President Macron vows to punish French rioters

Charlotte Gallagher (0:00)

This is The Global News Podcast from the BBC World Service.

I'm Charlotte Gallagher, and in the early hours of Sunday, the 18th of October, these are our main stories. It's been an extraordinary day of violent protests across France, as President Macron promises vandals and looters will be punished. And the US ambassador to Israel has described a settler attack on an American journalist as a despicable act of terror, hours after European diplomats were also targeted in the Occupied West Bank. Also in this podcast, we get reaction to President Trump's reversal on Russian sanctions and…

Mathieu Deldiq (0:43)

It's one of the purest diamonds of the world, and it's a real treasure. And the colour is subtle pink with a touch of orange.

Charlotte Gallagher (0:52)

A rare, flawless diamond is going back on public display in France after a century.

We start in France, which is experiencing some of its most destructive and violent unrest in years.

Clashes erupted between police and protestors across the country. Shops have been looted and buildings set on fire. In the city of Limoges, the ornate 19th century town hall lies in ruins after being gutted by fire. And in Saint Etienne, a 17-year-old boy had a hand blown off by a crowd control grenade. President Macron has said those who carry out vandalism and attack businesses will be prosecuted and punished. The Prime Minister, Sebastien Lecornu, said 1,200 people have been arrested and 150 police officers injured. The widespread unrest follows weeks of student protests, but they've now widened to include other groups, some appearing intent on violence. In Paris, these were some of the views.

SPEAKER_3 (2:05)

I'm here because my children are here also, and they make a democratic manifestation. And we have the police who attack us permanently. It's not, the country is not any more democratic.

Charlotte Gallagher (2:19)

It's gone bad.

Sebastien Usher (2:20)

You try to change something and you're repressed.

SPEAKER_5 (2:22)

There's so much police, so much violence.

SPEAKER_6 (2:25)

French people cannot live properly.

Everything like, you know, concerning cars and like the gas oil and stuff, it's so pricey. And French people cannot live even with two incomes in one single home.

Charlotte Gallagher (2:39)

The mayor of Paris says entire streets have been devastated. From there, our correspondent James Waterhouse gave me the latest.

James Waterhouse (2:47)

It's been utter chaos. After the demonstrations sort of ended, wound down in the late afternoon when police used water cannons and tear gas, the genuine grievances people had over the future direction of the country, public spending or the state of schools or the cost of living, have been eclipsed by, in the words of ministers, a minority looking to capitalize on the disorder we are seeing. I mean, when the police were treated, we saw in every department, every district of Paris we were traveling through, there were burning barricades, there were fires, there was mass looting, protesters trying to smash through glass, trying to knock down shutters, there were masked teenagers walking past with computer units, plasma TVs. The atmosphere was, you know, it was menacing. The government said, you know, as a country, we won't be intimidated by violence. But Paris tonight was an intimidating place. Even now, there are armed police playing cat and mouse with protesters along the Champs-Élysées as they try to vandalise the front of shops.

These are scenes being replicated across France. You know, there's quite an evocative image in Limoges in southwest France where a town hall built in the late 1800s has been destroyed by fire. And you start to wonder what the wider devastation is going to be.

Charlotte Gallagher (4:10)

And looking ahead to the election, when people will look back on this violence, they're presumably not going to remember what some of the causes, what some of the complaints were. They're just going to remember seeing buildings on fire and police and protesters marching through the streets. And that could play more into the hands of one party than another, couldn't it? It could.

James Waterhouse (4:32)

I mean, if you think of the yellow vest protests in, what, 2017-18, where that was, I'm told by French colleagues, even more violent, that was over the cost of living. It was over a particular fuel tax, which was reversed. And I think politically supporters of those protests see that as a win. You know, there is a big kind of union presence here and there is a big left wing, even far left influence here.

Yes, the devastation has been condemned, but these are destabilizing times for France. It does feel like a perilous moment where you have the masses today who resent any kind of austerity, cuts to public services. They want the rich to be taxed more. And then you have the political polar opposite who want slashing in public spending. You know, we've got to remember that it is Marine Le Pen, a far right figure, who is the current favorite to be the next president. And you've got a centrist government. You know, if you're Emmanuel Macron, you haven't got a majority. Some of the issues here require fundamental reform if he chooses to address them. And you need political support to do that. He hasn't got that and he hasn't got much time.