France is preparing for a possible second wave of unrest after weekend demonstrations spiralled into looting, vandalism and violent clashes with police.

President Emmanuel Macron has faced fierce criticism from opponents, who accused him of appearing “pathetic” and losing his grip on the country. The backlash intensified as he continued a three-day Gulf tour, even as overnight curfews brought only a brief pause in the disorder.

A website used to coordinate the protests has called for another day of action on Saturday, describing the demonstrations as a “legitimate revolt” against the French government and major multinational companies.

The call for renewed protests prompted ministers to promise a larger security response. Officials acknowledged that public order had broken down, while Macron described the violence as unprecedented.

Authorities had forecast around 200,000 protesters for Saturday, but more than 500,000 people ultimately took part. At least 3,000 businesses were ransacked and nearly 1,000 police officers were injured during the unrest.

Ministers said far-left activists were joined by young people intent on looting shops, turning the protests into one of France’s most serious outbreaks of violence in years. At least 2,400 people were arrested.

Town halls were stormed and damaged in several cities, while the 19th-century neo-Renaissance municipal building in Limoges was engulfed in flames. Residents watched in shock as part of its roof collapsed.

Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez, facing pressure from both the political left and right, offered to step down. Macron, however, rejected his resignation and instructed him to remain in office.

Speaking to state broadcaster France Inter, Nuñez conceded that police had been overwhelmed by rioters. Mayors in Paris, Lyon and Marseille also said that “entire sections” of their cities had effectively been left without protection.

“There was an imbalance between the deployment and the number of demonstrators, but also the hoodlums, looters and far-left activists who caused the marches to degenerate,” Nuñez said.

He added: “On Saturday, in some major cities, after hundreds of shops had been looted, you could not look shopkeepers in the eye and tell them that we had not lost control.”

Some 10,000 officers were deployed during the weekend, and Nuñez confirmed that police numbers would be increased ahead of the next planned demonstrations.

The Élysée Palace said Macron rejected Nuñez’s offer to resign because he did not want to reshuffle the government during what has become one of the most serious crises of his presidency.

As the disorder continued, Macron called for a new strategy governing public order, aimed at containing the violence and restoring control.

Addressing the nation on Sunday, the president vowed to take action against looters while saying the government would hear the “legitimate” grievances of protesters who remained peaceful.

Jordan Bardella, leader of the hard-right National Rally, rejected the speech and branded Macron’s response “pathetic.”

Macron left France during the turmoil for a three-day diplomatic tour of Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Qatar, where he hoped to strengthen the country’s energy security.

Although the president was seeking measures to bring down petrol prices, commentators said his decision to travel abroad made him appear disconnected from the crisis unfolding at home.

Macron said the tour was necessary because the protest movement ‘has its source in the conflict in the Gulf, in which France is not taking part, and from which we are subjected to the consequences’.

The chaos follows weeks of demonstrations by sixth-formers and university students over what they say are overcrowded classrooms, teacher shortages and dilapidated school buildings.

At the weekend, a second movement joined forces with the Gen Z demonstrators, this one initiated by calls to reinvigorate the ‘yellow vest’ protests that emerged over fuel duties and broader economic grievances in 2018.

The website 17octobregiletjaune.net, which was responsible for advertising marches across the country, is now advertising similar actions on October 24.

The organisers state that the movement is the successor to the ‘great tipping moments of history’ such as the French Revolution, the suffragettes and the resistance to the Nazi occupation of France during World War Two.

Opponents argue the yellow vests are a front for the radical Left France Unbowed party, who they accuse of using violence to subvert democracy.

Sébastien Lecornu, the Prime Minister of France, said the party aimed to ‘orchestrate deep unrest across the country’ in the hopes of undermining next year’s presidential election.

But Jean-Luc Mélenchon, the movement’s presidential candidate, denied the claims, instead accusing the government of fanning the flames of disorder via police brutality and a failure to meet the protesters’ demands. 

