Why are people protesting in France – and why is there a history of rioting?
Riots have broken out in Paris and other French cities after a teenage boy was shot dead by police during a traffic stop.
Thousands of officers have been deployed and more than 100 people have been arrested as protesters clash with riot police.
President Emmanuel Macron has held an emergency security meeting to ensure “peace can return”, while French stars such as footballer Kylian Mbappe and actor Omar Sy have condemned police brutality.
Here Sky News looks at what happened and why the suburbs of French cities have a history of rioting.
France stops public transport and deploys 40,000 officers
What happened in Nanterre?
On Tuesday reports emerged of a police shooting in Nanterre – just over four miles north west of Paris.
Video footage, which has since been widely circulated online, shows two armed police officers stopping a yellow car.
They lean into the driver’s window with their guns before the vehicle pulls away and one of the officers fires towards it. A separate clip shows the car crashed into a post nearby.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Sky News Europe correspondent Adam Parsons reports from Nanterre
The Nanterre prosecutor’s office confirmed the victim was a 17-year-old boy, who has been named locally as Nahel M.
He died at the scene and the officer involved is being held in custody on suspicion of voluntary homicide, they said.
His mother appeared in a video on Instagram alongside an anti-police brutality activist, saying: “I have lost a child of 17 years old. They took my baby. He was still a child. He needs his mother.
“This morning, he said: ‘Mum, I love you’. I said: ‘Be careful’.”
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Video shows moment of police shooting on Tuesday
The victim has been named locally as Nahel, 17
Read more:
40,000 police officers to be deployed across France
Eyewitness: Anger and anarchy have taken grip
In the aftermath, people took to the streets of Nanterre to protest, setting cars alight and throwing stones and fireworks at police – who responded with tear gas.
Buildings, including schools, town halls and the headquarters of the Paris 2024 Olympics in nearby Seine-Saint-Denis, were also set on fire.
Firefighters try to contain car fires in Nanterre
Protesters let off fireworks, Pic:AP
The violence has spread to other Parisian suburbs (banlieues) and cities elsewhere in France – from Toulouse to Dijon and Lille.
Police say 150 people have been arrested – more than half in the greater Paris region.
So far 40,000 police officers have been deployed to tackle unrest nationwide – including 5,000 in Paris.
Why is there a history of rioting in France’s suburbs?
Asked about the incident during a visit to Marseille on Wednesday, Mr Macron was quick to condemn the police’s actions, describing them as “inexplicable and unforgivable”. “Nothing can justify the death of a young person,” he said.
As he tries to manage the violent aftermath of the boy’s death, he will be all too aware of the heavily-entrenched tensions that lie behind it.
Dr Itay Lotem, senior lecturer in French studies at the University of Westminster, describes this week’s events as “nearly well-rehearsed”.
“A police officer kills a teenager from one of the underprivileged communities around Paris, triggering ripples of anger,” he says.
“Groups of disaffected youth take to the streets of the banlieue and target symbols of the state, whether police stations or schools.”
The origins of the ‘banlieue’ stem back to the years following the Second World War, when the French government began to provide social housing en masse. This resulted in thousands of tower blocks being built on the periphery of French cities between 1945 and 1975.
They were originally designed for lower-middle class families who commuted for work. But in the 1970s amid high unemployment and racial tensions following the Algerian War and the end of French colonialism, they became increasingly occupied by low-income, immigrant communities.
Underfunded by successive governments with poor quality housing and job prospects, they were labelled “problem” or “high-risk” areas.
Crime was high and young people on the streets would often clash with police, who had a reputation for a brutal, zero-tolerance policy of unrest.
A burnt out car in Nanterre
Damage to a local police station
‘Clean out the estates’
The first ‘banlieue’ riot was in 1979 in the Lyon suburb of Vaulx-en-Velin, which broke out after a local teenager of North African descent was arrested.
The most notable, however, came in 2005 and lasted for three weeks. It started in Clichy-sous-Bois, north of Paris, when two youths were electrocuted and died as they tried to evade police.
A state of emergency was declared after protesters burnt down buildings and set fire to cars.
A burnt out van in Clichy-sous-Bois near Paris in 2005
Nicolas Sarkozy meets French riot police in Perpignan southern France in 2005
Future President Nicolas Sarkozy, then interior minister, inflamed tensions by vowing to “clean out the estates with a Karcher” (a brand of pressure washer) and using the words “yobs” and “trash”.
These tensions “have only been amplified” by the far-right since then, Dr Lotem adds, particularly the National Front, which began achieving electoral success in the early 2000s.
The daughter of its founder, Marine Le Pen, who rebranded the party National Rally in 2018, has described Mr Macron’s condemnation of the police this week as “excessive” and “irresponsible”, saying he should “let them do their job”.
