Why Macron kept Nuñez in post

After a weekend of riots, Macron refused the resignation offered by Laurent Nuñez, the interior minister, and told him to remain in the job. The decision came even though failures in anticipation and intelligence were deemed to have worsened the crisis, according to the report. The president's reasoning was practical: Nuñez should stay to ensure a chain of command is retained within the police and security forces.

New orders on looters and policing

The Élysée Palace, quoted by Reuters, said Macron had set the minister two immediate tasks:

• •set up as quickly as possible new approaches to deal with looters
• •put in place new operational methods for security forces

The weekend of unrest behind the decision

Saturday ranked among the most violent days of unrest in years, with public buildings burned and hundreds of shops destroyed and looted. At least 2,400 people were arrested in cities across the country during the disorders, which began as protests by hundreds of thousands of people angered by rising living costs and declining public services.

In a TV interview on Monday, Nuñez admitted that the police had "lost control" in some cities. The night before, Macron had condemned what he called "unbridled violence" in an address to the nation, telling viewers: "Watching these images, we have all asked ourselves how could French people do this to France?"

Cost-of-living anger spreads to Italy

The anger over the cost of living crossed the border. Italian police clashed with protesters who threw stones and looted shops in Milan on Sunday, with police in riot gear firing teargas and using water cannon after several hundred hooded protesters smashed shop windows and set bins alight near Piazza del Duomo in the city centre.

In the south, lorry drivers blocked major roads in protest at soaring fuel prices linked to the war in Iran, creating huge traffic jams in Sicily, Puglia and Calabria. The blockades quickly hit supplies:

• •hundreds of petrol stations have run out of fuel
• •supermarkets are beginning to report shortages of several products, particularly fresh food
• •pharmacies have also been affected, raising concerns about disruption to essential supplies

Pasquale Russo, president of the haulage association Conftrasporto, said the situation was very concerning because of the excessive price increases affecting the industry, which had led to spontaneous protests in some areas. "We are asking the government to urgently convene a meeting with industry associations. Otherwise, we will consider a nationwide strike," he said.