Paris police issued an overnight curfew on Monday in two areas of the French capital, to protect ‘people and property from the violence and looting’.

The curfew prohibited anyone from entering or remaining on the Place de la République, where rioting took place Saturday, and the shopping neighbourhood of Les Halles, which has been subject to looting.

The curfew was in effect from 11pm Monday until 6am Tuesday. In addition, gatherings and demonstrations were banned from 8pm.

Earlier Monday, Lecornu had called for ‘very limited’ and ‘localised’ curfews.

In northern France, local authorities imposed a curfew for children and teenagers under age 18 in several cities, including Lille, starting from Monday and for the next two days from 8pm to 6am. 

Nice, on the French Riviera, also imposed an overnight curfew for minors from 9pm.

Lecornu defended police handling of the unrest, saying that ‘despite scenes of severe violence and extensive property damage, no one was killed, and that is a miracle’.

Mass protests in France are often tainted by violence on the fringes of otherwise peaceful marches, leading to clashes with police. 

Saturday’s unrest recalled the riots that followed the fatal police shooting of a teenager in 2023, when authorities imposed local curfews, and violence during the yellow vest movement that began in 2018.

The prime minister’s instructions come after Nuñez offered his resignation Sunday, but Macron refused it ‘given the need for continued command of law enforcement in the current context’.

He instructed Nuñez ‘to take all necessary steps to ensure full transparency about the failures in planning and intelligence-gathering that led to the violence,’ a statement from his office said.

Macron also asked for the introduction of ‘new policing tactics on the ground as quickly as possible’ to put an end to the violence.

On Sunday evening, groups set fire to rubbish bins, bicycles and other objects in the streets and looted businesses in Paris, Lyon, Marseille and other cities. 

That followed the violence during nationwide protests on Saturday against rising living costs and poor conditions in schools. 

In Marseille, the prefect banned any protest or other gatherings from noon to 8pm on Monday.

‘I submitted my resignation because I am responsible for everything that is happening,’ Nuñez said on France Inter radio. ‘Now the real issue is ensuring that this doesn’t happen again. 

‘We obviously need to be better at anticipating the kind of mobilisation that is unfolding,’ he added.

Nuñez blamed the violence on ‘hordes of troublemakers and looters’ and said that police strategy needs to be adapted ‘in the face of extremely mobile groups’.

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Authorities said that groups of hundreds of people sought confrontations with police and targeted public buildings.

On Monday, cleanup crews and firefighters cleared shattered glass and other debris from the streets of Paris.

Ouri Zagoury, owner of a video game shop near Paris’ Place de la République, said that he closed the store Saturday afternoon, but then saw looters forcing their way in on surveillance cameras.

‘There were so many people coming in and out. And even though I called the police, they said not to intervene, that they would come, but they never did, which is another problem,’ Zagoury said.

Bardella pointed to the government’s failure to prevent violence.

‘The government has failed, the head of state has failed in his essential duty of protecting the French people,’ he told reporters at the party’s headquarters.

‘I call on the people of France now, beyond their right to protest, to use their voting power,’ Bardella said. 

He is campaigning alongside hard-Right leader Marine Le Pen, whose polling numbers have suggested for months that she’s the frontrunner in next spring’s presidential election.

France’s worst bout of civil unrest in years has plunged Macron’s final months in office deeper into turmoil, exposing the powerlessness of a leader struggling to contain social anger with little money to spend, scant political capital and an increasingly fragile grip on public order.

The rioting that swept across France on Saturday, leaving a trail of looted shops, torched buildings and defaced public institutions, presents Macron with perhaps the most explosive challenge of his twilight presidency: a country demanding more from a state that can no longer afford to give much.

Macron came to power almost a decade ago promising to upend France’s sclerotic political class, turbocharge economic reforms and restore authority through a more assertive presidency.

