Live: French PM Lecornu calls for 'partial curfews' in cities hit by riots and looting

The French president has kicked off a three-day Gulf trip with a visit to Kuwait, ahead of planned stops in the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Qatar. In his address to the nation on Sunday, Macron confirmed he would go ahead with the planned trip despite the crisis at home."

I've taken a number of initiatives on an international level in order to ensure that we have fuel and gas and will continue to do so by visiting the Gulf countries in order to secure our supply," he said. Macron is greeted by the Emir of Kuwait Sheikh Mishal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah. Credit: Benoît Tessier, Reuters

Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu will make a televised statement after holding crisis talks with cabinet members in about an hour.You can watch his speech live on FRANCE 24.

The head of the French Chambers of Commerce and Industry estimates that more than 2,000 businesses have been directly affected by the weekend's looting and rioting, putting the damage at "hundreds of millions of euros". At 8pm on Sunday, "we had an initial tally of 1,500 (businesses affected), but given that certain towns had not been included in the count (...)

, the figure will be at least 10–20 per cent higher", Alain Di Crescenzo told RTL radio. A looted store in Paris on Sunday. Emma Da Silva, APFurthermore, the violence "continued in at least four cities across France overnight", namely "Paris, Marseille, Lyon and Nantes", he added, "so we will exceed 2,000 – that is almost certain – with hundreds of millions of euros’ worth of damage".

Vincent Jeanbrun, the French minister for urban affairs, has described the violence witnessed on Saturday as "a form of insurrection", condemnding crime "fuelled by drug trafficking"." We must have the humility to recognise that what happened on Saturday is something new", involving a combination of marches that turn violent, "looting" and "guerrilla-style urban violence".

When asked whether "a delinquent fringe in the suburbs" had "ransacked part of France", the minister replied that "there is a small section of our working-class neighbourhoods that harbours a form of delinquency fuelled in particular by drug traffickers".

This weekend's rioting in France highlighted failings with the security services over how they deal with threats posed by far-left protesters, says Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin. Darmanin said the security services were very good in dealing with threats from terrorists and organised crime groups, but less so regarding such ultra-left protesters."

Clearly, it is not tackling the ultra-left effectively," Darmanin told France 2 TV.

More than 30,000 looters were counted on Saturday at the height of the riots on the streets of Marseille, according a police report. They included 8,000 “rioters”, the report added, noting that 99 people had been taken into police custody in direct connection with the riots. The aftermath of the rioting in Marseille.

Manon Cruz, ReutersMore than 800 police and other security forces were deployed and some 4,000 tear gas grenades were fired. A total of 118 members of the security forces were injured, three of whom were taken to hospital.

Macron condemns those who 'sought to bring down the Republic' Macron rejects interior minister's resignation, demands new policing methodsInterior minister admits police 'lost control' of protestsYellow Vest leaders call for new day of protests on SaturdayProtesters block access to Louvre in Paris

France's embattled Interior Minister Laurent Nunez has acknowledged responsibility for the security lapses that saw rioters and looters rampage through Paris and other French cities over the weekend." I offered to resign because I am entirely responsible for what happened," Nunez told France Inter radio, accepting a "failure to anticipate" and prepare for the challenges faced by security forces.

The minister said a further 350 people had been arrested overnight across France, again pointing the finger at "ultra-left" groups he blamed for the violence.

Political leaders have traded accusations over the weekend violence ahead of next spring’s presidential election. Far-right leader and presidential frontrunner Marine Le Pen criticised Macron's centrist government as “exhausted, disoriented and seemingly incapable of doing anything other than commenting on its own powerlessness,” in a video posted on social media.

Far-left contender Jean-Luc Mélenchon accused Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu of “playing with fire,” alleging that “by banking on degradation, you have only succeeded in uniting all youths and workers’ unions.” Lecornu and other government officials have blamed Mélenchon's France Unbowed (LFI) party for instigating the unrest, which several analysts have described as a gift to Le Pen's far right.

The French president has slammed "failures" that he said led to violent protests that rocked the country, but refused the resignation of Interior Minister Laurent Nunez over the crisis." The interior minister submitted his resignation to the president on Sunday," the Élysee palace said in a statement. "Given the necessity for continued leadership of law enforcement at this time, the president refused."

Macron had asked Nunez to "take all necessary steps to ensure transparency over the failures in planning and intelligence that led to the violence" and "put in place new operational methods for security forces" to handle the crisis, the statement said.

Authorities estimated Saturday's largely peaceful marches had a turnout of about 550,000, while organisers put it at 800,000. Demonstrators answered calls from a labor union, student organizations and activists hoping to revive the “yellow vest” movement, which emerged in 2018 to protest social injustice.

Mass protests in France are often marred by violence on the fringes of otherwise peaceful marches, leading to clashes with police. The arrest tally reported for Saturday approached the nearly 2,000 recorded nationwide during a single day of yellow vest protests in December 2018.

“Those who looted will have to pay for the damage, and those who sought to bring down the Republic will be held accountable,” Macron said in a televised address to the nation on Sunday evening. He denounced “unrestrained violence” by “insurrectionist elements from radical far-left groups, joined by numerous criminals.”

Macron earlier held an emergency meeting with senior government officials, a day after masked groups set fires and attacked city halls in several cities. He said he had instructed prefects to work with mayors to protect public buildings and businesses in the coming weeks, including by banning protests when necessary.

French President Emmanuel Macron on Sunday voiced the public’s “anger” and “shame” over rioting and looting during nationwide protests against rising living costs and poor conditions in schools. At least 2,400 people were arrested. Macron echoed other government officials in blaming much of the violence on far-left activists, accusing them of attacking police and public buildings to foment chaos.

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