On Saturday, the fifth day of violent protests all over France against the police killing of an unarmed teenager, Nahel Merzouk, the daily arrests dropped below 1,000 for the first time, but the violence became even more extreme.
In L'Hay-les-Roses, a southern suburb of Paris, protesters rammed a stolen car through the gates of the mayor's home shortly after midnight, and then set the vehicle on fire so that the blaze would spread to the house.
The mayor, Vincent Jeanbrun, was still at his office trying to deal with the situation, but his wife, Melanie Nowak, and their two children, aged five and seven, were in the house. When they tried to flee, the intruders attacked them with firework rockets. Ms Nowak's leg was broken, and one of the children was also injured.
