00:00The French city of Lyon woke up on Sunday to devastated streets, smashed storefronts
00:06and burnt buildings – the aftermath of violent demonstrations against the rising cost of living
00:13that swept France. More than half a million people joined Saturday's nationwide protests.
00:20Cities including Paris, Marseille, Bordeaux, Limoges and Nice saw clashes between protesters
00:27and police, mass looting and fires. French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu condemned what he
00:35called the extreme intensity of the violence. He said 1,200 people had been arrested and 150
00:43police officers hurt. The widespread unrest follows weeks of student protests and comes just six months
00:51ahead of presidential elections. Without evidence, US Vice President J.D. Vance blamed
00:58immigration and what he called problems of assimilation for the unrest.
01:04French far-right leader Marine Le Pen claimed that the party of her far-left rival for the presidency,
01:11Jean-Luc Mélenchon, had legitimized the violence. Mélenchon, who had supported the
01:18demonstrations, urged people to stay away from any looting, describing it as contrary to our methods.
