do not confuse the few hundred, the few thousand delinquents, often very young unfortunately, with the vast majority of our compatriots who live in working-class neighborhoods who want to work and educate their children.
Updated
Paris police said 120 people had been arrested in the French capital, Le Monde reports.
Those held included three people who had tried to enter a household appliance store in the city’s 15th arrondissement, nine people carrying jerry cans and molotov cocktails in Nanterre, and seven people in Bondy, according to police headquarters.
Updated
Violence easing, Darmanin says, amid at least 471 arrests
The interior minister, Gérald Darmanin, has arrived in Mantes-la-Jolie in the Yvelines region to meet police who are facing a fourth night of riots, BFMTV reports.
He said there had been at least 471 arrests in France but that the violence was of “much less intensity” and there were “extremely calm departments”.
Darmanin arrived in Mantes-la-Jolie, west of Paris, about 2.30am local time and “wanted to meet the police and gendarmes to greet them and thank them” for their commitment on the ground.
Updated
Authorities in Marseille said they were investigating the cause of an apparent explosion after social media images showed a blast rocking the city’s old port area.
The authorities did not believe there were any casualties, they said.
Reuters also reports that rioters in the centre of the southern French city looted a gun store and stole some hunting rifles but no ammunition, police said. One person was arrested with a rifle that was probably from the store, they said. The shop was now being guarded by police.
Friday night’s arrests included 80 people in Marseille, France’s second-largest city.
Updated
Scenes around looted shops in the city of Lyon.
Updated
Police were attacked by dozens of people in Vénissieux, south of Lyon, while in Grenoble hundreds of hooded young people robbed stores in the city centre, Le Monde reports.
Cars had earlier been set on fire in the suburb of Echirolles, where the clashes were sometimes violent, according to images from the regional daily Le Dauphiné.
Episodes of violence also took place in the district of La Villeneuve, according to the prefecture of Isère.
In the centre of St-Etienne, several hundred young people – many wearing surgical masks – smashed shop windows with rocks or metal objects and entered several stores to loot them, an Agence France-Presse correspondent said.
'Significant reinforcements' deployed to Marseille, says Darmanin
France’s interior minister has said “significant reinforcements” are arriving in Marseille, where more than 80 people had been arrested.
Gérald Darmanin said 270 people had been arrested overall on Friday. The coming hours “will be decisive” as violence flared for a fourth consecutive night.
He said on TF1 television that 45,000 police officers, including special forces, would be deployed across the country on Friday night.
Darmanin said:
Entirely legitimate emotions can in no circumstances justify disorder and delinquency.
This is Adam Fulton taking over the blog from my colleague Nadeem Badshah
Updated
A summary of today's developments
Kylian Mbappé, the PSG and France footballer, has called for “appeasement” and an end to the “time of violence” in a message on Twitter after another night of disorder on Friday.
In Lyon, a complaints office in Croix-Rousse was ransacked by rioters, BFMTV reported. Luxury stores were also looted. 38 people have been arrested so far.
In Aulnay-sous-Bois, the mayor Bruno Beschizza, has a municipal decree establishing a citywide curfew from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m, Le Monde reports.
Police in Marseille said at least 87 people have been arrested in the municipalities. Three police officers sustained injuries.
Two cities in the Alsace region of north-eastern France, Colmar and Mulhouse, have established curfews for unaccompanied minors for the next few days, according to AFP.
Police in Paris evacuated the Place de la Concorde amid the unrest, Reuters reports.
There was a demonstration despite a ban from police with people attending facing the prospect of a fine.
The decree of the prefecture prohibits “undeclared gatherings around in particular the Place de la Concorde, the Champs-Élysées, the Tuileries, the Champ-de-Mars, the National Assembly, from 7 p.m. today to 5 a.m. tomorrow”.
In the Alpes-Maritimes, in the Blaquière sector, police dispersed a group of rioters.
Seven people were arrested, BFMTV reported.
