French riots update from AFP, with thanks to Sr. Soph:
PARIS (AFP) – Arsonists torched 1,300 cars and police arrested 300 people across France as the urban violence which has rocked the country for 10 nights reached a new peak.
Police deployed helicopters and stepped up their arrests of youths responsible for the street violence, as troubles flared for the 10th consecutive night in suburbs around Paris on Saturday and spread to other French cities.
Copycat arson attacks hit the outskirts of Toulouse, Bordeaux, Montpellier and Pau in the south, Rennes and Nantes in the west, Lille in the north and Mulhouse and Colmar in the east.
The disorder also spilled into central Paris itself, where a petrol bomb set alight four cars near a major square, Place de la Republique, while half a dozen vehicles went up in smoke in the northwest 17th arrondissement, or district.
Despite calls for calm Saturday, 1,295 cars were torched overnight compared with 897 the previous night, while arrests totalled 312 up from 253.