France curfews calm unrest as Macron faces criticism over Gulf trip

Curfews contributed to a "calm" night across France, Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu said Tuesday, even as public discontent remained high following the weekend's mass protests, looting and violent scenes. Certain areas of several French cities were under curfew overnight, including Place de la République and Les Halles in Paris, and parts of central Lyon. Lille and Nice were among the cities to impose curfews for minors. The unrest comes at a particularly fragile moment for France, where public anger over living costs and deteriorating services is colliding with political instability and a mounting fiscal crisis that threatens to turn into a sovereign debt crisis as government borrowing costs rise to the highest level in decades. The country faces a divided parliament with no majority and presidential elections in April 2027. In a statement on Tuesday, Lecornu said local officials would impose new curfews where required. Meanwhile, criticism is mounting over President Emmanuel Macron's decision to embark on a three-day tour of the Middle East as France suffers its most severe riots in many years. Riots followed weeks of demonstrations amid public anger over the country's education system, the cost of living and other issues. While hundreds of thousands of people marched peacefully, pockets of violence erupted, shocking the country, as protesters smashed shopfronts and set Limoges Town Hall on fire. Political commentator Christophe Barbier on radio station RTL said on Monday there was "no longer a pilot in the plane." At the same time, newspaper La Dépêche du Midi wrote in a scathing editorial that Macron had "to see if the misery of a reviled president is less painful in the Persian Gulf sun" as France "sinks deeper into crisis." Macron said on Sunday he was looking to address high fuel prices and secure French energy supplies through the trip to Kuwait, the UAE, Bahrain and Qatar, while strengthening defense and security cooperation. French assets came under pressure on Monday after the weekend scenes, with bonds, stocks and the euro all selling off, amid growing skepticism about the country's ability to bring down its deficit to a sustainable level. Fierce debate is underway over the 2027 budget, with the government targeting an overall decline in the deficit to 5% of GDP from 5.4%.