France reels: France continues to grapple this morning with the fallout of this weekend’s events, when anti-austerity protests spilled over into violent riots across the country. Around 2000 people were arrested and more than 500 police officers, gendarmes and firefighters were injured, amid scenes of chaos, burning buildings, and violent clashes in cities from Marseille to Paris to Lyon.
Saturday’s protests started peacefully, with demonstrators calling for more public spending to repair decrepit schools and improve education standards, as well as measures to tackle the rising cost of living. But the marches were hijacked by groups of masked rioters, who started fires, smashed storefronts and built barricades.
