Violence is decreasing – fewer arrests in France

Violence is decreasing fewer arrests in France
fullscreen Police officers on the Champs-Élysées parade street in Paris on Saturday. Photo: Christophe Ena/AP/TT

Clashes between French police and rioters have calmed down further during the night to Wednesday, the country’s government says.

However, the large police presence continues in the streets and squares.

On the night of Wednesday, 16 arrests were made throughout the country, seven of them in the Paris area. When the riots were at their peak this weekend, around 1,300 people were arrested in a single night.

On Tuesday, President Emmanuel Macron said the peak of the riots had passed, but also urged continued caution.

The unrest erupted after a 17-year-old boy named Nahel was shot dead by police last week during a traffic stop in the Paris suburb of Nanterre.

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