The city of Toulouse was again affected by unrest this evening. 19 people were arrested, BFMTV reported, citing a police source.
A young man has died after he fell from the roof of a supermarket in the city of Rouen during rioting, local authorities said.
A police source claimed the man plunged from the building, in the suburb of Petit-Quevilly in the Bruyeres shopping centre, while it was being looted overnight on Thursday, Sky News reported.
France football captain Kylian Mbappe calls for an end to the violence
Kylian Mbappé, the PSG and France footballer, has called for “appeasement” and an end to the “time of violence” in a message on Twitter.
— Kylian Mbappé (@KMbappe) June 30, 2023
In Lyon, a complaints office in Croix-Rousse was ransacked by rioters, BFMTV reported. Luxury stores were also looted.
38 people have been arrested so far.
In Montpellier, several hundred people defied the ban on demonstrating by marching , according to Agence France-Presse.
At the end of the demonstration, on the Place de la Comédie, the police fired tear gas and the demonstrators dispersed with some of them looting a jewellery store.
There is currently disorder in the Les Halles sector in Paris, BFMTV reported.
The day before, shops had been looted in this district of the capital.
In Aulnay-sous-Bois, the mayor Bruno Beschizza, has a municipal decree establishing a citywide curfew from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m, Le Monde reports.
Beschizza said: “We must make the bitter observation: the authority of the State has been flouted ,” wrote the mayor to his constituents. “For tonight, and the next nights, the intelligence services indicate that the situation will unfortunately worsen.”
Five teenagers, aged 15 to 17, were arrested on Avenue Georges Pompidou in Grasse this evening, BFM Nice Côte d’Azur reported.
The suspects had gasoline jerry cans and a backpack with a glass bottle inside.
Police in Marseille said a total of 63 people have been arrested in the municipalities.
17 people arrested in Lyon – reports
There have been at least 17 people arrested in Lyon, BFMTV has reported citing police sources.
Dozens of people had clashed with police in the Vénissieux area of the city.
Two cities 'impose curfews on unaccompanied minors'
Two cities in the Alsace region of north-eastern France, Colmar and Mulhouse, have established curfews for unaccompanied minors for the next few days, according to AFP.
BFMTV are reporting that an armoury was looted in Marseille, saying that while some hunting weapons were stolen, no ammunition was taken from the premises. One person was arrested with a shotgun.
Updated
Geneva’s cross-border public trams and buses are not running into France, where a nationwide halt to bus and tram services has been in action since 9pm (1900 GMT).
Switzerland’s second-biggest city, in the west of the country, is surrounded by France on three sides. Many of its public transport lines run across the border into dormitory towns on the other side.
• This article was amended on 2 July 2023. An earlier version said that Geneva was in the east of Switzerland instead of the west.
Updated
Dozens of arrests in Marseille
There have now been 49 arrests in Marseille, BFMTV reports.
“Many violent groups are still present in the city center of Marseille”, warned the prefecture of Bouches-du-Rhône.
❌ De nombreux groupes violents sont toujours présents en centre-ville de #Marseille. Ils sont régulièrement dispersés par les effectifs @policenat13. 42 interpellations.
— Préfète de police des Bouches-du-Rhône (@prefpolice13) June 30, 2023
⚠️ Quittez le secteur et laissez les policiers travailler. pic.twitter.com/dDXKxbGJz9
Updated
About 300 anti-fascist activists gathered at Place de la Concorde in central Paris before much of the crowd dispersed by police, Le Monde reports.
The tally of arrests in Marseille has increased to 36, according to broadcaster BFMTV who reported that small groups attacked the police with stones. Two officers sustained injuries.
The Society of Editors of Point has “condemned” an attack on a photographer from the Le Point magazine during a demonstration in Nanterre in the early hours of Friday.
“Last night, a photographer working for Le Point, Khanh Renaud, was violently attacked and robbed by a dozen rioters, while he was doing his job covering the events in Nanterre” west of Paris , details the press release sent to AFP.