Instead, with just six months left in office, he finds himself effectively a lame-duck head of state presiding over a country mired in political paralysis, facing acute financial pressures and grappling with unrest that has exposed the limits of state authority.

Unlike during the yellow vest uprising of 2018-2019, when Macron sought to defuse public anger with billions of euros in concessions, France’s strained public finances and fractured parliament leave him with precious few levers to pull.

Even former allies are now openly scathing, tracing the country’s current impasse to Macron’s decision to call a snap parliamentary election in 2024 that weakened his authority.

‘The end of this term is a slow agony,’ said Loïc Kervran, a former lawmaker from Macron’s camp, on X. 

‘The president paralysed the country with his absurd decision to dissolve parliament in 2024. 

‘Arguably the worst decision in the history of the Fifth Republic,’ he added.

The turmoil may benefit Le Pen, who is already the frontrunner in the 2027 presidential race and stands to gain from both the anger over declining living standards and the fears over law and order unleashed by the weekend’s violence.

‘Le Pen no longer needs to spend any money to campaign,’ Jean-Baptiste Moreau, another former Macron lawmaker, told Reuters. 

‘It’s not just a clear path ahead of her — it’s a six-lane highway.’

Le Pen delivered her own message to the nation in a video statement on Sunday, portraying Macron’s administration as a crumbling power and casting herself as the figure capable of restoring order.

When Macron later addressed the country, he offered little concrete action, stopping short of declaring a state of emergency. 

As he spoke, looting was continuing for a second consecutive night, including in affluent Paris districts.

Opponents and one-time allies alike were underwhelmed. 

His former prime minister, Edouard Philippe, now preparing his own presidential run, was unsparing in his criticism.

‘Mr President, I listened to you last night,’ he wrote on X. ‘I would have preferred, like millions of French people, decisions and initiatives to restore order.’

‘Our country needs to be commanded,’ he added.

But even Philippe is struggling to shake off his past association with Macron, and most recent polls show far-Left firebrand Mélenchon edging ahead of him in the race to qualify for the second-round runoff vote. 

That outcome would all but guarantee a Le Pen victory, according to opinion polls.

Macron’s office on Monday announced that he had refused his interior minister’s resignation and ordered a review into apparent failures in intelligence gathering and police preparedness — deepening the impression of a government struggling to regain control.

Investors also took fright. 

Market analysts say the violence adds another layer of political risk at a time when France is already under scrutiny over its swelling debt burden and struggle to reduce one of the euro zone’s largest budget deficits.

The president now finds himself trapped between bond markets demanding spending restraint and protesters demanding the opposite.

Despite calls from opponents to remain in France, Macron arrived in Kuwait on Monday on a Gulf tour he says will help secure fuel supplies and ease some of the economic pressures that have helped swell the ranks of the protesters.

The trip carries risks, reinforcing perceptions of a president disconnected from the public mood. 

Images of Macron attending a Céline Dion concert with his wife Brigitte on Friday evening, hours before the unrest erupted, prompted ridicule on social media and became an easy symbol for critics seeking to portray him as detached from events.

In a sign of the depth of disenchantment in parts of his political camp, some former allies have begun openly discussing whether he should leave office before the end of his term.

Moreau, who spoke to Macron on Sunday, said he urged him to prepare an orderly early departure to break the current political deadlock and avoid another six months of drift.

‘He doesn’t want to give up, that’s not his character. But that’s what he should do for the country,’ he said.

The upheaval has provoked jitters among investors. France’s blue-chip CAC 40 index fell 1.1 per cent, while the pan-European STOXX 600 index slipped 0.9 per cent to 639.1 points.

Triggered by rising prices and worsening public services, the protests have soured investor sentiment towards a country already ​grappling with weak growth and rising debt.

The turmoil in the euro zone’s second-largest economy, which adds ​to political uncertainty ahead of the presidential election in 2027, has also been partly ⁠responsible for keeping the STOXX 600 index stuck within a narrow range over the past month. 

