Katya Adler: France's government under pressure after weekend of widespread violence

Political tension grips France after rioting marred protests over the cost of living and struggling public services, Katya Adler writes. Watch: Police 'lost control' in French cities, interior minister says France's Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu is holding a crisis cabinet meeting on Monday to assess a weekend of violence and looting across the country, in what were some of the worst scenes of public disorder in modern French history. Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez tried to hand in his resignation, the Élysée Palace (French President Macron's HQ) announced on Monday morning. But instead, Macron has asked him to examine how to make France's streets safer and to bring the perpetrators of the weekend violence to justice.

Over half a million mainly peaceful protesters demonstrated on Saturday against rising living costs and dwindling access to decent public services, including a good state education. But the protests turned nasty after groups of black-clad, masked activists and vandals appeared. An estimated 1,500 shops and businesses were looted and destroyed. Riot police fired tear gas and turned water cannon on crowds. They were seen hitting people with batons in several places. France's interior ministry said about 1,000 police officers were injured on Saturday, seven of them seriously. Interior Minister Nuñez has been accused by political opponents, some trade unions and on social media forums for