Police in Paris 'evacuate Place de la Concorde'
Police in Paris say an operation is ongoing to evacuate the Place de la Concorde amid the unrest, Reuters reports.
There is a demonstration underway there despite a ban from police with people attending facing the prospect of a fine.
The decree of the prefecture prohibits “undeclared gatherings around in particular the Place de la Concorde, the Champs-Élysées, the Tuileries, the Champ-de-Mars, the National Assembly, from 7 p.m. today to 5 a.m. tomorrow”.
Updated
917 arrests on Thursday during unrest
917 people were arrested on Thursday evening in France, announced interior minister Gérald Darmanin on the TF1 channel.
The average age of those arrested was 17, he said.
Interior minister Gérald Darmanin told the TF1 channel there will be 45,000 law enforcement officers tonight, 5,000 more than yesterday, Le Monde reports.
On the policeman responsible for the shooting placed in pre-trial detention, he stressed that his case was not the subject of “impunity” , while calling for “respecting the time of justice” . “It is not because a police officer is indicted that all the police officers, all the gendarmes are indicted.”
Regarding measures to maintain order, the minister said in “fifty or sixty years, we have used the state of emergency four times, for extremely serious things”.
“It is not because we do not have a state of emergency that we do not have exceptional means”, he argued.
28 people were arrested in Marseille near the city centre, according to broadcaster BFMTV.
Law enforcement are authorised to use drones in several municipalities of Seine-Saint-Denis and Hauts-de-Seine, according to a prefectural decree valid until 6 am on Saturday.
Un arrêté préfectoral (n°2023-00766) autorise la captation, l'enregistrement et la transmission d'images au moyen de drones par la @prefpolice dans plusieurs communes des départements 92 et 93 jusqu'au samedi 1er juillet 2023 à 6h00. pic.twitter.com/R7agN7Grak
— Préfecture de Police (@prefpolice) June 30, 2023
Three nights of rioting were sparked by the fatal police shooting of 17-year-old Nahel M at a traffic stop.
Interior minister Gerald Darmanin wrote to firefighters and police officers seeking to quell unrest.
He said: “The next hours will be decisive and I know I can count on your flawless efforts.”
Darmanin asked local authorities to halt bus and tram traffic from 9 p.m. (1900 GMT) across the whole of France. The government has said all options would be considered to stop the unrest.
Fifteen people were arrested in Créteil, in Val-de-Marne, after causing damage and setting fire to bins, a police source told broadcaster BFMTV.
Wanissa watched as smoke rose from the mangled, burnt-out carcasses of 12 buses in the transport depot at Aubervilliers, north of Paris. “All this is a catastrophe,” said the 51-year-old cleaner, who now had to walk 3 miles to her next job from her morning spent mopping the entrance halls of local tower blocks.
The fire was caused by petrol bombs thrown at the depot during the early hours of Friday morning, transport authorities said. The facade of the adjacent Aubervilliers aquatic centre, where training will take place for the 2024 Olympics, was also damaged.
It was just one piece of public infrastructure targeted by arson in a night when fireworks were thrown at police in towns and cities across France, from Roubaix in the north to Marseille in the south, and public buildings were smashed and burned, including 28 schools, 34 town halls and 80 police stations or gendarme buildings in towns from Burgundy to the Loire.
Supermarkets in small towns and shops in some big cities were looted, including Nike in central Paris and an Apple store in Strasbourg.
Olivier Klein, minister delegate for the city and housing, has appealed to parents on Twitter, retiterating president Macron’s earlier message.
“Parents, tonight and until calm returns: keep your children and teenagers at home.”
Parents, ce soir et jusqu’au retour au calme : gardez vos enfants et adolescents à la maison.
— Olivier Klein (@OlivierKlein93) June 30, 2023
Apaiser nos quartiers et protéger les mineurs, c’est notre responsabilité à tous.
The Tour de France has increased security as race organisers brace themselves for a double dose of disruption – from climate activists and from the threat of civil unrest in France.
