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PARIS: France will reinforce police with troops and mount a huge security operation for \u200bmore protests planned on Saturday, the government said on Tuesday, acknowledging failures in its response to last weekend\u2019s violence.<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cThe deployment next Saturday will be massive,\u201d Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu \u200csaid, adding that the immediate priority was to restore order after rioting and looting swept Paris, Marseille, Lyon and other cities on October 17.<\/span><\/p>\n In a sometimes rowdy debate, Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said the military would be deployed alongside police, while the government pledged to overhaul tactics after widespread criticism that city centres had been left vulnerable.<\/span><\/p>\n Framing the crisis as a choice \u201cbetween violence and the Republic\u201d, Lecornu blamed the unrest on far-left groups, who \u200bin turn have accused the government of underestimating public anger over high living costs and declining public services.<\/span><\/p>\n The turmoil shocked France because of both its scale and the apparent inability of \u200bpolice to contain it, inflaming tensions ahead of presidential elections next year with candidates from the far right and hard left performing strongly in polls.<\/span><\/p>\n Protests \u2060in other European countries, including Italy and Albania, have added to concerns that anger over living standards risks spreading around the continent at a time when many nations, including France, are struggling with budget woes.<\/span><\/p>\n A \u200bnight of relative calm in France followed targeted curfews imposed in several areas affected by the chaos, which the government said had helped reassert control. The localised curfews, some directed at children and teenagers under \u200bage 18, were extended to Tuesday night, police said.<\/span><\/p>\n Lecornu acknowledged shortcomings in the state\u2019s response at the weekend, saying there had been intelligence failures, while police deployments had been too static and authorities had erred by not cancelling planned police leave.<\/span><\/p>\n Nunez apologised for the mistakes. \u201cI deeply regret what happened. I accept my share of responsibility,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n Parliament is setting up a commission of inquiry to establish the causes of the unrest, \u200bwhile authorities have assigned 200 investigators to identify and track down those involved in the street violence.<\/span><\/p>\n Police arrested on Tuesday a man suspected of starting a blaze that destroyed a historic town hall \u200bin the central city of Limoges during the rioting. Officials said he had been on a security watch list and belonged to an ultra-left group.<\/span><\/p>\n Sylvain Maillard, a Renaissance deputy for Paris, told Reuters some apps had become \u201ca \u200cwalkie-talkie system \u2060for rioters and looters\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n Underscoring the broad impact of the crisis, French borrowing costs rose further on Tuesday as investors fretted about the prospect of more unrest, with the yield on benchmark 10-year government bonds touching its highest level in 24 years.<\/span><\/p>\n Supermarket chain Carrefour said it had lost tens of millions of euros through theft and damage, warning that it faced an \u201cunprecedented situation\u201d because of the disorder.<\/span><\/p>\n France\u2019s main student union UNEF has called for further protests on Saturday, pledging to maintain pressure on Macron\u2019s government over what it says is a deteriorating and underfunded education system. \u201cWe carry on,\u201d it said on social media.<\/span><\/p>\n Separately, groups identifying \u200bthemselves as \u201cGilets Jaunes\u201d (Yellow Vests) called for protest actions \u200bover rising fuel costs.<\/span><\/p>\n The yellow vest movement, \u2060largely inactive in recent years, sprang up in 2018 during Macron\u2019s first term over plans to raise petrol taxes. Traffic blockades continued for months until the government made costly concessions it can ill afford now.<\/span><\/p>\n Northern Italian cities, including the financial capital Milan, were also \u200bhit by riots last weekend.<\/span><\/p>\n Though not on the scale seen in France, the unrest nonetheless jolted Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni\u2019s government, which was \u200bexpected to introduce new security \u2060measures at a cabinet meeting on Tuesday.<\/span><\/p>\n Defence Minister Guido Crosetto described the disturbances as a form of \u201chybrid warfare\u201d conducted through social media platforms such as TikTok, YouTube and other online networks.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThe events in Milan and elsewhere in Italy are fundamentally different from those seen in other eras,\u201d Crosetto wrote on X. \u201cThe West has yet to realise this or take any meaningful action in response.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n In Milan\u2019s central Corso Vittorio Emanuele II, sportswear retailer \u2060On and a \u200bLevi\u2019s store that were targeted during the unrest had reopened on Tuesday but remained boarded up. Luxury stores had \u200brestored merchandise to window displays after temporarily removing it for security reasons.<\/span><\/p>\nTARGETED CURFEWS HELP RESTORE CALM<\/span><\/h2>\n
SUSPECT ARRESTED FOR LIMOGES TOWN HALL DESTRUCTION<\/span><\/h2>\n
ITALY FACES NEW FORM OF UNREST, MINISTER SAYS<\/span><\/h2>\n