France counts cost of violent protests as 1,800 arrested

France is assessing widespread damage from violent protests on Saturday that resulted in 1,800 arrests, a torched historic town hall, and extensive looting, with President Emmanuel Macron set to address the nation Sunday evening. Interior Minister Laurent Nunez reported 1,800 arrests and about 500 injuries among security personnel, while Paris saw a record 855 arrests and hundreds of shops looted in cities including Marseille, Bordeaux, and Nice. Around 1,500 businesses were damaged, with losses estimated in the hundreds of millions of euros, and the 19th-century town hall in Limoges was deliberately set ablaze. The protests, attended by up to 800,000 people, were driven by cost-of-living grievances and followed weeks of student unrest, with officials blaming ultra-left groups for the violence and far-right leader Marine Le Pen facing accusations of exploiting the chaos for political gain.