Race director Christian Prudhomme said that the promoters, ASO, are in “constant liaison” with the French government, following three nights of rioting across France.
While much of the Tour route is rural, the convoy is often accommodated in urban areas overnight. With further unrest reported on Friday, the French interior minister, Gérald Darmanin, has already asked that the measures stopping buses and tram services in Ile-de-France at 9pm, be introduced nationwide.
Updated
The mayor of Saint-Denis, in the northern suburbs of Paris, Mathieu Hanotin, has called for businesses to close from 10pm to 5am from tonight until Wednesday “in view of the current context”.
COMMUNIQUÉ | Au regard du contexte actuel, le Maire de #SaintDenis demande par arrêté, la fermeture impérative des commerces du territoire dès 22h et jusqu'à 5h à compter de ce vendredi 30 juin (22h) et jusqu'au mercredi 5 juillet (5h) pic.twitter.com/NYYh0cILCw
— Ville de Saint-Denis (@VilleSaintDenis) June 30, 2023
Updated
An investigation into the suspected attempted murders of public servants has been launched in Marseille, le Monde reports, after two plainclothes police officers were attacked overnight. The paper cited AFP, which reported that the officers were set upon by about 20 people who had identified at least one of them as a police officer.
Updated
We reported earlier that the UN had called on France to address “deep issues of racism and racial discrimination in law enforcement”. The French government has now rejected that any such problems exist. The foreign ministry has said:
Any accusation of racism or systemic discrimination in the police force in France is totally unfounded.
The UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination is a body of independent experts that monitors how states are implementing the convention on eliminating all forms of such discrimination.
In December, it voiced its deep concerns about the frequent use in France of identity checks and alleged discriminatory stops, which the committee said disproportionately targeted members of certain minority groups.
Updated
Laurent Escure, the secretary general of the confederation that includes one of those policing unions, the UNSA, has distanced himself from the language used in the joint statement this afternoon.
Categorically defending a profession, even in frank terms, does not justify using language that breaks from the values that are the foundation of our republic and of the UNSA. I repeat the sorrow felt by the UNSA after the death of Nahel. We call for calm and for an end to the violence.
Updated
Policing unions criticised over inflammatory language
Unions representing half of French police officers have described those taking part in the rioting, which follows years of complaints of racial profiling and heavy handed policing, as “savage hordes” and “vermin”, saying they consider themselves “at war”.
The language of the Alliance Police Nationale and UNSA Police unions, which echoes far-right phrasing, is being denounced as inflammatory and potentially dangerous. In a statement bearing the title “Now that’s enough”, they said:
Faced with these savage hordes, asking for calm doesn’t go far enough. It must be imposed.
Re-establishing order in the republic and putting those arrested somewhere they can do no harm must be the only political signals to send out.
Our colleagues, like the majority of the public, can no longer have the law laid down to them by a violent minority.
This is not the time for industrial action, but for fighting against these ‘vermin’. To submit, to capitulate, and to give them pleasure by laying down weapons are not solutions, given the gravity of the situation.
They said: “Today, police officers are at the frontline because we are at war.” And they warned the government that, unless officers are given yet greater legal protections and more resources in the future, “tomorrow, we will be in resistance”.
Jean-Luc Mélenchon, the former presidential candidate for the hard-left France Unbowed (LFI) party, said police unions “calling for civil war should learn to keep quiet. We’ve seen the fatal behaviour this kind of talk leads to. Politics needs to regain its grip on the police.”
The French Green party leader, Marine Tondelier, said:
Can we finally say that we have a structural problem in the police? This text is an appeal for civil war.
Updated
The French interior minister, Gérald Darmanin, as well as the minister of digital affairs, Jean-Noël Barrot, are due to meet representatives of social media firms at 6.30pm local time (5.30pm BST) to warn them about their responsibilities amid the rioting, le Monde quotes the prime minister’s office as saying.