Although the 2005 violence sent shockwaves around the country and triggered a wave of reform programmes in the banlieues, repeated incidences of rioting suggest little has changed since then.
“When many rioters today claim they are not heard, they address 2005 as a moment after which nothing changed,” Dr Lotem says.
And for teenagers who do not remember 2005, “the frustration with the state has been nurtured through the politics of the post-2005 era”, he adds.
How is the government responding?
Leading an emergency security meeting on Thursday, Emmanuel Macron described this week’s “acts of violence… against a police station, schools, city halls” as “totally unjustifiable”.
But he insisted there must be “remembrance and respect” to the victim’s family and his community, particularly during the silent march that took place in Nanterre on Thursday.
French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne said police seen in the video circulated “clearly don’t respect the rules of engagement of our security forces” and she hopes “calm will prevail over anger”.
People march through Nanterre in memory of Nahel
Initially, Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin described the footage of the incident as “shocking”, but in response to the rioting he said: “The state must be firm in its response.”
Dr Lotem says that although politicians want to appear sympathetic, there is still widespread distrust among the communities involved.
“The main bone of contention is the perception of the state as the main facilitator of police violence,” he says.
French President Emmanuel Macron on his visit to Marseille this week
He points to the 2017 law – passed in the aftermath of the 2015 terror attacks in Paris – which gives the police more rights to use lethal force in the face of perceived threats.
According to French journalist and researcher Sihame Assbague, at least 40 people die during police interventions in France every year.
A police spokesperson confirmed that this week’s shooting is the third fatal one during a traffic stop so far this year. Last year the figure was 13 – an all-time record.
A passenger bus burst into flames after a motorbike crashed into it, killing at least 25 people and injuring several others in southern India.
A fire ripped through the bus within minutes early on Friday, trapping dozens of passengers as it sped along a highway near Kurnool district in Andhra Pradesh state.
Some people managed to break windows, leaping to safety with minor injuries, while others were charred to death, senior police official Vikrant Patil said.
Volunteers working amid the debris of the bus. Pic: AP
There were 44 passengers on board, most of whom were asleep at the time of the crash.
The bus was gutted and the unidentified bike rider also died, Mr Patil said.
The accident occurred in Chinnatekuru village near Kurnool, around 130 miles (210 kilometres) south of Hyderabad.
The bus was travelling between the cities of Hyderabad in Telangana state and Bengaluru in Karnataka state.
The motorbike rammed into the speeding bus from behind and became stuck, Mr Patil said. It was dragged for some distance, causing sparks that engulfed the bus’s fuel tank.
Read more from Sky News:
Trump cancels ‘all trade negotiations’ with Canada
NBA stars arrested by FBI
“As the smoke started spreading, the driver stopped the bus and tried to put the fire out by using a fire extinguisher, but the fire was so intense he couldn’t control it,” Mr Patil said.
A team of forensic experts was investigating the incident.
India‘s Prime Minister Narendra Modi has offered his condolences to the bereaved families.
The makers of the furniture lift used by the Louvre thieves have told Sky News the device is “certainly not intended for burglaries” after publishing a tongue-in-cheek advert making the most of the product’s sudden fame.
Bocker manufactures the Agilo furniture lift that was used in Sunday’s daring daytime heist.
The day after thieves made off with a haul of France’s Crown Jewels worth €88m (£76m), the firm posted a photograph showing the lift inside the police cordon next to the Paris museum with the tagline “when you need to move fast”.
Posted on Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn, it shows the vehicle’s ladder propped up against the side of the building, telling prospective buyers the lift can carry “up to 400kg of treasures at 42m per minute – as quiet as a whisper”.
CEO Alexander Bocker told Sky News he and his wife, marketing manager Julia Scharwatz, realised their product had been used in the heist when they saw photos from the scene on Sunday afternoon.
“We were shocked that our lift had been completely misused for this robbery, as it is not approved for transporting people,” he said. “And certainly not intended for burglaries.
“Once the initial shock had subsided and it was clear that no one had been injured, black humour took over.
“We brainstormed a bit and played slogan ping pong. My wife finalised it with her marketing team on Monday morning.”
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Moment thieves escape Louvre in jewel heist
Users have generally seen the funny side, with one Instagram comment saying the post “might be the best ad I’ve seen this year” and another suggesting the company deserves “the Oscar for the cleverest advertising”.
Mr Bocker said “99% of the feedback ” has been “thoroughly positive”. “We understand that not everyone shares this sense of humour. Humour rarely, if ever, appeals to everyone, but the vast majority laughed heartily.”
