Newscast

Several French cities used new powers to impose curfews to stop people gathering in the streets after weekend unrest in which more than 2,000 business properties were attacked and more than 350 people were arrested in Paris alone. The protests were described as stemming from weeks of student demonstrations that merged with cost-of-living grievances, beginning relatively smoothly in cities on Saturday before degenerating into riots and scattered looting. France's interior minister was reported to have said the authorities had underestimated crowd numbers by more than twofold and that policing was not up to the task; he offered to resign but the president asked him to stay.

The broadcast also covered scrutiny of police planning, including a protest route ending at Place Clichy in central Paris and a wider debate over the doctrine for maintaining order and the use of weapons such as tear gas and stun grenades. It noted that President Macron's Sunday televised address received mixed reviews after announcing little concrete, and that Marine Le Pen and the far right criticised the government over lawlessness and powerlessness. The government blamed far-left agitators and Jean-Luc Melenchon, while guests said the movement began as a grassroots high-school protest and also referred to so-called black bloc infiltrators.

Polling discussed suggested most people condemned the violence but were sympathetic to the movement, amid concerns about schools, the economy and the promise that education can deliver social and economic progress. The broadcast also noted cost-of-living pressures such as fuel prices and wider inflation, and that Marine Le Pen was polling ahead in the first round of the coming presidential election, with most voters unhappy with the country's direction and wanting real change.