French cities calm overnight after curfews imposed to quell violence, PM says

A suspect linked to a far-left movement has been arrested in France after a 19th Century city hall was gutted by a fire over the weekend that broke out during mass disorder, French media report.

The clock tower and parts of the roof of the ornate city hall in the central city of Limoges were engulfed in flames before collapsing on Saturday.

The 34-year-old suspect is known to police for acts of violence against public officials and is on a French national security watchlist, FranceInfo and BFM TV report.

French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu has vowed a "massive" police presence during further protests planned for Saturday, while several cities, including parts of Paris, will be subject to curfews this week.

Marseille mayor Benoît Payan said on X that the prefect had decided to introduce the curfew "starting this evening and for days to come", with French media reporting it would be in place overnight from Tuesday to Friday.

Payan said the measures apply to minors and will only be in commercial areas of the city, which were particularly affected by looting which took place last weekend.

Paris's police commissioner has also ordered the extension of an overnight curfew in the capital. The Préfecture de Police said the measure would continue "for as long as it proves necessary".

A curfew for parts of central Lyon was renewed on Tuesday, while overnight curfews for Nice and Lille are ongoing, and a week-long, overnight curfew for Bordeaux came into force on Tuesday night.

Source: BBC News World RSS (Open Press / Full Text)