‘There is clearly ​political risk and that is going to mean you get near-term volatility,’ said Kiran Ganesh, a multi-asset strategist ​at UBS Global Wealth Management. 

French lenders BNP Paribas, Societe Generale and Credit Agricole fell between 2.5 per cent and 3.4 per cent. Retailer Carrefour declined 2.2 per cent and shopping mall operator Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield dropped 2 per cent.

The Prince and Princess of Wales took centre stage in the royal pageantry as the King and Queen welcomed the Sultan of Oman to the UK for a state visit.

William and Catherine joined Their Majesties in Windsor for the arrival of the Omani ruler, marking the beginning of a three-day visit requested by the British government. The programme will focus on trade, diplomacy, military cooperation and cultural ties between the two countries.

Despite the drizzly autumn weather, King Charles, Queen Camilla and Kate climbed the steps to the covered Royal Dais on Datchet Road.

The royal party was greeted by a royal salute from the waiting Sovereign’s Escort, while a military band performed the national anthem.

The King wore a top hat and tails, while Camilla chose a red wool crepe dress and coat by Fiona Clare, paired with a Philip Treacy hat and a ruby and diamond flower brooch. The colour appeared to echo the Omani flag, as did Kate’s dark green coat dress.

Charles removed his top hat to welcome the Sultan, smiling broadly as he shook hands with him after the Omani leader arrived.

Kate smiled and offered a deep curtsey before shaking the hand of Sultan Haitham bin Tarik Al Said during the royal welcome.

The Guard of Honour stood in two lines before the Royal Dais. It comprised around 100 guardsmen and officers under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Storm Green.

The King spoke in Arabic as he asked the visiting head of state whether he would inspect the servicemen on parade.

Charles then accompanied the senior officer and the Sultan as the foreign leader inspected the troops, walking past the first rank of soldiers and then the second line behind it.

Earlier, Prince William welcomed the Sultan on behalf of the monarch at one of the King’s private UK residences. The pair then travelled together to Windsor.

Breaking with traditional arrangements, Kate did not join William for the initial greeting. Instead, she remained alongside King Charles and Queen Camilla.

The planned adjustment was made because the Sultan is not being accompanied by his wife during his stay.

Amid the pouring rain the royals and their guests stepped into the ornate coaches – without turning to the use of umbrellas.

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The Sultan joined the King in the Irish State Coach for a horse-drawn carriage procession through the streets of Windsor to the castle, ready to attend the ceremonial welcome in the quadrangle.

Charles was seen to pat down his own hair as he sat in the carriage as the Household Cavalry readied their horses for the start of the short journey.

The Queen followed in the second carriage – the Scottish State Coach – accompanied by Oman’s deputy prime minister for defence affairs Sayyid Shihab bin Tariq Al Said.

The Prince and Princess of Wales were in the third carriage – the Australian State Coach – with the deputy prime minister for economic affairs Sayyid Theyazin bin Haitham Al Said and secretary general of the diwan of the royal court Sayyid Loay bin Ghalib Al Said. 

Taking in Thames Street High Street, Park Street and the castle’s Cambridge Gate – with the route lined by an impressive display of all three Armed Forces – the procession entered through the George IV Gateway into the Quadrangle of Windsor Castle.

The Military Knights of Windsor will be in position at the Sovereign’s Entrance with a detachment of the Household Cavalry, along with the King’s Body Guard of the Yeomen of the Guard.

A Guard of Honour, formed by the Nijmegen Company Grenadier Guards and F Company Scots Guards, with the Royal Standards of the Regiment and the Band of the Scots Guards, will be mounted in the Quadrangle of Windsor Castle.

The Guard of Honour will give a Royal Salute and the regimental Band will play the Omani and British National Anthems as the carriage procession arrives.