Earlier on Friday, President Emmanuel Macron claimed social media was fuelling copycat violence, and said state agencies would ask companies to remove the most “sensitive content”.
Le Monde says the meeting will also serve as an opportunity to ask for the support of platforms such as Twitter, Snapchat and Tiktok in identifying users who commit offences.
Updated
Vandalism has reportedly already started in broad daylight in Strasbourg, where an Apple store has been targeted.
Le Monde, citing AFP, says a shopping centre in the city was cordoned off, so a crowd of young people gathered at Place Kléber – where the Apple Store is located – instead. The agency quoted a witness Corentin Flinck as saying:
They broke two of the shop windows and you could see groups of youths enter, leave, enter, leave as they tried to steal from the showroom.
Footage circulating on social media appeared to show a large group of mainly young people around the store – the windows of which had been smashed.
We reported earlier that buses and trams were being stopped at 9pm local time (8pm BST) in Île-de-France. Now, the interior minister, Gérald Darmanin, has asked for similar measures to be brought in nationwide.
He said he had also asked local leaders to take steps to prohibit the sale and transport of the tubes that can be used to launch fireworks, petrol containers and acids, as well as flammable and chemical products.
Updated
A man has died during rioting in French Guiana, an overseas département of France on the Caribbean coast of South America. The disturbances may be linked to events in France, le Monde reports. The newspaper said a link had not been definitively established but there had been heightened levels of instability in the area where the man died.
Le Monde says the victim was wounded in the neck by a gunshot at 11:40pm on Thursday. Police had withdrawn from the area, having faced opposition from about 50 people during the evening, and the man was found dead by paramedics shortly after midnight. Police suspect the man was hit by a stray bullet, the newspaper reports.
Updated
Emmanuel Macron says social media is fuelling copycat violence and tells parents to keep teenagers at home
Emmanuel Macron says social media is fuelling copycat violence in France and that state agencies would ask platforms such as Snapchat and TikTok to remove the most “sensitive content”.
Speaking after a second government crisis meeting, the president said violence was being organised online. Commenting on the young people involved, he said: “We sometimes have the feeling that some of them are living in the streets of the video games that have intoxicated them.”
Macron also urged parents to keep teenagers at home to quell rioting, saying many of those arrested are young. “It is the parents’ responsibility to keep them at home, and therefore it is important for everyone’s peace of mind that parental responsibility can be fully exercised,” he said.
Updated
British tourists planning to travel to France have been warned of violent unrest and disruptions to road transport, including possible curfews, in official advice from the Foreign Office after nationwide protests over the fatal shooting of a teenager by French police.
The advice reads:
Since 27 June, riots have taken place across France. Many have turned violent. Shops, public buildings and parked cars have been targeted. There may be disruptions to road travel and local transport provision may be reduced. Some local authorities may impose curfews. Locations and timing of riots are unpredictable. You should monitor the media, avoid areas where riots are taking place.
Updated
All trams and buses in Île-de-France – the region that includes Paris – are to be stopped after 9pm each evening until further notice, the local transport authority has announced.
⚠ En concertation avec la @prefpolice, tous les trams et bus en Île-de-France seront arrêtés au plus tard à 21h00.
— IDF Mobilités (@IDFmobilites) June 30, 2023
Cette mesure pour la sécurité des agents et des voyageurs, sera reconduite tous les soirs jusqu’à nouvel ordre.
Nous vous invitons à anticiper vos déplacements.
The organisation tweeted that the decision had been taken in consultation with police, and was in the interests of safety of both staff and passengers. It said the closures would reoccur each evening and warned people wishing to travel to plan ahead.
Violence has erupted across France, triggered by the fatal shooting of a 17-year-old by police on Tuesday. We would like to hear your thoughts on the unrest. How have you been affected?
Updated
The hard-pressed Parisian police were presented with a new security headache when a court in the city lifted a ban on a controversial Iranian opposition rally on Saturday that the police wanted stopped due to security risks.