As of Friday afternoon, more than 40,000 people had liked the post on Instagram.
The CEO said his company has had enquiries from around the world and “many congratulations on our successful marketing campaign”.
A police officer swabs the lift for any traces of evidence. Pic: Louvre
The lift used by the thieves belonged to one of the firm’s customers, who rents out furniture lifts in the Greater Paris area, he explained.
“During a demonstration on how to use the furniture lift, it was apparently stolen and reported as such by our customer,” Mr Bocker said. “It appears that the company’s branding has been removed and the number plates replaced.”
Read more from Sky News:
Louvre: UK museums could be next
What will happen to stolen jewels?
The Louvre reopened to visitors on Wednesday, having shut shortly after the heist took place on Sunday morning.
The eight stolen objects remain missing and the thieves, who escaped on motorbikes, are still at large.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Louvre: How ‘heist of the century’ unfolded
Museum director Laurence des Cars offered to resign when she appeared before French senators on Wednesday, admitting that the four-minute raid was a “terrible failure” and that the site’s security cameras, which do not offer full coverage of the building’s facade, were inadequate.
It came just months after employees went on strike, warning of chronic understaffing and under-resourcing, and saying there were too few eyes on too many rooms.
US sanctions against Russia’s two largest energy companies, the state-owned Rosneft and privately held Lukoil, are perhaps the most significant economic measures imposed by the West since the invasion of Ukraine.
If fully implemented, they have the potential to significantly choke off the flow of fossil fuel revenue that funds Russia’s war machine, but their power lies not in directly denying Russia access to the tankers, ports and refineries that make the oil trade turn, but the US financial system that greases the wheels.
Ever since the invasion, the Russian government has proved masterful at evading sanctions, aided and abetted by allies of economic convenience and an oil industry with decades of experience.
Ukraine war latest: Zelenskyy expresses relief at Trump move
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
New US sanctions on Russia: What do we know?
While the West, principally the EU, has largely turned off the taps and stopped buying Russian oil, China, India and Turkey became the largest consumers, with a shadow fleet of tankers ensuring exports continued to flow.
Data from the Centre for Research into Energy and Clean Air (CREA) shows that while fossil fuel revenues have fallen from more than €1bn a day before the war, they have remained above €600m since the start of 2023, only dipping towards €500m in the last month.
None of that oil has been heading for the US, but these sanctions will directly impact the ability of the Russian companies, and anyone doing business with them, to operate within America’s financial orbit.
According to the order from the US Office for Foreign Asset Control, the sanctions block all assets of the two companies, their subsidiaries and a number of named individuals, as well as preventing US citizens or financial institutions from doing business with them.
It also threatens foreign financial institutions that “facilitate transactions… involving Russia’s military-industrial base” with direct or secondary sanctions.
Vladimir Putin chairs a meeting in Moscow.
Pic: Sputnik/Reuters
In practice, the measures should prevent the two companies from accessing not just dollars, but trading markets, insurance and other services with any financial connection to the US.
Taken in harness with similar steps announced by the UK earlier this month, analysts believe they can have a genuinely chilling effect on the market for Russian oil and gas.
Russia’s customers for oil in China, India and Turkey will also be affected, with the largest companies, state-owned and private, expected to be unwilling to take the risk of engaging directly with sanctioned entities.
Indian companies are already reported to be “recalibrating” their imports following the announcement, which came just a week after Donald Trump announced an additional 25% import tariff on Indian goods as punishment for the country’s reliance on Russian oil.
Read more:
Russia has responded with bravado to US sanctions
Trump imposes sanctions on Russia’s two biggest oil firms
That does not mean that Russian oil and gas exports will cease. There are other unsanctioned Russian energy companies that can still trade, and ever since the first barrel of oil was tapped, the industry has proved adept at evading sanctions intended to interrupt its flow from one country or another.
Any significant increase in the oil price beyond the 5% seen in the aftermath of the announcement could also put pressure on the White House, which is at least as sensitive to fuel prices at home as it is to foreign wars.
But analysts Kpler expect the sanctions to cause “an immediate, short-term hiatus in Russian crude exports, as it will take time for sellers to reorganise and rebuild their trading systems to circumvent restrictions and ease buyers’ concerns”.
And Russian gas will, for now, continue to flow into Europe, where distaste for Vladimir Putin‘s imperial ambitions has not killed the appetite for his fuel. While the EU has this week imposed sanctions on liquified natural gas (LNG), they will not be fully enforced until 2027.
-
Sports2 years agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports3 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports2 years agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports3 years agoButton battles heat exhaustion in NASCAR debut
-
Sports3 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports4 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Environment1 year agoHere are the best electric bikes you can buy at every price level in October 2024