French minister resigns after riots but Macron refuses

French Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez offered his resignation after weekend riots and looting across France, but President Emmanuel Macron refused it. Macron nonetheless criticized "failures in anticipation and intelligence" while keeping Nuñez in office for continuity. Nearly 2,400 people were arrested and about 1,000 police and gendarmes injured during the October 17 violence, which erupted alongside a largely peaceful cost-of-living protest. Authorities expected 200,000 demonstrators but over 500,000 turned out, with attacks on shops, city halls, and approaches to the Élysée Palace. Nuñez, a former Paris police prefect with counterterrorism experience, faces scrutiny over his firm order-maintenance doctrine, including injuries to minors during earlier student protests. The government has announced localized curfews and police reinforcements ahead of a new mobilization scheduled for October 24.