Following a private lunch in the State Dining Room, joined by Members of The Royal Family, Their Majesties will invite the Sultan to view a special exhibition of items relating to Oman from the Royal Collection, in the Green Drawing Room.

In the evening, His Majesty, accompanied by the Queen and Members of the Royal Family, will give a glittering State Banquet at Windsor Castle for the Sultan – the highlight of which will undoubtedly be the ladies’ gowns and tiaras.

The King and His Majesty Sultan Haitham bin Tarik will deliver speeches at the beginning of the banquet.

The present Sultan acceded to the throne in 2020 following the death of his cousin, Sultan Qaboos bin Said, becoming the fifteenth ruler of the Al Bu Said dynasty which has ruled Oman since the mid-eighteenth century.

He has also been dubbed ‘one of the most discreet billionaires alive’.

The sultan is married with four children, although his wife is not accompanying him on this State Visit.

The ruling Omani family has enjoyed good relations with the British royal family and the Sultan has met the King and Queen on several occasions previously. Oman is considered one of Britain’s oldest friends in Arabia.

One of the Sultan’s main challenges is seen to be the need to oversee Oman’s transition from over-reliance on oil revenues to a diversified economy.

A ceramicist smashed his pottery in front of his “terrified” wife after allegedly becoming enraged when he could not find a rugby match on television, a court heard.

Jeremy Broadway had returned from lunch with his wife, Catherine, and their daughter, Sam, when he discovered that the England-Australia match was not immediately available to watch.

The court was told that Sam did not help him look for the broadcast because she was caring for the family cat at the time.

Mrs Broadway, who is also a potter, said her husband then became “like somebody possessed” after she went to their shared studio and discovered that some of his pots had cracked on the stove.

The 70-year-old former public school teacher allegedly stormed into the studio and smashed the pottery against a wall.

He was also accused of grabbing his 70-year-old wife by her apron and pushing her into the sink.

Broadway allegedly then struck a door with a metal telescope before forcing his 34-year-old daughter into a corner. Sam responded by punching her father, claiming she had acted in self-defence.

Weymouth Magistrates’ Court in Dorset heard that the mother and daughter barricaded themselves inside the kitchen, using furniture to block the door before contacting police.

Broadway denied every allegation made against him.

He told the court that he had merely been channel-hopping, describing the claim that he had lost his temper over the rugby as “almost laughable”.

Broadway said he had not touched his wife in the studio and denied breaking the pots. However, he acknowledged being irritated after some of them “exploded” on the stove and said he “might have raised my voice”.

Magistrates said Mrs Broadway’s and her daughter’s accounts were “not consistent” and contained contradictions. As the prosecution had not proved the case beyond reasonable doubt, Broadway was found not guilty of two assault charges.

The alleged confrontation took place on November 1 last year at the family’s home in Child Okeford, Dorset.

The court heard that the family had hurried home from lunch because Broadway wanted to watch the rugby.

But the match was not available on a mainstream television channel, and Broadway struggled to locate it without assistance, the court was told on Monday.

Giving evidence, Mrs Broadway said: “That was enough for him to get angry. He said we should be helping more.

“At that point I decided to go to the pottery. I was going to get some space.”

She said she noticed some pots on the stove had cracked, but said that when she told him what had happened ‘he went absolutely mad’.

Mrs Broadway told the court: ‘He was blaming me, saying it was my fault, why wasn’t I watching them? He just lost it.

‘He picked up the pots and threw them against the wall. He grabbed my apron and then my clothing on my shoulders and pushed me against the sink.

‘I managed to get away and ran indoors and shouted up to Sam, something like ‘stay in your room’.

‘The rage was so much, the face was red, the veins were up. I couldn’t get through to him, I really tried.

‘He started pounding on the door. We were both absolutely terrified. He was just like somebody possessed.’

Sam Broadway said she could not hear what was being said in the pottery studio but could hear her father ‘screaming and shouting’.

