A burned-out bus in Paris on Saturday morning during the ongoing riots. Photo: AP. The Tour de France cycling race due to start in Spain on Saturday.
On Friday, Mr Macron faced intense pressure to impose a state of emergency as he urged parents to keep their children at home and blamed video games for 'drunk' young protesters.
In an updated travel advisory, the Foreign Office said: “The places and times of unrest are unpredictable. You should watch the media and avoid places where there are riots.”
The riots continue in the suburbs of Paris. Photo: Shutterstock
A few minutes later, Mr. Darmanin announced that “all buses and trams” would stop running after 9 p.m. in France. The cities of Clamart, Compiègne and Neuilly-sur-Marne are now under curfew.
On Friday evening, Geneva's public trams and buses did not cross the Swiss border into France
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The unrest also spread to French Caribbean territories, including French Guiana and Reunion Island in the Indian Ocean.
Map of protests in France
The new restrictions came after Mr Macron interrupted a meeting of the European Council in Brussels for crisis talks, as he said there was no “taboo” against rising anarchy.
Elisabeth Born, his the prime minister, added that “all options” for restoring order were on the table, including imposing a state of emergency
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Emmanuel Macron with Elisabeth Born, Prime Minister of France, arriving for a new crisis meeting in Paris after a third night of unrest across the country. Credit: YVES HERMAN/POOL/EPA-EFE/SHUTTERSTOCK
Marine Le Pen, Mr. Macron's main opposition rival, backed the move, while Eric Ciotti, head of the conservative Republicans, pushed for an immediate state of emergency because ” France is on fire.
French security forces are struggling to contain the unrest following the death of 17-year-old Nahem M., who was shot at point-blank range by a police officer after he was pulled over for a traffic violation in Nanterre, a suburb west of Paris. The shooting was caught on video, contradicting initial police claims that they were acting in self-defense.
Mr Macron promised “additional funds” and his prime minister approved the use of armored vehicles and drones to track vandals.
p> Riots in France, day 3 – Police armored vehicles Riots in France, day 3 – library fire
However, in sharp criticism, two of France's leading police unions, Alliance Police Nationale and UNSA Police, suggested that the reaction was too weak.
“Faced with these wild hordes, calls for calm are no longer enough, it must be imposed !!” they wrote, claiming they were fighting “parasites” and threatening to revolt.
The French Police Union
The Green Party called this statement a “threat of rebellion”. while left-wing figurehead Jean-Luc Mélenchon said: “Political forces must take control of the police.”
Thursday night's looting scenes were reminiscent of the 2011 “London riots” sparked by the death of Mark Duggan, a black man who was also shot dead by police.
Following crisis talks on Friday, Mr Macron urged parents to keep children out rioters on the streets.
“Parents are required to keep them at home,” Macron told reporters. “The state should not act instead of them.”
The French president called on social media providers to remove the “most sensitive” riot-related content, arguing that vandalism graphic footage “stokes a form of copycat violence.”
“Sometimes we get the feeling that some of them live on street because of the video games that intoxicated them,” he added.
How the protest in France in 2023 compares to today
On Friday, a young man died after falling off a roof during an apparent robbery attempt while police in the northwestern French city of Rouen were busy fighting protests, authorities said.
A man in his 20s crashed the roof mall while trying to break into a supermarket, police said.
French police have delayed an increasingly tough stance against rioters. Photo: REUTERS
The funeral of Nahel M. will take place on Saturday.
In Friday's scathing, the UN Human Rights Office suggested that this week's murder of a North African teenager was “a moment for the country to seriously address the serious issues of racism and racial discrimination in law enforcement.”
Paris called the allegations “completely unfounded”.
Nahel was killed while driving away from the police who tried to stop him for a traffic violation.
Nahel M. died during a traffic stop on Tuesday. pointing a gun at the driver.
A voice is heard saying, “You'll get shot in the head.”
The policeman then appears to be firing as the car slowly drives away.
Laurent-Franc Linard, the officer's lawyer, told BFMTV late on Thursday that his client apologized when he was taken into custody.
“The first words he said were to apologize, and the last words he said was an apology to the family,” said Mr. Liénard.
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