France weekend protests raise pressure on Macron government

Violent protests across France over the weekend have intensified pressure on President Emmanuel Macron's government, with Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu convening an emergency meeting Monday to address the country's most severe public disorder in recent history. Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez offered his resignation, which Macron refused, instead demanding measures to bolster security and ensure perpetrators face justice. Over 500,000 mostly peaceful demonstrators protested Saturday against rising living costs and declining public services, but violence erupted when masked black-clad activists appeared, resulting in 1,500 looted businesses and about 1,000 injured police officers. Macron's televised Sunday address appealing for national unity drew criticism for lacking concrete details. With presidential elections six months away, political rivals Marine Le Pen and Jean-Luc Mélenchon are exploiting the crisis, while a paralyzed parliament and mounting debt pressures complicate the government's response.