The National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), essentially the political wing of the Mojahedin-e-Khalq (MEK), said the court had lifted a ban imposed by the Paris Prefectural Office, and that its rally would now go ahead. There are fears of street clashes between Iranian factions.
The court also ordered the prefecture to pay the organising committee of the demonstration a fine of €1,500 (£1,286). The court said it had made the decision after the organisers agreed it would be a static rally as opposed to a march and to increase the stewarding.
French police feared the NCRI event, due to be attended by some US Republicans and British Conservatives, could be targeted by the Iranian regime.
A previous rally in 2018 was targeted by an Iranian security services hit squad, but the sophisticated bomb plot was foiled, leading to one Iranian diplomat being jailed for 30 years by an Antwerp court.
Iran regards the MEK as a terrorist group and has waged a relentless war against the organisation, including assassinations and mass executions against the organisation inside and outside Iran. Some critics describe the MEK, which has a camp in Albania, as akin to a cult. Its designation as a terrorist group was lifted in the UK by 2008.
The NCRI claimed the court ruling was a “heavy blow to the clerical regime and the policy of appeasement”. It had previously claimed the ban had been imposed following a phone conversation between the French president, Emmanuel Macron, and his Iranian counterpart, Ebrahim Raisi. France is one of a group of western powers investigating whether it can improve relations with Iran and revive a version of the 2015 nuclear deal.
The NCRI said: “Security being a ridiculous excuse, the reality was surrendering to blackmail by a regime that is the record-holder in executions and the godfather of international terrorism. The mullahs ruling Iran tried to involve foreign powers in suppressing the resistance. They received a worthy response from the Paris court.”
The MEK has, at times, been placed on European terrorist lists and faced security clampdowns.
The plot to bomb the 2018 NCRI rally in Paris led in 2021 to an Antwerp court jailing an Iranian diplomat Assadollah Assadi for 20 years. But in May this year he was controversially released in a prisoner swap between Belgium and Iran involving a jailed Belgian aid worker, Olivier Vandecasteele.
The Belgian foreign minister, Hadja Lahbib, survived a parliamentary vote of no-confidence on Thursday over what was seen as a record of excessive leniency to the Iranian regime.
Updated
Marseille shuts down all public demonstrations
Marseille, France’s second-largest city, has decided to ban public demonstrations today, said the local authorities for the city. Reuters reports that all public transport in Marseille will also stop from 7pm local time (6pm BST).
Updated
875 people have been questioned overnight, including 408 in the Paris area, says Le Monde
According to le Monde, 875 people have been questioned overnight, including 408 in the Paris area, while 492 buildings were attacked, 2,000 vehicles burned and 3,880 fires set in public places across France.
The newspaper says the figures were given by the president, Emmanuel Macron, during a meeting at the prime minister’s official Paris residence Hôtel Matignon.
Updated
Moreover, Emmanuel Macron is prepared to adapt measures to curb the violence “without taboo”, an aide has told reporters. The president was said to be awaiting recommendations from government ministers, according to various reports.
Updated
Here’s a little more detail on those comments from Élisabeth Borne, who said the government is considering “all options”. She has told reporters who asked about the possible declaration of a state of emergency:
I won’t tell you now, but we are looking at all options, with one priority: restoring order throughout the country.
Both conservative and far-right opposition politicians have urged her to take such action, which would hand local authorities greater powers to declare localised curfews, ban demonstrations. It would also further empower the police in efforts to restrain suspected rioters and search homes, the French news agency Agence France-Presse reports.
Updated
Norway has advised its citizens to avoid large gatherings due to the rioting. Its foreign minister sent a text message to citizens in France, according to BFM TV. The broadcaster reports that France is a popular destination for Norwegian travellers, with about 270,000 of them visiting last year.
Meanwhile, Berlin has expressed a “certain concern at what is going on in France”, le Monde reports.