She claimed he advanced towards her with a clenched fist and so she punched her father.

But Mr Broadway, who used to teach art at Bryanston School near Blandford, told the court he did not touch his wife in the pottery studio and denied smashing pots.

He also denied being the aggressor to Sam and said she had launched an unprovoked attack.

Mr Broadway said: ‘Catherine came up and said there’s something wrong with the fire. She had left it unattended and the damp pieces of pottery were starting to explode.

‘Some had already blown, others hadn’t so I tried to get them off quickly.

‘My wife came in, I said ‘I thought you were supposed to be keeping an eye on them?’ It transpired she had been helping Sam.’

He said he went upstairs to watch the television, at which point his daughter ‘charged straight towards me and immediately started hitting me quite hard, at least three times, maybe half a dozen.’

Mr Broadway added: ‘I just tried to shield myself, I never tried to hit her.’

Catherine Lickley, defending, told the magistrates that in the 999 call Mrs Broadway told the handler she did not feel threatened and that her daughter often read situations incorrectly due to her autism.

Mrs Broadway said in the call they had not had any form of heated argument and no threat was made by her husband.

Ms Lickley also said Sam had punched Mr Broadway with such force she had fractured a bone in her hand, but had no other injuries that supported him assaulting her.

Christopher Schwarzenegger appears to be in the best shape of his life.

The 29-year-old son of bodybuilding legend Arnold Schwarzenegger was spotted in Los Angeles on Sunday during an outing with his mother, Maria Shriver, and his girlfriend.

Wearing a blue T-shirt, white athletic shorts and brown sneakers, Christopher showed off his notably lean physique as the trio walked together.

His appearance drew comparisons to his famous father, who claimed the Mr. Olympia crown seven times at the height of his bodybuilding career. Christopher has also been noted for his resemblance to his half-brother, bodybuilder Joseph Baena.

Christopher began his remarkable weight-loss transformation in 2019, while living in Australia. He has said the experience became a major turning point after he recognized that his weight was preventing him from pursuing the lifestyle he wanted.

Over five years, he lost 250 pounds by reshaping his diet and committing to regular exercise, including weight training, boxing and hiking.

‘It was a big process,’ Christopher said at the Beacher Vitality’s Happy & Healthy Summit in Los Angeles last year, per Page Six.

“I just saw how much my weight was prohibiting me from doing the everyday activities,” he told host Jeff Beacher during a discussion that also featured physician Dr. Robert Huizenga and Kelly Osbourne, who has spoken publicly about her own major weight-loss journey.

“I was like, ‘I want to go skydiving.’ And my friends were like, ‘Yeah, no shot.’ I was like, ‘Yeah, I can’t skydive.’”

Christopher, a University of Michigan graduate with a psychology degree, said his struggles with body image began during his high school years.

“I tried everything. I was doing meal delivery things in high school, and I remember feeling like a weirdo when I was bringing weird lunches to school,” he recalled.

He emphasized that the transformation did not happen quickly. Reaching his progress required plenty of trial and error as he adjusted both his workouts and his eating habits.

Last year, Christopher, who has described himself as a “good Catholic boy,” said he gave up bread for Lent and “lost 30 pounds just through that.”

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Even then, he viewed the change as a continuing journey rather than the completion of a final weight-loss goal.

‘Even still to this day… when you’re saying, oh, before-and-after photos… I don’t feel like I’m an “after” yet. I don’t feel like I’m at the point,’ he admitted.

His family is clearly proud of what he’s been able to accomplish through discipline, hard work and sweat.

Over the Thanksgiving holiday in 2025, his sister Katherine Schwarzenegger shared a series of snaps in which Christopher displayed his brawny frame, looking remarkably similar to his bodybuilding half-brother Joseph Baena, 29.

‘So much to be thankful for,’ the wife of actor Chris Pratt wrote in her caption alongside a red heart emoji.