Updated
An ambulance driver was filmed berating police after Nahel’s death. In the video, which has circulated widely online, he shouted at officers:
He’s 17, you see he has a baby face. For a driving licence offence. For a driving licence offence, brother. I know the lad, I watched him grow up. His mother brought him up all alone, his dad left. She’s going to bury her son. For a driving licence offence.
You’re going to see how it goes tonight. Everyone’s sleeping right now – you’re going to see how Nanterre awakens.
The ambulance, named by FranceInfo as Marouane, was later found guilty of a public order offence over the incident, but spared any punishment because of the context. He said he knew Nahel “like a little brother”, adding: “You can ask anyone in Nanterre, even if he didn’t know you, he’d do you a favour”.
The interior minister, Gérald Darmanin, has denounced what he called a night of “rare violence”, with his office describing the 667 arrests overnight as a sharp increase on previous operations as part of an overall government efforts to be “extremely firm” with rioters.
Updated
The United Nations rights office said on Friday it was concerned by the fatal shooting of a teenager by police that triggered unrest across France. Its spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani said:
This is a moment for the country to seriously address the deep issues of racism and racial discrimination in law enforcement.
We also emphasise the importance of peaceful assembly. We call on the authorities to ensure use of force by police to address violent elements in demonstrations always respects the principles of legality, necessity, proportionality, non-discrimination, precaution and accountability.
French government taking nothing off the table in bid to stop the riots
The French prime minister and the country’s president will consider “all options” in response to the riots during an emergency cabinet meeting later in the day, the former PM Élisabeth Borne has said. She told reporters during a visit to a Paris suburb:
The priority is to ensure national unity and the way to do it is to restore order.
Police made 667 arrests nationwide overnight after violence also broke out in Marseille, Lyon, Pau, Toulouse and Lille in a third night of protests against Tuesday’s killing by police of a 17-year-old of Algerian and Moroccan descent during a traffic stop.
Updated
The US embassy in Paris has tweeted advising Americans to “avoid mass gatherings and areas of significant police activity” as they “can turn violent and result in clashes”.
The U.S. Embassy is aware of ongoing demonstrations taking place in the greater Paris region. We remind U.S. citizens they should avoid mass gatherings and areas of significant police activity as they can turn violent and result in clashes. As always, it is a good practice to…
— U.S. Embassy France (@USEmbassyFrance) June 29, 2023
The British Foriegn Office urged Britons to monitor the media, avoid protests and follow the advice of authorities.
Since 27 June, protests have taken place in Paris and across France 🇫🇷. Some have turned violent and may lead to disruptions to road travel or targeting of parked cars.
— British in France (@BritishinFrance) June 29, 2023
Monitor the media, avoid protests and follow the advice of the authorities 👇https://t.co/WIHLSmkx68
Conservative and far-right politicians have urged the government to declare an emergency, something both the prime minister, Elisabeth Borne, and interior minister, Gérald Darmanin, have so far said they are not yet willing to do.
The president of the conservative Les Républicains party, Eric Ciotti, was the first to issue the demand on Thursday and on Friday Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally (Rassemblement National) followed suit.
The MP and party spokesperson Sébastien Chenu said a curfew should first be imposed on some neighbourhoods where the violence had been particularly extreme.
“We are calling for a curfew initially, then the imposition of a full state of emergency and the mobilisation of all the forces of law and order in the country,” Chenu told LCI television, adding that authorities had “not succeeded in taking back control” on Thursday night.
🔴 Troisième nuit d'émeutes
— LCI (@LCI) June 30, 2023
🗣️ "L'Etat n'a pas repris le contrôle. La nuit d'hier soir a été bien pire qu'avant-hier." Sébastien Chenu (@sebchenu) qui demande l'instauration de l'état d'urgence | @mchantrait
▶️ Dans #LesMatinsLCI #emeutes #Nanterre pic.twitter.com/xig3cSnpBz
Éric Zemmour, the far-right, anti-immigration polemicist who made a much-publicised run for the French presidency last year, echoed the demand on Friday.
Zemmour told Europe1 radio that the government should “ferociously repress” the riots, describing them as the “beginnings of a civil war, an ethnic war”.
A state of emergency in France can be declared “in the event of imminent danger resulting from serious breaches of public order”.
It allows the government to curtail free movement, including ordering the closure of certain public places and banning demonstrations.
Updated
Elisabeth Borne, the French prime minister, has called the violence “intolerable and inexcusable” and reaffirmed in a tweet her support for police, gendarmes and firefighters who were “carrying out their duties with courage”.
Ce matin à Matignon avec les ministres pour faire le point sur les violences et exactions de la nuit. Les actes commis sont insupportables et inexcusables.
— Élisabeth BORNE (@Elisabeth_Borne) June 30, 2023
Mon soutien et ma confiance renouvelés aux policiers, gendarmes et sapeurs-pompiers qui assurent leur mission avec courage. pic.twitter.com/yL7BnwNwxw
The transport minister, Clément Beaune, has told RMC radio that public transport in the Paris region would be severely disrupted on Friday. He did not rule out another early closure of the network, parts of which shut down at 9pm on Thursday.
Buses and trams as well as public transport depots were among the targets of rioters in several towns and cities, with 12 buses set on fire and destroyed in a depot in Aubervilliers, just north of Paris, and a tram torched in Lyon.
Updated
The teenager whose death on Tuesday sparked the rioting was a “well-liked” only child raised by a single mother, who had been studying for an electrician’s certificate.
According to French media, Nahel M was was still living with his mother, Mounia, in the Vieux-Pont neighbourhood of Nanterre, about 9 miles (15km) from central Paris.
In 2021 he had enrolled on a course leading to an electrical qualification at the lycée Louis Blériot in nearby Suresnes, but had reportedly dropped out and was earning a living making deliveries and working in a fast-food shop.
The president of a local community rugby club described him as “a kid who really wanted to get on, to integrate professionally and socially”.
The public prosecutor, Pascal Prache, has said Nahel, who is too young to hold a full driving licence in France, was known to police for previously failing to comply with a traffic stop order, and French media said he had also been involved in several other previous run-ins with police.
According to BFM and other media, he was arrested last Saturday after failing to obey a traffic stop and notified that he would appear in youth court in September.
You can read more about Nahel in this profile:
France’s interior ministry has said 249 police and gendarmes were injured in Thursday night’s rioting, which rather than pitched battles between protesters and police was marked by looting of shops and attacks on public buildings.
Flagship branches of Nike and Zara were looted in Paris, French media have reported, while among other incidents a police station in the Pyrenean city of Pau was hit by a Molotov cocktail and an elementary school and a district office set on fire in Lille.
A total of 40,000 officers had been deployed, including 4,000 in the greater Paris region. The ministry said none suffered serious injuries.
Updated
Introduction
Good morning and welcome to the Guardian’s live coverage after a third consecutive night of rioting rocked France.
A total of 667 people were arrested across the country into the early hours of Friday morning amid continuing violence triggered by the fatal police shooting of a 17-year-old of Algerian and Moroccan descent during a traffic stop in a Paris suburb on Tuesday.
The teenager, identified as Nahel M, had been pulled over by two motorbike patrolmen for a range of traffic offences and was shot as he drove off. The 38-year-old police officer concerned has been charged with voluntary homicide and is in provisional detention.
Overnight, fireworks and projectiles were thrown at police, bins were set alight and buses and bus depots torched in towns and cities across the country, from Lille in the north to Marseille in the south.Shops were also looted in central Paris.
President Emmanuel Macron is cutting short his attendance at an EU summit in Brussels to host a cabinet crisis meeting at 1pm amid fears of a repeat of 2005, when the death of two young boys of African origin during a police chase in Clichy-sous-Bois outside Paris led to three weeks’ of rioting nationwide.
We’ll be bringing you the latest developments as they happen.
Updated
